2015 Ram Trucks

Bedlam wrote:
7.5' of the short bed truck camper fit on the the rear deck without clearance issues. We decided we are headed out to the Olympic Peninsula and Strait of Juan de Fuca for our maiden trip with the new setup.

Harvest Winery Tour

November 8 and 9, 2014
11 a.m. - 5 p.m

Sip and savor the flavors of fall, enjoy seasonal activities and marvel at nature’s vibrant palate during the Olympic Peninsula Wineries’ Harvest Wine Tour, November 8 and 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The eight artisan wineries are located in the Peninsula towns of Chimacum, Nordland, Port Townsend, Sequim and Port Angeles. “Fall is spectacular on the Olympic Peninsula,” says Wineries Association President Vicki Corson. “The Harvest Tour Weekend is a great opportunity to get away, taste some fantastic new wines and discover delicious new pairings for your holiday table.” Visitors can take a photo with their favorite of the “wine scarecrows” that greet them at each venue, enjoy an evening of jazz music and more!

NICE!

That should do the job.

I used 8, 3/4 inch lag bolts to hold mine down. That plus 2 tie downs at the back. It isn't sliding anywhere. ;)

The friction of the pad material between camper and truck keeps it in place just fine. Spring loaded tie downs at the same tension on each corner keeps the camper from shifting due to bumps or vibration.

Not being a truck camper guy I have to ask. Will those tie downs hold that securely to the deck? Seems to me that the pick-up box is what keeps it from sifting. Maybe weld some 4" by 4" angle iron to help block it in. Or at least that is what I would do.

Good luck Don

7.5' of the short bed truck camper fit on the the rear deck without clearance issues. We decided we are headed out to the Olympic Peninsula and Strait of Juan de Fuca for our maiden trip with the new setup.

Harvest Winery Tour

November 8 and 9, 2014
11 a.m. - 5 p.m

Sip and savor the flavors of fall, enjoy seasonal activities and marvel at nature’s vibrant palate during the Olympic Peninsula Wineries’ Harvest Wine Tour, November 8 and 9, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The eight artisan wineries are located in the Peninsula towns of Chimacum, Nordland, Port Townsend, Sequim and Port Angeles. “Fall is spectacular on the Olympic Peninsula,” says Wineries Association President Vicki Corson. “The Harvest Tour Weekend is a great opportunity to get away, taste some fantastic new wines and discover delicious new pairings for your holiday table.” Visitors can take a photo with their favorite of the “wine scarecrows” that greet them at each venue, enjoy an evening of jazz music and more!

I'd say two options for you, go east and come down HWY 97 east of the mountains and go as far south as you want, maybe Crater Lake? Lot's of places to explore. The Gorge, The Dalles, Bend, Sunriver, and futher points until Crater Lake.

Other option is come down I5 until Longview and then had west and south. Exploring HWY 30 along the Columbia River, then heading south into Yamhill Wine Country, hit McMinnville, Newberg, Dundee, Mist, Veronia, Corvallis on HWY 47 and 219 etc...campgrounds to hit Champoeg, LL Stub Stewart, and Silver Falls. when you want to go home just cross over to I5 and head North.

2BLAZERS wrote:
I love hitting the Oregon coast even this time of year. Like Beverly Beach, South Beach, or the Astoria area.

Over the Labor Day holiday week, we started in Florence and camped our way up to Astoria before heading inland to Hood Canal and the western side of the Puget Sound. We were thinking that this trip might be to see inland OR somewhere between the coast and the mountains.

Dodge and GM lost out on my business 10 years ago when I bought my Ford. This time around Ram got my attention and money. It will be long time before I look for another truck, but in the next three to five years I may replace my VW TDI - Who knows what that will be. Where are those diesel hybrids?

Bedlam wrote:
To be brand loyal is closing your eyes to the best fitting vehicle. 10 years ago, Dodge had front end and transmission issues with the worst fit and finish truck. While being owned by Daimler they made huge improvements each year. In 2008 the chassis cabs were introduced as Dodge and Sterling brands. Even though Sterling no longer exists, they put a lot of input into these trucks and had the experience to get them on the right track. The cabs, engines and transmissions are shared with the pickups but the rest were all new. For example, the pickups use a 3-link front end while the chassis cabs use 5-link. Instead of the hot tunes they put on the pickup engines trying to leap frog the competition, chassis cabs have tuning that allow them to run hard for longer durations without damage - This is why you don't see 385 hp / 865 ft-lb ratings in this class.

Ford is the same way but has been doing it much longer. I would have stayed with Ford, but they were too expensive for me to buy the truck I wanted and also they are using a problematic fuel pump (along with GM) that causes nasty damage when it fails. Read up on Bosch CP4 failures in Scorpion and Duramax engines. My 6.0 PSD treated me well and I was called an anomaly or statistical outlier due to my good experience (been called worse). I wasn't sure if my next truck would treat me as well.

I was seriously looking at the 6.4 Hemi and 6.8 Modular gasoline engines since the current models have more power than my 6.0 diesel. Fuel economy affecting my driving range bothered me plus I was now getting a more capable truck that would have been derated by choosing gasoline.

Some of you may be wondering why I don't have one of those 30,000 lb tow monsters you see on the commercials - To get those ratings you have to get 4.88 gears with diesel. This will make the engine scream any time you want drive the highways. Choosing Ford 4.30 or Ram 4.44 gearing is a compromise I can live with. 65 mph is at 2000 rpm and 55 mph is on top of the torque curve of the Cummins. The Scorpion V8 makes power at higher RPM's than the Cummins I6 but would still would be an earful rolling down the freeway with 4.88's.

The Ram is not offered with dual fuel tanks unless you get the longer wheel base, does not have an extended cab (I'm surprised Ram has not fitted their Mega Cab to the chassis cabs), could not be ordered with the heavier Dana 130 instead of the 110, and had lighter capacities than the Ford when ordered in the short wheelbase and 4.44 gears. The Ford has a smaller main fuel tank but can have a secondary in all frame lengths, only offers single and dual alternators that have smaller capacity than Ram, has many more options and packages that interact with your choices (not the best if you get distracted easy and deselect something you wanted), and has a higher bottom line price with the options I wanted.

Between the 1/8" thick 9' Palfinger Badger flatbed, 30k lb Curt Double Lock Gooseneck and 20K lb SuperHitch Magnum Receiver, I have plenty of RV choices once finances are built back up. The 5500 chassis cab, Cummins engine and Aisin transmission were not cheap, but I could have easily spent the same amount on a DRW 3500 pickup.

If any of you want the dealer pricing formula for a new Ram, send me a message. Watch what the dealers charge for the base price of the vehicle - Although the price varies based on build date, some had bloated this number or were charged more from the manufacturer than others. Both Ford and Ram have $1000 upfit rebates and an additional $500 rebate on the 2015 models. If you can find a 2014 model you like, there can easily be an additional $4000 in rebates.

There has never been a problem with he fit and finish nor the front end on my 10+ year old Dodge truck. I can not say the same for the '97 Chevy product truck that I drove for 11 years for the company I worked for. JMHO

I love hitting the Oregon coast even this time of year. Like Beverly Beach, South Beach, or the Astoria area.

This weekend I will be mounting my truck camper and will get some pictures. I will post in the TC forum once it is mounted. There is already a thread started at TruckCamperForums with additional pictures I took yesterday of the running gear and interior.

Feel free to post questions here or message me. I only have 500 miles on the truck, so I need to get things set up and go camping. 2BLAZERS locale was actually an area we were considering for our trial trip - Any suggestions?