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Comments
Our annual RV show starts tomorrow. I wonder if they will have any of those new truck campers with the slide-outs? I know Fleetwood has one for the Caribou and there is one by Artic Fox. I've also heard that Bigfoot has one.
Why are you thinking of getting rid of a new truck?
So Brutus, why don't you do any winter camping? Is it just too much effort there where you have real winters? Or maybe all the developed campgrounds are closed?
I just moved back to Alaska last year after spending 6 1/2 years in CA and TX because of transfers with my previous job. This past year was a year of adjustment. It was also my first year with the camper, which I used significantly last summer. This coming winter, I will definitely do some camping.
Winter camping isn't that unusual up here. Weekend snowmachine outings are pretty common to areas that are a couple of hours out of town. Most people don't de-winterize and use the plumbing. I have heated tanks but don't expect to dewinterize and re-winterize every weekend. I'll probably use the black and grey water tanks and bring a couple of five gallon jugs of water. That will let me use everything but the shower and the taps. At the end of the weekend, it's just a matter of dumping the tanks and putting a little anti-freeze in the black and grey water tanks.
The two best places are under the hood or in the space between the sheetmetal and the frame on the side, where saddle gas tanks (aka. killer GM tanks) are located. I've put one under the hood of my last 3 trucks so it can be done. It's good because you can access it easily to add water or whatever and a nice bonus is that you can jump yourself (sounds a little weird) if your main battery dies. That has come in handy for me a few times. So you spend an afternoon and a little money and it's done forever. You just plug in the camper and go, the battery is always charged when you need it. You need to put in an isolator but that can be as simple as a $15 relay.
If you mount it under the truck, use a battery box and build some sort of platform. I have learned that "no maintenance" actually means "less maintenance" according to the battery manufacturers. Depending on charging, etc. you may need to add water. So if you are going to mount it in a hard to access spot I suggest an Optima deep cycle battery. They are truly sealed and never need attention. They are expensive though, I paid $140 recently and that was a good deal.
Let us know how it works out.
I used the air bags to level twice and it was just enough. The truck (Silverado 2500) was wonderful to drive, such an improvement over the last one. I got so so mileage of 9.5 mpg but what a treat driving with the 6.0 engine. I went as fast as I wanted up any hills and never had to let anyone by.
Isn't that yellow hill a beautiful sight. I couldn't imagine it, but when I saw it for the first time, I was impressed.
For those of you with good imaginations, try and picture a fully yellow hill. Just completely covered with yellow daffodils. Spectacular.
Thanks for reminding me,
Mike L
Yawl are right about the extra bulk, so unless you're gonna be out a long time, not worth it.
We can go over a week out in the boonies on our travel trailer with a couple of 6V 220 amp-hour golfcart batteries in series.
Gary-
Mine is a '91 Lance Squire 4000. It's 9.4 feet which I think is the best tradeoff between interior and exterior size. I'm quite happy with it overall. You can see it at
http://members.home.net/vofm/camper1.jpg
http://members.home.net/vofm/camper2.jpg
It still has some rear overhang and is just as tall as yours so it may still be too big. If you want to see pics of Mike's popup just shorten the above links to .../vofm/ and click away. Let us know what you decide.
I'm getting ready to buy a new deep cycle. I'm going with the Optima, but I'm not sure which model yet.
Missed the RV show. Bummer.
I looked around on the web quite a bit and the best price I found is at
http://www.accessconnect.com/optima.htm
which is $170 for the D750U including shipping. I found many places including local stores selling them for $180+ but ended up buying from a local battery store for $140. That is the best price I think you'll find. I found a wholesaler on the web selling for that price but shipping was almost $40.
Hopefully your knee heals quickly and painlessly.
The Alaskan popup looks really nice, has no soft sides, and costs a ton. Might be worth considering. It's the only hard sided popup I know of.
I'm glad to hear your mileage with your 6.0L is tolerable. I just ordered mine, and all I hear is horror stories of 8-13mpg. I'm a conservative driver, and I hope to get mileage closer to yours.
Good luck with the knee.
Mike L
If you want to consider them sold, you have a customer.
Bring them by when you want to check out the wiring in the factory manuals.
Later,
Mike L
What's the worst you have ever gotten from an entire tankful on your 4.8L?
I took your great advice this past weekend and with my son sprayed the side of the camper trying to find the leak in the side compartment door. The problem is, I was very unsuccessful in fixing the problem. I could not stop the leak. the water runs down the side of the camper, gets caught on the door top and runs right inside the door. I tried getting the door tight against the seal but to no avail. I am starting to wonder if the water is going to the very corner of the door and running in. I am now wondering if I should get a new door custom made to be more water tight and have some type of air vent, since the standard door has no air vents. I'm sure you think I'm nuts but I don't think these doors are designed to be water tight. Is there a supply house or camping parts place that sells doors that could be installed in this opening? I want to fix this so I can go onto my next Lance project, a fantastic fan install !!! I don't have one but my wife saw them at the camping show and liked it. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated.
OK on the turnbuckles.
Obviously there is a gap where the seal isn't being compressed. I would be thinking about how to add an additional rubber gasket. Since the original gasket is in the frame (I assume) maybe glue a new gasket on the inside of the door so the two gaskets smash together. It sounds like a trip to a RV repair shop is in order.
Overall average is 15.6mpg. Highest tanks were 20.8 and 21.0 on successive tanks running 65 in Colorado (no camper).
I like the 4.8L 5spd combination. Works great for me. My wife wants a heavier duty truck so we are not over the GVWR.
I would rather have the 3/4 ton with a 5.3L 5sp and 4.10s, but my choice is limited to the 6.0, so I have the 3.73s figuring the 6.0L can pull it.
Mike L
I hadn't considered actually replacing the gasket, only modifying it. I will look at it again this weekend and see what I can try. I sent Lance an email and I might try calling later today. The repair guy at the dealership is on vacation so I will have to wait for his return before I make an appointment to see him, if all else fails.
Do you have the Fantastic Fan? Any thoughts on it?
Another question, what type of clear sealant do you use? I wanted to go over the camper in a few weeks to tighten it up and was planning on using silicon II.
Thanks again, I don't really know many folks with truck campers so this forum is a great place !!!
I have a fantastic fan and think it is, well, fantastic. It really helps get air circulating through the camper. It runs both directions. I open some windows and turn the fan on blowing out of the camper. That way, it sucks the air in through the windows and blows it out through the fan in the roof.
I filled my tank yesterday. Over $52! I put in about 34 gallons at $1.55 per gallon. For those who don't know, I have a 99 Superduty V-10 4x4 dually with a 4.30 axle ratio. My mpg is 9.5-10 in a 50/50 mix of city/hwy and 11.5-12 hwy at 70ish. The same truck with the 3.73 axle ratio and single rear wheels will get about 2mpg better, but I like the 4.30s. With the camper on, I tip the scales just under 12,000 pounds loaded for a trip including passengers and get 8.5-9 hwy at low to mid 60s. I can get around 10mpg on flat hwy if I keep the speed at 55.
I'm going to get mud flaps and window visors in the next couple of weeks and I'll probably add air bags in May. I may even get the Rancho adjustable shocks. I've got 30,000 on the truck, so I won't feel too bad about swapping out the shocks.
The factory used something that looks like silicon on my camper and it doesn't look so great 10 years later but isn't as bad as my old camper. Much of the material on mine has pulled loose and I've been meaning to redo the whole camper. I did redo the roof recently, for that I used a clear sealant I bought from the Lance dealer. The service guy said it is the only way to go, far superior to consumer grade stuff. It's called Parrbond Clear and cost $40+ for a gallon. It's the consistency of thick corn syrup, do you know Karo syrup used in cooking? Strange to work with but seemed to do a good job. They recommended another sealer in a tube for the rest of the camper. I guess it is the factory stuff. Probably just a different formulation of silicon caulk. Anyway that's what I'm going to use for around the lights, windows etc.
For your immediate problem, maybe a new larger gasket to replace the old one, or a second small gasket to fill the gap would work. JC Whitney has a bunch of gasket material for door seal replacement and such. See if they sell something close.
How does $1.85 sound. We get reamed in the Bay Area.
I don't have a Fantastic Fan and really don't want to put one in now that I've got the roof all sealed. What a pain getting the old screws out now. So it really helps? If it helped keep it cooler in the summer then I'd consider it. I don't have air con (never have AC anyway) and it gets pretty bad inside sometimes. I don't care about the automatic open feature so maybe I'll just mount a fan inside an existing vent. Do you think it's worth it? I already bought one of those 12V 6" table top fans. It's okay but kind of noisy.
Click to enlarge.
Vince4, I talked to a guy at the Lance factory today and he gave me similar advice as you did. So I'm back out looking for gaskets. Another piece of advice he gave me that I think is worth passing is to bring the door to a body shop to have them cut and mould vents into the door. I really like the idea and was unaware of the fact that vents could be put in by a metal shop. I guess my level of creativity on this camper is nil. I love the thing so much I guess I get blurry eyed when I look at !! I think I will try some body shops to see if I can find a place to do it. I just think there needs to be some air flow through the door so condensation doesn't build up. I realize if the leak is stopped there will be less condensation but air flow is good !!!
On the sealant, I think I used the Par-Bond stuff before. It is VERY expensive but it did a nice job. It is a little harder to find but perhaps this is the way I should go. I used some of the silicone last year on parts of the camper and should relook this year on discoloration. I have noticed it stays more flexible than the Par-bond but I wonder which holds up better, probably the Par-bond.
As far as the fan, I haven't tested it in hot temps. An average summer day in my neck of the woods is highs in the mid to upper 60s and nighttime lows in the 50s. I have to believe it would help. If you open up the windows at all four corners of your camper, it will suck the air through. It may not cool it down, but at least it will be circulating. My fantastic fan has three settings and is more powerful and less noisy than the regular vent fan I have in the bathroom.
We gained 5 minutes and 43 seconds of daylight today, breaking the 14 hour mark for the first time this year. Sunrise was around 7am and sunset was around 9pm.
gary, glad you're back on line. Did you decide where you are going to put the battery?
You folks should post some pictures of your rigs if you have a digital camera or scanner.
I can get a lot of water buildup inside from condensation. If the camper is not level, then it all runs to one spot and accumulates. Leave the camper for a while and the evidence evaporates, just leaving the water puddle.
It is a more pleasant idea than a roof or window leak.
Mike L
Even if it is not something I'm interested in today, I may learn something that I can use in the future.
Mike L
Mike, on mileage, around home I get 13/13+, whereas the 15+ was freeway. I only have 3500mi, but the trip to Bend will put me over 4K. Looking forward to our new camper!! We went this way, because like Vince, we like the creature comforts of a hard side. Would like to had the Alaskan, but tooooo pricey. Will let you know how the trip goes.
Gary-
I also left the state to buy a camper. The tax savings alone was almost $1000.
Now if we could find a way around the sales tax on a new truck.....
See you on the road,
Mike L
grizzly1, congratulations on the new Lance. I would be curious if you notice a difference driving the Lite verses the full Lance. Let us know what you think.