n0arp
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zb39 wrote:I have the 3H and it levels the camper very well. Also great for loading and unloading and dumping tanks.
It handles the weight extremely well. The unloaded ride is awesome. Very comfortable.
I know you probably don't have any bearing interest in Kelderman, but don't work too hard to part another $10K from my wallet...
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zb39
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HAHAHAHAHA I don't but I do love the suspension. it's not cheap thats for sure.
2017 Host mammoth, sold
49 states, 41 National Parks, 7 Provinces
2019 2 door Rubicon 6 spd.
2019 Berkshire XLT 45B
2022 Host Cascade
2021 Ram 5500 Air ride
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n0arp
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zb39 wrote:HAHAHAHAHA I don't but I do love the suspension. it's not cheap thats for sure.
Historically they've done 10% off and free shipping for Black Friday, which isn't too far off. That gives me a couple months to mull over it.
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zb39
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They use dual Viair compressors and dual air tanks with the 3H control. I generally have 145psi in the tanks on a normal day. I can dump the air and load the camper. It will pick back up instantly. Then the compressors kick on and bring the tanks back up to 145. I normally run with 71psi in the front and 33 in the back when unloaded. 75 front and 77 back when loaded. It changes all the time of course as your driving and you can see it going up and down at each corner.
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n0arp
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zb39 wrote:They use dual Viair compressors and dual air tanks with the 3H control. I generally have 145psi in the tanks on a normal day. I can dump the air and load the camper. It will pick back up instantly. Then the compressors kick on and bring the tanks back up to 145. I normally run with 71psi in the front and 33 in the back when unloaded. 75 front and 77 back when loaded. It changes all the time of course as your driving and you can see it going up and down at each corner.
I'm sold, it didn't take much as I was already strongly considering it. I'm just waiting to recover from the expenditure on the initial build a little, and/or for the Kelderman kit to go on sale.
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zb39
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Don't blame you..................
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n0arp
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Had a shop that carried a bed I liked, install the flat bed for me.
![[image]](https://imgur.com/sRN7CRr.jpg)
Their install price was atrocious, but I was willing to pay for it because I had no way to do the install myself. They charged 3x what it cost to get my last flatbed installed. They had the truck for two days longer than quoted, did a poor job on several parts of the install, and didn't do a lot of what I asked for.
On the other hand, they stayed until 9PM on Friday night because I had my wife drop me off and told them I wasn't leaving until my truck was done. They may have taken more time and done the rest if I weren't rushing them, but they already were way over the time window they quoted.
Notice in the above photo how the toolboxes were not installed flat. I had to build spacers and correct that yeasterday.
They also installed the bumper...
![[image]](https://imgur.com/26MB6Oz.jpg)
... but didn't trim the fender liner to match and didn't install the winch like they were supposed to. Other than that, the install looks pretty good... especially since both Ranch Hand and the shop said the 3500 bumper wouldn't fit the 5500. The only thing that didn't fit were the tow hooks, so I ordered a set for the 3500s which will clear the bumper and fit. Those should be here in a few days.
![[image]](https://imgur.com/qM2kB0m.jpg)
Like for my old truck, I ran angle down the sides of the bed with 51" between them. I decided to change it up and use an extra mat to have a full 51" of coverage because my camper sometimes was sitting off the side of the mat on the old truck. I shim the camper base (49" wide) in with 1" plastic blocks I cut from Camco bricks. Also mounted the spare on the headache rack and put some dock bumpers in the front.
![[image]](https://imgur.com/Z8nn1Vs.jpg)
Got the camper on the truck, upper toolboxes reinstalled, then started working on the tie downs. Ended up just drilling hles in the rub rail to put them where I wanted. My tie downs are homebrew fastguns, that use threaded rod which is great because I can cut them to the appropriate sizes.
The top toolboxes are 48+18" on each side, bottom ones are 48+24" on each side. In addition, so much deck space...
![[image]](https://imgur.com/ClJ0znC.jpg)
My fix for the camper (see earlier post) took out all but about 1/8" of the sag, and I was able to use the same location to lock in the 2kW generator and gas can I carry (in addition to the factory onboard) with the tie down as a theft deterrent.
![[image]](https://imgur.com/sX4oCtO.jpg)
The 18" extension I bought was perfect for towing the Jeep with, and I sat in the Home Depot parking lot for an hour making lots of noise. If you look back up at the photo of the generator storage, notice that I cut arches above the tires that will give me better clearance when the 37s go on. I may need to weld in a radiused sheet to soften the edge if the tire hits, but it's better to have the clearance and if needed, I'll deal with that once I have the tires fitted today.
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The shop also failed to install the 7-pin connector on the headache rack, backup camera, and parking sensors that they agreed to install, so I installed the sensors and fabbed up a quick bracket for the camera and got that on yesterday. I'm not sure if I'm just going to use a splitter or bother adding another 7-pin myself yet.
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We moved about an hour up the road yesterday, and the new truck feels way more stable than the 3500. We're happy we made the switch.
* This post was
edited 09/13/21 08:10am by n0arp *
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EYEMLOST
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So you paid 3X for installation yet had only about half the work done?
Is that correct?
Does that mean you paid for installation you didn't get; or had they done the complete installation list, you would have paid waaaaay more? ![[emoticon]](https://forums.goodsamclub.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/scratchead.gif "scratchead")
Love your set up!
1998 FWC Grandby
1994 Ford Bronco 5.0 XL 4X4
Sky's ORD 6" Lift / Sterling 10.25 Dually 5.13 Gear Detroit Locker / '99.5 Front F-350 Leaf Springs at Rear / HMMWVtires
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n0arp
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EYEMLOST wrote:So you paid 3X for installation yet had only about half the work done?
Is that correct?
Does that mean you paid for installation you didn't get; or had they done the complete installation list, you would have paid waaaaay more?
Love your set up!
The install fee was supposed to include the toolboxes, parking sensors, backup camera, and additional 7-pin connector.
After it spent four full days in the shop for a simple bed install and I found that the boxes weren't installed to my standards, I just opted to take it home as-is. I arrived around 3PM on Friday and they had three guys stay until 9PM getting it from "the bed is on the truck but not actually attached" to "the bed and boxes are attached". Since that's 18 hours of labor (3 guys * 6 hours each), I just cut my losses and decided not to argue on pricing. They put the time in, regardless of how slow they work. I figure labor at a shop like that is worth $80-120/hr and they wouldn't let that fact go if I tried to get a refund.
The fixed rate for the install was $1450 -- I spent a fixed $550 for my last flatbed install and one guy had it done in a day (and it was a more complicated install due to the bed delete and wiring hell). They would have done everything for that price, but who knows when I would have gotten it back or how well it would be done. It was supposed to be ready for pick up first thing Thursday morning.
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I'm liking how things are turning out though, this new truck is going to be awesome.
* This post was
edited 09/13/21 02:00pm by n0arp *
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zb39
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Love it. You have more than a ton of storage now. I love the idea of the genset locked in. I may borrow that idea.
* This post was
edited 09/14/21 08:25am by zb39 *
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