THE VAST DESERT AWAITS
MLO RAM FLATBED CAMPER
It was early September and delivery day had finally rolled around at Main Line Overland’s West Chester, Pennsylvania, headquarters. The customer had already flown in a week prior to inspect the build, and their shipping agent was now picking up the vehicle for the trip to port.
The black Single Cab RAM’s camper roof was lowered; its Scheel-mann seats secured to their bases and its proverbial hatches were battened-down. Main Line Overland’s (MLO’s) biggest adventure vehicle build to date would travel 9,000 nautical miles before reaching its new home in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Pete, Matt, and Tom Henwood, the brothers that run MLO, left nothing to chance for a successful delivery.
MLO Flatbed Journey
MLO has been building a wide variety of impressive overland camper builds since 2014, the year they become a Four Wheel Camper (FWC) dealer. The ‘Flatbed’ versions of FWC’s famously simple, durable, and lightweight truck campers had just hit the market and the brothers at MLO saw an opportunity to build a niche in the industry.
Having grown up in a shop doing frame-off restorations of Jaguars, MGs and other British classics, along with a growing list of overland vehicle builds under their belt, Matt and Pete Henwood saw an opportunity in the market to guide customers through the flatbed conversion process.
For the first year, this meant designing one-off flatbed trays built to their customer’s vehicles and desired specs. The result was a number of RAM and Tacoma builds that have since been all over the world, many used by their adventurous owners as full-time go-anywhere homes.
MLO built themselves a third-gen Tacoma that would feature a special edition flatbed Woolrich FWC, which MLO helped develop. While planning this build, Matt Henwood came across Norweld Flatbed Trays, a company that has been making high-end aluminum flatbeds in Australia for over 40-years. Norweld was able to produce an aluminum over-the-wheel flatbed that was strong, light, offers plentiful storage, has a built in gray water holding tank and offers secure mounting points for the FWC. This Norweld flatbed worked and looked
amazing on the MLO Tacoma and was the starting point for over a dozen similar builds at MLO.
“More than any other build, that first Norweld Tacoma really set a tone for how we want to build vehicles—a systems-based approach where each modification works in harmony with the OE base. The rigs we build see thousands of miles in some of the most remote places in the world, so our customers need both off-road capability and OE reliability.” explains Matt Henwood.
MLO became the North American distributor of Norweld Flatbeds in 2016. The companies combined their expertise and developed a full line of flatbeds for U.S. market pickup trucks, all of which are designed to work seamlessly with FWC flatbed truck campers. With a turnkey solution for FWC Flatbeds in hand and a nationwide network of dealer/installers, MLO became a go-to flatbed conversion specialist for both FWC and the increasingly popular Norweld Canopies.
The Customer
The customer for this RAM build came all the way from the UAE wanting a vehicle that could handle some of the most remote off-road terrain in the Arabian Peninsula and Saharan Africa, while being self sufficient and comfortable. With a laser-focused customer ready to build his dream off-road camping machine, MLO set out to make those dreams a reality.
Pete Henwood reveals, “Our customer came with a solid idea of the platform they wanted and where they wanted to go, and we were able to integrate their requirements into a cohesive vehicle build and flatbed camper conversion that is both highly capable and very drivable.”
The Truck Build
The build started with a brand new single-cab
2017 RAM 3500 with Cummins power plant and 6-speed manual transmission. The truck’s 8’ bed was removed, and replaced with a custom 8-foot Norweld flatbed. The vehicle was built with ground clearance, self supported off road capability, fuel range and energy-efficient boondocking in mind.
Originally the customer wanted the build to fit inside a standard sea freight container, for easy, secure and less expensive worldwide shipping. As the build developed it quickly became apparent that the truck would be too big for a container, and need to be shipped RORO, or ‘roll-on roll-off.’ Once this was determined, the build got big quickly.
A 2.25” Thuren Suspension lift featuring 2.5-inch King Off-Road Racing remote reservoir shocks and Timbren rear SES units were fitted. This allowed for full articulation of meaty E-Rated 37” Cooper S/T Maxx MT Tires on 17-inch Stazworks beadlock wheels. The
“ORIGINALLY THE CUSTOMER WANTED THE BUILD TO FIT INSIDE A STANDARD SEA FREIGHT CONTAINER, FOR
EASY, SECURE AND LESS EXPENSIVE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING. AS THE BUILD DEVELOPED IT QUICKLY BECAME APPARENT THAT THE TRUCK WOULD BE TOO BIG FOR A CONTAINER…”
beadlocks would allow for lower air pressures in soft desert dunes, and be easily aired-up with an onboard ARB Twin air compressor and one-gallon aluminum air tank.
At least one full-size spare is essential when traveling with a vehicle like this in remote terrain. The 37-inch tire wouldn’t fit in the stock location between the frame rails, so MLO custom-fabricated a rear tire carrier on the back of the camper. It maintains the camper’s departure angle and allows for easy spare deployment, through the use of a pulley and portable winch. The simple yet functional design also maintains the ability to deploy the flatbed’s rear 4-foot pullout drawer. In order to utilize all the space available and extend the truck’s range, a Titan transfer tank was installed in the OEM spare tire location, for an additional 30 gallons of fuel capacity.
The front of the truck sports an AEV front bumper, featuring beefy recovery points, a Warn 16.5Ti-S winch and ARB AR40 LED light bar. Bushwhacker front fender flares minimize sand spray off the 37-inch tires while White Knuckle Off-Road Rocker Sliders protect the cab from impact when the terrain gets truly rough, and AEV differential covers help protect the running gear. For quick and easy self-rescues in deep desert sands, a set of Maxtrax and a Pull-Pal RW16K anchor are on board. A Factor55 Hitchlink provides a quality rear recovery point for the truck.
“AT LEAST ONE FULL-SIZE SPARE IS ESSENTIAL WHEN TRAVELING
WITH A VEHICLE LIKE THIS IN REMOTE TERRAIN. THE 37-INCH TIRE WOULDN’T FIT IN THE STOCK LOCATION BETWEEN THE FRAME RAILS, SO MLO CUSTOM-FABRICATED A REAR TIRE CARRIER ON THE BACK OF THE CAMPER.”
In order to keep the engine breathing fresh clean air an AEV snorkel is fitted, with pre-filter to minimize dust ingress. To keep the engine cool while working hard in the deep desert sands and high ambient air temperatures a Mishimoto performance radiator and hoses are fitted.
To make this big vehicle move with speed and grace in any terrain, the Cummins was tuned with a PPEI chip, the 6-speed manual now features a South Bend Clutch kit, the truck rolls on RCV Performance axles, Dynatrac free spin kit with Dynaloc Hubs and is re-geared with 4.30:1 ratio NitroGears. Helping turn the big tires, PSC big bore steering assist and AEV hydro assist hardware were installed. ARB Air
Lockers, front and rear, should help make this RAM nearly unstoppable off road.
The inside of the truck cab has been relatively untouched, as it’s a brand new truck. A Switch-Pod has been mounted on the dash to control all the new accessories. The big upgrade inside are the two Sheel-mann Traveler F seats, which should offer the ultimate in comfort for those long journeys down the road less traveled.
The customer chimes in, “The Thuren/King Suspension kit’s performance did surprise me—even with a fully-loaded truck it soaks up everything and delivers confidence. Also, the PPEI tuning on the Cummins provides plenty of power & torque to keep up with traffic on the highway (up to 85 miles per hour in the UAE).”
The Camper Build
The customer was interested in maximizing the camper living space, so they selected the big FWC Grandby Flatbed Model. The Grandby has a luxurious rear dinette layout, with an open floor plan, massive storage spaces underneath the dinette seats and additional clothing storage under the queen-size cab-over bed.
To power the camper in remote environments two Overland Solar Liberation Series 160W semi-flexible solar panels were installed on the camper roof. Controlled by a Victron Solar MPPT solar controller/display the two panels combine for 320 watts of efficient solar charging for the camper’s dual batteries.
Water is, of course, important for any remote adventure, but especially so in the desert environments this vehicle would see. The Grandby Flatbed model itself offers 26 gallons of water storage, a hot water heater and inside and outside shower hookups. The flatbed adds another 22 gallons of integrated onboard water storage, with an 11-gallon tank welded under the tray near the headboard and another 11-gallon bolt-on tank behind the rear wheel.
Flatbed Setup
Besides the added water storage, the 8-foot Norweld Deluxe Weekender Tray also offers a number of other very useful built-in features. Storage is always important on a vehicle like this, and the Norweld flatbed delivers. It offers lockable storage with two suitcase-sized tray
boxes in front of the rear wheels, a behindthe-wheel toolbox on the passenger side and a massive 4-foot rear pull out drawer at the rear of the vehicle.
Off Road, Off Road & More Off Road
The first trip this vehicle embarked on was to the Rub’ al Khali desert, or ‘Empty Quarter,’ which is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world. Think over a quarter-million square miles of sand dunes, some over 800 feet tall!
The vehicle owner says, “Since I’ll be doing most of my overlanding solo, and the sand desert encompasses most of the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa (Empty Quarter + Sahara), I needed to prepare for this. The ARB Air Lockers, the dual beadlock wheels with 37-inch tires and on-board compressor, Warn Winch with Pull-Pal
RW16k anchor and Maxtrax, will ease up any
self-recovery situation.”
Adventure Awaits
Next up for this impressive go-anywhere home on wheels is a trip to Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s majestic Wadi Rum and onward to Morocco. This RAM flatbed camper was built to tackle these remote harsh environments and this owner plans to fully test the limits of his incredible machine.
For the team at Main Line Overland this build represents the culmination of years of experience in building comprehensive vehicles designed to tackle remote terrain around the globe, while at the same time acting as comfortable and functional homes on wheels. The collective feedback from this build, and the others roaming the planet, will be poured into their next builds. What overland adventuremobile awesomeness will they come up with next?
“AT LEAST ONE FULL-SIZE SPARE IS ESSENTIAL WHEN TRAVELING WITH A VEHICLE LIKE THIS IN REMOTE TERRAIN. THE 37-INCH TIRE WOULDN’T FIT IN THE STOCK LOCATION BETWEEN THE FRAME RAILS, SO MLO CUSTOM-FABRICATED A REAR TIRE CARRIER ON THE BACK OF THE CAMPER.”