AEV Prospector XL Flatbed Adventure Rig

[con kso]

Hi, my name is Kevin and I like to stir the pot...

John, didn’t you have a massive break/failure on that aluminum bed down in Baja when you first got it?

Yes- Baja will break everything, it is a LEGIT test for the ability and durability of your vehicle. This is why the Baja 1000 is such a respected race, it eats vehicles alive. This is just something that you have to know before you start spending any serious time down there. Especially if you actually use these vehicles for the purpose you built them. Fourth trip down, I noticed a sound I hadn't heard before - I was 600 miles south of the border and a hundred miles from the highway that goes north to south. After looking underneath, I found that one of the tempered aluminum cross members (there are two one in the front and one in the back) had snapped the ears off where it connected to the frame rails. Holy guacamole! I purposefully didn't tell my little brother what had happened because if he knew how bad it was he would have ******** his pants. Luckily, I've got a good Baja network going and my buddy brought me to an insanely cool Baja metal fab shop owned by a gentleman called Don Beni (Don is a title of respect in Spanish). The shop is located in the you-will-never-find-it-gringo outskirts of La Paz. Don Beni lifted my bed and camper above the frame rails and rebuilt the cross members in steel. He actually re-engineered them so they are now fully boxed - so in addition to being made of steel they are now designed correctly. His boys were able to get all of this done on a Sunday and half of Monday - a rush order, setting aside all the other projects they had going on to get me set up... I fricking love Mexico! Since then I've had my truck down there three more times... lots of bad roads, dirt, washboard and mild rocky climbs in and out of spots - she's been solid.... but I know if I keep going south that it's not a matter of if but when something else will get busted.

So all of this led me to a conclusion: You can try all you want to super-over design your rig, it will still break (assuming your not just driving it down dirt roads). So, to me, it's kind of more important that you know what to do to get yourself out of a bind and how you react to it when it does eventually happen. These things we're driving are big, heavy vehicles, with all kinds of additional complicated systems - if you want bullet proof buy a Tacoma and a fiberglass shell.

 

[con kso]

Good to hear on XP Camper. Alumline will be building mine. Quite reasonable for the high quality. Myriad of options; https://www.alumline.com/products/truck-beds/truck-bed-specialized

Ok, Deaver and rear bags, Bilstein's.
Pickup vs Cab/Chassis; true on spare, but while your 141.6"WB pickup has 34gal fuel midship, the 145.3"WB cab/chassis has 40gal fuel aft of axle, so a bit more capacity. With your moto it'd be difficult to put the spare on the rear, without a moto, could even run dual spares in the rear.

Even without beadlocks you should be able to air down to 10'ish psi for even better sand performance. Just don't roll the tire on quick/sharp turns, so that you won't lose the outer bead. Snow guys are running as low as 2.5psi without losing a bead(until they hit an ice berm).

Keep enjoying your rig!

 

[con kso]

I liked the Alumline flatbeds because that company has been building them for a long time and has the experience regarding mounting them to the frame of the truck. Gonna be cool to see yours when it's done - I've got an unnatural love for flatbeds now. I'm talking flatbeds without campers - just trucks with flatbeds. It's like I'm autistic or something and I'm fixated on flatbeds. Just this afternoon I was filling up a the gas station and a guy with Idaho plates pulled in with a big old dodge and a ranch type flatbed on it - it was RAD.

More gas capacity is good - I do have a 5 gallon jerry can mounted on the back. The first gas station that I hit in Baja I always fill it up. I've almost never needed it. EXCEPT this last trip! I filled up with gas in Vizcaino (you can look these spots up on google earth) and was counting on gas at Gonzaga bay... got to Gonzaga Bay and found out the gas station had not been open in five days, and nobody knew if or when it was reopening. Next gas station was in San Felipe - more than a hundred miles away.... man it was gonna be a close one! Luckily I remembered I had the five gallons so I dumped it in (using a non-CARB approved filling spout) and I made it with about 20 miles to spare. Yes, gas capacity IS good.

Not sure what you're talking about with having my moto back there and a spare tire, my spare fits under the flatbed in the OEM spot. If I wanted/needed a second spare (a good call for some spots down south) I'd put a carrier into my front 2" receiver and carry it there.

I was kind of surprised at how reasonable the cost was to have Deaver make and install the new leaf springs on the truck - other than having to drive it to Santa Ana to get it down it wasn't very expensive (in my opinion).

Looking forward to seeing your flatbed and how it comes out... outside storage with a FWC is a GOOD thing.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Yes- Baja will break everything, it is a LEGIT test for the ability and durability of your vehicle. This is why the Baja 1000 is such a respected race, it eats vehicles alive. This is just something that you have to know before you start spending any serious time down there. Especially if you actually use these vehicles for the purpose you built them. Fourth trip down, I noticed a sound I hadn't heard before - I was 600 miles south of the border and a hundred miles from the highway that goes north to south. After looking underneath, I found that one of the tempered aluminum cross members (there are two one in the front and one in the back) had snapped the ears off where it connected to the frame rails. Holy guacamole! I purposefully didn't tell my little brother what had happened because if he knew how bad it was he would have ******** his pants. Luckily, I've got a good Baja network going and my buddy brought me to an insanely cool Baja metal fab shop owned by a gentleman called Don Beni (Don is a title of respect in Spanish). The shop is located in the you-will-never-find-it-gringo outskirts of La Paz. Don Beni lifted my bed and camper above the frame rails and rebuilt the cross members in steel. He actually re-engineered them so they are now fully boxed - so in addition to being made of steel they are now designed correctly. His boys were able to get all of this done on a Sunday and half of Monday - a rush order, setting aside all the other projects they had going on to get me set up... I fricking love Mexico! Since then I've had my truck down there three more times... lots of bad roads, dirt, washboard and mild rocky climbs in and out of spots - she's been solid.... but I know if I keep going south that it's not a matter of if but when something else will get busted.

So all of this led me to a conclusion: You can try all you want to super-over design your rig, it will still break (assuming your not just driving it down dirt roads). So, to me, it's kind of more important that you know what to do to get yourself out of a bind and how you react to it when it does eventually happen. These things we're driving are big, heavy vehicles, with all kinds of additional complicated systems - if you want bullet proof buy a Tacoma and a fiberglass shell.

Im just razzing ya man.

I’ve spent a ton of time down in Baja breaking stuff and you’re spot on with that for sure!

If you’re not a pro level Jerry rigger down there, you can be in for a very bad day

 

[con kso]

"Even without beadlocks you should be able to air down to 10'ish psi for even better sand performance. Just don't roll the tire on quick/sharp turns, so that you won't lose the outer bead. Snow guys are running as low as 2.5psi without losing a bead(until they hit an ice berm)."

Dang... down to 10psi? Wow. I was pretty impressed with how she did aired down to 25psi (I run on the road at 80psi). At 25psi I'm able to drive up and over small sand dunes in 4 lo with rear locker engaged it's like I'm not even on sand. Good to know I can still drop it without rolling a bead... if I ever get in a bind I'll be sure to remember that.

 

[con kso]

Im just razzing ya man.

I’ve spent a ton of time down in Baja breaking stuff and you’re spot on with that for sure!

If you’re not a pro level Jerry rigger down there, you can be in for a very bad day

I had visions of scissor jacks, 4x4 wood beams and chains going through my head when I saw that torn metal! You know how it is down there - bring the spare parts because all though they CAN fix it, getting the right part is the challenge. And unless you want your Ford mated to a Chevy through a weird Mexican A-dapter kit... you better have it on you! When's your beast arriving???? Oh and that flatbed I saw today was on a giant Dodge 4x4 dually... probably similar to what your getting... it was so **************'

 

[mk216v]

I liked the Alumline flatbeds because that company has been building them for a long time and has the experience regarding mounting them to the frame of the truck. Gonna be cool to see yours when it's done - I've got an unnatural love for flatbeds now. I'm talking flatbeds without campers - just trucks with flatbeds. It's like I'm autistic or something and I'm fixated on flatbeds. Just this afternoon I was filling up a the gas station and a guy with Idaho plates pulled in with a big old dodge and a ranch type flatbed on it - it was RAD.

More gas capacity is good - I do have a 5 gallon jerry can mounted on the back. The first gas station that I hit in Baja I always fill it up. I've almost never needed it. EXCEPT this last trip! I filled up with gas in Vizcaino (you can look these spots up on google earth) and was counting on gas at Gonzaga bay... got to Gonzaga Bay and found out the gas station had not been open in five days, and nobody knew if or when it was reopening. Next gas station was in San Felipe - more than a hundred miles away.... man it was gonna be a close one! Luckily I remembered I had the five gallons so I dumped it in (using a non-CARB approved filling spout) and I made it with about 20 miles to spare. Yes, gas capacity IS good.

Not sure what you're talking about with having my moto back there and a spare tire, my spare fits under the flatbed in the OEM spot. If I wanted/needed a second spare (a good call for some spots down south) I'd put a carrier into my front 2" receiver and carry it there.

I was kind of surprised at how reasonable the cost was to have Deaver make and install the new leaf springs on the truck - other than having to drive it to Santa Ana to get it down it wasn't very expensive (in my opinion).

Looking forward to seeing your flatbed and how it comes out... outside storage with a FWC is a GOOD thing.

Dang... down to 10psi? Wow. I was pretty impressed with how she did aired down to 25psi (I run on the road at 80psi). At 25psi I'm able to drive up and over small sand dunes in 4 lo with rear locker engaged it's like I'm not even on sand. Good to know I can still drop it without rolling a bead... if I ever get in a bind I'll be sure to remember that.

Seems Alumline has quite a bit of history with FWC campers.

With the '17+ F350 pickup, you have a 34gal mid-ship(before rear axle) fuel tank, and the spare behind it(aft axle). On my '19 F350 cab/chassis, it has a 40gal aft-axle fuel tank(where your spare is), and nowhere to put it underneath the truck. Thus, if I had a moto on the back of the truck like you do, I wouldn't have a place to put a spare wheelt/tire. Good thing I don't have a moto, but it still makes for some brainstorming where to put my spare(s), especially since I want a crawl-thru from truck to FWC (vs having the spare between cab and FWC, like Mule Outfitters has on their RAM w/ Norweld tray and FWC Hawk flatbed).

Good to hear on Deaver, I'm after the Carli/Deaver susp like GooseGear has; https://expeditionportal.com/featured-vehicle-goose-gears-overland-f-350/

Just be extra careful/conscientious at pressures lower than 25psi. Don't be hard on the throttle, quick steering inputs, hitting any berms of sand/snow. Here's a 40" tire at 2.5psi for snow (they say they don't roll an outer tire bead unless they fail to follow the previous sentence).



Was just told about an Australian couple who got stuck their vehicle stuck in the sand. They died. When the tow company came to extract their vehicle, they let almost all the air out of the tires and drove the vehicle right out. So sad. YMMV.

We need more RAM flatbed love...

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Dang... down to 10psi? Wow. I was pretty impressed with how she did aired down to 25psi (I run on the road at 80psi). At 25psi I'm able to drive up and over small sand dunes in 4 lo with rear locker engaged it's like I'm not even on sand. Good to know I can still drop it without rolling a bead... if I ever get in a bind I'll be sure to remember that.

All depends on tire size, wheel, etc... With my Jeep on 37" MTR's on 17" wheels, i would literally run them at ZERO PSI by pulling the valve stems out and never had an issue with non beadlocks.

Tires vary wildly, as does the sidewall construction, so there is no magic #

But the jeep was a lightweight beater. A lot of factors come into play

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

r axle) fuel tank, and the spare behind it(aft axle). On my '19 F350 cab/chassis, it has a 40gal aft-axle fuel tank(where your spare is), and nowhere to put it underneath the truck. Thus, if I had a moto on the back of the truck like you do, I wouldn't have a place to put a spare wheelt/tire. Good thing I don't have a moto, but it still makes for some brainstorming where to put my spare(s), especially since I want a crawl-thru from truck to FWC (vs having the spare between cab and FWC, like Mule Outfitters has on their RAM w/ Norweld tray and FWC Hawk flatbed).

Are you sure they arent configurable to where you want them?

EXAMPLE: I have a new 2020 Ram CC on order. The tanks are available 3 different ways. Only the midship (which seems to be the most popular config), only the rear, or both. Seems they do this so the builders can choose the best setup for their particular upfit.

 

[mk216v]

All depends on tire size, wheel, etc... With my Jeep on 37" MTR's on 17" wheels, i would literally run them at ZERO PSI by pulling the valve stems out and never had an issue with non beadlocks.

Tires vary wildly, as does the sidewall construction, so there is no magic #

But the jeep was a lightweight beater. A lot of factors come into play

Good point Kevin. YMMV("your mileage may vary" )

 

[mk216v]

Are you sure they arent configurable to where you want them?

EXAMPLE: I have a new 2020 Ram CC on order. The tanks are available 3 different ways. Only the midship (which seems to be the most popular config), only the rear, or both. Seems they do this so the builders can choose the best setup for their particular upfit.

Not with '17-19 Ford SuperDuty. You either get varying volume mid-ship on the pickup, even with pickup and bed delete (29gal mid-ship RegCab diesel or 34gal mid-ship RC gas, 34gal mid-ship SC gas/diesel, 48gal mid-ship CC gas/diesel) or 40gal aft-axle w/ cab chassis. Now, the cab-chassis gas/diesel can option to get the smaller 26.5gal mid-ship tank....or for cab-chassis diesel-only, can option to get both the mid-ship and aft-axle (largest capacity I've seen is '19 cab-chassis diesel at 26.5gal mid + 40gal aft = 66.5gal total). 40gal with my cab-chassis Regular Cab 6.2L V8 is sufficient for me, which is one of the reasons why I sought out a cab-chassis vs pickup.

Now, here's why the RAM can possibly shine if you go diesel; gets a lame 22gal mid-ship as standard yes (Hemi or Cummins), or with Cummins ONLY, can get 22gal mid-ship and 52gal aft-axle = 74gal total....along with dual alternators at 440amps total (or dual/380amps total with Hemi, but again 22gal tank only w/ Hemi). Not possible to get 52gal tank only on the RAM that I see.

Sorry to have gone off-topic Prospector's.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Now, here's why the RAM can possibly shine if you go diesel; gets a lame 22gal mid-ship as standard yes (Hemi or Cummins), or with Cummins ONLY, can get 22gal mid-ship and 52gal aft-axle = 74gal total....along with dual alternators at 440amps total (or dual/380amps total with Hemi, but again 22gal tank only w/ Hemi). Not possible to get 52gal tank only on the RAM that I see.

Sorry to have gone off-topic Prospector's.

Slightly Incorrect..

Both the Hemi and the Cummins are available with the dual tank setups, for a total of 72 gallons.

I know this for sure, because I had a 2020 Hemi variant with dual tanks, on order, order was approved and went to C status.

Long story short, dealer called and said the Hemis would be delayed until mid April, if not later.

For reasons I’ll explain later in my build thread, I ended up with the Cummings, dual tanks, dual alternators, etc...

And... I’ll be swapping out the 22 gallon midship tank for the transfer flow ASAP, because it will be a lot easier to do before camper is on, for a total of 102 gallons.

yes that’s a ton of fuel, yes that’s a ton of weight, but i have my reasons

 

[phsycle]

Holy moly. 102 gallons. Even if you’re getting 10mpg, you’re over 1k mile range. If I ever get the itch to venture out to Alaska, I’m coming to steal your rig.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Holy moly. 102 gallons. Even if you’re getting 10mpg, you’re over 1k mile range. If I ever get the itch to venture out to Alaska, I’m coming to steal your rig.

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

 

[mk216v]

Slightly Incorrect..

Both the Hemi and the Cummins are available with the dual tank setups, for a total of 72 gallons.

I know this for sure, because I had a 2020 Hemi variant with dual tanks, on order, order was approved and went to C status.

Long story short, dealer called and said the Hemis would be delayed until mid April, if not later.

For reasons I’ll explain later in my build thread, I ended up with the Cummings, dual tanks, dual alternators, etc...

And... I’ll be swapping out the 22 gallon midship tank for the transfer flow ASAP, because it will be a lot easier to do before camper is on, for a total of 102 gallons.

yes that’s a ton of fuel, yes that’s a ton of weight, but i have my reasons

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:

• • 
    
    6.4L V8 Heavy-Duty HEMI® Engine
    $0
  • 
    
    6.7L I6 Cummins Turbo Diesel Engine
    $7,745
  • 
    
    8-Speed Automatic 8HP75-LCV Transmission
    $0
  • 
    
    6-Speed Automatic Aisin AS69RC HD Transmission
    $1,600

• 
  
  REMOVED
  4.10 Axle Ratio
  $0

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