AEV Prospector XL Flatbed Adventure Rig

[mk216v]

Ha! Yes, ive done the Canada/Alaska/Arctic Circle thing twice now, and will most definitely be spending a lot more time up there, getting of the beaten path and deeper into the back country.

Reasons for my decision for such a silly capacity, which i had already known but definitely confirmed my last time to the Yukon:

-Obvious reasons, range. Sure, that range isnt technically needed in North America... But.... I do a lot of my lengthy driving at night. For those that have been to Northern Canada / Alaska, you know most fuel places are NOT 24 hours, so that presents a problem when burning freeway miles at night. On my last trip (with a 45 gallon tank) I ended up sleeping at gas stations twice, waiting for them to open up the next morning.

-Cost. I live in CA. I frequent remote areas of Death Valley, etc.. Fuel anywhere near there can be double what it cost in here in San Diego. Filling up here, and bypassing the $5-6/gal fuel stations elsewhere saves $ in the long run. I was able to do this through most of Canada/Alaska and just one from that trip, i estimated i saved almost $450 in fuel costs. Eagle Plains and a couple other remote areas were close to $7.50/gallon. I filled up for $3ish and was able to pass on by and save money.

-Convenience. I plan on building my next truck to eliminate propane. So furnace and water heater will be ran off the diesel, and the RAMs have factory aux ports in the tanks, that make tapping into them easy. No more worrying about running out of propane for the furnace, etc..

Anyway, everyone has their reasons for things, some may agree, some might not. Those are my reasonings

Curious over the long haul as to much your fuel savings(ie buying fuel at $3/gal vs $5-6/gal) cost benefits get dinged by hauling around more fuel weight and thus reducing MPG.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Interesting. RAM.com has an error then, when building either 2019 ChassisCab 4500 or 2020 ChassisCab 3500; https://www.ramtrucks.com/bmo.chass...DF2,DME,Z8G,TCM,WBH,V9,NLL,UAA,X8,PSC,2YG,APA

When Hemi is selected, and you click on 22+52 gal dual fuel tanks, it'll automatically change the build to;
3 additional changes
The Fuel Tanks selection you just made required the following 3 changes:

What size(gal) is the mid-ship TransferFlow?

Wow, this is weird... I thought i was losing my mind, so i just went to the Ram site and tried it again.

Yes, works perfectly fine still with the Hemi and dual tanks. For the CA84 (size i ordered)

BUT..... It wont allow dual tanks with CA60.. only available with the rear 50 gallon (hemi or diesel). Guessing not enough room.

Try it with the CA84, and it should work.

The transfer flow , bolt in midship tank is 50 gallons.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Curious over the long haul as to much your fuel savings(ie buying fuel at $3/gal vs $5-6/gal) cost benefits get dinged by hauling around more fuel weight and thus reducing MPG.

Not sure, and not motivated enough to do that much math...

But not having to sleep at shady gas stations in the middle of no where waiting for them to open is priceless!

 

[mk216v]

Wow, this is weird... I thought i was losing my mind, so i just went to the Ram site and tried it again.

Yes, works perfectly fine still with the Hemi and dual tanks. For the CA84 (size i ordered)

BUT..... It wont allow dual tanks with CA60.. only available with the rear 50 gallon (hemi or diesel). Guessing not enough room.

Try it with the CA84, and it should work.

The transfer flow , bolt in midship tank is 50 gallons.

Aha, there's the rub! I was building a 60"CA, not 84"CA. (And it didn't tell me that factory is 52gal, so I ASSumed it was 22gal only. RAM needs to learn from Ford and produce some full-spec media brochures. RAM's site is crappy, as are their brochures; https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/brochures/ram/2019-chassis3500.pdf. Other than that I like RAM.)

Good to hear the 84"CA and Hemi can get the 2 big tanks!

And woah on the TransferFlow 50gal midship!

 

[mk216v]

Not sure, and not motivated enough to do that much math...

But not having to sleep at shady gas stations in the middle of no where waiting for them to open is priceless!

Haha, to each their own. Shady gas stations in the middle of nowhere sounds like extra super-duper adventure.

See ya on the road!

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Aha, there's the rub! I was building a 60"CA, not 84"CA. (And it didn't tell me that factory is 52gal, so I ASSumed it was 22gal only. RAM needs to learn from Ford and produce some full-spec media brochures. RAM's site is crappy, as are their brochures; https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/brochures/ram/2019-chassis3500.pdf. Other than that I like RAM.)

Its odd indeed!

Whats even odder is that, if you order a 4500/5500 is comes with the 52 by default

However, my dealer here in San Diego orders all of his for the lot with just the 22s.

He explained majority of the folks buying them here convert them to tow trucks, etc, and the rear tank gets in the way of their rigging and they don't need the long haul capacity.

Funny, i wasnt set on Ram vs Ford when i started my research, but i found Rams site to be a TON more useful than Fords, opposite of your observation. hahahaha

 

[mk216v]

Its odd indeed!

Whats even odder is that, if you order a 4500/5500 is comes with the 52 by default

However, my dealer here in San Diego orders all of his for the lot with just the 22s.

He explained majority of the folks buying them here convert them to tow trucks, etc, and the rear tank gets in the way of their rigging and they don't need the long haul capacity.

Funny, i wasnt set on Ram vs Ford when i started my research, but i found Rams site to be a TON more useful than Fords, opposite of your observation. hahahaha

I found many Ford dealers optioned their cab-chassis with the 26.5gal midship tanks. Probably due to the wrecker reason you just mentioned.

RAM vs Ford info; it must be our operating systems then.

 

[ttengineer]

I just love that you can get a Ram CC in a Limited package now.


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[RoninWanderer]

Great setup! We are also in the Tacoma + Camper place right now and considering going full-size in the coming years. It is getting crowded as our family grows and our trips get longer! Not to mention the GVWR nightmare.... I'm seeing more and more FS rigs on the trails so I know they can fit more places than I had originally thought.

We are looking at the Sportsmobile Classic's new design and am very interested in the Prospector XL + tray + FWC option as well. My friends at Mule Expedition built one and it's really nice. The only issue is having to do a 4-door RAM and the wheelbase. The 2-door is ideal for off road.

Keep the pictures coming! Truck looks great

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

The only issue is having to do a 4-door RAM and the wheelbase. The 2-door is ideal for off road.

Contrary to popular internet speak, 20” or so of extra wheelbase doesn’t amount to a hill of beans for 99.5% of trails.

If you’re doing longer trips like you say, comfort is the number #1 priority.

Go with what you want that makes you happy and there will be ample ample trails to enjoy.

You’ll always have internet heroes saying “that won’t fit where I go” but as you stated, you’ve seen full sized go places you didn’t think they would.

My .02

 

[mk216v]

Great setup! We are also in the Tacoma + Camper place right now and considering going full-size in the coming years. It is getting crowded as our family grows and our trips get longer! Not to mention the GVWR nightmare.... I'm seeing more and more FS rigs on the trails so I know they can fit more places than I had originally thought.

We are looking at the Sportsmobile Classic's new design and am very interested in the Prospector XL + tray + FWC option as well. My friends at Mule Expedition built one and it's really nice. The only issue is having to do a 4-door RAM and the wheelbase. The 2-door is ideal for off road.

Keep the pictures coming! Truck looks great

I've seen yours around these parts, Rigs/Coffee. Still haven't figured how you do it in the Taco/Khaya with family <thumbup>.

SMB Classic; tread carefully, do your research on SMB quality (poptop and interiors). Not that FWC is perfect, but MUCH higher quality (and that's saying a lot, as Boston Mangler knows from his FWC ownership).

Could do a new PW(Power Wagon; quad cab or whatever their term is, 6'4" bed), but then payload/GVWR is a concern. Also, Dan at Carli says he doesn't like campers on the F&R coil spring PW's, although there are others who have done it.

 

[mk216v]

Contrary to popular internet speak, 20” or so of extra wheelbase doesn’t amount to a hill of beans for 99.5% of trails.

If you’re doing longer trips like you say, comfort is the number #1 priority.

Go with what you want that makes you happy and there will be ample ample trails to enjoy.

You’ll always have internet heroes saying “that won’t fit where I go” but as you stated, you’ve seen full sized go places you didn’t think they would.

My .02

Amen to that. Troof!

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Not that FWC is perfect, but MUCH higher quality (and that's saying a lot, as Boston Mangler knows from his FWC ownership).

I'll say (and have) that FWC construction and materials of the CAMPER itself is top notch!

But the wiring, and appliances are budget entry level RV quality, at best..

Their cost versus value is simply way out of whack when a lot of it has to be redone to maximize its potential and reliability.

 

[ttengineer]

I'll say (and have) that FWC construction and materials of the CAMPER itself is top notch!

But the wiring, and appliances are budget entry level RV quality, at best..

Their cost versus value is simply way out of whack when a lot of it has to be redone to maximize its potential and reliability.

I have wondered why they put such junk appliances in them.


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[RoninWanderer]

I've seen yours around these parts, Rigs/Coffee. Still haven't figured how you do it in the Taco/Khaya with family <thumbup>.

SMB Classic; tread carefully, do your research on SMB quality (poptop and interiors). Not that FWC is perfect, but MUCH higher quality (and that's saying a lot, as Boston Mangler knows from his FWC ownership).

Could do a new PW(Power Wagon; quad cab or whatever their term is, 6'4" bed), but then payload/GVWR is a concern. Also, Dan at Carli says he doesn't like campers on the F&R coil spring PW's, although there are others who have done it.

So you are local here in Bend??

I'll have to keep an eye out for your rig! I'm lucky that my family is small...literally, we are pretty small people. But it does get cramped in the Taco. My son is 3 and his legs are crammed against the seat in his car seat in the back. My wife is only 5' tall and has her seat pretty far forward, but it's not super-comfy for either of them. No one has complained....yet. Next week we are on a trip for 8-9 days and that'll be the longest trip I've done with the entire family. It'll be a good test of how things work, or don't work out. By myself, my setup is great, but they love going on trips too!

https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/mojave-road-late-february.211735/#post-2739066

Good to know about the SMB. Our friend has one and loves it, but he doesn't do the sort of driving that we do. Capability and durability are very important. Mule regularly runs their RAM truck down to their Baja home and that says a lot to me about it's capability and durability. One of the things I love about the Khaya is it's strength. I've banged it against some small trees on more than one occasion and it's held strong. I'd be curious about a FWC in that same scenario, they always seemed very fragile to me, but that's just an impression and not based on experience.

My last rig was a 2-door JK and I never thought I'd be able to fit places with a 4-door Tacoma. Turns out it's easy enough if you are mindful of where your wheels are. With the exception of some gnarly rock crawling and very difficult trails, the Taco has gone everywhere we used to in our JK. These days, it's more about a fun journey and exploration than breaking axles on rock gardens