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RE: VIDEO of a seriously impressive solar system.
How long can a 12 volt AC run without a recharge from a generator? Will the bats recharge during the sunny day even with th unit running? Sorry for typo I'm on my tablet at the beach.
With fantastic WiFi by the way, on the sand.
everyone must be out for dinner. Lol
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notsobigjoe
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06/03/23 05:13pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: VIDEO: Home Built Box Truck At Truck Camper Rally
The simplicity of genius. It's fantastic! I was at a campground on the Mississippi river right at the entrance to the gulf many moons ago. Two brothers were traveling down the river in a converted pontoon boat. The interior was very similar to this camper but without all the modern tech. It took them 16 months to traverse the whole river. I remember the entire exterior was covered with stickers of where they had been. Interesting how this great camper made me think of that. Thanks for the Vid.
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notsobigjoe
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05/15/23 05:02pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: VIDEO: TAG AXLE For Carrying Your Heavy Truck Camper
This guy "Pack" was on LOA for a long time and he basically designed it himself while camping and towing. He sent me a parts list many moons ago but I can't find the forum post. I think if I can't live without my pontoon in the keys I will purchase one. The one downside is you have to have them install it and that's something I wouldn't like. I have had those same tires on my pontoon trailer for many moons without a single issue. The only bad thing is you can't get brakes for them at least the last time I looked. It's a great idea!
This is going to be the best weight police post of all time. Cheers!!!
https://www.truckcamperadventure.com/new-tag-axle-improves-truck-camper-hauling-options/
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notsobigjoe
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05/11/23 10:28am |
Truck Campers
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RE: carfax for truck campers
Mine didnt come with a title or registration. Just a receipt.
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notsobigjoe
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05/10/23 06:04am |
Truck Campers
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RE: How 4-season are 4 seasons Lances?
^your last sentence says it all.
You’re not going to do “better” than starting off with a 4 season camper. And with that it’ll handle below freezing temps and running water, to a point. Basement model TCs are decent here if they have or you can improve heated air exchange to the “basement”.
Reasonably the furnace will keep the camper warm down to single digit temperatures. But it will chew thru LP and battery power FAST.
Keeping the water on will just be a test. It’s not magic. But more challenging in below freezing temps. But you get what you put into it.
I was able to use our AF camper with no mods for better heat/air circulation in single digits at night 20s and sunny daytime but that was real close to the practical limit I’m sure.
A little diesel heater is a GREAT idea. And something I would do 100% if planning on any sort of regular cold weather use. And they’re relatively inexpensive. Just need to address the logistics and install.
For efficiency this would be your primary heat and the mouse turd toaster would be the redundant portion since it’s much less efficient.
An engine coolant radiator hookup in the camper is a bad idea. Scratch that one off the list. I suppose it’s possible but in no way practical. Same for the suggestion of plumbing from the truck diesel tank for a little add on diesel heater. Another solution that doesn’t solve a problem but only creates complexity and potential for failure points.
Thanks for the response. Yeah my reasoning for the Diesel heater is to limit what you are saying. One, if I can use diesel to supplement heat for travel, I can extend the time the generator can run. I've also seen some set ups with LiFePo batteries that use the truck to back up or primary charge the systems. My use case is 3 or 4 days at a time with a lot of travel in between so I mainly need 24 hours of boondocking typically.
I get your reluctance on complexity, and maybe I'm looking at it with my Engineer brain and thinking its just a matter of the right bits and pieces. I'll keep it in mind. Of course I'd do it in a way that didn't jeopardize the engine/truck systems (again more complexity).
What exactly is a diesel heater?
It is my understanding that much like a propane furnace a "diesel heater" (read - actually a furnace) draws combustion air from the outside and vents its exhaust to the outside.
The "flame" heats one side of a "heat exchanger" where cabin air is drawn in and blown out on the other side of it.
The CLAIMED current draw of some of the models available are less than the stock OEM Atwood/Suburban/?? propane furnaces.
- Mark0.
So it does not reduce o2 from the inside. That's pretty awesome, I'm surprised the industry isn't leaning that way.
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notsobigjoe
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05/04/23 05:44pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: How 4-season are 4 seasons Lances?
^your last sentence says it all.
You’re not going to do “better” than starting off with a 4 season camper. And with that it’ll handle below freezing temps and running water, to a point. Basement model TCs are decent here if they have or you can improve heated air exchange to the “basement”.
Reasonably the furnace will keep the camper warm down to single digit temperatures. But it will chew thru LP and battery power FAST.
Keeping the water on will just be a test. It’s not magic. But more challenging in below freezing temps. But you get what you put into it.
I was able to use our AF camper with no mods for better heat/air circulation in single digits at night 20s and sunny daytime but that was real close to the practical limit I’m sure.
A little diesel heater is a GREAT idea. And something I would do 100% if planning on any sort of regular cold weather use. And they’re relatively inexpensive. Just need to address the logistics and install.
For efficiency this would be your primary heat and the mouse turd toaster would be the redundant portion since it’s much less efficient.
An engine coolant radiator hookup in the camper is a bad idea. Scratch that one off the list. I suppose it’s possible but in no way practical. Same for the suggestion of plumbing from the truck diesel tank for a little add on diesel heater. Another solution that doesn’t solve a problem but only creates complexity and potential for failure points.
Thanks for the response. Yeah my reasoning for the Diesel heater is to limit what you are saying. One, if I can use diesel to supplement heat for travel, I can extend the time the generator can run. I've also seen some set ups with LiFePo batteries that use the truck to back up or primary charge the systems. My use case is 3 or 4 days at a time with a lot of travel in between so I mainly need 24 hours of boondocking typically.
I get your reluctance on complexity, and maybe I'm looking at it with my Engineer brain and thinking its just a matter of the right bits and pieces. I'll keep it in mind. Of course I'd do it in a way that didn't jeopardize the engine/truck systems (again more complexity).
What exactly is a diesel heater?
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notsobigjoe
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05/04/23 03:08pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: How 4-season are 4 seasons Lances?
This whole idea sounds like a nightmare to me. I have to ask, why?
I would not want to take a trip with 2 adults and 3 teenagers jammed into a small RV even in the Summer. In Winter with temps down to the teens, that is likely to be a miserable experience. You have already heard about some of the issues; e.g, trying to heat the RV, moisture and condensation issues, RVs that are really not well insulated or designed for that sort of use. At the end of a ski day, where are you planning on putting all of that wet gear, skies, boots, clothing?
If you do attempt this insanity, I highly recommend you stay at a campground with hookups. At least you will have electricity to run the furnace and you can even substitute space heaters instead of the furnace. Regardless of the insulation, you are going to need plenty of heat so that you can bring in lots of outside air to try to fight the humidity problem.
Again, why even consider this? The cost for a handful of trips a year is going to be much higher than overnight stays in hotels/motels or even nice resorts.
The only way it can be done is with supplemental heating. IE, Hooked to electricity. On my 1181 it has a large pull out drawer which I removed for cold camping. I put one of those small cube heaters pointing straight in and nothing froze. the floor was even warmish. A small fan was clipped to the bathroom door for warm air to the cab over. A Vortec electric heater was then used as the main heat for the TC unit. It never shut off. The propane heat was really only used at night but it ran every minute with the exception of about 10 / 20 seconds when it would get to temp. 2 30LB tanks lasted 4 days doing it this way with above modifications. The first trip the propane was gone 1.5 days.
One more point is that I never went to a campground that far north over that cold of a season, there are none open as far as I know. We would camp in dads driveway over Christmas in Rome NY and it was bitterly cold. The snowbelt in NY is about as cold as it gets south of Canada. It can be done but it's a ton of work but it wasn't all those years ago...
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notsobigjoe
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05/04/23 08:53am |
Truck Campers
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RE: How 4-season are 4 seasons Lances?
4 seasons. Summer in Minnesota, spring and fall almost anywhere and winter in Florida. It will work in all four seasons.... as long as you use the wheels you have it mounted on properly.
There's a lot of truth to this statement. I don't think Lance ever intended there TC's to be used in artic weather. They are a beautiful camper and I love mine but survival was and is not in the 4 seasons plan.
Now, OP I'm commenting on my Lance 1181 and have no idea how your new 1172 will be as far as cold weather. My Lance did well after several upgrades that I got ideas from here on this forum and LOA.
There are six big holes in my camper. Large skylight over the tub, Exhaust fan over the stove, "dampener is useless". The Roof AC. The escape hatch over the bed. vent in the bathroom and kitchen area. Everything at camping world worked but increased the humidity by a lot.
Exhaust fan over stove. I taped some Styrofoam insulation over the outside after I wedged out the design of the outside vent. It worked!
the bedroom. I placed bath towels above the retractable screen to insulate and absorb moisture. This worked great until it broke the screen. Then I supported the towels with a simple dowel system used with shower rod holders. You'll have to replace the towels once a day before bed or they'll drip. Wring out the wet set and replace with dry, rinse repeat...
The tub skylight had an existing snap curtain that was hefty enough to support a nice chunk of the pink or blue Styrofoam. I leave one side unsnapped and the moisture will drain. This has never been a problem.
The AC was easy as well. I pulled off the bottom cover and stuffed some of these
https://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Panels-Soundproof-Insulation-Absorbing/dp/B07MCGRV7M/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=2TBTKR7F3MZKM&keywords=insulation%2Bpanels&qid=1683066607&sprefix=insulation%2B%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-2-spons&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyNUZRMUdIWUhHUjhBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzM0MzAxMTRWMFkwWlgwTjFZTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDkxOTgwM0swT0o4OFBOOTY1RSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU&th=1
up through the opening and reinstalled the bottom cover. Worked great!!!
The two remaining roof vents have ceiling fans. Not much worked here so I also put some of the expanding foam in the dome on top and didn't mess with it till I got home.
Every other opening was covered with the blue insulation board inside the door. Water inlet, propane, both flip up storage doors, etc...
All of this stuff works well in Florida where I now live without stuffing the AC box off course.
You'll more than likely have to push heat to the bedroom and storage tanks with some kind of fan.
I have much much more but it will all be covered by others. I lived 25 years in Binghamton NY and know your part of the woods.
Joe
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notsobigjoe
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05/02/23 04:38pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: $100,000 Host Campers
Seeing that price makes me feel like I stole my 42 foot Montana!!
Dad paid 37 grand for an off the lot last years model Bounder some years ago. It was The most beautiful thing in the world. I drove it a couple of times and still like my TC. :R Just too big for my taste but he went everywhere in it. He doesn't remember much any more but he does remember that bounder...
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notsobigjoe
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04/27/23 10:50am |
Truck Campers
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RE: $100,000 Host Campers
It's worth it to people who can afford it, I sure can't but what's the big deal?
Sign me up :) !…Just ordered loaded 4x4 6.7 5500 Ram (19.5k GVWR), while still able to get a decent trade on our 16, 3500 DRW 6.7..
With cost going UP (while used values keep only depreciating..…), I felt we were kinda at an inflection point, biting the bullet now while the opportunity still made viable sense, so now going the flatbed route, fully side skirted with built-in front & rear locking boxes…
I view the possibility of a future EV truck option with a 200 mi range rather dismal …JMO
3 tons
I just read this article in Tcm.Wow what a monster, boy I would love something like this!
https://www.truckcampermagazine.com/off-road/extreme-rigs/big-red-kodiak-meets-arctic-fox/
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notsobigjoe
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04/25/23 06:49pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: $100,000 Host Campers
It's worth it to people who can afford it, I sure can't but what's the big deal?
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notsobigjoe
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04/25/23 05:02pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Just curious
Careful Mark, you might ‘trigger’ him - lol ??!!
3 tons
I don't think he has been "Un triggered" for the last three months :B
Just because the BS meter gets pegged full tilt by so many of the responses here is not an indicator of how I feel. It’s just that so many of y’all are either knowingly or unintentionally largely full of sheet.
And that doesn’t help people here with honest questions or issues that they are looking for help with….
I wholeheartedly agree! We can't have a discussion about water without it going south. Same old argument in almost every post on the truck camper forum. It gets old. Sorry if I rustled some feathers... Cheers! LOL
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notsobigjoe
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04/23/23 06:59am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Just curious
I never drink the water from my fresh water tank even if I sanitized it with bleach , bottled water only . Anyone out there drink the water out of their fresh water tank??
Yes, I drink the water but she won't. I sanitize regularly with this camco liquid and I use this on the faucet. The water is very good. Even from my well in Florida and it tastes horrible from the well. Remember, waters heavy...
https://www.amazon.com/PUR-FM2500V-Classic-Faucet-Filter/dp/B07MLSVLZH/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2LLP0D3CTLOVS&keywords=tap%2Bfiltration&qid=1681316376&sprefix=tap%2Bfiltration%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-6&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-40207-TastePURE-Cleaner-Deodorizer/dp/B000EDUTQS/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1AURNNXOBIP7M&keywords=rv+water+sanitizing+tablets&qid=1681316542&sprefix=rv+water+sanitizing+tablets%2Caps%2C118&sr=8-5
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notsobigjoe
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04/12/23 10:25am |
Truck Campers
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RE: $100,000 Host Campers
I think I would get the laundry option on the mammoth. It's just me and wife with little dog and two cats. But, unless they take a three person out of state check it aint happening!!!
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notsobigjoe
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04/11/23 10:29am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Tree Pruning
I carry an electric pole saw to clear sites with low hanging limbs.
I switched to electric about five years ago. I have a homelite 13 inch saw and a long pole pruner with an extension. They work great, lightweight and you don't have to deal with oil and gas just bar and chain oil. I do carry them in my trailer when we go into the woods.
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notsobigjoe
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04/11/23 10:22am |
Truck Campers
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RE: It looks like my truck camper days are over.
good to see you are doing well. I'm having cochlear implant surgery in a couple of weeks and it is considered brain surgery and I'm very nervous. Seeing you are well is making me less nervous. Good luck to you and continued happy trails.
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notsobigjoe
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04/05/23 06:04pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Make line on driveway for camper loading?
Ramblin Ralph, It's not like I have the experience or travel you have under your belt but I've been loading and unloading my camper the same way for some time.
I use spray paint, I simply out line the dually tires and the front tires. I use a strait line of paint from the outside of the dually set to the outside of the front set. It works very well. My driveway is gravel so it only holds up for so long but that's a good thing cause I don't always park in the same place. I'm talking about one of those upside down spray-paint cans you see used on the highway some times.
Good luck, joe
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notsobigjoe
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03/30/23 05:33pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Stable Lift on a 2006 Arctic Fox 1150
^What he said.
And I’ll add, from the pics and descriptions of the first 2 gents that posted, conquering a Stable Lift seems to be out of your wheelhouse. Stick with the jacks.
I agree with both of you. The stable lift was something I had to have. No one could talk me out of it. For the most part it was a disaster of monumental proportions. I chose not to add my opinion because the op wanted info on cog. I have got pics galore of the damage the stable lift and the installer "me" did to my truck camper.
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notsobigjoe
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03/26/23 05:41am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Stable Lift on a 2006 Arctic Fox 1150
6 inches each side.
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notsobigjoe
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03/24/23 06:39pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Stable Lift on a 2006 Arctic Fox 1150
Here is the stable lift on my lance 1181. Pretty much the same size and weight as yours.
This pic with the install complete and completely off center. The front jacks would just sort of lean back as I was lifting the rear. Hard to explain. This was where someone at stable lift told me to install it.
https://i.imgur.com/sFNi6Okl.jpg
After talking to Mont peters I completely removed it, drilled new holes and re installed all the way to the rear.
https://i.imgur.com/6G9uZlSl.jpg
I believe my SOG is 59 inches not 100% sure of that it's been a while.
I will be glad to answer Any other questions.
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notsobigjoe
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03/24/23 03:00pm |
Truck Campers
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