I pulled the trigger on a truck and camper. In the 90's we had a small Shadow Cruiser (had everything but bathroom) and a Sierra 2500 5.7L gas truck and a beat-up old boat.
Now I bought a 2016 Ram 3500 Big Horn crew cab long box DRW with the Cummins, 3.42 axle and the Chrysler transmission. Odo has little over 31,000 miles. It wasn't what I set out to buy, but it is where I ended up.
For the camper I went with a new Arctic Fox 990 which I will pick-up in several weeks. I spec'd it with thermal pane windows and the Mach 8 9000 btu AC unit, fox landing etc. I plan to also purchase a Honda EU2200i for power off grid and/or to charge boat batteries.
I read the "Truck Camper" post and enjoyed all the information there. I see there are some posters with substantial experience with the trucks, truck camper and boat trailering set-up. I liked the pictures of the rigs from LTZ25 and Therobzilla.
So here are a few questions I want to throw out, somewhat unconnected, but all related to truck camper stuff. You guys can help me spend my money (what little is left of it).
I'm going to need an extender hitch since the AF will hang over the back of the RAM. The camper dealer suggested a 34" curt extension. I looked up the spec on that and at 34" it is rated for 4500 lb max trailer weight and 450 lb max tongue weight without weight distribution. My Ranger Z521 trailer has a GTW of 5000 lbs. I've never had it across the scales, so I don't know how close it is to GTW, but I'm guessing it may exceed the extender rating. From what I found on line the next option is the super hitch and extender from torklift which list for almost $1200 (ouch!). What have you guys found out and how did you solve the extender challenge? Adding weight distribution/sway bars would allow me to use the Curt extender and be within spec, and it would be less expensive, but then I would have more crap to take off and store when I drop the camper at the campsite.
Back-up camera - I'm looking at wireless cameras. Ideally I would have two, one mounted center high on back wall of camper, and another on the truck (bumper?). I'm hoping the one up high will be able to see the hitch for backing-up. The other one mounted on the truck, I would like to have for when the camper and the truck tailgate are off the truck so I can see the hitch for backing up. Is there a system compatible with two styles of cameras, one for mounting on the camper and the other being perhaps a low profile camera to mount on the license plate screws? Can one toggle on the video screen to get the desired camera input? Any ideas?
To anyone living in hot regions like Arizona ... I'm a little concerned with the 9000 btu AC I will have on the camper. I lived in Arizona previously and plan to move back in the near future. The 9000 btu AC is small, but I think I will be ok since I generally try and avoid camping in the hottest weather ... if I'm in Phoenix in the summer, I drive to somewhere cooler to camp anyhow. When I lived in Arizona I always said I'd give up my truck camper air conditioner before I'd give up the furnace. Any comments on the size of that AC unit?
A rubber pad for the back of the truck ... I'm looking at the DeeZee pads. I see Chrysler accessories sells the pads too. Any experience or recommendations on this topic?
From looking at the other "Truck Camper" post, it looks like a lot of you use the 3500 Ram with the Cummins. I'm hoping that is a good sign. This will be my first Chrysler product and first diesel. The truck seems to get good performance reviews, I'm crossing my fingers that it will be reliable. The comments I've been reading about customer support from FCA, if things go bad, have not been glowing. How do you guys like the truck?
Thanks for any feedback!