Se7en62's '19 Ford F-350 King Ranch CCLB FX4 3.73 & Lance 1030 Build and Adventures

[Se7en62]

Recently picked up this 2019 Ford F-350 King Ranch Crew Cab Long Bed FX4 with 3.73 gears and 275/65R20 Michelin LTX AT2 tires, with a plan to get it setup for hauling a truck camper on- and off-road. The truck has an 11,500 lb. GVWR and a 4,028 lb. Payload Capacity. This thread will have to pick up where we are now with the project, but things are looking very good:

Truck Mods: Airbags in the Rear, BDS Fox 2.0 Dual Steering Stabilizer, BDS 2" Level Kit with Fox 2.0s, Torklift Frame-mounted Tie Downs, Torklift FastGun Turnbuckles.
Future Truck Plans: Torklift StabileLoads, 5Star Tunes, 37s with 17s (maybe keep the 20s), 4.88s, Carli Trophy Spare, Carli Backcountry 2.5".





The camper is two-owner garage-kept MINT Lance 1030 that was fully renovated by Jensen Adventures and converted to lithium/solar/electric, aside from the propane furnace. We picked it up a couple weeks ago from the Jensen's and they aired it on their YouTube channel here: (104) Saying Goodbye to our Lance 1030 Truck Camper! More mods to the Kodiak! - YouTube

Since it was renovated, the camper doesn't have the normal weight associated with the propane fridge, propane water heater, propane generator, or propane oven and cooktop, even the lead-acid batteries have been replaced with Renogy Smart Lithium batteries, which weigh significantly less. I'm guesstimating the weight, as we haven't had a chance to take it to a scale quite yet, but:

Approx Dry weight is ~2,400 lbs.
Approx Wet weight is ~2,800 lbs with 38-gal water, 14-gal propane, and a full fridge.
Loaded weight with passengers, linens, cookware, tools, etc. is roughly ~3,400 lbs.

Camper Options/Mods: It's easier to go to their YouTube channel (above), because they did so many mods to the camper:

• Fully Renovated, including new paint, new flooring, new stained/sealed butcher block counters throughout, new LED lighting, new fabric, new window blinds, new faucets in the dry bath and kitchen, new deep sink in the kitchen, new electrical system, new fridge, new stereo, new memory foam mattresses, ALMOST everything is new...
• Renogy 3,000w Pure-Sine Inverter
• Renogy 50A DC-DC Charger
• (4) Renogy 100w Solar Panels w/ Room to Expand
• (2) Renogy 100aH Lithium Smart Batteries w/ Room to Expand
• Unique Appliances 3.1 cu.ft. Solar DC Fridge/Freezer (Only uses 90w at MAX Cooling! WHAT!!?)
• 3-Gal Electric Water Heater
• New Queen Memory Foam Mattress
• New Bunk Memory Foam Mattress
• Portable 1200w Single-Burner Induction Cooktop
• Original Atwood 7920-II Propane Furnace, but I just replaced the motor and ducting so it runs super smooth and quiet.
• Original Twin 7-gal Propane Tanks, which I just had recertified, filled, and replaced the lines to the tanks.
• Original Rear Awning
• Original Dometic 600 Series Duo-Therm 13,5k BTU AC
• Custom Stained Teak slide-out rear deck-step.

Camper Plans: Finish sealing-up unnecessary ventilation hatches, Replace Induction w/ 1800w Dual Burner Unit, Expand Battery Pack to 400aH, Expand Solar to 500w, Upgrade AC to a new Dometic Solar unit and make the camper our own.

 

[Se7en62]

Moving the camper from a warm climate in AZ to our cold climate in CO, required a pitstop in SW Colorado to winterize the camper before heading home on US 160. The downside of that was we noticed the cold weather was causing issues with the furnace motor's bearing, as it began to squeak, then screech, then got so bad it flipped the breaker a few times. I jumped online and tracked down a replacement motor (Part #: 31384MC) and found it listed on Amazon, along with some new 2.5" duct work for behind the furnace.

After replacing the furnace motor and ducting, the heat is just the same but produced and distributed very quietly. LOL!









I also went ahead and ordered some Reflectix sheeting, tape, and various sized weather stripping so I can go about closing-up and insulating unnecessary ventilation hatches, such as the water heater hatch and the fridge hatch and roof vent. I'll get to that tomorrow and update the thread.

 

[Darwin]

Have you weighed the whole thing on a truck scale?

 

[Se7en62]

Have you weighed the whole thing on a truck scale?

I haven't yet, but will later this week when we hit the road again. The truck's GVWR is 11,500 lbs with a 4,028 lb Payload Capacity. The camper's sticker on the rear that shows the factory wet weight with original options, full water, full propane, and the contents of the fridge shows 3,028 lbs.

 

[Se7en62]

Cut some 1" thick high-density foam board to close the gaps behind and above the fridge. These are temporary while I work on a permanent solution.





Then I also worked on sealing up the hot water heater hatch a bit better. It's close, but I want to afix the Reflectix panel to the inside of the hatch door, but I ran out of the tape I like. - This 1"x1/4" weather stripping I bought off Amazon though worked really well to create a seal around the hatch.

 

[Se7en62]

Last week, I ordered a set of 17x9 Method 304 wheels from Trail Built. Then yesterday, I took them up to Discount Tire in Pueblo, CO to have a set of 37x13.50R17 Toyo Open Country MTs mounted.




This was transformative in terms of how well the truck handles, feels, and rides offroad. We've had 2 weeks of rain with another week of rain forecasted, so it's very wet and muddy in the mountains right now. There are 7-miles of dirt roads between our house and the highway. Then our neighborhood has another couple hundred miles of dirt roads through the mountains, so it's already seen 50+ miles of mud between 8,000' and 10,500' and it absolutely kicks ass! ?




The wheels have a maximum rated capacity of 3,640 lbs each, which is just more than the GAWR of rear axle, so they're right for the task at hand.

The tires are rated for even more at 4,300 lbs each!

Here is the Tire Pressure Chart from Toyo:


I can't wait to get the camper mounted back up for our first backcountry trip!

 

[Jensen Adventures]

Love this build!

 

[blu88]

Is your truck gas (which motor) or diesel?
Which transmission?
Did you swap the gears yet?

And if it's a gasser, w/ 37s with stock 3.73 gearing, how does your truck perform with the camper mounted?

 

[Se7en62]

Is your truck gas (which motor) or diesel?
Which transmission?
Did you swap the gears yet?

And if it's a gasser, w/ 37s with stock 3.73 gearing, how does your truck perform with the camper mounted?

It's a 6.2L gas V8 coupled to a 6R140 6-Speed transmission with the factory 3.73 gearing. It's also an 8-foot bed, so it has the 48-gallon fuel tank.

Loaded for a long cross-country trip, I get about 11mpg on average at 11,500 lbs., which is our GVWR. That can go up or down a bit depending on wind, as drag coefficient is really impacted with any solid-wall truck camper. That said, we live WAY out in the boonies in the mountains of Colorado and it does just fine maintaining speed limits up and over all the passes, cruises at 65-70mph on the highways without issue, and in general performs like a big heavy truck.

 

[Se7en62]

I've uploaded a new video detailing the truck and camper, inside and out! It's rad and getting a ton of watch time! Sub!! 🤙

 

[Se7en62]

We're packing up for a 3-week trip, so I've ordered a few mods for the truck and camper this week:

• Rough Country Dual 8' Black Series LED Grille Lightbars - These fit inside the factory grill and are very clean.
• Energy Suspension 2"x2" Poly Bushings - To replace the factory bump stops for the F350's overload leafs, which aren't engaged even with 4,000 lbs. in the bed.
• #4 Pos/Neg Welding Wire, Anderson Connectors, and Wire Loom - To make a power cable to run form the factory battery to the Renogy DC-DC MPPT Charger in the camper.
• Partsam 45-LED Triple Taillights for the Camper - To upgrade and improve the factory camper taillights.

I'll post pics of all this after I get them done.

 

[Se7en62]

I had some time to update this thread, so figured I would!

Before our trip mentioned in the last post, I got the Rough Country grill light kit installed with (2) 8" LED lightbars and dig them a lot! I also added a jumper between a 12V hot source in the harness to give constant power to the factory mirror-mounted puddle lights. I used a paperclip and cut it in half and it's literally a 5-minute mod. Now my puddle LED's (underneath the side-view mirrors) can be toggled on and off manually at any speed.



I also finished upgrading the 25-year-old halogen taillights on the Lance. These are Partsam 45-LED Triple Taillights that I picked up off of Amazon.



Then I installed a set of Energy Suspension 2"x2" polyurethane bushings in place of the original bushings on the F350. These mount at the front of the rear leaf springs and allow the overload leaf to engage earlier. Due to my truck having a 2.5" leveling kit and the front riding higher, I'd say these would work perfectly on a stock truck. However, I'm looking to replace them with a 3" block, but before I get back to these, I'm going to replumb my airbags, so they are controlled independently of one another with their own gauges and switches.



Lastly, I also built and wired up a harness to connect my main battery and charging system on my truck to the camper's inverter using #4 Pos/Neg Welding Wire, Anderson Connectors, and some 1" Wire Loom. Now when we are driving through heavy thunderstorms, snow, or at night the truck's charging system and alternator charge the camper's lithium batteries as needed. This system uses the Renogy 50A DC-DC unit I already had on my camper. (No pictures, because it was raining and I was in a rush to get it done before we left.)

Boondocking in the TX Panhandle the following evening...

 

[Se7en62]

The trip was for a funeral, so nothing adventurous but it was about 3-weeks long. Overall, the truck and camper did really well again. The only things I added along the way were a new Westinghouse iGen2550DFc generator and a Micro-Air Easy Start soft-start system to the AC, so the AC can reliably and efficiently run off of a small generator.

 

[Se7en62]

I finally had a battery die in the truck, so I figured I'd go with the easiest to source this time around and bought Duracell Platinum AGM from AutoZone. I've had great experiences with the Duracell Platinum AGM batteries I've bought and ran in other vehicles over the last 10 years, so given the number of AutoZone's across the country I shouldn't have any issues replacing it if the need came up. - I need to clean my terminals really well, because the original OEM lead-acid battery leaked on top and made the corrosion really bad.

 

[Se7en62]

Perfect timing on getting an AGM battery in there, because Dometic put their center console fridges on a steep 75% discount, making them $100. The installation was really easy, only requiring a Phillips screwdriver and a 3.5" hole saw and about 20-minutes of my time. The fit and finish is OEM. Start-up draw is 5.6A, then 4.5A at 90°F, but in the truck at 68°F it'd have a 30% duty cycle, so average draw should be closer to 1.4Ah, which should net me about a 24-hour run time if needed on my 68ah battery.