UCSD Scripps.
24 Ram 3500 + SET Tray and Canopy.

UCSD's Scripps Institute of Oceanography came to us with a clear ask: a Ram 3500 set up as a research-fleet truck, ready to haul gear between the lab, the boat, and the field, with as much flexibility in the back as possible. The Summit Expedition Trucks tray-and-canopy platform was the obvious answer — it converts the factory bed into a real cargo platform with full side-door access, weatherproof storage, and the option to use it open-deck when they need to haul something that won't fit under the canopy.

The tray is a SET 7-foot full-size base deck (84×80"), powder-coated Mini-Tex black, with under-tray storage boxes front (20") and rear (26"), a 48-inch full-size pull-out drawer, 35-inch tire fenders, and a 36-inch standard headboard. On top of it sits the SET 7-foot canopy (80W × 84L) with three gull-wing doors and a rear square swing-up door — the swing-up was specifically spec'd so the team can load long gear straight in from behind without going around to the side. The canopy interior is intentionally open — left as a blank cargo space so the institute can spec it internally as their use case evolves. All factory sensors retained through SET's RAM 2019+ wiring package and the powder-coated blind-spot relocation kit, so blind spot, parking sensors, and tail lights all operate exactly like factory.

The water system is field-deployment-ready: a 12.5-gallon SET water tank under the tray plumbed through a SEAFLO 42-Series 12V diaphragm pump (3.0 GPM, 55 PSI) to a Jabsco flush-mount stainless marine deck fitting at the rear corner. Flip the switch, plug in the wand, rinse off whatever came back from the boat or the field. Clean, simple, durable. Built to do its job and stay out of the way.