Tag: truck camper

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Fog lights under front bumper

Moving these super-compact, ultra-wide, All Terrain Projector (ATP) PIAA 1100p lights from the rear of the flatbed, to the bottom of the front bumper skid plate was a great modification.

Designed for the front of motorcycles with high vibration resistance and an SAE-F compliant beam, these lamps were not great when viewed through the mirrors or camper back door. 

Yet these little lamps provide impressively wide and distant illumination (for a fog pattern) when viewed through the windshield. The aggressive, precise line cut keeps the beam on the road, and not in the eyes of oncoming drivers (of course proper aiming is required). What a positive change moving them to the front! 

Though mounted below the bumper, they don’t hang low, and are behind the Buckstop bumper face and tow hooks. I think they’re unlikely to be hit or damaged from a typical dirt nosedive.

With the recent addition of two Hella floods on the back of the flatbed, this rig now has three pair of lamps on the front, and two on the back. Is that enough?

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Resources:

Buckstop Truckware

Hallmark Truck Campers

PIAA

 

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Flatbed custom fuel tank project, part 1.

The custom auxiliary fuel tank project for our 2017 Ram/Cummins 2500 is underway! June 2019 I added two additional aluminum toolboxes aft-axle on my Hallmark Nevada Hillsboro flatbed camper outfit. My idea was to eventually remove one of the large, 30-inch-long front boxes and replace it with a fuel tank, preferably a commercially available aluminum saddle tank for a medium-duty truck.

The tank project was moved to the back burner and a year passed quickly. For a while I considered a much smaller 10 or 12-gallon tank, hoping to fit one under the chassis between the frame rails, and in front of the spare tire. Just 100 miles of additional range would be a game changer during long highway trips.

Evan a commercially available tank would have required custom mounts and modifications, and surely some compromises. After discussing the project with Chris at High Sierra Fabrication several weeks ago, we decided on a custom tank for my original under-bed location. The goal was to fabricate a tank that looks extremely similar to the toolbox that was removed, and the matching 30-inch box still on the passenger-side.

Custom costs more, takes time, and is never snag-free, but if you have the right business and people involved, the results can be fantastic.

A beautiful tank was constructed using 3/16-inch diamond plate aluminum. Then High Sierra Fabrication proceeded to drill and cut holes in the box, weld-in fittings, a sump, and clean-out port, etc. We are getting close, but still working on it. 

After High Sierra Fabrication completes most of installation, I will still need to plumb and wire the external pump to transfer the auxiliary fuel into the 2017 Ram’s factory tank. 

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James Langan

Copyright James Langan/RoadTraveler. All Rights Reserved

Resource:

High Sierra Fabrication (Facebook page)