New Four Wheel Camper owner

[Northern Explorer]

New Exterior Light (more pictures then what should be necessary)

My camper came equipped with an exterior light but I wanted to add one that could be switched on from the inside. I added something similar to my Fleetwood Neon when I had it. It comes in handy for viewing critters and other things that go bump in the night.

The first thing I looked for was a place to mount it. I decided to mount it underneath the cab over bed. Then I had to figure out a clean way to run the wire. The driver’s side ended up working out the best.

I pulled out this drawer to take a look inside

and found this unused coil of wire.

Four Wheel Campers has listed that all campers come pre wired for a furnace, refrigerator, power roof vent fan, solar panel and electric water pump weather you order these options or not. I don’t think this wire belongs to any of those. My best guess would be that it’s for an optional stereo. So my initial plan was to use this wire. The problem is that the wires are not hot and I couldn’t trace back all the way to see where the other end is in order to hook it up to the fuse box. I ended up just running fresh wire, which really wasn’t a problem anyway.

I plugged into the location marked stereo on the fuse box.

Front of fuse box with cove removed.

The fuse box itself has to be pulled out slightly in order to access all the wire connections.

Now for the light.

I purchased a fog light that I thought would look good in the location that I picked out. In hindsight this should have been a floodlight but the fog light should be fine for the limited use that I have planned for it.

One modification was required. Normally the head of the bolt sits inside the light housing and the nut is on the outside. This wouldn’t work on account that the bolt would have been sticking up into the area where the slide out bed sits. I purchased a carriage bolt and lock nut and cut the bolt to just the right size. I also had to make an adapter out of a large wooden dowel rode so that the backwards-facing nut wouldn’t crush the light housing.

Carriage bolt location under the slide out portion of the bed.

Wooden adapter

Put together

Final results (side)

Final results (front)

Location of switch

 

[Northern Explorer]

Hoppy levels and Fan-Tastic fan

A couple of updates

Hoppy RV levels

Takes the guess work out of RV leveling.
Marks indicate how many inches are required to raise or lower RV.
Self-sticking adhesive back.
Screw holes available for permanent mounting
They come 2 per package.

I picked them up at Walmart.

Fan-Tastic vent
I could have ordered a Fan-Tastic vent as an option from Four Wheel Camper. At the time I didn’t think I would ever need it. Then we decided to go to North Caroline for our summer overland trip. A little airflow in the camper should really help on a hot July night down south. There are three choices in fans. Model 4000 R, Model 5000RBT and Model 6000 RBTA. I went with the middle of the road 5000 RBT. I’m not sure what model Four Wheel Camper provides as an option.

The installation was super easy. The camper is already wired to accommodate the powered fan. I just had to remove the vent that came with the camper and drop the new vent fan in place. The hardest part of the whole job was removing all the caulk and putty gasket that held the original vent in place. I was even able to reuse the interior frame that came with the original vent. The interior frame of the Fan-Tastic vent would have needed to be custom cut in order to fit the thickness of my roof.

The only thing that I need to be careful about is the height of the dome. It sticks up a couple of inches higher then the dome on the original vent in order for there to be room for the electric motor.

And yes I've been out camping. This is a picture of our likely camping spot for the U.P. Overland outing that upcruiser and I are organizing.

 

[Jacket]

Beautiful!

 

[T.Low]

That's one sweet unit. Congrats and well done.


I agree 100% with the set-up break-down time issue. It just increases the mobility factor. So many times we drive and stop for hikes or rides, then end up driving till we're tired and just want to hit a clearing, park, and go to sleep. Thats why I ordered a pop top for the van.

Sweet rig. If I ever get rid of the van, I will get a FWC for my pick-up. (heck, if I find one for $700 I'd get it too!)

 

[Prybry]

Question on the levels...

You mounted the levels on the outside of the camper... could you also mount them inside the truck some where so you could identify a level camp spot while driving the truck? I suppose they would look kind of hokey right on the dash!:smilies27

 

[Northern Explorer]

You mounted the levels on the outside of the camper... could you also mount them inside the truck some where so you could identify a level camp spot while driving the truck? I suppose they would look kind of hokey right on the dash!:smilies27

You probably could. Something like this I guess.

The main reason I put them outside is I could mount them flush up against the corner rail thus ensuring the levels themselves are level. I kind of like how they look there anyway but I see what you mean about having them inside.

 

[kcowyo]

This is a picture of our likely camping spot for the U.P. Overland outing that upcruiser and I are organizing.

Since I'll be out that way a month or so after the U.P. adventure, I really, really hope you'll share that location with me....

Nice job on the Fan-Tastic vent fan. That's the upgrade I've been telling myself I really need to do.

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

the red & black wires you found are for the solar panel (pre-wired)

they won't be "hot"

you will only be able to see them in the cabinet and maybe behind
the front wooden lift panel

hope this helps


=======================================================

you wrote:

<<< Four Wheel Campers has listed that all campers come pre wired for a furnace, refrigerator, power roof vent fan, solar panel and electric water pump weather you order these options or not. I don’t think this wire belongs to any of those. My best guess would be that it’s for an optional stereo. So my initial plan was to use this wire. The problem is that the wires are not hot and I couldn’t trace back all the way to see where the other end is in order to hook it up to the fuse box. I ended up just running fresh wire, which really wasn’t a problem anyway. >>>




.

 

[Northern Explorer]

The Throne

I decided to pick up a Thetford Porta Potti in an effort to further enable self-reliant backcountry camping.

I looked into the pett toilet system but the similarities between the Thetford and the real thing will go over much better with my wife.

I had three model choices that would fit in the small space that was designed to hold a porta potti. Model 135, Model 135 Marine and Model 735 Marine. The model I chose was the 735 Marine. It has a 2.6 gallon fresh water tank and a 2.6 gallon black water tank. The marine version is designed for a boat (obviously) and comes with brackets that enable you to secure it to the floor. In my case these are not being used because the storage space that Four Wheel Campers designed is extremely tight and holds the porta potti in place even on the roughest roads. In addition the porta potti will need to be pulled out from the storage area when it is used and having it bolted to the floor would make this impossible. The main reason I chose the 735 Marine version is because unlike the 135 model it comes with a black water tank level gauge and it has a piston pump rather then a bellows pump. I searched the Thetford web page on information regarding the differences between the piston pump and the bellows pump but couldn't find any. I got the impression that the piston pump was better because it is offered only on the higher priced models.

"What the hell is this???"

Top removed showing drain spout and storage area for chemicals

Tight fit in camper

 

[Northern Explorer]

12 volt refrigerator pre install

I couldn't wait any long for spring to arrive. I had to get some work done on the camper.

I originally ordered my camper with just the ice box thinking that this would be sufficient for my needs. After only a few trips out with the camper I decided that I would be much better off with an actual refrigerator.

These were my issues with the ice box:
1. On bumpy roads, ice would bounce out of the ice tray and land on the floor of the ice box. As the ice melted the water would run onto the floor of my camper.

2. On hot days (noticeable mostly on my NC trip) the ice would quickly melt leaving me looking for a fresh supply of ice. Early on I tried to remedy this by purchasing a small Rubbermaid type container that would sit on top of the ice tray for storing additional ice. This helped a lot with extending the lifespan of the ice but now because there was so much room taken up by ice there wasn't as much room left for food.

3. My last issue with the ice box is it just wasn't that great at keeping food cold. If I placed the food item directly on the ice it would stay nice and cold but anything placed on the floor of the ice box didn't have much of a life expectancy. On two occasions I had milk spoil. One time was on the NC trip. To be fair it was smoldering hot out. Even with the ice tray full it just wasn't enough to keep perishables from spoiling. The second time I had milk spoil was much later in the year when I was running the furnace. After removing the ice box I fired up the furnace to see if there was any heat making it's way up through to the ice box area. Sure enough, a warm spot developed just above the furnace which is where the ice box sits. I plan on adding a layer of insulation to keep the hot side hot and the cold side cold.

Ok...back to my new refrigerator.

FWC pre plumbs the ice box area with 12 volts and a propane supply for the installation of a three way refrigerator. I decided that I was going to go with a 12 volt only refrigerator.

Reasons for 12 volt only.

1 doesn't have to be level
2 compressor refrigeration
3 my battery bank will recharge as I drive where as my propane will eventually run out

I wanted to go with a refrigerator that was very similar in size to the existing ice box. This would make retrofitting much easier. After much research I ordered a Waeco RPD 50 from this web site. What I got was the Dometic tj18. After doing some research I found out that they both had the same Danfoss BD35F compressor and the inside of the tj18 was minutely larger than the RPD 50. I didn't want to go through the hassle of shipping it back so I just decided to keep it.

Work so far.

I replaced the black door panel with the salvaged wood face door panel from the original ice box. Some cutting was required for proper fitment.

Inside

Tiny freezer

I have also put an extra layer of Reflectix Insulation (bubble wrap tin foil) to the outside in an effort to make it even more efficient. I used double stick carpet tape to stick it on and tin foil tape on the corners to really seal it up.

The dometic web site is saying 3.2 amps at 12 volts but the sticker is saying 2.74 amps at 12 volts. I'll have to measure it to find out for myself.

The rest of the install will come later this spring when it warms up. I still need to cut holes on the outside of my camper for the vents, frame in the refrigerator, and fit the second battery that I have on order.

 

[slooowr6]

Does your camper come with the space for Porta Potti or you modify the lower storage area to create the space? I'm planning to add a porta potti to my camper but can't figure out once I cut the storage area how to support the bench. Is there any support at the end of the bench in your camper I see there is some aluminum bracket in the picture.

Thx
Alex

 

[Northern Explorer]

Does your camper come with the space for Porta Potti or you modify the lower storage area to create the space? I'm planning to add a porta potti to my camper but can't figure out once I cut the storage area how to support the bench. Is there any support at the end of the bench in your camper I see there is some aluminum bracket in the picture.

Thx
Alex

The space for the porta potti was already built in. Hope these pictures help.

 

[slooowr6]

I really wish ATC has the seat back bracket setup. Thanks for the picture it really help me to figure out how to modify my camper!

 

[Prybry]

Dang, now I wish I bought the 735...

I decided to pick up a Thetford Porta Potti in an effort to further enable self-reliant backcountry camping.

I looked into the pett toilet system but the similarities between the Thetford and the real thing will go over much better with my wife.

I had three model choices that would fit in the small space that was designed to hold a porta potti. Model 135, Model 135 Marine and Model 735 Marine. The model I chose was the 735 Marine. It has a 2.6 gallon fresh water tank and a 2.6 gallon black water tank. The marine version is designed for a boat (obviously) and comes with brackets that enable you to secure it to the floor. In my case these are not being used because the storage space that Four Wheel Campers designed is extremely tight and holds the porta potti in place even on the roughest roads. In addition the porta potti will need to be pulled out from the storage area when it is used and having it bolted to the floor would make this impossible. The main reason I chose the 735 Marine version is because unlike the 135 model it comes with a black water tank level gauge and it has a piston pump rather then a bellows pump. I searched the Thetford web page on information regarding the differences between the piston pump and the bellows pump but couldn't find any. I got the impression that the piston pump was better because it is offered only on the higher priced models.

"What the hell is this???"

Top removed showing drain spout and storage area for chemicals

Tight fit in camper

After hearing about the differences between the 135 and 735, I would have liked the 735 better... the tank level gauge is a nice feature!

One thing I did to improve the comfort on mine was to build a 6" high box out of 1" lumber and plywood... just big enough to nest the unit in. When you use it you flip the box over and set the unit on top to make it taller (more like a real toilet) much better for long legs!

Not sure the spot in the 4WD camper would let you do this, it seems pretty tight.

 

[Northern Explorer]

That's a good idea you have there. It definitely sits low to the ground. Unfortunetly there would be no space for that in my camper.