It also has that cool panoramic camera view for handling big trailers and fifth wheels. Finally there is some sort of trailer backing technology built in too. Cameras are everywhere.

It is the blacked out midnight edition

I began ownership of a new Ram dually truck today.

I had to trade in my 2022 Ram 3500 because that single rear-wheel 6.5' bed vehicle was unable to carry the truck camper I had just purchased.

I learned a hard lesson here. The single-wheel Ram had a payload of 4027 listed clearly in the driver's door jamb. I. however looked up some statistics online at the Ram truck site and made the camper purchase using the Ram website numbers.

The website numbers turned out to be very enthusiastic and the actual truck number was nearly 1,000 lbs. less

I found this out Friday night and so Saturday morning I had a candid discussion with my wife. I explained my mistake and showed her the numbers. I only had 16 pounds available weight to carry black and gray water, food, drinks, clothes, dishes, knives and forks, a toolbox, chairs, a table, and on and on. I explained that we had two choices. First would be to just do it illegally and hope for the best. The downside of that is should I be involved in an accident and anyone did the math, I would be shown to be negligent, perhaps grossly negligent. That would preclude the insurance from paying and could open me up to litigation if anyone else suffered harm. But it was a choice.

Door number two was to just can the truck and go buy a dually. I did not want to do that.

We decided for several reasons to bite the bullet and purchase the Dually and here it is in all it's newness and splendor.

That could mean anything!!!!

Here's what it means JR:

Pics coming right up

Hint: I changed the fluids...

I worked with ASO to try and close the hole these mice were getting through. I cannot say if the technicians got it patched, or if a patch is even possible.

What happens, is that the longer you go, your contact/email/address gets circulated. Many bad characters get access to it. Once someone puts you on some dark list that scammers access, then they just use the normal process to get in. Our defense is our approval process. It works in that it stacks applications to join up in a list. Then one of us, and that person is rather random just looks over the list and makes the calls. All of you in the Global Moderator or Administrator status can hire or fire. I get to it a couple of times a day and so do many of you. Collectively we kick the assumed bad ones to the curb.

Not an ideal system, but it is what we have.

You all are free to approve or reject as you see fit, your call. Restrictions are lifted.

Nope

You're gunna be surprised...

Dream catcher...hmmm, hadn't thought about that. Have an extra one you could spare? ;-)

I made a massive modification to this vehicle yesterday.

Story tomorrow....   ;-)

Day 59

Day 57

Well, heck, thought I'd get some information, but alas, I think Bob has it.

So I measured and plunked down the $$$ on this:

Now that we have purchased our Palamino HS-2902 camper I am busy prepping the truck to carry it.

I think I have a good start already. First of all the camper is designed for a 6.5'-8.0' bed length. Its center of gravity is some 5" forward of the rear axle.

Secondly, the truck is a Ram 3500 with a GVWR of 11,800, about a thousand more than some other Ram 3500s.

I have already replaced the factory shocks with Fox HD units. The truck is leveled with 2.5" Carli suspension front springs and a 1" rear block. I also opted to relocate the lower control arms to keep a good caster number, and in fact, I am aligned to factory specs in the middle of the adjustment range. (Great job Carli Suspension!)

I opted for 37" tires because I did want some limited off-road capability, but on the downside, it raised the truck nearly 2". To offset that, I purchased Icon wheels that space the tires 2+ inches further out into the wheel well. Whereas before the tires sat well inside the fenders, now the tires are nearly flush with the fender. That gave the vehicle a more planted and stable feel, which will help with carrying a lot of weight way up high.

Finally, I have already installed a set of 5,000lb capacity airbags for when I carry trailers which are weighing more than 6K-7K. I do not want any squat, and with the airbags, I don't get any.

Next up, I purchased a set of Torque-Lift, Stable-load units. These clever mechanical devices can be quickly turned to engage the primary spring pack with the overload spring. This alone would vastly reduce squat, but reading about the subject, I can see many others reporting great results. I have used these before on my 2500 Duramax truck and indeed they made my truck corner nearly flat on these windy Kentucky roads.

One of the other huge benefits of these devices is that they reduce body roll. Going around a corner with a ton and a half perched at windshield level can get spicy, but devices such as this will really tame the ride.

Coming right up, but not quite yet, I plan to install a 1 1/2" rear sway bar. I think with all that going on, I will have the camper/truck handling as good as it possibly could.

The set on the Chevy were made of mild steel and rusted and corrouded. This time they offer Stainless steel units and I ordered those.

Bob, Sean is right. Here is a link to a place where I order ammo from regularly and have purchased a half dozen guns from.

https://www.budsgunshop.com/

Ouch, another 25 or so this am. Just deleted the email.

TRN, buy a throw away when you get there. If its nice, just mail it home!

Got up to 32
I'm seeing some countries I did not know existed!
Today Iceland, Malta, Afghanistan, Bahamas...

Think I have done 20 now.

I approved 1 a few days back from N Kentucky after an email check.

Dang, another 10 or so, then more showed up. Its out of control!

We have an open ticket with the small orange folks to address...

Bots have been busy today, wow!

Yes they have, I just canned 9!

I submitted a ticket to inquire why so many scammers are getting through the filters.

First one down.

I am inquiring about the additional "Premium service." I am wondering why we are being invoiced for both the Clementine and the premium services. I'll let you all know.
And I will renew our domain.

Day 53

We just got another $118. Thanks, sir!

Looks like a balance of $550

Keep a look at the Donations sheet to see how much we have accumulated thus far.

“Open Box” on eBay means all the stuff the theft rings walked out of Home Depot with…

Hey Don. This was in your backyard.  Did you attend??

https://www.wdsu.com/article/kentucky-couple-gets-married-inside-gas-station-disco-bathroom/46944375


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That's right in my backyard for sure.
Naw, didn't get the invite
But
Now
I'm gonna have to go look that up.
Carrolton is 25 min from here!

That's one serious vice right there!

Thats pretty sweet. My first ever camper was a pickup box camper. Nothing like this. Mine was free.

Def NOT free!
But easily within my means. Giving myself 1 year to pay it off.

I want to encourage you two to share some of this general information over on the "Alaska Adventure 225 thread.

Loads of good discussion here. You have me thinking. I was going one spare/compressor/tire plug route. Try and squeeze in some extra fuel, but I already have scads of range with that sippy Cummins. Having said that, with a big draggy camper on the back my MPG's will be less.

My Wyoming shakedown run this summer will teach me much of what I will need going forward.

http://real-man-truckworks-and-survival.com/index.php?topic=5486.0

"Everything is habit-forming, so make sure what you do is what you want to be doing."

- Wilt Chamberlain