BretEdge
Adventurer
Thanks, Joel! I hope some of the information is helpful for ya.
2015 F-150 Adventure Rig
- Thread starter BretEdge
- Start date
Thanks, Joel! I hope some of the information is helpful for ya.
JSimmons
Casual Observer
Hi Bret. Definitely helpful. My big quandry right now is figuring out how to mount a dual battery setup in my 2014 F-150. Despite having a huge engine bay, there just aren't very many useful locations to mount extra fuse panels and so forth let alone two Odyssey batteries. :/ I do have a truck box in the back right now that I thought about using to mount a second battery and my ARB compressor, but that seems like a long way to run battery cables. Anyhow, I digress. Don't want to hijack your thread but I'm certainly watching to see if you have unique solutions to any similar problems. Thank you again for documenting your build!
adaml
Active member
Are you sure you need a second battery? I don't know for sure what the 2014 came with but my 2019 has a pretty large AGM battery in it. It has a reserve capacity of something like 120 minutes. It's been way more than what I need to run one of the big dual compressor Dometic fridges. That being said, I've seen a number of people run a dual battery from the bed. You just need to make sure the wire is large enough to reduce drop.
JSimmons
Casual Observer
I suppose it’s just for peace of mind. I like the idea of being able to jump start myself out in the sticks. In the past I always had all of my non-factory electronics wired into a secondary circuit that ran off of a second battery.
Out of curiosity, what would be an appropriate wire gauge for running a second battery from the bed? I’m sure there’s a formula for determining something like that.
Or, perhaps I just replace the stock battery with a burly Odyssey AGM. Not totally sure what the stock ‘14 came with though.
adaml
Active member
That's fair enough. I always just got one of those small jump starters so I could use it on myself OR jump someone else if I needed to. Not sure of the gauge but I think this is one of those "the bigger, the better" things. I know I've seen some calculators out there if you just google for them. As far as AGM batteries go, I replaced the normal starter battery on my 4Runner with a larger AGM battery and it ran my ARB Fridge fine for a couple summers (including days where the fridge just sat in the car as it sat in the Sun all day). My Raptor came with a beefy AGM battery already and I've never had a problem. I totally agree that dual battery setups are cool and if I ran a TON of stuff while the car was turned off, maybe I'd look into it but, in my research, it seems like this is one of those things that isn't cheap if you do it right (and it's not something you want to do wrong).
JSimmons
Casual Observer
You're absolutely right about wanting to do a dual battery setup correctly and that it is expensive. My last setup was in my Tacoma and I spent the money with Off-Grid Engineering for a plug-n-play system that had a convenience fee to match how fancy it was. Perhaps I should just look into a stouter AGM battery. Have you ever run a winch off a single AGM battery?
adaml
Active member
Yes and no? I’ve ran a winch on a single battery but it’s always been with the vehicle on and charging. If I was going to regularly operate it with the vehicle off, I’d be more likely to look into a dual setup.
BretEdge
Adventurer
I had an FJ Cruiser w/ a winch and I ran it with a single battery - no issues. I never really ran it without the truck running, though.
I didn't consider a dual battery setup in the F150 because the camper we bought and are having installed on Friday(!) has it's own dual battery system, so the only thing the vehicle battery needs to run is the vehicle and the LED light bar I'll install soon.
JSimmons
Casual Observer
Anxious to see the photos of the camper!
chet6.7
Explorer
Attachments
BretEdge
Adventurer
We left Moab at around 1700 on Thursday and arrived in Jackson, Wyoming at noon on Friday. Three hours later, we had a Four Wheel Camper Raven in Betty's bed. Yes, the stoke is high. Very high.
We knew there was a weather front coming in but we didn't drive all the way to Jackson only to turn around and hightail it home. So, we drove through Grand Teton National Park, saw some bears and pronghorn, drank huckleberry margaritas at Colter Bay and then found a campsite on Shadow Mountain. We generally travel as a well-organized machine but having just picked up the camper it was pretty much chaos inside as we'd just tossed in our duffel bags, sleeping bags, blankets. food, etc. Setting up for camp took much longer than it normally would as we had three people and a dog inside a very small space all fighting for room to change clothes, brush teeth, make the bed, etc. We got it done and settled in for the night, only to be awakened around midnight by a bunch of loud ****************** who I assume had just returned from the bar. It started to rain around 0600, which became a frozen mix and then big, fat snowflakes. We stayed cozy warm inside the camper, though. Having a heater definitely helped!
We left Jackson late Saturday morning and drove to the Salt Lake area. We had planned to camp on the west side of the Wasatch but apparently they hate dogs over there and they aren't allowed in the campgrounds. So, we drove over Guardsman Pass and stumbled upon a sweet little campground just outside of Midway. The fall colors were going off in every direction. Red! Yellow! Orange! Just amazing. Much better sleep even with a crazy storm the entire evening and into the next morning that tested the weather-proofness (that's a word now) of the camper. Rain came down in sheets, there was thunder and lightning and wind gusts that caused the entire truck to sway. Even so, the Raven held strong and there wasn't the usual flappity flap noise we were used to in a roof top tent. Rain on the aluminum roof is loud but it was loud in a RTT, too. Even managed to find a handful of flat rocks that allowed us to perfectly level the truck. See attached photo for proof! ;-)
Initial camper observations:
- Putting it up and down is a piece of cake. Maybe 3 minutes for each one.
- Bed is comfy and HUGE
- Condensation was an issue the first night but we did not vent the camper at all. Vented it the second night and virtually no condensation build-up.
- Organization will be key for traveling without a headache. It's a very small space and it'll be critical for everything to have a space. We're just getting started here but will share what works as we go along.
- We lost about 2 MPG's after the camper was installed. Not terrible but I might still look at re-gearing the rig.
- Airbags are working perfectly and the truck actually rides better with weight in the bed. The back end was pretty stiff without it. Might install Deaver leafs at some point.
- We didn't get the thermal pack for the camper. We'll try it out for a while and if we feel it's necessary we'll add it. Supposedly helps with condensation and keeping the inside cooler/warmer when it's hot/cold outside.
- The LED flood lights on the back of the camper are bright. No, they're BRIGHT. Crazy bright. Will be awesome for remote camping when you want to hang out outside and play games, eat, etc.
- The camper comes with a table. It's janky as hell. We're taking it out and will find a smaller, lighter weight camp table that we can use inside or outside.
- Those jacks you see on the camper? They're coming off. I would have taken them off before we left Jackson but didn't have anywhere to store them. I see people traveling with jacks attached to their campers and it just seems like a good way to catch a tree, car or deer and do some major damage to the camper. Also, they're ugly. It's all about aesthetics, right? ;-)
- We opted for the largest fridge and dual 6V batteries. We ran the fridge all night Saturday, used interior and exterior lights, one of the ceiling fans and had phones plugged in to charge. Twelve hours later the gauge showed full. We didn't get solar and it will be interesting to see if we end up regretting it. We'll keep you posted.
We visited Ikea, Target and Wal-Mart on Sunday to pick up some items to help us organize the space as well as a few of the RV essentials, i.e. leveling blocks, hose to fill up water tank, etc. We're camping this weekend around home in Moab and should have a better impression of what it's like to use the camper since we'll be a bit more organized. I'm sure it'll take a few trips to dial it in but we're so damn excited about this new set up!
What's next? I'll probably put an LED lightbar on the bumper to help us find campsites at night. We tend to roll in late after long days either driving or riding/hiking. Hoping to do this before we leave for Rampage at the end of October but if not, definitely before our Thanksgiving trip. Also need to pick up a portable air compressor. Currently looking at the Viair 400P. Opinions welcome. Not real sure where we'll store it but, we'll figure it out.
All for now. Look for an update after this weekend's mini-adventure around home!
We knew there was a weather front coming in but we didn't drive all the way to Jackson only to turn around and hightail it home. So, we drove through Grand Teton National Park, saw some bears and pronghorn, drank huckleberry margaritas at Colter Bay and then found a campsite on Shadow Mountain. We generally travel as a well-organized machine but having just picked up the camper it was pretty much chaos inside as we'd just tossed in our duffel bags, sleeping bags, blankets. food, etc. Setting up for camp took much longer than it normally would as we had three people and a dog inside a very small space all fighting for room to change clothes, brush teeth, make the bed, etc. We got it done and settled in for the night, only to be awakened around midnight by a bunch of loud ****************** who I assume had just returned from the bar. It started to rain around 0600, which became a frozen mix and then big, fat snowflakes. We stayed cozy warm inside the camper, though. Having a heater definitely helped!
We left Jackson late Saturday morning and drove to the Salt Lake area. We had planned to camp on the west side of the Wasatch but apparently they hate dogs over there and they aren't allowed in the campgrounds. So, we drove over Guardsman Pass and stumbled upon a sweet little campground just outside of Midway. The fall colors were going off in every direction. Red! Yellow! Orange! Just amazing. Much better sleep even with a crazy storm the entire evening and into the next morning that tested the weather-proofness (that's a word now) of the camper. Rain came down in sheets, there was thunder and lightning and wind gusts that caused the entire truck to sway. Even so, the Raven held strong and there wasn't the usual flappity flap noise we were used to in a roof top tent. Rain on the aluminum roof is loud but it was loud in a RTT, too. Even managed to find a handful of flat rocks that allowed us to perfectly level the truck. See attached photo for proof! ;-)
Initial camper observations:
- Putting it up and down is a piece of cake. Maybe 3 minutes for each one.
- Bed is comfy and HUGE
- Condensation was an issue the first night but we did not vent the camper at all. Vented it the second night and virtually no condensation build-up.
- Organization will be key for traveling without a headache. It's a very small space and it'll be critical for everything to have a space. We're just getting started here but will share what works as we go along.
- We lost about 2 MPG's after the camper was installed. Not terrible but I might still look at re-gearing the rig.
- Airbags are working perfectly and the truck actually rides better with weight in the bed. The back end was pretty stiff without it. Might install Deaver leafs at some point.
- We didn't get the thermal pack for the camper. We'll try it out for a while and if we feel it's necessary we'll add it. Supposedly helps with condensation and keeping the inside cooler/warmer when it's hot/cold outside.
- The LED flood lights on the back of the camper are bright. No, they're BRIGHT. Crazy bright. Will be awesome for remote camping when you want to hang out outside and play games, eat, etc.
- The camper comes with a table. It's janky as hell. We're taking it out and will find a smaller, lighter weight camp table that we can use inside or outside.
- Those jacks you see on the camper? They're coming off. I would have taken them off before we left Jackson but didn't have anywhere to store them. I see people traveling with jacks attached to their campers and it just seems like a good way to catch a tree, car or deer and do some major damage to the camper. Also, they're ugly. It's all about aesthetics, right? ;-)
- We opted for the largest fridge and dual 6V batteries. We ran the fridge all night Saturday, used interior and exterior lights, one of the ceiling fans and had phones plugged in to charge. Twelve hours later the gauge showed full. We didn't get solar and it will be interesting to see if we end up regretting it. We'll keep you posted.
We visited Ikea, Target and Wal-Mart on Sunday to pick up some items to help us organize the space as well as a few of the RV essentials, i.e. leveling blocks, hose to fill up water tank, etc. We're camping this weekend around home in Moab and should have a better impression of what it's like to use the camper since we'll be a bit more organized. I'm sure it'll take a few trips to dial it in but we're so damn excited about this new set up!
What's next? I'll probably put an LED lightbar on the bumper to help us find campsites at night. We tend to roll in late after long days either driving or riding/hiking. Hoping to do this before we leave for Rampage at the end of October but if not, definitely before our Thanksgiving trip. Also need to pick up a portable air compressor. Currently looking at the Viair 400P. Opinions welcome. Not real sure where we'll store it but, we'll figure it out.
All for now. Look for an update after this weekend's mini-adventure around home!
Attachments
Todd n Natalie
OverCamper
Is the camper staying on the truck full time? Just curious as you said you were going to remove the jacks. Or, do you have another plan for unloading / loading the camper into the box?
BretEdge
Adventurer
It's staying on the truck full-time.
jeepmedic46
Expedition Leader
Definitely a nice setup. What gears are you thinking of going to?