Derek here. Cathy asked me to write about our truck and camper, for those of you who are interested in our rig.
Our truck/camper combo is a 2003.5 Dodge Ram 3500 quadcab, Laramie, 4 x 4, long box, powered by a 5.9 litre, inline 6 cylinder turbodiesel with fairly legendary capabilities that we hope our motor will live up to. I am pleased to add that the truck was built in Saltillo Mexico – like going home! We have a 2001 8 foot Alaskan cabover camper. We already owned the truck and camper prior to our decision to take this trip. This is our third truck and certainly the biggest most featured truck we have ever owned. This lead to a concern about ostentatiousness in our travels which instigated a long process considering several alternatives, from driving a small vehicle and staying in cheap hotels, to a small SUV and roof top tent, to a camperised van. In the end we re-converged on, “what we already had”, advice we had read in forums devoted to driving the Pan-American highway.
The attributes we valued in purchasing our truck were the efficient/powerful Cummins turbodiesel motor (the turbo will help a motor operate better at higher altitudes), heavy duty transmission, drive line and helical limited slip differential, as well as size, comfort, four wheel drive, higher clearance, toughness, durability (hopefully) and capacity.
The truck came to us in very good and stock condition with 170,000 kilometres. The only modifications at that time were a free flow exhaust and a K&N air filter.
When we decided that the Dodge would be our ride, maintenance started in earnest. First, compensating for the vehicles approximately 12 years of age when purchased and nearly 200,000 kilometres, although this would not be considered a lot for a Cummins diesel motor, the wear on the truck as a whole needed attention. We realized we needed high quality mechanic service and advice which we found at High Country Auto and Propane from it’s proprietor and now our new friend Lewis. He carried out repairs and made recommendations on products and upgrades as we prepared the truck for the trip. Today the truck has approximately 226,000 kilometres on it.
The modifications to the truck by Lewis included:
- Baldwin fuel contamination and water filtration system with significantly improved specifications
- Titan extra large belly mount fuel tank (effective capacity of 225 litres with an approximate range of 1250 kilometres with the truck fully loaded
- Firestone rear suspension air bags
- Revtek front suspension 2 inch levelling kit for enhanced front axel travel
- Rancho gas shocks
- Ranchhand “Sport” front bumper and grill guard and rear bumper
- heavy duty transmission was rebuilt with billet torque converter and triple clutch.
Further there was extensive maintenance to the steering, brakes, seals, driveline and hoses. We opted not to go for a big wheel package as replacement tires would be hard to find in South America and it would affect the gear ratios of the vehicle. We chose BF Goodrich all terrain T/A K/O2 tires in essentially the stock size. These tires have been lightly used on a trip we took two years ago to New Mexico.
Further modifications that I undertook included:
- Happyjack camper tie downs
- locking wheel nuts
- locking license plate nuts
- custom fake front license plate for the front of the truck
- window security film
- rear locking tailgate
- Jimmy Jammers in the doors to protect the door mechanism from break ins
- extended breather tubes on both differentials and the transfer case, to prevent water inflow in the case of flooded roads.
Finally, we also removed the one third back seat and replaced it with half of a modified steel gull-wing locking tool box by Delta.
View across Piper’s platform to our lock box
Our camper is equipped with a hydraulic raising and lowering system and 3 hard sidewalls that flip up in the cabover when the clam shell is raised. For amenities we have 2 reversible thermostatically controlled vent fans from Fantastic Vent, a three way fridge, 3 burner stove and oven, a porta potti, a 100 litre water tank, 20 lbs of propane, lights, two 25 watt solar panels with charge control system and two Optima deep discharge house batteries. The batteries are charged by 110 volt plug in, solar system and via one way solenoid charging relay from the truck. We also have an 800 watt inverter for recharging shavers, toothbrushes and making smoothies. Oh! And for recharging digital devices.
Although the people from whom we bought the camper in 2007 owned a Dodge Ram 2500 pickup, the camper did not fit in our third generation Dodge without a minimum 2.5 inch lift in the box. I built a basement storage system for under the camper which was 6 inches in height providing space for 2 bins totalling approximately 8 cubic feet which will carry the necessary supplies and equipment under the camper with a low centre of gravity. Specific supplies and parts brought for the truck include a full set of brake pads, a full set of ball joints, and a main drive shaft u-joint, a serpentine belt, as well as numerous filters, additives and some oil.
The trays pull out from under the camper.
I used hitch pins with locks so that the drawers cannot be pulled out with undoing the lock.
In front of the drawers I added a custom sheet of checker plate aluminum.
A sheet of tyvek diverts rain away from the drawers and adds camouflage.
With concern about ostentatiousness having driven us around a big circle of alternative transportation/accommodation combinations, it is a bit ironic that this is by far the biggest, nicest set-up we have ever had. And yet, if you consider that this may largely be our home for the next two years, it can be pretty small and crowded with two people and a dog. We are hoping to be able to live outdoors for much of the time, but are pleased to have a comfortable space for privacy and shelter!
Go Seymour!