Bigfoot & 2006 Dodge Ram dually & fender flare question

[White_Whale]

I'll thank everyone in advance for answering yet another question. I bought a 2006 Dodge Ram Dually for the soon to be picked up 2016 Bigfoot 10.4.

One of my knowledgable local RV guys said he has seen issues before with the size of the rear dually fender flares being in the way of the turnbuckles since the flares are so large front to rear.

Any of you Gen III Dodge owners run into this? Here's a couple pictures of the truck in question.





Don't worry the tool box is already out of the bed. The truck is having frame mounted tie down brackets installed.

Cheers
Jim

[White_Whale]

GoinThisAway wrote:
White Whale, normally I don't like black vehicles but seeing as you're in Alaska I'd think a black vehicle might not be so bad. In any case, it's going to look awesome with a snow white Bigfoot on board.

We already nicknamed the combo "ORKA" (misspelled on purpose) We used to call our last camper the "White Whale" hens my user name.

I checked with AK DMV and the customized plate "ORCA" was taken but ORKA was available.

Cheers
Jim

[chilihead98]

kohldad wrote:
Yes on the fuel door interference. But is I'd a quick release to fill up. She say just a rubber bed mat is all that was necessary under the camper.

I carry a 2008 Bigfoot 25C9.6 in the bed of my 2011 Silverado 3500HD dually. The seller of the Bigfoot had to make a 2" thick wooden platform in the truck bed upon which I put a couple of rubber mats. Without the wooden platform the sides of the truck bed were so high that it would not allow the camper to sit on the bottom of the bed. This is a very common issue.

Perhaps you should ask Bigfoot to advise the vertical distance from the bottom of the camper to the underside of the overhangs and then compare this with the depth of your truck bed. At least you'll know what to be prepared for when you show up to collect your camper.

[Reddog1]

GoinThisAway, I have considered using Unistrut where you have the Torquelift piece. But, the OEMs are working well for me.

Wayne

[GoinThisAway]

White Whale, normally I don't like black vehicles but seeing as you're in Alaska I'd think a black vehicle might not be so bad. In any case, it's going to look awesome with a snow white Bigfoot on board. Hope all goes smoothly on your trip to pick it up. Hopefully you're not a big person as the biggest complaint I have is that the dinette is small but you do get a nice 270 degree view from it. This would be even better with clear glass in the door which is a mod that's moved up near the top of my list. I don't want to just change it out with another window though as the one in it now is dual pane. The mod at the top of my list is changing out the single thickness Fantastic Fan vent covers with double thickness ones I found at RVUpgrades. Anyway, I hope you post some pix of the new rig soon!

[GoinThisAway]

kohldad wrote:

Reddog, the photos kohldad posted for me (above) show the Torklift solution. It's two angle pieces 1-3/4" x 2" with flat stock welded to the vertical 2" side of the angle. I didn't measure the thickness but think each are about 1/4". The two pieces are joined in the middle by another piece of flat stock with two bolts through each end of the two angle iron pieces. It bolts to the existing tie-down points on the camper, extends out each end, and has loops welded to each end for the tie-downs. Detail photos added below.

[Reddog1]

GoinThisAway wrote:
Reddog, when Torklift said they were sending a set of bars that would fix the fender clearance problem, something like your bracket modification was what I thought we would get. You should have seen our faces when we got the box and saw what was in it.

Got photos?

Wayne

[GoinThisAway]

Reddog, when Torklift said they were sending a set of bars that would fix the fender clearance problem, something like your bracket modification was what I thought we would get. You should have seen our faces when we got the box and saw what was in it.

[Reddog1]

Reddog1 wrote:

White Whale wrote:

Wayne,

Any chance you post a picture of the extensions?

Thanks
Jim

I will have to take a photo tomorrow. I have out of town company, so it may be late afternoon before I can post them.

My Bigfoot is a 11.5 foot 1988 1500 (non-basement).

Sory it took so long to get back to you on this. I had additional out of town company.

I'm understanding you wanted a photo of the TC tie down extension. It is 1-1/2" thin wall tubing that slips inside the Torque lift bracket. It does have one bend. I chose to cut and weld for the bend. As you can see from the photo, you can make it as short or long as you wish.




As you can see in this photo, I could have angled the extension more toward the back, but it was not needed.




Not the best photo, but gives an idea on the clearance.






I did have an issue opening my rear doors if on uneven ground. Depending on which side the truck frame flexed, the door would rub on the cabover of the TC. I needed to raise the TC between 1/4" and 1/2". I put two layers (strips) of 3/4-inch thick horse stall mat to raise the TC 1-1/2". The horse stall mat was also needed after I installed the rails for my 5th wheel hitch. The photo above if before the horse stall mats,

I have not owned this truck very long, and I am in the process of setting it up. So far, all is going well. Setup to haul my 11.5 foot Bigfoot while flat towing my Suzuki Samurai, or can pull my 19-foor fifth wheel.

Wayne

[GoinThisAway]

I'm presently using a 3/4" foamboard topped by a heavy rubber mat under the camper. This raises the camper by about an inch. Measured the cabover clearance above the top of the closest running light and it is a little over 4". I've not heard there was a change in cab height of the Ram and the new Bigfoot manufacturer is using the same fiberglass molds used when my 2008 was made so you should be good even without anything. But I highly recommend using at least a durable rubber bed mat. The manufacturer cuts openings in the bottom of the camper during construction and affixes them back with screws. Judging by the wear marks on my rubber mat my Line-X bedliner wouldn't have been enough to protect the bed alone. I added the foamboard after I had a gooseneck hitch installed as the chain ties stick up just a bit. Would probably be fine without it but it also makes it easier to work the front electric hookup.

[kohldad]

Yes on the fuel door interference. But is I'd a quick release to fill up. She say just a rubber bed mat is all that was necessary under the camper.

[White_Whale]

kohldad wrote:


Let us know if you need anything else. But with a 91-1/2 dimension between the tie down points, sounds like they moved them farther apart and solved the issue.

Thank you very much for posting those pics and for mentioning the frozen water line. The main reason for buying this Bigfoot is to expand our camping into colder weather periods. I will look at the area of the propane tank as you suggested and insulate the line if needed.

Does your front turnbuckle on the driver's side interfere with your fuel filler cap area?

Also, what do you have between the camper and the truck bed. I had read that two rubber pads and a sheet of 5/8 plywood may be necessary to increase the height of the camper cabover over the truck cab.

[Grit_dog]

By the time the camper is sitting back a bit from slap up against the front of the bed you'll be almost at the back of the bed at 91.5". Worst case you can block it back a couple more inches for the trip. Just a suggestion.

[kohldad]

Let us know if you need anything else. But with a 91-1/2 dimension between the tie down points, sounds like they moved them farther apart and solved the issue.

[GoinThisAway]

It sounds like Bigfoot may have solved the problem with the tie-down points. We'd mounted the Torklift tie-downs on the truck before we drove from TN to WY to pick up the camper. So when we loaded it on the truck and discovered the problem, we called Torklift. They express shipped the part to fix the issue with us only paying for the part. The only thing I don't like about their fix is the two bars weigh probably 20 pounds each or more. Meanwhile, we didn't mind the delay. The dealer moved the camper over to their hookup sites and let us stay in it while we waited. It gave us some time to pick up some supplies since we'd only had room in the ttruck for the barest basics and, more importantly, the delay gave us time to try things out in the camper and ask questions.

As to the frozen water line issue, we made a winter trip out to Moab UT in 2011. They were having a long cold spell of weather with temperatures mostly below freezing and into the single digits and snow every few days. After many days of this, a waterline that runs underneath the propane compartment froze up. You can reach this area by either removing the bottom panel in the closet or the drawer under the refrigerator. The propane compartment was just bare plastic so I insulated it and slid some insulation over the pipe underneath it. We've camped in cold weather since then with no problem. (2011 Moab trip report)

Kohldad snapped some photos of our tie-downs and we'll get them posted soon.