jmtandem
carson city nv
Senior Member
Joined: 01/18/2006
View Profile
 Offline
|
ramrat,
All of the above and especially get rid of the plastic bed liner. Those are bad news for slide kin campers. Be sure you have cab clearance of about three inches and get that with plywood or presswood not two by fours, etc. Put the rubber mat over the wood and under the camper. Measure the side to side distance front and back to be sure the camper is in the middle of the bed and then address the side to side sag and door issue. If the camper is not centered in the bed it can tend to have an affect on the truck. Your camper weighs about 1000 pounds more than the actual dry camper weight with water, stuff, etc. (My Dodge quad cab rear doors miss the camper by a couple inches but if the camper is not square on the truck it can be much more on one side and much less one the other. If you still have more sag on one side then you might need some suspension stuff--air bags that can individually adjusted for more air on one side, energy suspension bumpers (Tork Lift has something similar), or springs. It should ride just right, not slide around, and if the overload springs are just touching the (aftermarket) spring bumpers eliminate most sway. My camper is 4000 pounds on the truck and it handles it great. If after all that you are still having door issues then add a 1x6 board in front of the camper and between the front of the bed. This effectively moves the camper rearward another inch.
'05 Dodge Cummins 4x4 dually 3500 white quadcab auto long bed airbags overload springs bumpers
|
ramrat
Bay Area CA
New Member
Joined: 11/23/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
Thanks for all the good advice. I purchased my truck new from the lot with 16 miles.
I do plan on adding super springs on it to help the suspension (have them sitting in my living room). Camper does sit on the overloads.
Truck has had only 1 heavy load of gravel - rest was towing a small 14foot boat and going offroad on a fireroad once.
Truck has 33K miles on it. Ive always had wind noise from the windows when its blowing hard but with the camper on - the wind noise is all the time. I can put my hand and grip the window and the edge of the door corner (squeeze it in) and the wind noise goes away.
Going today to pick up some plywood. Is it recommended to paint the wood before putting it into the truck?
I will post pictures tonight as I am getting ready to go on a hike to Point Reyes National Seashore.
|
trails2004
Wyoming
Senior Member
Joined: 07/19/2007
View Profile
|
Quote:.......Going today to pick up some plywood. Is it recommended to paint the wood before putting it into the truck?....
If I understand correctly -you are raising your camper in the bed of the truck to gain clearance to the side rails in the bed and the cab of the truck.
Why use plywood?? Use polystyrene "blue board"- a ton lighter and less expensive and will help insulate.
2002 Dodge Ram 2500 SLT 4x4-AFE Cold Air,4"Exhaust,Toyos,Ranchos,Dual Air III- Firestones-Platinum AGM's 2004 Hallmark Cuchara XL 9.5 w/Carbon Fiber Roof, WFCO 9845,Xantrex XBM,Honda 2000,1997 Grumman GV19TC- Crew Wifey,(Odin,Bridger & Sam,Wirehairs)
|
weymard
FRANCE
Full Member
Joined: 11/07/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
trails2004 wrote:
Why use plywood?? Use polystyrene "blue board"- a ton lighter and less expensive and will help insulate.
I agree totally, With my Swedish Nordstar I have it in the bed of Ram and on the Russian roads it was indispensable. With the Apache and the new truck I put 3 patches of 3cm = 1" in the bed, the camper do not move and the polystyrene absorb the vibrations and the other shocks from the road.
silverado 1500 4x4 ltz 6,0L
Apache chief 865 ws
France, Normandy
|
Garino
Beaufort, SC.
New Member
Joined: 05/10/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
Just a note on the door, my 03 dodge is the same the cab pressure seems to vent. I don't know if the door has a vent flap like the old trucks did.
Gary,Shelley and Morgan (Mini Dachshund)
2003 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 5.7 4.10 QC SB
2004 Lance 815
|
|
|
campalaska
Alaska
Senior Member
Joined: 05/09/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
my 99 gmc 2500 sierra has it (wind noise), so do my friends Chevy 99 1500, and another friends 04 Chevy 2500. it's really annoying.
- 1999 GMC Sierra 2500 Extended Cab 6.5FT Bed
- Firestone Ride-Rite Airbags.
- 1999 Adventurer 810ws
|
Beddows
Abbotsford, Canada
Senior Member
Joined: 04/14/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
Ditto to getting rid of the bed liner. With mine I almost lost the camper out the back of the truck goign up a steep bumpy hill. It slid back enough for me to lose my rear tie downs.
2004 Chevy 3500 Duramax DRW
2008 Snow River Prestige Signature Edition. (The first, and maybe last of its kind)
 (2).JPG)
|
jmtandem
carson city nv
Senior Member
Joined: 01/18/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
ramrat,
Was just at Pt. Reyes last month, went to the lighthouse; camped at a private campground just two miles from Pt. Reyes station.
|
ramrat
Bay Area CA
New Member
Joined: 11/23/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
Below is the link to the pictures on how my camper was currently installed on the truck by the dealer.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ramrat3500/BigfootCamper?authkey=FmYmUKyyFdQ
I never heard of polystyrene "blue board". Will go to home depo to look at them. I also did some searches and see people installed “horse” rubber mats. I visited a feed store where they have them ¾ inch thick rubber mats.
Should I use the “blue board” in conjunction with the rubber horse mats to get the clearance I need or should I put 2 rubber mats on top of each other to gain the clearance or blue board /s only layered so its hight enough to give me 4” clearance above the truck cab.
Garino
The lighthouse. That's a nice area. We hiked from the Bird Observatory (near Bolinas Lagoon) to Alamera Falls (close to Wildcat camping spot). Unbelievable weather 65-67 degrees.
Some picts of the hike.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ramrat3500/PointReyesAlameraFalls?authkey=lqlB6gVxnOE
|
fuelhauler
Southern Oregon
Senior Member
Joined: 07/25/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
Ramrat I use 2" blueboard & a 1/4" rubber matt to get the clearence I need for my Bigfoot. I have rails for my fifthwheel hitch that I needed to clear before setting the camper in the bed. But I can see if I didn't have those rails in the bed I would still need atleast 1" blueboard with the rubber matt to clear the doors on my Dodge.Those thick horse stall matts are heavy. I thought about them until I hefted one. Since I switch between my 5vr & the TC I wanted to make the change over as painless as possible.
2005 Dodge q/c 4x4 dually six speed pac brake
2006 bigfoot 10.6
2003 Everest 32' 5vr
|
|
|
