BeefCake's build...a roll your own Earthroamerish family expo rig

Ozrockrat

Expedition Leader
Also need to figure out what to use for tail lights...suggestions welcome.

I would suggest just seeing what is available in LED’s at the local truck stop. Reasonably priced, spares are easy to come by and if the had crappy lifespan those guys would soon let them know. I personally like Trucklite brand but in reality you are paying for the name.

Also something that size you may want to put some LED clearance lights on the sides.

Then you could go whole hog and put some mud lights underneath. Not really needed in my opinion unless you live/camp in an area with pack rats (4 legged ones)
 

shortbus4x4

Expedition Leader
Definitely watch for low branches and trees. I've seen more than one RV do some nasty damage from clearance issues, and it wasn't the tree that was damaged.
Nice build. Hope to see it in action some day.
 

shortbus4x4

Expedition Leader
What Ozrocket said about lights. Look up the DOT rules for lights on trucks. I have a feeling you will need the front, rear, and side marker lights in red and amber.
 

lostih

Observer
What Ozrocket said about lights. Look up the DOT rules for lights on trucks. I have a feeling you will need the front, rear, and side marker lights in red and amber.

Good idea. Do you know if they apply to RV's as well? I have red marker lights for the rear that I'm putting on and the cab has lights on the roof...but I may well need more...
 

lostih

Observer
First night in the camper :)
b4b8f4b07afc5b6e7fdcc47e1e954c8a.jpg
 

java

Expedition Leader
Awesome!!!

As to lights, your rear should be fine as is, and I just have cab lights, plus two markers in the upper front corners.
 

lostih

Observer
So after my first ride in the truck I concluded that the subframe mounts I was using allowed way to much movement. I think the problem was that the weight of the camper caused them to compress one side all the way and leave the other side without any preload. This cause the camper to sway and wobble quite a bit. To fix this I added some spacers between the camper cross members and the truck frame as well as a hard mount right behind the cab. I drove the truck quite a bit today and found this setup MUCH better. It drives pretty stinking good for what it is. You can feel the weight of the camper in corners etc, but it doesn't sway anymore and just drives down the road. I still have a tire balance issue in the front sometimes. I have 10oz of balance beads in them and may try some more.

I also worked on getting the battery isolator setup. I'm using the $50 method outlined elsewhere on expedition portal. I bought some 1 gauge 25' jumper cables, solenoid, circuit breakers, and quick disconnects off amazon. The 25' length is perfect for making it from the battery, down the frame rail and to the back of the truck. From there I'll have a quick disconnect that will normally run to the camper, but could switch to a removable winch or jumper cables if needed. These are the cables I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPTWBDH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Spent the afternoon driving around picking up odds and ends to finish things up. Got the last couple trim pieces, shore power pigtail, etc. Feels good to be driving it around to get used to it. So far so good.
 

lostih

Observer
Finished up the cabinets and starting to load up. Took the truck to the scales...14,020 lbs total. That’s without water but with propane and kids. I’m guessing we’ll be 14,500 going down the road. Rear axle was 8360 so front must be just under 6k.

So I’m packing a tool kit...but what items (either tools or gear) do you guys not like to leave without?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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