Finding a truck to pull a 40′ fifth wheel in the post-covid market was not an easy task. As soon as one would come on the market, it would be gone the same day.

Hubby and I had done all the research on what truck we would need to be able to haul the RV we were looking at buying. We knew we didn’t want to go earlier than a 2019 based on towing so we kept the parameters within those limits. Low miles, crew cab, 4×4, diesel. Color didn’t matter.

Purchasing the Truck

I found one on CarMax’s website a few Saturdays ago and before it could be claimed by anyone else, I put a hold on it. The problem was that it was located in Texas and we’re in Colorado. I didn’t want to fly down there just for a test drive or have to buy it without looking it over.

I gave CarMax a quick call and inquired about getting it here to take a look at it. They told me there wouldn’t be a transfer fee and if we didn’t want it after it got here, there would be no obligation to buy it. Sweet!

You know I jumped on that deal. I had it transferred to Colorado for free and in two weeks we went up to test drive it. It drove like a dream.  

We came pre-approved with the loan paperwork, signed the documents and became the new owners of a 2019 Ram 3500 that weekend.

Upgrades

The truck still needed some things done to it so we’ve been busy putting in upgrades.

Wheel-To-Wheel Running Boards

The first thing we installed were wheel-to-wheel running boards. When the floor of the truck is higher than my thighs, getting in and out of it would be a workout on a daily basis without that extra step. The extra long running boards makes it nice to look over into the bed without having to step over the tailgate in the back. If I need to grab a gas can or my water containers, I can just use the side step instead of the having to put the tailgate down.

Bulletpoint Cell Phone Mount

The next thing we did was get a cell phone and tablet holder from Bulletpoint Mounting Solutions. This thing is solid! It screws down to the dash and uses a 20mm ball to connect to metal arms. The arms can swivel to wherever you put them and then stay in place when you crank it down. This location also has a powered cigarette lighter so we can power the devices without having to run cords in front of the console, a big pet peeve of mine in the old car.  Bulletpoint sells different connecting heads so we changed out the right head for a tablet mount. That mount will hold the RV camera display once we get the cameras installed. 

RV Camera Display

Once we get the fifth wheel, one of the upgrades that we will put on first is the Haloview camera system. It will allow us to see all sides of the RV while driving. With a rear view and side view cameras, it should take the angst out of driving the beast for the first few months, knowing that we’d be able to see where we’re turning or what we’re backing up into.

The camera display will sit in the Bulletpoint mount. Putting it here helps to keep it low enough so that it doesn’t block the windshield and helps make it easy enough to glance at before making a lane change.

Rubber Floor Mats

Living in snow country for over a decade, it’s taught us that carpet won’t last very long with a combination of magnesium chloride, snow, mud, and kids in the mix. On the last car we had, installing rubber mats was the first upgrade we made to save the carpeting from the elements. 

When it came to the truck, it was a no-brainer. Traveling through different parts of the U.S. is sure to bring all kinds of weather, not to mention food or drink spills as we stop for a quick bite to eat between destinations. As such, we decided to take out the cloth floor mats and put in some rubber mats.

B&W Gooseneck Turnover Ball

This is one we didn’t want to tackle ourselves. Not because the installation would be difficult, but because the previous owner had some kind of DIY gooseneck device that was welded into the underside of the bed. We took it over to Autoplex and let them handle the removal of the contraption. Looking back, it was worth the extra expense to pay them to do it considering it took them two days to carefully cut through the weld to remove the old device and get the new B&W hitch installed. 

The fifth wheel we are purchasing has an upgraded Reese goosebox, so it’ll attach directly to the turnover ball and keep the truck bed open to haul whatever equipment we need to stash in it without having to remove a huge fifth wheel hitch system into it. 

Touch-up Paint and Bed Liner

Since we bought the truck used, it naturally is showing a small amount of wear on it. The previous owner must have slide in and out of the truck due to it not having running boards and started rubbing away part of the paint at the floor of the door.

I bought primer an a paint kit to touch up the paint at the door locations. I would have thought it would have been easy to find the paint color with it being white, but go figure, there are two white options! Seems I went with the right one.

It also appears that the previous owner had a rusty tool box rust inside the bed. Fortunately it’s mostly just surface rust, but it needs to be cleaned up and the bed liner touched up and resealed in a few spots. I bought a can of primer and spray-on bedliner to do the touch-up.

That should bring the truck to where it needs to be to begin our journey next month.

We have several RV upgrades coming up as well. Once it’s delivered this next month, we’re going to get started on those. Stay tuned!