Truck Mods

From Factory to Off-road Beast

Truck Mods

Our offroad adventures are made possible by Dodgy II: The Truckening. This 2015 Ram 3500 Tradesman model truck came with very few frills aside from the crew cab, 4-wheel drive, and blue paint job. Now that we have it, however, we’ve been adding features, including a Bowen Customs truck bed, Warn winch, Bushwacker Fender Flairs, and Happijac Tiedown System in a series of DIY truck mod projects.

We complete our latest 2015 Ram 3500 mod by installing a Warn Zeon 12-S Winch on our new Ascent Front Bumper. Our latest adventure as auto mechanics. — **Installing a Warn Winch**
On a Warn Ascent Bumper

Upgrading our overland rig with "do it yourself" installation of Bushwacker Fender Flares on a 2015 Ram 3500. — **Bushwacker Fender Flares**
Riveting design

We upgrade our truck camper security with this DIY install of the HappiJac Frame Mount Camper Tiedown System in our 2015 Ram 3500 Tradesman truck. — **Happijac Tiedown System**
Truck camper mount

1970 Avion C11 truck camper on a 2015 Ram 2500 tradesman truck camper driving through the alpine tundra on Old River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. — 2015 Ram 3500

By the Numbers

We get a lot of questions about our setup and we are happy to share the details.

Year	2015
Make	Ram
Model	3500
Cab	Crew
Bed Length	8′
Engine	6.4L V8 HEMI
Fuel Economy	8-16 mpg
Payload (Max)	4,440 lbs.

Modifications

We bought Dodgy 2: The Truckening for adventure with our 1970 Avion C11. That means we’ve made quite a few after factory modifications to accommodate our road tripping lifestyle of back roads and boondocking.

Warn Ascent Front Bumper

Warn Zeon 12S Winch

Bushwacker Fender Flares

Happijac Tiedown System

Custom Truck Bed

Bowen Customs Truck Bed

In our greatest truck mod yet, we’re collaborating with Bowen Customs to design a custom truck bed to expand our storage options while maintaining a lightweight and sturdy mount point. Learn about our design process, installation, and an in-depth tour.

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Diagram of truck camper flat bed from 1970 Avion C11 truck camper — **Design**
Measurements & Sketches

Two men bolting upper boxes on a custom custom utility bed. — **Install**
Mounting the New Bed

Warn Front Bumper & Winch

Installing a Warn Ascent Front Bumper & Zeon 12S Winch

We’ve been renovating our 1970 Avion C11 truck camper with overlanding in mind. And while we’ve made great progress on our home on wheels, one glaring omission to our overlanding adventures is a winch for vehicle recovery. We also need a bumper that is sturdy enough to house the winch. In this DIY truck mod series, we install our Warn Ascent front bumper and Zeon 12S winch.

After removing our 2015 Ram 3500's grille and front bumper, it's time to finally install our new Warn Ascent Front Bumper for our overland adventures. — **Warn Ascent Front Bumper**
Install

Properly spooling synthetic rope onto our Warn Zeon 12-S winch is a critical first step in preserving the integrity and lifespan of this strong, light rope. — **Spooling A Synthetic Rope**
For the first time

More DIY Projects

1970 Avion C11 Truck Camper

It’s hard to talk about the truck without addressing the camper. After all, we bought the 2015 Ram 3500 to carry our 1970 Avion C11 slide in. This classic aluminum design stands out on its own, but we have done a lot of work to bring it out of the mid-century and into the modern-day with structural and technological upgrades.

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