Metternacht
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 452
- Reaction score
- 1,564
- Points
- 93
Lowest common denominator. Covid killed the work ethic. And participation trophies killed accountability
Ram Heavy Duty Forum
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
4500 Camper/Jeep Hauler Build
- Thread starter gprguy
- Start date
-
- Tags
- 4500 camper chassis cab jeep
gprguy
Well-Known Member
I was debating on whether to name names, but instead of saying who made the mess above I'll just give the following feedback. For this fuel tank project (which arguably probably isn't worth the money, but I'm being stubborn about it because my originally ordered truck had it and I want it) I've been ordering parts mostly from two places - bamwholesaleparts.com and moparpartsgiant.com. Both have made dumb mistakes like this, damaging brake and fuel lines by folding them up or trying to fit them in boxes smaller than the actual part. I also understand that these parts are special order, and Mopar apparently ships a lot of these with no packing at all - you can see there are UPS labels just tied to the lines from when they were shipped from Mopar to the seller. That said, all of the damage has clearly been from cramming them into the box to send to me, not random bending or scrapes from the original shipment. Besides, if Mopar damaged them on the way to the seller, why did the seller send damaged parts to me?
BAM has been a pleasure to work with as far as refunds. They respond quickly and have issued me refunds quickly, no big questions asked. They've not required me to ship the parts back because that's expensive to ship something that big which is literally broken garbage at this point. I'll continue to buy from them for parts that can't be so easily damaged.
Mopar Parts Giant has been slow to respond to the refund request, required ridiculous amounts of back and forth, photos, and explanations, and in the end they wanted to do a partial refund offering that I could keep the worthless part in question. They have finally agreed to a full refund, but I had to ship the part back to them even though I pointed out that is a complete waste of their money. I'd like to say that I'm done with them but I still have an outstanding order for 3 fuel lines I need and I cringe to think what will show up. Wish I had ordered them through BAM.
As far as the brake lines above go, I've ordered through my local dealer at nearly twice the price. I actually have everything I need to build and flare my own brake lines but I'd rather keep the factory look on a brand new truck like this. Hopefully I'll have them next week. If my fuel lines from MPG show up intact this project can get back on track..
BAM has been a pleasure to work with as far as refunds. They respond quickly and have issued me refunds quickly, no big questions asked. They've not required me to ship the parts back because that's expensive to ship something that big which is literally broken garbage at this point. I'll continue to buy from them for parts that can't be so easily damaged.
Mopar Parts Giant has been slow to respond to the refund request, required ridiculous amounts of back and forth, photos, and explanations, and in the end they wanted to do a partial refund offering that I could keep the worthless part in question. They have finally agreed to a full refund, but I had to ship the part back to them even though I pointed out that is a complete waste of their money. I'd like to say that I'm done with them but I still have an outstanding order for 3 fuel lines I need and I cringe to think what will show up. Wish I had ordered them through BAM.
As far as the brake lines above go, I've ordered through my local dealer at nearly twice the price. I actually have everything I need to build and flare my own brake lines but I'd rather keep the factory look on a brand new truck like this. Hopefully I'll have them next week. If my fuel lines from MPG show up intact this project can get back on track..
The few times I've bought form BAM has been good. However, no issues that needed customer service.
I think moparpartsgiant might have been the one that accepted my order for a tailgate including a reasonable (OK, stupid low) shipping price and then tried to strongarm me into paying a ridiculous shipping charge.
I think moparpartsgiant might have been the one that accepted my order for a tailgate including a reasonable (OK, stupid low) shipping price and then tried to strongarm me into paying a ridiculous shipping charge.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
That sounds about right. All these sites seem to use the same or similar e-commerce back end, and the shipping rates can be hysterically all over the place. I'm talking one site showing shipping of nearly $400 and then another site for the same exact part quoting shipping of $12. It pays to shop around..
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Kelderman Front Sensors
I've been busy the last few days installing the front ride hight sensors and running the air lines and sensor wiring for the fronts. These sensors are the only part of this giant kit that actually needs welding.
After that it was running the front air lines. In my opinion this is the most likely failure point, so when I install an air suspension I like to take extra time to make sure the air lines are run cleanly and away from heat/chafing. These are 3/8" air lines and I spend the extra time to put braided mesh sheathing over the entire run. Then I add split loom tubing wrapped in tesa tape to areas that I am concerned may chafe.
I still need to finish looming and taping the sensor wires and then I should be done with the front. Next I need to throw together a temporary tray behind the cab to attach the air control box and tanks to (and the hydraulic pump once I get to that project). Eventually they will be in boxes as part of the bed, but I'm still a bit away from that point and I want the truck to be drivable.
I've been busy the last few days installing the front ride hight sensors and running the air lines and sensor wiring for the fronts. These sensors are the only part of this giant kit that actually needs welding.
After that it was running the front air lines. In my opinion this is the most likely failure point, so when I install an air suspension I like to take extra time to make sure the air lines are run cleanly and away from heat/chafing. These are 3/8" air lines and I spend the extra time to put braided mesh sheathing over the entire run. Then I add split loom tubing wrapped in tesa tape to areas that I am concerned may chafe.
I still need to finish looming and taping the sensor wires and then I should be done with the front. Next I need to throw together a temporary tray behind the cab to attach the air control box and tanks to (and the hydraulic pump once I get to that project). Eventually they will be in boxes as part of the bed, but I'm still a bit away from that point and I want the truck to be drivable.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
I've been working on probably 4 separate projects at the same time lately. Here's some quick updates..
Wiring/looming for the front sensors and lines are complete. Didn't take any more pictures, it looks the same. Lots of time spent taping.
I finally received my new brake hard lines for the fuel tank conversion. Amazingly one was completely unmolested. The other had some slight bends in it from shipping but was usable/fixable. Unfortunate that I had to go to the local dealer and pay twice as much, but it is what it is.
Hard to tell in the picture, but the new brake lines are installed through the crossmember. For the rear only fuel tank they route the brake lines and fuel lines under the crossmember (you can still see the two fuel lines there). If you have midship or dual tanks the brake lines, fuel lines and wiring harness goes through the crossmember. It is completely beyond me why they do this, but whatever. On the 3500 CC they don't seem to have separate configurations.
So the new brake lines are swapped in and the system is bled. I re-routed the harness through the crossmember too.
Fuel lines are still not here. Fedex may have lost the second set. Splendid, splendid..
Next project is building a temporary tray/bracket to hold the air control system, air tanks and hydraulic pump behind the cab. Eventually this will be all incorporated into the backpack cabinet, but I need a home for this stuff in the meantime. This is a complete hack job out of scraps and quickly/poorly welded, but it'll go away soon enough.
Then off to the "paint booth".
Finally, put into place.
Next up will be installing the things on it.
I'm also working on the exhaust, but no pics of that yet. Maybe next week..
Wiring/looming for the front sensors and lines are complete. Didn't take any more pictures, it looks the same. Lots of time spent taping.
I finally received my new brake hard lines for the fuel tank conversion. Amazingly one was completely unmolested. The other had some slight bends in it from shipping but was usable/fixable. Unfortunate that I had to go to the local dealer and pay twice as much, but it is what it is.
Hard to tell in the picture, but the new brake lines are installed through the crossmember. For the rear only fuel tank they route the brake lines and fuel lines under the crossmember (you can still see the two fuel lines there). If you have midship or dual tanks the brake lines, fuel lines and wiring harness goes through the crossmember. It is completely beyond me why they do this, but whatever. On the 3500 CC they don't seem to have separate configurations.
So the new brake lines are swapped in and the system is bled. I re-routed the harness through the crossmember too.
Fuel lines are still not here. Fedex may have lost the second set. Splendid, splendid..
Next project is building a temporary tray/bracket to hold the air control system, air tanks and hydraulic pump behind the cab. Eventually this will be all incorporated into the backpack cabinet, but I need a home for this stuff in the meantime. This is a complete hack job out of scraps and quickly/poorly welded, but it'll go away soon enough.
Then off to the "paint booth".
Finally, put into place.
Next up will be installing the things on it.
I'm also working on the exhaust, but no pics of that yet. Maybe next week..
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Just got an update from Fedex on my fuel lines. They were shipped from Arizona and were headed to Seattle. They made it as far as Portland, OR, and all of the sudden now they were misrouted and ended up in Pennsylvania.
No words..
No words..
It’s FedEx, so the driver probably rode past your house, flipped you the bird, told the computer that you weren’t there to take delivery, then rerouted it to PA.
Last edited:
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Thought I'd put up a couple pictures of what is inside the air control box if you spring for the full Kelderman 3H control system.
So there are twin Viair 444C compressors, the Airlift 3H control unit, an electronic purge valve, and then on the outside an electric air dryer. It has a bolt on lid as well.
Eventually I'll be disassembling this entire thing and transplanting the guts into a compartment in the backpack cabinet. I'll also be shortening up the wiring harness by a lot.
So there are twin Viair 444C compressors, the Airlift 3H control unit, an electronic purge valve, and then on the outside an electric air dryer. It has a bolt on lid as well.
Eventually I'll be disassembling this entire thing and transplanting the guts into a compartment in the backpack cabinet. I'll also be shortening up the wiring harness by a lot.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
I literally live on the top edge of the truck icon bubble for Portland. Great job, Fedex.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Kelderman - Done
I finished up the install of the Airlift 3H compressor system on my truck tonight. Went through the calibration and so far it works great. I still need to mess with the saved presets but I am impressed with the controller so far, pretty slick. The phone app works great too. No real photos of interest, but here is the plumbing finished. This is all temporary till I build the backpack cabinet, but it'll work fine for now.
I've decided I am going to take the hydraulic pump off for now - the landing gear isn't next up on my to do list (although it is soon), but I am going to just install the legs for now and leave them locked in the up position with no hoses or control unit yet. There's no point in mounting all of that since I will have to remove it to reinstall it in the cabinet, and that's just going to make a mess and waste a bunch of ATF.
Next up is the midship fuel tank. I did receive my fuel lines after they circumnavigated the country, and they were undamaged despite Mopar Parts Giant's best efforts. One was still bent where it shouldn't be to fit in the box they used, but thankfully it didn't kink and it popped back into shape.
I'll be documenting that in detail in the thread below, but I'll put some updates here as well. If I don't run into any show stoppers I hope to have that done by the end of the weekend.
hdrams.com
I finished up the install of the Airlift 3H compressor system on my truck tonight. Went through the calibration and so far it works great. I still need to mess with the saved presets but I am impressed with the controller so far, pretty slick. The phone app works great too. No real photos of interest, but here is the plumbing finished. This is all temporary till I build the backpack cabinet, but it'll work fine for now.
I've decided I am going to take the hydraulic pump off for now - the landing gear isn't next up on my to do list (although it is soon), but I am going to just install the legs for now and leave them locked in the up position with no hoses or control unit yet. There's no point in mounting all of that since I will have to remove it to reinstall it in the cabinet, and that's just going to make a mess and waste a bunch of ATF.
Next up is the midship fuel tank. I did receive my fuel lines after they circumnavigated the country, and they were undamaged despite Mopar Parts Giant's best efforts. One was still bent where it shouldn't be to fit in the box they used, but thankfully it didn't kink and it popped back into shape.
I'll be documenting that in detail in the thread below, but I'll put some updates here as well. If I don't run into any show stoppers I hope to have that done by the end of the weekend.
Mid ship fuel tank
So I know it’s gotta be possible to add the second fuel tank that is offered from the factory, but cannot find a parts list or a how to on the forum. So my question is how can I add this to my cab and chassis? 2022 Ram 3500 DW tradesman Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
hdrams.com
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Dual Fuel Tanks
I'm not going to repost it all over here as I have written it up in excessive details in the thread linked above, but the midship fuel tank is installed so I now have "factory" dual fuel tanks.
The install wasn't bad - ordering the parts was by far the biggest ordeal.
Next up - install my new tail pipe so I can test drive it. I am learning to TIG and the tail pipe was my first actual project that was TIG welded. The welds are pretty ugly, although there are some that show promise. Thankfully it will all be buried under the truck once I get the bed on it. I'll post that up tomorrow after I get it installed.
I'm not going to repost it all over here as I have written it up in excessive details in the thread linked above, but the midship fuel tank is installed so I now have "factory" dual fuel tanks.
The install wasn't bad - ordering the parts was by far the biggest ordeal.
Next up - install my new tail pipe so I can test drive it. I am learning to TIG and the tail pipe was my first actual project that was TIG welded. The welds are pretty ugly, although there are some that show promise. Thankfully it will all be buried under the truck once I get the bed on it. I'll post that up tomorrow after I get it installed.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Welp, issues with the fuel tank - the rear one isn't transferring fuel to the midship one. Still debugging..
Either way, here's my crazy tailpipe. Let's call it version 1.0 - I may make some more changes to get a little more ground clearance, plus it needs some hangers and bracing.
Again, please excuse the welds - TIG newbie.
The general idea is I need a side exit because I don't want to go over the axle for a couple of reasons - 1. it's real crowded (but possible) with the Kelderman and 2. I plan on mounting one of my hydraulic legs exactly where the factory tailpipe is.
I don't want to modify the emissions, and I can't just take a 90 off the end of the DPF as it runs into the Kelderman control arms.
So loop-de-loo back forwards and then out the side.
I'm pleased with it, it's more or less what I intended. I'll work on it more after I figure out the fuel tank problem.
Either way, here's my crazy tailpipe. Let's call it version 1.0 - I may make some more changes to get a little more ground clearance, plus it needs some hangers and bracing.
Again, please excuse the welds - TIG newbie.
The general idea is I need a side exit because I don't want to go over the axle for a couple of reasons - 1. it's real crowded (but possible) with the Kelderman and 2. I plan on mounting one of my hydraulic legs exactly where the factory tailpipe is.
I don't want to modify the emissions, and I can't just take a 90 off the end of the DPF as it runs into the Kelderman control arms.
So loop-de-loo back forwards and then out the side.
I'm pleased with it, it's more or less what I intended. I'll work on it more after I figure out the fuel tank problem.
popeye2002
Active Member
Those bends are amazing... you have a mandrel pipe bender in da shop? I might have to bring a six pack over when i'm ready to redo my exhaust. Looking Pretty darn good but then again, I'm a retired electrician what do I know about welds.
Great White North Eh
Squish Cat - And So
- Messages
- 2,039
- Reaction score
- 3,604
- Points
- 113
World’s first trombone ram exhaust! 
gprguy
Well-Known Member
I wish I had a bender capable of something like that, 4" stainless mandrel bent must take some serious force. The bends are all from Stainless Bros, extremely high quality stuff - I'm very happy with them.
I haven't decided what to do long term, I am more of a turn down kind of guy but the one that's on there is the cheapest available on Amazon. I doubt the truck's even gone into regen once yet.
I haven't decided what to do long term, I am more of a turn down kind of guy but the one that's on there is the cheapest available on Amazon. I doubt the truck's even gone into regen once yet.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Updates will be a little slow for the next few weeks - very busy with work and family/friends visiting. Not getting a ton done on the truck, but I am still working on some side projects while I can.
I hope to get the hydraulic jacks mounted in early September, and then start the big project - measuring out how the camper will sit so I can start building the backpack box and the bed itself.
I hope to get the hydraulic jacks mounted in early September, and then start the big project - measuring out how the camper will sit so I can start building the backpack box and the bed itself.
gprguy
Well-Known Member
Had a little bit of time to work on a project yesterday - an exhaust hanger for the rear of the DPF where it goes into trombone land. The new exhaust will need another hanger towards the end to the bottom of one of the eventual storage boxes, but once I get this mounted it'll be plenty for now. This uses some unused factory frame side hangers that must be for a different wheelbase/config.
Arts and crafts time with the oxy/acetelene torch and a hammer. You can see the edge of the piece of copper wire I bent up as a pattern in the lower left.
Trimmed to fit:
And then welded to a salvaged band clamp as well as some hanger parts I salvaged off the tail pipe. Right now it's clamped around a spare chunk of 4" exhaust I was using for TIG practice to keep it's shape during welding.
I'm waiting for some high temperature aluminum paint to show up and then I'll get it installed.
Arts and crafts time with the oxy/acetelene torch and a hammer. You can see the edge of the piece of copper wire I bent up as a pattern in the lower left.
Trimmed to fit:
And then welded to a salvaged band clamp as well as some hanger parts I salvaged off the tail pipe. Right now it's clamped around a spare chunk of 4" exhaust I was using for TIG practice to keep it's shape during welding.
I'm waiting for some high temperature aluminum paint to show up and then I'll get it installed.
