New to truck campers what kind to get?

greg mgm

Explorer
One thing that you should do while checking out a camper is to push and pull on the camper jacks (If it has jacks) That can tell you if there're problems with the wood in the corners (wood rot from water intrusion) Also, for the same reason, check that the tie down eyebolts are firmly attached.
 

redthies

Renaissance Redneck
One thing that you should do while checking out a camper is to push and pull on the camper jacks (If it has jacks) That can tell you if there're problems with the wood in the corners (wood rot from water intrusion) Also, for the same reason, check that the tie down eyebolts are firmly attached.

Too right! Nice to be dry and warm, which is easier to accomplish if the camper gets where you are going in one peice...
 

greg mgm

Explorer
Exactly!

I had to rebuild the front corner of my old camper because of wood rot. It wasn't pretty when I pulled back the alum skin. Probably best to avoid this in the first place by buying an aluminum framed camper.
 

mgh

New member
:wings:
I scored on a Four Seasons this weekend, almost identical to Eric's earlier in the post. I'll post pictures when I can. It has a leak that I will have to fix, but for $600 anything was bound to have one. Now I get to search how to fix it and play with the electrical, no battery, just two wires sticking out the bottom. But it's all mine!
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
Congrats! Is it the one with the wide gray stripe that was on the Chevy truck? I looked at those interior pics and said "whoa, that looks familiar."

It's pretty easy to add a battery. Do those two wires coming out the bottom to go a fuse block low down in the cabinets on the driver's side of the camper? My battery's wired into that block but it's situated a little higher, under the sink. Some folks do run the camper off the truck battery but you do have to watch your level more closely then to make sure you can still drive off. Also, starting batteries don't like to be discharged too many times. It's nice having a seperate deep-cycle.

I'll see if I can take some wiring pictures.

Eric
 

mgh

New member
It is the Magnum, it looks identical to your interior except dirtier. I have a leak I am going to fix, hopefully it has not started to rot. It looks like it had a converter, but they pulled it out, there is an access port for the AMP cord that was there. I'd love to see more pictures of your interior. Question about the fridge and furnace, mine has a Hydro Flame FA7916 and a Dometic RM183, it looks like they have to have 12v power to get them to work. Is this right?
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
Alright--another Magnum!

The Dometic 183 looks to be a 3-way fridge, in that in can run on propane, 12v or 120v. The propane system is independent from the 12v...and it has its own piezo igniter. It's not required to connect the fridge to 12v in order to use propane or 120v. Some people switch their fridges to 12v while they're driving to save propane, in which case you'd want to hook up the 12v.

The furnace does require 12v for the igniter, thermostat and fan blower so you would need to connect both propane and 12v to that in order for it to work.

I'll get some pics taken.
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
Here's the little fuse block--do you have one like it? The white wire is connected to the (+) side of the camper battery and energizes all the right sides of the fuses. Then each left side of the fuse goes to a different circuit. I'm not using one of them. The (+) wire coming out of the camper should also be connected to the ride side of the fuse block.

P1020083.jpg


I wanted my camper to be a self-contained solar-cabin like the ski huts so I don't have any electrical connections between the camper and truck. Instead, there's a small (10 W) solar panel on the roof connected to a charge controller and to the deep cycle camper battery. I don't have a fridge or heater so the small panel keeps up just fine. The green light means it's fully charged so it has disconnected the solar panel to keep from damaging the battery. Solar panels usually put out a little over 20-volts so you don't want one charging a full battery--it can damage the battery.

P1020080.jpg


I really like the solar-charging because the battery is always completely topped-off when I'm ready to use the camper. I like how the lights are always bright and there's plenty of voltage at the 12-volt outlets and for accessories and the inverter.

My parents' camper has the typical battery isolator system with the camper battery charging off the truck when it's running. It works well on road trips when there's a lot of drive time for the battery to charge. For the usual quick weekend trips though, the camper battery doesn't get a chance to charge much and it's been gradually draining the whole time the camper's been parked. That means dim lights, a slow water pump, and when I bring the inverter along it won't even work because the voltage is too low. My Dad often removes the camper battery, brings it inside and plugs it into the charger. I sure like the easy solar approach though.

Here's the camper battery location:

P1020081.jpg


It's just a Wal-mart deep-cycle.

Also, I'm not sure if yours came with a table, but mine had the table base right in the middle of the floor. I would trip all over the base trying to walk around in the camper, and with the table set up, it took up the whole aisle so I couldn't open the right cabinet or reach the cab-over. I completely removed the table and base for a while.

Just recently I started experimenting. With the table base at the very front of the floor and closer to the couch, I could move the mounting bracket on the underside of the table and I got it situated farther forward and closer to the couch so that there's plenty of room to get around it. I did some trial and error with the floor table base location to make sure that the hinged panel that comes out to support the lower bed could still move far enough forward that the bed doesn't catapult up with a misplaced knee or hand.

P1020075.jpg


P1020078.jpg


P1020079.jpg


A pair of coat hooks mounted on the closet door stores the step ladder.

When not in use, the table stores just inside the closet, against the door.

P1020076.jpg


Also, the floor is $10 of the cheapest vinyl tiles from Lowe's. The adhesive on them isn't the greatest so it's best to trim them enough so they're not crammed in otherwise they'll buckle up. Great replacement floor though and easy to clean.
 
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mgh

New member
Thanks for pictures they help a lot. I had to store it at my sister's house a couple of weeks, it is killing me I can't wait to tear into it. I was going to go with a solar charger also. What kind did you get?
 

tanglefoot

ExPoseur
It's a Brightwatts controller that was special-ordered from Lowe's. Last time I checked, it wasn't available any more. There's an inexpensive controller from Brunton that was going to be me 2nd choice--those still seem to be available. It was around $20 I think.
 

mgh

New member
There's an inexpensive controller from Brunton that was going to be me 2nd choice--those still seem to be available. It was around $20 I think.[/QUOTE]

I found one of those, that's probably what I will go with. Going to try to get it in the garage tomorrow, I have a very steep driveway, going to be a challenge. Then I can fix the leak and start on the inside. I will post some pictures then.
 

defrag4

Road Warrior
love those campers on the old 1st gens, thinking about selling the 4runner and getting either a 1st or 2nd gen pickup or a 1st gen tacoma to put a popup on

keep an eye out for me!
 

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