artic fox 811 on 2005 dodge ram 2500 diesel short bed??

[lizwood71]

Hi, we need some advice as we can not get a straight answer. We just bought an 811 Artic fox camper for our 2005 Dodge Ram 2500 quad cab diesel short bed truck. The artic fox dealer says it is a fine truck for this camper. But upon further research it seems to grossly exceed the GVWR weight capacity. Even if we upgraded to a 3500 Ram it seems to exceed this. How can this be possible? What part of the equation are we missing? What truck is capable of hauling this or do we listen to the dealer that our truck is fine? Just wanting to be safe. Thanks for the advice.

[billtex]

d3500ram wrote:

lizwood71 wrote:
So we still have the tie downs ( brand new ) from when they were put on the 2500. ( minus the underneath bracket that we decided to leave on old truck. So I'm wondering if they will work on new truck w just some new underneath brackets ?which I assume would need to be longer due to the Dually. Asked the dealer to find out about this for us but of course we have not heard back from him.

You should not necessarily need longer TL's but am not so sure now on the new Dodge beds because of the taper front an back of the wheel well opening. But are you sure the camper will fit on this truck bed?

Not intending to throw a curve ball at you but if you have not already done so you may want to read this thread about a camper having fit problems on a 2016 Dodge DRW:

http://forums.woodalls.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28702767/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

2x
Aren't the mega cabs a no/no with TC's?

[jimh406]

Torklift has the parts numbers listed on their website. Check out if the parts are the same part numbers for both models or not.

[d3500ram]

lizwood71 wrote:
So we still have the tie downs ( brand new ) from when they were put on the 2500. ( minus the underneath bracket that we decided to leave on old truck. So I'm wondering if they will work on new truck w just some new underneath brackets ?which I assume would need to be longer due to the Dually. Asked the dealer to find out about this for us but of course we have not heard back from him.

You should not necessarily need longer TL's but am not so sure now on the new Dodge beds because of the taper front an back of the wheel well opening. But are you sure the camper will fit on this truck bed?

Not intending to throw a curve ball at you but if you have not already done so you may want to read this thread about a camper having fit problems on a 2016 Dodge DRW:

http://forums.woodalls.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28702767/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

[Daryl_B]

Bedlam wrote:
Next to the sink are two light switches. One is for the outside light on the driver side and the other is for all the lights and fan in the cab over.

X2 on this answer, 99.9% sure this is your electrical problem!

[Bedlam]

lizwood71 wrote:
Update ! Truck sold! Dually ordered
Swing out brackets ordered. So that's all said and done. 6-10 weeks to wait. In the meantime the hubby has been learning the camper in side yard. Soooo ...apparently all of a sudden the lights by the bed and fantastic fan don't appear to be working he says. Ideas ? Will this ever end ? Lol

Next to the sink are two light switches. One is for the outside light on the driver side and the other is for all the lights and fan in the cab over.

[lizwood71]

So we still have the tie downs ( brand new ) from when they were put on the 2500. ( minus the underneath bracket that we decided to leave on old truck. So I'm wondering if they will work on new truck w just some new underneath brackets ?which I assume would need to be longer due to the Dually. Asked the dealer to find out about this for us but of course we have not heard back from him.

[Grit_dog]

lizwood71 wrote:
Ok thanks I will pass along these tips. So, he ordered 2016 Dodge Ram 3500 bighorn diesel 4wd automatic ,Aisin transmission mega cab 6.4 box. Dwr! With air bag suspension Believe me it took the salesman several attempts before he got it correct !

Wow! Well you guys aren't doing anything half arsed now! Congrats/jealous......
Hey on the lights and fan over the bed, if the 811s are like the older 860s, one of the switches down by the step up to the bed supplies power to both the bed lights and f fan.
On the tie down brackets, if you're getting tork lifts they are pretty basic to install with hand tools. Good set of wrenches and a creeper to get under the truck is all u need.

[lizwood71]

Ok thanks I will pass along these tips. So, he ordered 2016 Dodge Ram 3500 bighorn diesel 4wd automatic ,Aisin transmission mega cab 6.4 box. Dwr! With air bag suspension Believe me it took the salesman several attempts before he got it correct !

[Vinsil]

Awesome, what did you order?


On the other issue, check fuses and make sure your vent is open enough to engage the fan..

[jimh406]

Congrats!

Does any 12V work? If yes, is a fuse blown. Is the fantastic fan thermostat turned up to high to come on?

[lizwood71]

Update ! Truck sold! Dually ordered
Swing out brackets ordered. So that's all said and done. 6-10 weeks to wait. In the meantime the hubby has been learning the camper in side yard. Soooo ...apparently all of a sudden the lights by the bed and fantastic fan don't appear to be working he says. Ideas ? Will this ever end ? Lol

[Vinsil]

Yep mine just hit 85k...lots of life keft in it!

The Aisin is the new "medium" duty transmission. It seems to be holding up well and has been an option in the C&C trucks for a few years. Is it worth it?

I'd say unless your really loading it up like with a huge 20k fiver or hotshotting...most likely not for just a TC rig. The 68rfe has been around and has shown a pretty good track record. Turn up the power and it dies pretty quick (I go easy on mine, but I can blow through my torque coverter with stock power if I'm lugging it) but lots of 200k trucks out there...its nothing like the old 48re in terms of reliability.

They are both stupid expensive to rebuild and only two maybe three shops in the nation can do the 68rfe right....I don't know about the Aisin but you can't go wrong with either....the Aisin gets you a little more factory horsepower and torque.....


I'd buy it myself just cause if I'm ordering a truck I'd think for the future...will you ever load the truck to its max? With low miles on your '05....I'm guessing you won't use the truck enough to pay for the heavier duty transmission......

[twodownzero]

Vinsil wrote:
I was considering a new '16 myself and after some good discussion here and my own research, even the "new" improved models didn't have enough improvement to me to spend the cash....

They are SO expensive! I'm glad my '05 has only 70k miles.

[jimh406]

Some of the trucks are coming with 5th wheel plugs in the same place a TC plug goes. You can probably order that. You should check on what they charge and possibly use a different shop for the tiedown mounts. They will likely subcontract it out anyway.

I don't know about the Aisin long term, but I think it changes other options like gearing. Someone here will give you an answer shortly.

[lizwood71]

Ok so a few more questions for the experts. So when the new Dwr dodge gets here will the rv dealer be able to outfit the new truck w/o the artic fox ( Bc it will be stuck here). My husband is handy but we are new to all this. For sure he can fit on the swing out brackets. But we are assuming the new truck will need new tie down brackets. And new electrical hookup for brake ligts etc. I think he will want somebody experienced to do that. So hoping they can so it without the camper.
Also when purchasing new dodge do any of you have an opinion on regular automatic transmission versus additional $2500 for Aisin heavy duty automatic ?