Uh oh - I went and done it... F550 and Chariot RV hauler bed

[jbeletti]

Finalized an order for a new tow vehicle tonight.

I will be having a Chariot RV aluminum 7-door hauler bed built and installed on a new Ford F550 XLT chassis cab.

Here's what it will look like.

Traded in the RAM. Five weeks of waiting only to get it in time to put her away for the winter. Poor thing. The time value of money calculation showed I was still money well ahead to take the incentives to clear the lots of 2007s versus doing the deal in February on a 2008 chassis cab.

Jim

 

[BigBlue]

Jim
It looks great. You'll enjoy the feeling of having a truck that is not imtimidated by anything you're towing.

 

[nhunter]

Looks awesome and let me be the first to congratulate you on coming to the good side.

 

[trdeal]

I guess you really are the man Jim. Congrats. on your new FORD hauler. It will be a long six weeks but well worth it.

 

[jbeletti]

Thanks guys. I really liked my RAM. Especially the Cummins Turbo diesel. But I am sure I'll come to like the PSD too.

Jim, I nearly stopped by your trailer tonight as I passed it. Saw your lights on. Did the truck deal over at Tom Peck Ford in Huntley and had to run over to the trailer afterward as I feared I left the water heater on. I didn't. But we did leave all the 110 VAC lights on when we left Goshen last weekend. Glad I went by to check things out.

I can hardly believe all the water out there at Lehman's. Karen and crew have their hands full. Hope the flooded transformers and meter pedestals I saw are not affecting your power.

Jim

 

[jbeletti]

Thanks Terry. If the man is measured by the size of his tow vehicle, I gotta give this one to Bob and Christina (seamo) with their "Big Mama". That was one big TV at the rally last June.

I have lusted over the Freightliner Sport Chassis TVs in the past and saw 3 of them in person at the Midwest RV Supershow and Rally. They were locked up but I crawled up on one to peer in.

Actually, someone over in the CG was pulling their Travel Supreme with one and before I saw it, I heard it. Sounded like a jet engine powered truck coming down the road as it whined along at 2 MPH. It was really loud.

Jim

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

Jim B,

Good for you on your new ride, you need to update your picture on your posts, I think the grin just got a lot bigger!!!!!!!!!!

Forrest

 

[ct0218]

Nice truck...I think that will pull anything Heartland builds! I saw one almost identical at Flying J yesterday. It was pulling a huge Teton. He said it rode better than the 350 he had prior to this new 550, and had just applied graphics to the truck to match the coach. I think this was his maiden voyage from Wisconsin, and he tried to show me the truck interior but his dog wanted out so I didn't see much. Looks like you, Nancy and the dogs will be haulin' in style soon.

 

[gawelsh]

You'll have the coolest rig out there - I better keep George away from it !!!!

 

[mrcomer]

With a huge amount of envy I congratulate you on an awesome truck. Just the thing for for pulling these big coaches. I bet you can't wait to pull your rig to see just how nice it will be. Better ride, better control and more confidence when stopping, by far a great feeling.

Guess we'll have to wait till Branson to see it in person.

Later Dude,

Mark

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

One word. AWESOME!!!

 

[Pulltab]

Congrats Jim, it will make a nice tow rig and safety is always a concern. I know what you mean about getting rid of the Ram, we hated to get rid of ours in 05 when we bought the Kodiak but we are now back to the Ram with big smiles. If I could only sell the Kodiak now we would be smiling even bigger!

Enjoy your new truck!

 

[Uncle Rog]

Congratulations, of course! You always seemed concerned about the GVWR, that is now a non- issue......Good job!

 

[kognito]

Jim,

Hope you like yours as much as I like mine!

Link air ride in back??

One note!! make sure you check the wiring in the back when you pick up your chariot. If you do a google search, you will find some posts about some unhappy chariot owners (I think these were mostly problems when Chariot first started doing these conversions, all bugs should be gone by now)

 

[jbeletti]

kognito - Yes, Link Mfg. air ride on the rear. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll research and check it at PDI and probably at the factory (they're close to me).

UR - It was GVCWR that I was worried most about. I was pretty well over for the truck with the entire weight of the truck/trailer. That is no longer a worry for sure.

 

[cmart]

Jim, your making way to much money. And congratulations, I'm envious.

 

[BigBlue]

Hi Jim
We're not having any problem with the power. The boxes you saw are for the new sites they're building. Water is the problem. We can't dump anything into their septic system right now. They've got us dumping gray water on the ground and can't dump black at all. They've asked us to come to the office when our black tank is full. I'm assuming they'll pump us out. I don't know yet if they plan on charging us for that. I'll certainly question that since our rent supposedly includes full hookup.

Stop by when you have a chance. I hope we'll still be here when you get the new truck so we can take a look.

 

[dieselengineer]

Yeah Jim
Real nice truck! Did you get the 4.30 ratio rear or 4.88? The 4.88 is real low, for the flat land. Will you have the TV before the Hershey show? If so bring pictures of the new baby.

 

[jbeletti]

DE,

The truck itself is on-site at Chariot in Elkhart now but it will take 5 weeks to have the bed built. They put out a couple beds per week so I guess I am in the backlog.

I'll get it in time for my October birthday though!

The chassis has a 4.88 geared rear axle. If I wanted a 2007, I had to take the last one they had. The incentives were great on the 2007 chassis cab. Nothing near that was being offered on the 2008. But they had a lot of 2008s on hand.

Hershey is not a for sure trip yet. Hope to make it though.

Jim

 

[jayc]

Jim,
Niiiice.....I've always wanted one of those hauler bed trucks.