Aluminess rear w/ FWC Hawk on Ram 2500 clearance questions

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turn_one

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I have a 16 Ram 2500 with a FWC Hawk and I'm considering buying a Aluminess rear bumper with spare carrier and boxes but am concerned about the clearance of the camper jacks and install/removal of camper with the swing gates on the bumper.

I currently have about 1" on either side from my fender well to the jacks when backing underneath the camper during install/removal. The Aluminess bumper looks to protrude out much further than the stock bumper on the sides to the point where I think it would contact the jacks. This is a non issue when the camper is installed as the jacks will be removed. I assume a bracket attached to the existing jack brackets on the camper is the solution here. Can anyone with a similar set up comment here?

Also, when installing or removing the camper how does one get around the swing gates on the Aluminess? Do you need to remove the swing gates just to install/remove the camper? If so, is this a difficult process?

I need the bed of my pickup often so leaving the camper on full time is not an option.

Thanks for any input.
 
I have an Aluminess rear bumper on a Tacoma/Eagle combination and don't see any way I could get the camper off without removing the swing arms. Luckily I leave the camper on full time but I think I'd have to remove the spare and the Deluxe box in order to remove the swing arms so maybe not an easy task.
 
Thanks. ^^ Having to take the swing arms and boxes off every time the camper goes on and off may be a deal breaker for me.
 
You may want to check with Aluminess as well, I'm sure they would know better than me how to do it. It looks to me like taking the swing arms off wouldn't be that hard and maybe if you had some sort of lift assist you could get them on and off without removing the box.
 
I don't have an Aluminess but do have a swing arm on my bumper, you will have to remove the swing arm to take your camper off. I'm like Charlie, I leave my camper on full time. Ron
 
Too many negatives for me not to mention the cost. The other hang up for me is hauling a moto on a hitch carrier and not being to access the camper unless the moto is unloaded.

Think I'll opt for a hitch gate spare holder.

Thanks for your input.
 
I'm having an Aluminess like bumper fab'd for me in two weeks. I also had concerns about the side clearance on my '14 Tundra and my welder is aware that the bumper sides have to clear the jacks.The swing arms he uses can be taken off by loosening 2 bolts and just lifting it off the pivot piece. I will be able to open and close my tailgate with the swings arms attached when I don't have the camper on, which is most of the time. Another reason for having it fab'd is that I want a steel bumper, plus the cost will be $1400.00 installed including LED brake/tail/backup lights. He also made a bumper for my '03 Tundra and it came out great. I know this doesn't answer your concerns for your Ram but you may want to consider having a bumper custom made. This will be the second bumper my fabricator will build for me and I'm hoping it all works out. I'll post some pics when it's done. Only drawback is he has to have my rig there to make sure he gets all the fitment correct. Wish me luck!!
 
Good points Ronin. I'd have your guy fab me one up for that price any day. If he's looking for a Ram bumper project I could give him one. With the extension brackets, galley box and holes for back-up sensors I was looking at just south of $4000; way too much for what I see as spare tire carrier and lockable storage. I think Aluminess could use some competition.

Not sure who could fab bumpers up in my area but I haven't looked either.
 
I owned/installed an Aluminess bumper on my now sold F-250. I had the spare tire carrier on the left side with a Toyo 295/70-16 tire on a 16x9 Ultra wheel. I had the standard box on the right swing arm in which I stowed 4 Scepter 5G water/fuel cans.

Aluminess makes a great product IMO! Their products are not mass produced. They are fabricated one at a time for your vehicle. Yes, they used standard vehicle measurements to fabricate your bumper. But working with Michael (owners son) to incorporate any ideas you might have for the bumper is very easy. However, expect an up-charge if you start customizing.

Aluminess has a good relationship with FWC. Tom of FWC has a video posted on the FWC web site about his visit to Aluminess.

The only issue I ever encountered with the Aluminess bumper was how the left swing arm when locked in the open position, prevented engaging the FWC Hawk camper door gust lock. While not a design flaw, the swing arm gust lock must be located in a position on the bumper offering sufficient strength and support to prevent unwanted movement of the swing arm. To overcome the small issue I merely fashioned a small bungee cord and attached it to the camper's gust lock fixture on the camper door and attached it to the swingarm. To prevent damage to the door edge, I attached some pipe insulation (from Lowes) to the swingarm. Problem solved.

IMG_1702.jpg

(5/2015, Point Sublime, North Rim, Grand Canyon)

In regards to the motorcycle carrier. All stock moto carriers I looked at would either not clear the bumper or if the motorcycle was on the carrier, did not offer clearance between the fuel can box and/or spare tire. This problem was very easily solved by calling Joe at Joe Hauler. Joe has a form for you to fill out that takes into account every conceivable measurement. The end result, a moto carrier that cleared the Aluminess bumper, spare tire carrier, and fuel can box. I could carry both my KTM 690 and 350 without any issues what-so-ever on the old truck with the Aluminess bumper.

It was asked in another thread. You can not gain access to you camper door with the swingarms in the travel position. I know of no after-market bumper with swingarms that would allow access. Unless you have a flatbed camper with the door on the side.

Also, I had about 1.5" clearance between the camper jacks and each outer edge of the Aluminess bumper. I actually had less clearance between the tires and jacks as I removed the camper; ~1".

I now use the Joe hauler carrier on my 2016 F-350 with the factory bumper. Since my custom Joe hauler moto carrier was designed for the Aluminess bumper with swingarms, I can gain access to the camper with the bike secured in the travel position as depicted below. A nice feature. If I had not had a custom carrier fabricated, the bike would have to be removed from the carrier to access the camper with the factory bumper.
2016_07_01_06_42_24.jpg


While I haven't used a great many of the vendors found in Overland Journal and taking part in Overland Expo, I will say every vendor I have made contact with through these organizations have been very attentive to my needs, produced/provided the product I needed and all, without exception, provided phenomenal customer support. What else can you ask for when considering overland products?

And I have no other relationship, other than being a very satisfied customer, with these vendors.

As fo the competition question, some of the ideas incorporated into the Aluminess bumpers are patented intellectual property. Not such an easy thing for another bumper company or one-welder to copy without legal issues. Even the Aussie swingarm design on the bumper appearing in the MaxTrax ad on page 28 of the Overland Journal 2017 Gear Guide issue is patented. And sadly, not imported into the US.
 
I think CBI Offroad makes bumpers, I have their sliders and they are a good product. I like my Aluminess bumper and would choose it over a steel one for the weight alone. We got rear ended a few months ago and the car who hit us was practically totalled and we had a smudge on our bumper - they are very strong for the weight.
 
Very informative Adv.

No doubt Aluminess makes a great product, I simply decided against it for the inconvenience issues noted above and the cost. Further customizing the bumper and/or moto hauler adds $ to a project that exceeds the cost benefit ratio for me considering I'm at approx $3700 (with shipping) as it stands now.
 
turn_one said:
Very informative Adv.

No doubt Aluminess makes a great product, I simply decided against it for the inconvenience issues noted above and the cost. Further customizing the bumper and/or moto hauler adds $ to a project that exceeds the cost benefit ratio for me considering I'm at approx $3700 (with shipping) as it stands now.
Click to expand...
Wow!
I wasn't even close to $3700 for both the bumper and moto carrier. Product prices haven't increased that much in 2 years.

Price around for the best pricing on common carriers. Fees are all across the board. Also, much, much cheaper to ship from vendor to your nearest freight terminal rather than having it delivered to your final destination. In some cases, I discovered delivery from my local terminal to my house was more costly than the charge to ship from CA to NC! You can save hundreds of dollars shipping to the nearest terminal. No truck to pick up the bumper? Rent a Home Depot pickup for a half day! FedEx Freight has been consistently the least expensive common carrier shipping to the terminal near me.
 
I tried a few retailers. One, an online bumper store does not charge shipping or tax but didn't know the product well and I was concerned they'd get it wrong. Issues like bumper extension brackets (req'd for mine), and clearance issues with the camper jacks. Obviously I could work direct with Aluminess to get this right.
I found a retailer in OR (no tax) that knew the product and was very helpful. It was explained to me that the sensor holes, extension brackets and shipping (around $250) were making the gap from $3000 to $3700 ($2550 stock bumper with arms plus a $500-ish galley box).
Again, it was not just the cost that had me backpedaling on the bumper but the inconvenience of camper removal/install (which I do often) and access issues when hauling a moto with my hitchcarrier.

Thank you guys for the insight and help here. Now time to direct those saved $ to fixing the battery charging shortcomings in trailer...
 
turn_one said:
I have a 16 Ram 2500 with a FWC Hawk and I'm considering buying a Aluminess rear bumper with spare carrier and boxes but am concerned about the clearance of the camper jacks and install/removal of camper with the swing gates on the bumper.

I currently have about 1" on either side from my fender well to the jacks when backing underneath the camper during install/removal. The Aluminess bumper looks to protrude out much further than the stock bumper on the sides to the point where I think it would contact the jacks. This is a non issue when the camper is installed as the jacks will be removed. I assume a bracket attached to the existing jack brackets on the camper is the solution here. Can anyone with a similar set up comment here?

Also, when installing or removing the camper how does one get around the swing gates on the Aluminess? Do you need to remove the swing gates just to install/remove the camper? If so, is this a difficult process?

I need the bed of my pickup often so leaving the camper on full time is not an option.

Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...

I can't say for a Dodge but on my Tundra, with jack extension plates and swing arms removed it was easy to get the camper off. There are four bolts for the swing arms and with someone holding things for you it is a piece of cake to remove them and to reinstall. I absolutely love my Aluminess rear bumper with swing arms, definitely one of the best additions to our rig.
 
I had 1/4"" plates 6" wide length the same as the camper Jack mounting spot 13",fabbed up at a local weld shop plus measured the 3 bolt holes centers and had the welder drill the 4 plates for 3/8" bolts. So 6 holes per plate, 3 on inside 3 on outside. Spray painted white. I leave the plates bolted to the Jack's. I don't travel with the Jack's so when I leave I take them off and when I get home bolt them to the camper and have an extra 5" per side. Not worried about clearance at all. Plus only about $20.
 
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