Thanks!

[Camp_woof]

With the posts about old-timers leaving and all that, wanted to say thanks for all the info gleaned from so many posts over the last few years.

Thanks because my 2019 Ram 3500 dually Cummins is sitting at dealer in Boise for me to pick up, and my Bigfoot 10.4 camper is sitting over at Apache Camper in Portland. Plan to fly up from CA end of month and marry the truck and camper together! Retiring from work in July and will get to take off on trip after that! Just plan to fulltime until I get tired of it.

Charlie over at Apache helped send a lot of info over that the TC mfg. never seem to disclose ( like exact dimensions of battery box with/without tray, what DC converter comes with camper, etc) Would be nice if mfgs. put a little more detail in their literature.
Bigfoot was nice enough to put in a 9200 BTU air con and delete the dinette carpeting for me. (and put another fan in, but probably didn’t need that, oh well. )
So yes, all those “duplicate” posts and arguing does help!
Dave

[run100]

Congratulations on both new toys and your upcoming retirement.

[TxGearhead]

Let us know how it goes.

[Camp_woof]

Yes, I'm having dealer install. I'm picking up truck in Boise, driving to Portland to pick up camper, then driving to new home base in southern Oregon, near Grants Pass. Thanks for the helpful info.
dave

[TxGearhead]

Yeah about 20 minutes. It's not too bad, just try to get lined up straight to start with. Mine is stored outside with a Classic Accessories cover on it. But its about 3 feet from the 5th wheel on one side, and the same on the other side from my raised bed garden. I have to move the GoDevil boat first so it gets a bit involved for me.
I put a strip of blue masking tape in the middle of the camper that I can see out the truck back window. I line that up with the middle of the rear seat head rest. Also have a 1" wide stripe spray painted down the center of the rubber bed mat that I line up with another piece of tape.
I drove up to Maryland to get mine. Coming back to the Houston area I had the camper on a 4x8 sheet of plywood and the bed mat. That was with a 2016 RAM SRW. I didn't discover the Fast Gun/fender clearance issue until I realized I was too heavy for the SRW and got the dually.
I really recommend taking 4 eyebolts with you when you go get the Bigfoot. I missed telling something....I talked to Torklift about the clearance issue and they recommended drilling an extra hole in the frame mounted extensions. Drill the hole 1" farther "in" on the extensions so they will stick that much farther out. Are you having the Bigfoot dealer install the frame mounted hold downs?

[Camp_woof]

Thanks Tx, I will definitely talk to them. So, how long does it take to load this thing up? 20 minutes of maneuvering trying to not use up more than 1/4" safety margin to clear front jacks, tailgate opening, etc? I thought only having a bit more than 1" clearance inside the fender wells would be tough, but that's the easy part it sounds like! I'll have plenty of time ..
Thanks,
Dave

[TxGearhead]

That Ram probably won't see any difference in the 2" COG.
But I would talk to your dealer about clearance between the fenders and the Fast Guns and be prepared. They likely have seen this issue before. I talked to Bigfoot about using the eyebolts and the sideways pull they put on the camper tiedowns and they said it's no issue.
The Bigfoot is not quite as wide as some campers and the Ram fenders are bigger, creating the issue.

[Camp_woof]

Almost sounds like a Happijac front would be easier! Eh, not knowing, I'll stick with plan of the Torklifts and add wood as needed! 2" more rearward on the center of gravity, now I"m more glad I'm going with LiFePo4 batteries, batts hang off the back on this camper.
Dave

[K_Mac]

Congratulations on your new set up, enjoy n have fun. Congratulations on the retirement also. You made it.

[NRALIFR]

“If I don't put a 2x8 across the front of the bed, my rear doors will hit the dually brackets.“

I forgot about that, I have a 2x10 in front of mine as well. The camper would touch the truck tail lights without it.

:):)

[TxGearhead]

Camp woof will probably have the same issue I have. If I don't put a 2x8 across the front of the bed, my rear doors will hit the dually brackets.
Camp woof, you may want to get a couple eye bolts to use on the Bigfoot tie downs. If not the tie downs will hit those fenders. I used 1/2" but had to drill out the Bigfoot tie down holes a little. 7/16 or 3/8 would work. I used machinery eye bolts that have a shoulder on them from Amazon. Assume you're Using Fast guns. Might talk to your dealer to see if they have an alternative.
I also cut 5/8" plywood cut in 4 pieces to completely cover my bed, including in front of and behind the fender wells. The Bigfoot is supported by the walls and I didn't want the edge of the camper sitting over the "low" part of the truck bed corrugation. I then put a full coverage rubber bed mat over that.

[NRALIFR]

“can you get the truck rear doors open?”

Oh yes, there’s at least 4” of clearance between the doors and the jacks at the closest points. Where the clearance gets tight is at the cab rear corners with the jacks swung in. There’s only about 2” of clearance there at the closest points. If the swingout extensions were any wider, I think they would come too close to the cab for me.

In my second picture, the jack isn’t swung all the way in, so it looks like it’s overlapping the rear door a little. In reality, there is no way they can touch at any time.

:):)

[TxGearhead]

NRALIFER.....can you get the truck rear doors open?
I spray my swing outs with WD 40 with PTFE. Doesn't last forever but it's not messy and doesn't attract dirt.

[mellow]

Speaking of dually brackets, what grease do you use? Seems like I am always fighting mine up and down, the red grease I use never stays for long.

[NRALIFR]

Great looking truck and camper! You’re going to love them!

I had to add some extenders to my swing out brackets when I got an F450. The rear fenders absolutely wouldn’t fit between the jacks. I used 3” wide flat stock, 3/16” thick, and sandwiched the jack and. bracket between two layers. This gives me about 1.5” clearance on each side.



If your jacks swing in as far as mine do, don’t extend them too much, or you could hit the cab with the jack when you swing them in.



Mine end up pretty close to the front tiedowns, so I have to center the camper in the bed carefully.



:):)