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RE: Lithium battery box temps
I monitor my two 100Ah Lifepo4 batteries via their Bluetooth and a remote thermometer sensor. But I only check to make sure I’m not charging them when they are below 32F. I accept the lower capacity at those temps too.
The batteries do have low temp sensors but I watch them anyway and don’t charge. This is mainly an issue in storage. When the heater is being used they dont get near freezing.
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terrybk
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12/29/22 09:43am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Best used truck campers for ~4400lbs payload SRW 1T 8' F-350
Are there more limitations when you go to 17" and up? Excluding 19.5".
I could not find any sufficient load rated tire for my 2010 2500 Ram with OEM 265/70r17 tires. They were rated at 3200#. The truck itself had put roughly 3500# on the rear axle leaving me short in carrying a loaded 4000# camper. Eventually I became worried enough about running significantly overloaded that I bought Rickson 19.5 rims and Firestone tires, rated at roughly 4000#.
Oh, ok. Interesting.
I’m under our rear tires by a couple hundred pounds with our Bigfoot when loaded. I wouldn’t go any more. Considering the pressures and stress during a bounce they must have a lot of margin but I don’t want to find out where that is.
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terrybk
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12/22/22 10:52am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Best used truck campers for ~4400lbs payload SRW 1T 8' F-350
Nitto Ridge Grappler are 3970 in some sizes. I might switch to them on my 16" steel rims when I wear these out. There is another one at 4250 but I can't recall the brand. I'll try and find it.
Are there more limitations when you go to 17" and up? Excluding 19.5".
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terrybk
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12/21/22 07:23pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ordering F-350 7.3 CCLB SRW - how big of camper can I get?
@terrybk, I don’t believe steel wheels (speaking OE vs OE) are rated any higher or stronger than aluminum wheels. Nor do I have a reason to believe that they are weaker.
Fwiw, the 1000s of work trucks I’ve been around for the last 35 years that get the absolute snot beat out of them traditionally were steel wheels as they’re usually base model trucks. Never seen a rim failure yet.
GM said the ratings weren’t high enough on the aluminum wheels they were putting on the 2500 in 2005. Maybe that guy was wrong. According to my docs, aluminum wheels weren’t offered in 2005 on the 3500.
Who knows!
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terrybk
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12/12/22 03:05pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ordering F-350 7.3 CCLB SRW - how big of camper can I get?
As far as "stability" of a dually, I've never been sure what that means. Most lean is in the springs/suspension not the number of tire. No doubt more tires increase number 5 above (GVWR) but they have little effect on sway and leaning or "stability."
All else being equal, shorter wider tires are more stable. DRW obviously has more width.
The suspensions are not the same. The spring packs are different on a DRW. The rear differentials are also different. Furthermore, they have different brakes. Both because the intended use is to haul more weight.
I started with a SRW, and changed to a DRW when I no longer needed a SRW as my daily driver to fit in parking spaces. With my SRW, I avoided carrying anything extra down to reducing the amount of water I carried. I have no issues any more with what I carry. I even towed a TT behind on a trip a few years ago over 500 miles each way.
By all means, buy a SRW if you want or need one, but let's not pretend they are equivalent or close to the same. They are literally made for different purposes. As noted, brakes are different, so stopping is incredibly different as well.
I didn't remotely suggest SRW and DRW are the same. My point is the word "stability". It's never defined. More tires allows more weight but they don't make the roll/tilting any different. That's in the suspension.
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terrybk
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12/08/22 09:47pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ordering F-350 7.3 CCLB SRW - how big of camper can I get?
I see the order of importance as (descending):
1. Tire ratings as measured against the axle weights. Most of the camper weight is on the rear tires.
2. Physical axle rating (the actual axle, not the RAWR). Most of the camper weight is on the rear bearings.
3. Rear axle weight rating (RAWR) - Most of the camper weight is here.
4. Front axle weight rating (FAWR)
5. Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)
The gross (GVWR) is primarily a function of the tires, axle and frame/suspension. A dually and SRW of the same series (3500/350) almost always have the same frame. The rating goes up because of the tires. For a long time manufacturers capped the GVWR of SRW trucks at 9900lbs for registration and tax reasons. Throw two more tires on there and you get 11k+ rating. This is not a comparison of 2500/250 to 3500/350. That is a totally different topic.
I'm not suggestion or endorsing exceeding any rating but this is the list I considered when sizing my camper to my truck.
As far as "stability" of a dually, I've never been sure what that means. Most lean is in the springs/suspension not the number of tire. No doubt more tires increase number 5 above (GVWR) but they have little effect on sway and leaning or "stability." At least I have never experienced a difference. A big sway bar, air bags and good springs go a long way to limit leaning. If you need an extra tire out there to keep the camper and truck from falling over, you have bigger issues.
Certainly, if you are pushing the truck hard in a turn, more tires tend to give more friction on a dry surface and help keep the truck back end from swinging out. Try an over-sized trailer on an SRW in tight downhills if you want a high pucker factor. You can feel the rear want to get pushed sideways.
The labels on the camper and truck are a rough starting point but you have to weight everything - period. Everything else is a guess. The campers always weight more than their labels and the truck weight can vary too. It's hard to decide if a camper is "too much" before you buy it, but you can with some research get close enough to move forward or rule out a rig. Ask on the forums if anyone has actually weight there rig together and separately. You can learn a lot.
Scales - they are your best friend.
Essentially what he said. But I'll add rim load rating right up there with tires. Both of which are nowhere near their failure point at their rated loads. Regardless of what anyone says, tires and OE rims have a large factor of safety. It's a simple function of the liability of mfgs in the event of a failure (and years of "experience" doing stuff with trucks that should have had bigger trucks do it...lol). Not recommending grossly overloading, but in the context of this scenario, putting 8klbs (4500lb camper and 3500lb truck axle weight) on 3600lb rated rims and tires is 400lbs "over" or just over 10%. Again, not advocating it publicly for others, take it for what it's worth. lol
Good point on rims. I'll insert that for anyone that sees it in the future. My 2005 3500 has steel wheels because the 2500 aluminum weren't rated high enough.
I was thinking about bouncing and the pressures the tires experience when 4000lbs comes down on a bounce. Agreed. The tires can handle a lot more.
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terrybk
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12/08/22 09:44pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ordering F-350 7.3 CCLB SRW - how big of camper can I get?
What does "stable" mean?
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terrybk
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12/08/22 09:42pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ordering F-350 7.3 CCLB SRW - how big of camper can I get?
I see the order of importance as (descending):
1. Tire and rim ratings as measured against the axle weights. Most of the camper weight is on the rear tires.
2. Physical axle rating (the actual axle, not the RAWR). Most of the camper weight is on the rear bearings.
3. Rear axle weight rating (RAWR) - Most of the camper weight is here.
4. Front axle weight rating (FAWR)
5. Gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)
The gross (GVWR) is primarily a function of the tires, axle and frame/suspension. A dually and SRW of the same series (3500/350) almost always have the same frame. The rating goes up because of the tires. For a long time manufacturers capped the GVWR of SRW trucks at 9900lbs for registration and tax reasons. Throw two more tires on there and you get 11k+ rating. This is not a comparison of 2500/250 to 3500/350. That is a totally different topic.
I'm not suggestion or endorsing exceeding any rating but this is the list I considered when sizing my camper to my truck.
As far as "stability" of a dually, I've never been sure what that means. Most lean is in the springs/suspension not the number of tire. No doubt more tires increase number 5 above (GVWR) but they have little effect on sway and leaning or "stability." At least I have never experienced a difference. A big sway bar, air bags and good springs go a long way to limit leaning. If you need an extra tire out there to keep the camper and truck from falling over, you have bigger issues.
Certainly, if you are pushing the truck hard in a turn, more tires tend to give more friction on a dry surface and help keep the truck back end from swinging out. Try an over-sized trailer on an SRW in tight downhills if you want a high pucker factor. You can feel the rear want to get pushed sideways.
The labels on the camper and truck are a rough starting point but you have to weight everything - period. Everything else is a guess. The campers always weight more than their labels and the truck weight can vary too. It's hard to decide if a camper is "too much" before you buy it, but you can with some research get close enough to move forward or rule out a rig. Ask on the forums if anyone has actually weight there rig together and separately. You can learn a lot.
Scales - they are your best friend.
Edit: Added rim ratings as being as important as tire ratings.
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terrybk
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12/08/22 06:50pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: 2018 Wolf Creek 850 wiring diagram
I will say that Northwood (Arctic Fox) and NuWA (Hitchhiker) were generous with their engineering drawing and diagrams when I asked. Both also spent time on the phone going over details I needed at various times.
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terrybk
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11/08/22 04:29pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: 2018 Wolf Creek 850 wiring diagram
Yeah, don't email or use the contact form. Call. Works every time,
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terrybk
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11/08/22 01:58pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: DC to DC charger
I'm running a Renogy 40A but with dual alternators. If I unplug one alternator you can see the voltage sag for a second and then it comes back up as the PCM cranks up the alternator output. But I didn't want the alternator to run super hot with a lot of current draw (recharging both the starter and camper batteries at around 80 amps) so I installed the second alternator. The voltage doesn't blip.
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terrybk
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10/26/22 05:18pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot camper - spray paint color match?
Grant at Bigfoot would likely tell you the color code (even going that far back.) He tells me pretty much any obscure detail I've asked. Lol.
But as stated, fading will probably make new paint of the right color code stand out so definitely go to an auto paint place and have them measure the color. That's about as close as you can get. But if you know the original color code you can compare the values and see just how much your color might have shifted over time.
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terrybk
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10/21/22 06:12pm |
Truck Campers
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