Here Until There
Observer
Great thread, and awesome to see you figuring things out and getting closer to gone! Just thought I'd toss out a couple things...
Camper power: I'm not sure it'll fit your camper, but I have one Group 31 in mine, with a 85W panel. It's been more than sufficient, even when camping in the middle of winter. I don't even charge it off the truck anymore, unless it's been cloudy during the day and cold at night for a few nights in a row. (The heater is by FAR the biggest draw I have.)
If I was setting it up again, I'd skip the house battery. In a single night, I've NEVER seen mine below 75%, and that only happens when we camp and it's single digits F or colder. (The heater is by FAR my biggest draw since converting to LED's...) I have dual batteries in the truck, so I'd wire a heavy gauge cable to the camper, and just run it off the truck batts. (Change them to marine/starting units.) If you're moving every day, you'll never have a problem starting. If you plan to stop for days, then add a 100-120W panel and charge controller to the roof of the camper and let if charge the truck batteries. A simple voltage monitor will give you a pretty good idea where the batteries are. If you notice they're getting a little low, and you've been sitting, then start the truck and let it run for a half hour or hour. That won't fully charge the batteries, but it'll give the solar enough of a head start to finish the job, even if it's cloudy.
Given that your truck is a gasser, I'm betting it doesn't have dual batts, but it would probably be really easy to add the 2nd one. Hmm. If it doesn't have duals, perhaps keeping the house battery is a better plan for you. It's still only two batts, and if you keep them somewhat interchangeable, you can use the camper battery in the truck if you have to.
As for batteries, you can spend a LOT of money if you want. I don't. I recommend the Superstart (Deka) batteries from Oreillys. They are made in the USA by a very reputable company, priced very competitively, and I've not had any problems with mine, nor have I heard of anyone having problems with them. I have two flooded units and one AGM. I'll not spend money on an AGM again at this point, as the flooded units are working fine.
Hi-Lift: Good that you've practiced. Basically, always use two hands on the handle, and make sure the truck isn't going to tip and you'll be fine. I am a long time fan of the Hi-Lift. It's all I had when I was in college! My Hi-Lift, which is the one I still have and use, got me out of a LOT of jams. That said, a Hi-Lift is NOT what you want to be using to change a flat... I would HIGHLY recommend you go to a junkyard and find a stock jack and the crank that goes with it. They work, they're light, and they're fairly stable. (Still needs a base in the soft.)
I also recommend carrying at least two 30' 2" or 3" straps that are NOT the stretchy kind, and one 20' 5/16" chain. With that and a few shackles, you can turn your Hi-Lift into a VERY effective (but slow) winch. It WILL get you out. It will also pull trees out of the road.
If you do insist on only having the hi-lift, then you can use the chain to chain the axle to the frame on the side with the flat. This keeps the suspension from drooping, and lets you change the tire without having to jack the truck up a LONG ways to get the fresh tire on. When you crank it way in the air, you're un-weighting the tire on the other side significantly, and you run the risk of the whole thing falling over. (Been there, done that. Sucks.)
I think you've already found that OE bumpers suck for use with a Hi-Lift. They're just too light to use it out near the side that you're trying to lift, making the lift even more precarious. Chaining up the axle becomes a MUST if you have to jack near the frame.
3-way fridge: I love mine. I know, the 12v compressor units are cool. But mine works great on propane (Add a cooling fan to the coils if it doesn't already have one) and also works on 120v (Handy for packing, but that's about all I use it for) and on 12v. Note that the 12v wiring for your trailer connector is NOT sufficient to get the fridge to work properly on 12v. I had to run a 10ga wire right from the front of the truck to keep the voltage up. The draw is about 10a, which doesn't sound like much, but the voltage drop over the 50' of 14 or 16ga wire is significant, and the fridge will slowly warm up unless you get it a full 14v. I put that wire on a 30A relay under the hood, so when I shut the truck off, the fridge gets cut off too. That way I can't forget and run the truck dead.
Well, that was more of a book than I meant it to be... Back to your regular updates!!
Best wishes on your prep and travels! Wife and I are heading to Baja in a few months, and I'm pretty excited about it! I'd be beyond excited if I was heading for South America!! (I'd also be learning Spanish, since my wife and I both took French in HS. What a poor decision that was...)
Chris
Hey Chris, Sorry for the late response. Internet hasn't been reliable as we thought it would be.We're getting ready to write an update on how the everything's been working after 6 months of continual use. The shortened version is everything has been been working well except the fridge. Ahhh..... the damnable fridge! Our battery/solar set up has been giving us some issues as well, but nothing we can't deal with at the moment. Haven't had to us the hi-lift jack yet, thankfully. Thanks for all the advice. We may have to rethink the battery issue soon. Hope you are currently in Baja enjoying yourself!
