(Another) 2021 Ram 5500 Build Thread

plumber mike

Adventurer
Off to a great start. I've been eyeballing one for myself.
Did 2021 return to a CP3 pump or does it have the upgraded 4.2?
I've read or watched the 2019 switched pumps to a CP4 and had metal shavings pop up. For 2020 they upgraded the pump, with markings on the pump to denote the upgrade. But I'm not sure about the 2021 since I can't find any local to me.
Looks great and I'm excited to watch you get to work. Thanks for bringing us along.
 

plumber mike

Adventurer
Anymore information on this and how to find out of my 2020 pump is "upgraded"??

Thanks
There are two stamped dots on the lift pump for the early CP4 and 8 stamped dots on the upgraded CP4.2. I can't seem to get a straight answer on the 2021 and nothing available locally to physically inspect. I'll try and get my son to search back through and find some links for you.
 

RAM5500 CAMPERTHING

OG Portal Member #183
There are two stamped dots on the lift pump for the early CP4 and 8 stamped dots on the upgraded CP4.2. I can't seem to get a straight answer on the 2021 and nothing available locally to physically inspect. I'll try and get my son to search back through and find some links for you.

thank you
 

frodotbaggins88

Active member
Off to a great start. I've been eyeballing one for myself.
Did 2021 return to a CP3 pump or does it have the upgraded 4.2?
I've read or watched the 2019 switched pumps to a CP4 and had metal shavings pop up. For 2020 they upgraded the pump, with markings on the pump to denote the upgrade. But I'm not sure about the 2021 since I can't find any local to me.
Looks great and I'm excited to watch you get to work. Thanks for bringing us along.

Hey man, appreciate it. I wasn't aware of the injector pump issues, thanks for the heads up. To be honest I know little to nothing about Ram trucks or Cummins engines. Always been a Ford guy but made a last minute decision to try the Ram this time. According to that article it looks like they fixed the pump or attempted to so we'll see how it goes!

When I yank the wheel well liners out to start cutting this weekend I can take a look at the pump and get some photos if you want?
 

redruby

Member
I just picked up (1/18/21)my 2021 Ram 5500 ,4x4 with the 120c/a and planning on installing a16’x8’x7’box and then doing all the build outs, the only for sure items so far are diesel heater/hot water, 50-60 gal fresh water, 25gal gray tank no black, 400-600 solar power, unsure of super singles yet and what suspension to use, looking forward to your updates
 

frodotbaggins88

Active member
I just picked up (1/18/21)my 2021 Ram 5500 ,4x4 with the 120c/a and planning on installing a16’x8’x7’box and then doing all the build outs, the only for sure items so far are diesel heater/hot water, 50-60 gal fresh water, 25gal gray tank no black, 400-600 solar power, unsure of super singles yet and what suspension to use, looking forward to your updates

Hey nice man, sounds like a good plan. If you’re gonna do any off-highway stuff I’d definitely recommend the super singles. I wouldn’t like to be wheeling in a dually lol. Post up a thread when you start on the build.
 

frodotbaggins88

Active member
Finally getting around to mounting tires and buttoning up rear suspension. Like all others have said, instructions for the Kelderman 4-link kit are pretty rough. Be prepared to figure a lot out on your own via trial and error. Some of the instructions aren't only vague they are just entirely incorrect lol. Telling you to attach things with the wrong bolt sizes that don't make sense, conflicting torque values, etc. We got it ironed out over a couple of weekends.

@RAM5500 CAMPERTHING here is your after report for mounting the tires without the need of a tire shop haha

Step 1: In the spirit of only using tools I'd have on the trail I used a hi-lift jack as a tire spreader to get the beadlock insert into the tire
IMG_4147.jpg

Step 2: Threaded rod or bolts to compress enough to get assembly nuts on
IMG_4148.jpg

Step 3: Convince wife to cinch down the assembly nuts while I have a drink or 3
IMG_4163.jpg

Step 4: Profit
IMG_4164.jpg
 

Explorerinil

Observer
There are two stamped dots on the lift pump for the early CP4 and 8 stamped dots on the upgraded CP4.2. I can't seem to get a straight answer on the 2021 and nothing available locally to physically inspect. I'll try and get my son to search back through and find some links for you.
2121 ram cummins trucks went back to the cp3 pump.
 

mk216v

Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Finally getting around to mounting tires and buttoning up rear suspension. Like all others have said, instructions for the Kelderman 4-link kit are pretty rough. Be prepared to figure a lot out on your own via trial and error. Some of the instructions aren't only vague they are just entirely incorrect lol. Telling you to attach things with the wrong bolt sizes that don't make sense, conflicting torque values, etc. We got it ironed out over a couple of weekends.

Perhaps someone can enlighten me...Kelderman is a real company, right? They sell their air susp setups to "big" companies who sell BIG $$$$ rigs like Earthroamer, right?
If those 2 are true, then how in the HELL can Kelderman be posting install instructions that are vague, incorrect, confusing, etc? How does a company like this continue to survive with such poor management of their processes??? I'm bewildered.
 

plumber mike

Adventurer
Perhaps someone can enlighten me...Kelderman is a real company, right? They sell their air susp setups to "big" companies who sell BIG $$$$ rigs like Earthroamer, right?
If those 2 are true, then how in the HELL can Kelderman be posting install instructions that are vague, incorrect, confusing, etc? How does a company like this continue to survive with such poor management of their processes??? I'm bewildered.
Who else makes what they make?
 

frodotbaggins88

Active member
Perhaps someone can enlighten me...Kelderman is a real company, right? They sell their air susp setups to "big" companies who sell BIG $$$$ rigs like Earthroamer, right?
If those 2 are true, then how in the HELL can Kelderman be posting install instructions that are vague, incorrect, confusing, etc? How does a company like this continue to survive with such poor management of their processes??? I'm bewildered.

Yeah like Plumbermike said they are the only choice in the market and they do make a pretty solid product, the kit is super beefy and seems well-engineered. I saw someone suggest before that maybe they do it to try to keep the diy’ers from attempting to install it themselves so it’s left intentionally vague, not sure. Seems like they did put at least some effort into the instructions and they are posted on the product pages for their kits for everyone to use so I don’t think they’re trying to keep it to only their preferred installers. And yeah the kit is not particularly cheap, with freight and tax a 4-link kit is around $5k just for the rear and that’s without any height control for the airbags, just a manual fill. Maybe they are just too busy or don’t care to update them, they are trying to cover like 3 generations of different chassis cab configurations in one instruction set so the pictures end up all being from different trucks and it’s just confusing at times. There’s a ton of leftover bolts and some metal plates from my kit that weren’t mentioned in the instructions so it’s not exactly confidence inspiring lol
 

frodotbaggins88

Active member
Started making clearance up front for the 41s. AEV has you do a lot of trimming, gives you a ton of room tho. Cut about a 4” chunk out of the rocker. Relief cuts on the pinch welded seams and flatten those down, makes a lot of room.

4FE11269-93FF-4CD2-BE3A-227CF6132E9D.jpeg
0446B60B-14BB-4946-B4D2-63C479D482BF.jpeg
 
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