Truck build 92 W250

Thought I would share my build. Trying to get it ready for retirement and then off to Tuk!

SWEET!!!!! SHE'S BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Hi dirt rider
Looks nice you should have a great time, I'm jealous.

Russ

Nice! We have a 1993 Clubcab W250 Diesel, 5 speed getrag, longbed with a 2007 FWC Keystone. The 1st gen Dodge diesel with FWC camper is a great combination and should give you good fuel mileage.

We drove to and from Anchorage last summer with our rig. We got 19.7 mpg on the round trip on the drive between Anchorage and Homer, AK.

On the drive from home to/from Alaska we were towing a large fully loaded Wells Cargo box trailer weighing around 4500 - 5000 pounds and got around 14 mpg.

The original owner of our truck installed a K&N air filter kit and Banks 4" exhaust kit. He also built a custom center console out of wood that has two cup holders, a flip up seat back with storage underneath and a shallow tray for setting stuff in when the seat back is down. Basically a nicer version of the plastic OEM center console.

Prior to the trip I added sound damping material on the floor, ceiling and interior walls of the truck cab which reduced the noise. I also added a Podman Gauge pod with ISSPRO Pyrometer, Boost and Fuel pressure gauges (already had an ISSPRO Tach in it) along with several 12v usb outlets and a second 12 V cigarette socket to run a Dometic CFX-28 refrigerator that sits behind the center console in the extended cab area. Not having to deal with the ice in our old Coleman cooler was priceless!

On the passenger side I installed a removable Ram Mount telescoping computer platform so my navigator could conveniently use the Samsung S2 tablet with maps and Milepost software installed. It also served as a desk when the computer was not needed.

Finally I put a Brinno TLC-200 Pro time lapse camera (Amazon) on the top of the dash under the rear view mirror and let it run all day every day at 1 frame per second to capture the trip (I believe the newer builds allow 0.5 sec time interval which I would recommend - 1 sec is OK however since 0.5 sec consumes twice as much storage. We found that a 32 GB SD card would hold about 10 to 12 hours of images (I can provide more details on its use if interested).

We have 200 W of solar on the camper and I installed a plastic 4-drawer cabinet from Walmart just inside the back door between the end of the rollover couch and the back wall where many larger campers have the built in toilet/shower combination. Our camper obviously did not have that option installed and we find that a porta pottie works fine for us. We out our clothes in the cabinet and it was so much better than using suitcases. We had overnigt duffle bags we would fill on those occasions we elected to motel it (for a hot shower and a nice dinner out).

All of these features helped make the trip a bit more comfortable and enjoyable.

We do regret not getting the new Scheel-Mann Vario model bucket seats and new polyurethane suspension bushings installed before the trip (we couldn't get the seats delivered in time and ran out of time on the bushings).

I do strongly recommend the Brinno time lapse camera to capture the scenery of the drive (it also serves double duty as a dash cam). We reset it every 3 or 4 hours and since it uses SD memory cards we had several we could rotate in and out while downloading the contents of the removed cards in the evening to a portable hard drive connected to my laptiop.
The Brinno TLC200 Pro is not expensive and neither are the SD cards. Also it is compatible with GoPro mounts and holders.

I hope some of these ideas are helpful and wishing you a fabulous and safe trip.

Craig

Edited by ckent323, 11 July 2019 - 05:46 AM.

Addendum: Something we wish we had added but did not have time to do was install an awning for the rear door with a privacy flap that hangs down.

I just added LED headlights and I wish I had done that before the trip. The halogen headlights in these old Dodges are too dim.

I used set of Vision X housings (have heavy glass lens not plastic) and Morimoto 2 Stroke V2.0 LED plug in bulbs. They are much brighter than the OEM Halogens. I am not completely satisfied with the beam pattern yet but I have some alignment fine tuning yet to do. The Supernove LED plug in bulbs are alledgedly much better than the Morimoto bulbs but they are 6000k and have a slight bluish tinge (I do not like the LEDs with blue light) whereas the Morimoto bulbs are 5500K and are more a bright white. The Morimotos are an improvenmet over stock none the less..

Another way to go is the Ridgid 5x7 Led lights (made by Trucklite but sometimes cheaper). The best plug and play LED 5x7 lights are J.W. Speaker but they are pricey.


Regards,

Craig

Edited by ckent323, 11 July 2019 - 06:03 AM.

Craig,

 

Been following your build and would love to see some pix of the inside of the cab! One area I am looking at is a camera that fits over the rear view mirror that includes a rear view camera and front recorder as well as possible side views. I just had Tod in Chula Vista rebuild the transfer case and am upgrading the front drive shaft to 1410 ujoints. Added Jungle Jim shackles, but now need to added his front spring hanger as the front springs hit the frame on the rear and need to move forward, this is due to the 6 inch lift. Had the Weld shop in Rosamond build me a custom rear bumper that includes a tire swing out, gas can holders and air tank for the compressor I will be installing in the gap between the bed and the camper. Much more coming...

 

Hal

Craig,

Been following your build and would love to see some pix of the inside of the cab! One area I am looking at is a camera that fits over the rear view mirror that includes a rear view camera and front recorder as well as possible side views. I just had Tod in Chula Vista rebuild the transfer case and am upgrading the front drive shaft to 1410 ujoints. Added Jungle Jim shackles, but now need to added his front spring hanger as the front springs hit the frame on the rear and need to move forward, this is due to the 6 inch lift. Had the Weld shop in Rosamond build me a custom rear bumper that includes a tire swing out, gas can holders and air tank for the compressor I will be installing in the gap between the bed and the camper. Much more coming...

Hal

More to come

Really like that rear bumper. Rosamond...hmmm, not too far from me. 👍 Bon voyage!

Darrel at the weld shop is a real craftsman, but he works alone and it can take time to get it done, but well worth the wait.

Craig,

Been following your build and would love to see some pix of the inside of the cab! One area I am looking at is a camera that fits over the rear view mirror that includes a rear view camera and front recorder as well as possible side views. I just had Tod in Chula Vista rebuild the transfer case and am upgrading the front drive shaft to 1410 ujoints. Added Jungle Jim shackles, but now need to added his front spring hanger as the front springs hit the frame on the rear and need to move forward, this is due to the 6 inch lift. Had the Weld shop in Rosamond build me a custom rear bumper that includes a tire swing out, gas can holders and air tank for the compressor I will be installing in the gap between the bed and the camper. Much more coming...

Hal

check out the auto-vox line of backup cameras. i have one and like it