4500 Camper/Jeep Hauler Build

[Brutal_HO]

Starting to get somewhere..

The backpack is taking shape. At this point the two uprights are welded to the bottom crossbar, but most of the rest is clamped together while I figured out the angles.





I am happy with the profile so far, although I did waste a solid hour today trying to figure out why things wouldn't center up. Turns out the cab is shifted 1/4" to one side. Yeah... Still deciding what to do about that, but odds are it'll just be what it will be as I'm not building the bed off center from the frame rails.





Next up will probably be finishing those cuts, getting everything welded together on the table and add some cross bracing.

Meanwhile, I've always wanted a night edition Ram. Never managed to get one for one reason or another, and this time around it's because there's no such thing as a night edition chassis cab. No big deal for the most part, the trim parts are all pretty generic and I can just use normal night edition stuff. Except for the hood badge.. I've never seen a 4500/5500 badge that wasn't at least partially chrome. So I figured I'd have to custom paint my chrome 4500 badges, or plasti-dip them, or something. Boy was I happy when I found out these existed.



Turns out on some of the low volume paint colors they do black badging, even on the 4500/5500's. These will save me a ton of work. If it's helpful for anyone in the future, the 4500 black badge part numbers are 68362224AC for the left, 68362225AB (or AC) for the right. I don't know the 5500 part numbers but they exist too.

Now that I have these I can get the new wheels in for powder coating later this week, and the bike rack too. More to come soon I hope.

My cab/bed alignment was way off and both were adjusted. I'd not hesitate to move the cab if it bothers you much.

 

[gprguy]

My cab/bed alignment was way off and both were adjusted. I'd not hesitate to move the cab if it bothers you much.

Good to know. I think I'm going to build the box centered and deal with it later if I feel the need. I'm already under the gun to be ready to camp in the spring.

 

[gprguy]

Front wall is coming along great, it's basically complete and fully welded on one side.



Really could use a second or bigger fab table for this job, but I'm making do. Looks pretty decent on the truck, I just threw it in place without centering it up too closely.







Next up will be finishing the welding on the other side, and then more or less copying it for the slightly wider rear wall.

 

[gprguy]

Two steps forward...

Installed my black 4500 badges because I just wanted to see them.



Oh yeah, can't wait to get the rest of them swapped. All chrome must die.

Speaking of black, picked up a bunch of stuff from powder coat.







I'm pretty pleased with the results. The finish on the backside came out nice as well despite them being the unpolished side from the factory. The sandblasting smoothed it out nicely.

Should have tires next week and will get them mounted up hopefully.

Also got the bike rack parts back and reassembled the little bits and pieces. I won't bolt most of this down until the slide is installed into the cabinet for the final time. Still needs some sort of black coin floor covering too.



One step back...

I've been having increasing doubts about the longevity of the aluminum framework I've been building for the cabinet. Aluminum of course is notorious for cracking, and on top of that I've only been TIG welding for a short time compared to MIG. I had already decided that I needed to build the drop down portions of the cabinet on the side (not yet shown above) out of steel as they will be holding some heavy things (air system, hydraulic system) and the welds will be under tension bouncing down the road.

After thinking about it for a bit and fighting some cracking already (my own fault) while finish welding the front wall I realized I needed to start over and build the whole frame out of steel. The weight difference won't be significant and I'll have confidence it won't be falling apart going down the road. The skin will still be aluminum just as I originally planned.

So a step back, but I've already picked up the steel to get started and hopefully I can get caught up by sometime next week. Gotta do it right or it's not worth doing at all.

 

[Units]

Gotta do it right or it's not worth doing at all.

I agree 100%, my wife calls me capt. overkill. I don’t want to complete a project and look back an go - well coulda woulda shoulda, I’d drive myself nuts. Oh and great thread BTW, I’ve been following since I stumbled across it. Nice to see what kind of ideas others have bouncing around their heads.

 

[gprguy]

I agree 100%, my wife calls me capt. overkill. I don’t want to complete a project and look back an go - well coulda woulda shoulda, I’d drive myself nuts. Oh and great thread BTW, I’ve been following since I stumbled across it. Nice to see what kind of ideas others have bouncing around their heads.

Thanks - lots more to come on this build!

 

[gprguy]

Your build is quite interesting - I took time and read through from the beginning.

It certainly looks like you have spent much time researching this build and selecting components for specific purposes. Since I don't know anything about the Kelderman suspension it would be really interesting to hear what your pre-build thought process was in selecting this system.

I really am enjoying all the pictures and information so keep them coming!

Thank you!

For the suspension there are only two real options that I know of for these size trucks - Kelderman or Liquid Spring. This is my first full Kelderman suspension but I did previously have just their front kit on an older Dodge, and I am a fan of air ride in general - my 05 LJ has a full mostly custom air suspension on it.

I was able to look at the Liquid Spring setup at Overland Expo last year and it is definitely a quality setup. I imagine it rides even better than the Kelderman since you basically have full active computer controlled struts. However two things disqualified it for me - one is the bulk of their system. The struts don't take up any significant space but each strut has an external accumulator which is about 4-5" around and a couple feet long. I just don't have room for that on my truck without eating into storage or hanging it off the bottom of the frame. The second and the more important one to me is the proprietary nature of their system - the struts are custom parts and even the fluid is proprietary. If you have a leak or damage a strut on the road you're basically done. With the Kelderman I can carry a spare bag or two in a minimal amount of space, it uses the same bags all the way around the truck, and if I have a line or air control failure I can easily swap the air line to the bag with a little stub line and schrader valve and then air the bag up from any gas station or even the compressor in my Jeep if I am towing that. Back on the road in no time. This is one of the reasons my Jeep is air ride instead of coilovers. Yeah I can't bomb across whoops in the desert quite as fast but I carry a spare bag and I have no concerns about getting off the trail.

Ultimately from my understanding the Liquid Spring setup originated with ambulances, and they make a ton of sense for that - if an ambulance breaks down that's not good, but it's in town, it can probably limp somewhere or worst case you can dispatch another ambulance. Tow it back to the shop and wait for parts if needed. However if I'm on the road, or say half way up the ALCAN none of that makes sense to me, I'd rather go with a tried and true air ride I can repair.

 

[flan]

We have a kelderman kit on a 2011 5500 I maintain with a heavy box on the back, very few issues to date. Also have a LS setup on a very new F-450, too new to comment on. They were known for cracking frame crossmembers, hopefully they have addressed the design and that’s behind them now.

 

[gprguy]

Wow, that's not ideal. I wonder if that was a Kelderman issue or a Ram issue. I don't have a good photo but if that's the crossmember I think it is (the one in front of the rear axle), the design is completely different on my truck. I don't have a good picture from below but you can kind of see here the bracket (in the foreground) is welded and wraps around the crossmember.

 

[jsalbre]

Wow, that's not ideal. I wonder if that was a Kelderman issue or a Ram issue. I don't have a good photo but if that's the crossmember I think it is (the one in front of the rear axle), the design is completely different on my truck. I don't have a good picture from below but you can kind of see here the bracket (in the foreground) is welded and wraps around the crossmember.

View attachment 66844

I think he was saying the cracks were on LiquidSpring frames, not Kelderman.

 

[flan]

Wow, that's not ideal. I wonder if that was a Kelderman issue or a Ram issue. I don't have a good photo but if that's the crossmember I think it is (the one in front of the rear axle), the design is completely different on my truck. I don't have a good picture from below but you can kind of see here the bracket (in the foreground) is welded and wraps around the crossmember.

View attachment 66844

Lucky for you, neither! This was F-450/550/liquid spring combos. Many issues with frame crossmembers reported.

 

[gprguy]

Glad to hear it, thanks!

 

[gprguy]

Progress is slow lately - a lot going on other than the truck, and a lot of running around with truck related errands. I'm taking the holiday week off so hopefully I can get back on track. I have the new frame brackets for the steel version of the cabinet maybe 75% done.

That said, tires are mounted on the two wheels I have powder coated and aside from the handprints I am pretty pleased.



Finding wheel weights for these thick aluminum rims has proven to be a challenge, plus they will stick out on the black so I have a set of Centramatics on the way. We'll see if they are all they claim to be.

Once I get these on I can get the other 4 aluminum wheels off, get the tires dismounted and off to powder coating.

These have the TPMS sensors in them too, so I'll test those out this weekend and see if they register to the truck. Fingers crossed!

 

[buzzuti]

Progress is slow lately - a lot going on other than the truck, and a lot of running around with truck related errands. I'm taking the holiday week off so hopefully I can get back on track. I have the new frame brackets for the steel version of the cabinet maybe 75% done.

That said, tires are mounted on the two wheels I have powder coated and aside from the handprints I am pretty pleased.

View attachment 66933

Finding wheel weights for these thick aluminum rims has proven to be a challenge, plus they will stick out on the black so I have a set of Centramatics on the way. We'll see if they are all they claim to be.

Once I get these on I can get the other 4 aluminum wheels off, get the tires dismounted and off to powder coating.

These have the TPMS sensors in them too, so I'll test those out this weekend and see if they register to the truck. Fingers crossed!

Bitchin'!

Did the same thing on my 5500.
Centramatics for the win, as powder coating will make it very difficult to balance without em.
No weights at all, just the Centramatics! (weights would most likely also scratch em )
I have experienced zero wobble!

Keep us updated on the TPMS sensors. Did you use OEM sensors?
I have a set that came with my 3500 trailer package, may or may not be able to use those myself idk.

 

[gprguy]

Fantastic - everything I have read about them seems positive.

I did, as far as I know I have the proper sensors that would theoretically come on a 4500/5500 if they had tire sensors, they are the ones listed in TA. They are different than the trailer sensors, those only work for trailers.

I have to do some driving to get them to pair up still, the service manual says you have to maintain 20+ mph for 20 minutes at least to get them to pair. Hopefully I'll have some news next week.

 

[buzzuti]

Though I will be in Park City during this, it may be a fun target to set out there for ya;
We will be in Quartzite in Feb for the Annual TC rally, that one is pretty chill as well from my understanding.

Sync'ing up at some point when you "complete" things would be awesome to see it all done in person!

Home - | NW TC Rally

www.nwtcrally.com

 

[gprguy]

Quartzite is definitely on our list but it won't be this year - I will be happy if I can get the camper on it by April at this rate.

 

[buzzuti]

Quartzite is definitely on our list but it won't be this year - I will be happy if I can get the camper on it by April at this rate.

My solar install in underway at the moment, should wrap it up after xmas!
(560Ah battery bank, 800w solar, to start)
Will share!

 

[Enve46]

This is a wild build with majority of WAYYY over my head. But love seeing LJs, have had 2 Rubicons myself. I recognize your Jeeps, are/were you on JeepForum at all? There was a khaki LJR that was built in your neck of the woods with Currie axles if I recall, wasn't sure if that was you or not but dont hide those LJs from us Jeep people!!!

 

[gprguy]

My solar install in underway at the moment, should wrap it up after xmas!
(560Ah battery bank, 800w solar, to start)
Will share!

That will be fantastic - that was my project a couple years back over the winter. Only room for 400w of solar on our camper's roof, and we have 400ah of batteries with a nice full Victron setup. It's a total game changer for boondocking.