Our Rig

RAM 1500 Laramie 2021

V8 Petrol 5.7 litre Hemi

RAM boxes

Colour - Granite Crystal

Originally when we started thinking about living life full time on the road we thought about getting a large American 5th Wheel. This meant for towing we would need a large American truck. I fell in love with the RAM so initially we were looking at getting a 2500.

After more research and thinking about where we wanted to explore we realised a large 5th wheel wouldn’t suit our off-road needs. We then started looking at off road caravan options available in New Zealand. We discovered the JB brand that are imported to New Zealand by D&E Outdoors in Ashburton. We did a roadie to go check them out. It didn’t take much to convince us that this caravan brand was perfect for our needs. Deposits were paid and our build spot was locked in. This now meant the RAM 1500 would be more than adequate for our needs saving us potentially $70 000.

We ended up purchasing our RAM from Armstrong's in Christchurch. We test drove a vehicle with an awesome salesman – Terry. Deposits again were paid and the wait was now on. Estimated arrival for the RAM after conversion in Australia was 6 months. This was okay because the expected arrival of our caravan was 9 months.

When the RAM arrived in the country we had the dealership add a 12 volt Anderson plug and wire it up for DC to DC charging in the caravan. We upgraded the tyres to Cooper Zeon LTZ at Tyreland, Alexandra for better off road use. We also wanted to use the RAM to carry our bikes. This would mean we could always park up somewhere in the caravan and still drive with our bikes to a trail if need be. The RAM came standard with a tri fold vinyl cover. We organised through Central Custom Engineering in Alexandra to design and manufacture a hard lid suitable to mount our bikes onto. At this point there were no companies in New Zealand manufacturing hard lids for RAM vehicles with the RAM boxes.

Central Custom did an amazing job. The lid is hinged and is able to be lifted up if need be when the bikes are not mounted on it. We found Thule bike racks that we purchased through Bike it Now in Cromwell that were then mounted to pro rack roof racks from Repco. Due to the Covid situation sourcing equipment was getting ever more challenging so we were lucky to source these when we did.

We got air bags installed to give it extra lift for when the caravan was connected. We used Airbag Man installed by Junction Auto Services in Alexandra. We installed some extra wiring for the ALCO Electronic Stability Control via the 12-pin trailer plug.

So far, the RAM has exceeded all our expectations when towing 3.5 tonne. It is an extremely comfortable vehicle to travel in and we both love driving it.

JB Dirt Road Extreme

23.6 foot

Rear Club Lounge

Layout was a huge consideration for what caravan we selected. We wanted a bedroom that could be shut off from the main living area. We also wanted the bathroom – shower and toilet between the bedroom and kitchen. This caravan ticked all the boxes.

Now that we had chosen our caravan we had to select any extra features we wanted to include and choose our colour scheme.

These are the extra features we added -

• Upgraded to the Enerdrive 300 AMP hour lithium battery set up which included extra solar panels and larger inverter.

• Added the rain hatch into the master bedroom which has proven to be a great decision as you can control the fan to take air out or bring air in dependent on the temperature set points.

• Instantaneous gas hot water.

• Compressor fridge

• Pillow top mattress

• Sting boxes

• Keyed alike

• Added shelving in the two wardrobes instead of a hanging bar

• We also removed the shelves in the club lounge cupboards so we could stack in containers

• Added two extra Sirocco fans

• Diesel Heater - 4kw

• Front loader washing machine

• Round white basin in bathroom

• Composting toilet

• Anti flap kit for awning

• WiTi GPS security system

• Savvy Level

Colours

Exterior

• Shiny grey mouse grey stucco

• Charcoal metallic alucomp

• Black treadplate

• Black alloy wheels

Interior

• Benchtops – Grey Lavato

• Leather in the Club Lounge and Headboard - Ambassador fumo

• Cupboards – Stylelite Ash

• Flooring – Dark Grey floorboards

• Black taps and shower fittings

• Black kitchen sink

• Walls - White stipple

• Splash backs - White opal

Due to Covid our caravan ended up taking exactly a year from build to pick up. This again didn’t worry us as a mid-winter pick up in Central Otago wasn’t that desirable.

Our handover date coincided with the school holidays which was perfect as I am a teacher. We drove to Ashburton and Ashley went through the handover with us, showing us the ins and outs of both the exterior and interior features.

Driving out of the yard was so exciting, definitely worth the wait.

Since we have had it we have started to Brentify it. Anyone who knows my husband Brent will know exactly what I mean.

So far he has…

• Lined cupboards and drawers with non slip lining

• Lined some cupboards with marine carpet for extra insulation

• Insulated pipework ready for -10 winter travelling in Central Otago

• Constructed a WIFI aerial antenna

• Extended the breather tubes on the water tanks

• Added some carpet under the table in the club lounge.

• Shortened the outlet vent hose for the composting toilet