2017 Ram 4D 8’ Bed

[youngm357]

We found out Tuesday how incredibly tight the fit of a 1996 Fleetwood 8.5 Camper is in the 8 foot Ram bed. We got it in there along with a $1500 casualty to the forward drivers side of the bed consisting of a nice dent courtesy of the jack I’ve always had 6.5 beds so it’s never been an issue and the **** camper is made for a long bed. One issue was the new truck is diesel and is harder to control slow movements.

[TxGearhead]

quote:
The best was a laser level from Lowe's. It has a strong magnetic base that attaches to the wheel well with the laser pointing straight backwards.

Hmmm...that's a great idea. Please tell us a little more. Are you putting the laser on top of the wheel well? Do you have a target spot on the camper bump out?

[TxGearhead]

I had plenty of clearance on my previous 2016 Ram SRW and the Bigfoot. On the new 2018 Ram dually the tailgate clearance is much tighter. I had to cut an inch from the width of my bed mat and my plywood. I might have 1.500" total tailgate opening clearance now. I wasn't expecting that.
But the Bigwig sway bar fits much better. It has more clearance at the tailpipe and I didn't do anything to the heat shield on the spare tire.

[rhagfo]

I am a little lost on diesels being hard to control slow speeds. I test drove a 2017 Ram 3500 auto and on return backed into a very tight spot without issue.

[JimK-NY]

I definitely know what you mean by a tight fit. My 2005 Northstar Igloo barely, barely fit my 2010 Dodge. I had about 1 1/2 inch of clearance on both wheel wells, but the bathroom bumpout only cleared the tailgate opening by about 1/4 inch. Tailgate openings on current trucks are about 60 inches for Dodge and Ford and about 58 1/2 for Chevy.

I did not have any issues with the diesel controlling slow movements. It does take a foot on the brake to back up slowly and evening. My issue was alignment. I tried several techniques. The best was a laser level from Lowe's. It has a strong magnetic base that attaches to the wheel well with the laser pointing straight backwards.

[Ski_Pro_3]

If your truck has 4 wheel drive, put the transfer case in low range for better low speed control.