Man scoutman, that thing is sweet! I have been keeping my eye out for an older pop up camper for my truck... Very nice! It's so nice when you buy something you know has been well kept and taken care of... and for the seller to help you out, walk you through it all and through in some extras. What a great find.
Scoutman's 'new' Starcraft Pine Mtn on Dodge 3500
- Thread starter Scoutman
- Start date
Scoutman
Explorer
Thanks, I agree. :coffeedrink:
Scoutman
Explorer
Ventured out in it again this weekend. Spent some time on the lake watching all the folks with boats/jetski's. Had a couple walking by as we were setting up saying that they like our setup. Our camp neighbors had to come check it out too. We were the only truck camper in the park. The fridge did great. My little thermometer on a wire worked nice. When I closed everything up, I could set it in the drivers side camper window facing out and keep tabs on the fridge temp while it sat at work friday. I also noted that when cooking a typical meal, the temp inside the camper would rise 7-10* with the AC running.
Here's my little back porch I threw together thurs evening. It was a hitch rack that I had made some many years ago. I had some scrap 2x4's sitting around doing nothing so I cobbled up a deck so preggers and the toddler had an easier way in with less tripping hazards. Since the inside of the rack was a true 2'x4', and I was using stud 2x's, I had to rip a few strips to go down the sides to make everything nice and tight. The air nailer and some large pipe clamps put it all together. A couple of screws hold the wood deck into the rack. Since it seems to work nicely, I'll sand the top and stain/varnish it soon. Our door mat fit nicely and it was a great place to leave our shoes.
BTW, I have 1/2" bolts tap'd into the side of my reciever tube to prevent any unwanted deck movement. I can't stand rattles and do this to all my vehicles...
Here's my little back porch I threw together thurs evening. It was a hitch rack that I had made some many years ago. I had some scrap 2x4's sitting around doing nothing so I cobbled up a deck so preggers and the toddler had an easier way in with less tripping hazards. Since the inside of the rack was a true 2'x4', and I was using stud 2x's, I had to rip a few strips to go down the sides to make everything nice and tight. The air nailer and some large pipe clamps put it all together. A couple of screws hold the wood deck into the rack. Since it seems to work nicely, I'll sand the top and stain/varnish it soon. Our door mat fit nicely and it was a great place to leave our shoes.
BTW, I have 1/2" bolts tap'd into the side of my reciever tube to prevent any unwanted deck movement. I can't stand rattles and do this to all my vehicles...
Attachments
OutsideFamily
Observer
Excellent idea, I'm going to do the same! (I knew joining this forum was a good idea...) BTW, I like the porch, too!
Scoutman
Explorer
Update, Spring 11'
Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted any updates on our TC so here's one for you guys.
Last October I decided I wanted a good way to keep the camper out of the weather when we wern't using it. I finally settled on a canopy that was tall enough for me to drive into and got it set up. I put down a floor of limestone gravel to give a good base to park on. My wife and I had our daughter in early October so camping sort of got lost in all the new baby stuff and the holidays but was never very far from my mind :elkgrin:. We're just now getting back to it now that the weather is warming up and baby girl is old enough to be easier to handle.
Up till now we had mostly stayed at places where we could hook up to shore power since the wife was preggers. Wanting to spend more time off-grid I decided we needed a shakedown run to the farm. It belongs to some friends of ours and we keep my wife's horse out there so we had our pickings of 200 acres of camping spots. The truck did great with the weight of the camper and had no problems crawling over terraces and ducking under tree limbs. Since the weather was a warm mid 80's, I chose a spot on the highest point to give us the most breeze with the windows open. It was nice and waking up with the horses braying and the sun rising sipping that first cup of coffee was golden :coffeedrink:. We tried out the shower and the battery held up ok for the one night out. We only ran the fridge, one LED light, little water pump use, and the fridge fan. We used about 1/3 of our 20 gal water tank with 2 showers, dish washing, and misc use. The goal is to be able to use it on a weekend or extended weekend with no hookups and I'm hoping that the one battery we have will do that. If not we'll have to make upgrades. We're heading back out in it again this weekend too (but not to the farm).
Better picts are still on the real camera but the ones on my phone will have to do for now.
I've done a few mods since we were last out but most are pretty minor. I put shorter bumpers on the front of the TC to scoot it forward a few more inches. I re-did all the wireing inside to clean up the rats nest that was in there from the factory and give me more storage space for big items like chairs and such. I also wired in a fuse block, 12v power ports, an LED fixture over the kitchen area and put a 7 pin RV plug that hooks into the truck bed where I haul a gooseneck trailer. We added some foam under the factory foam bed and have been searching for just the right storage bins.
Some things to tend to are... get this damn fridge figured out
, mount some tie downs inside for gear when traveling, lengthen the shower hose, put in a real voltage meter (instead of the idiot light indicator), and get a decent patio mat (9'x12'). I also need to build some custom tie down mounts to get rid of these stupid bed rail mounts. I'm sure there are others but I'm trying to do them as needed.
Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted any updates on our TC so here's one for you guys.
Last October I decided I wanted a good way to keep the camper out of the weather when we wern't using it. I finally settled on a canopy that was tall enough for me to drive into and got it set up. I put down a floor of limestone gravel to give a good base to park on. My wife and I had our daughter in early October so camping sort of got lost in all the new baby stuff and the holidays but was never very far from my mind :elkgrin:. We're just now getting back to it now that the weather is warming up and baby girl is old enough to be easier to handle.
Up till now we had mostly stayed at places where we could hook up to shore power since the wife was preggers. Wanting to spend more time off-grid I decided we needed a shakedown run to the farm. It belongs to some friends of ours and we keep my wife's horse out there so we had our pickings of 200 acres of camping spots. The truck did great with the weight of the camper and had no problems crawling over terraces and ducking under tree limbs. Since the weather was a warm mid 80's, I chose a spot on the highest point to give us the most breeze with the windows open. It was nice and waking up with the horses braying and the sun rising sipping that first cup of coffee was golden :coffeedrink:. We tried out the shower and the battery held up ok for the one night out. We only ran the fridge, one LED light, little water pump use, and the fridge fan. We used about 1/3 of our 20 gal water tank with 2 showers, dish washing, and misc use. The goal is to be able to use it on a weekend or extended weekend with no hookups and I'm hoping that the one battery we have will do that. If not we'll have to make upgrades. We're heading back out in it again this weekend too (but not to the farm).
Better picts are still on the real camera but the ones on my phone will have to do for now.
I've done a few mods since we were last out but most are pretty minor. I put shorter bumpers on the front of the TC to scoot it forward a few more inches. I re-did all the wireing inside to clean up the rats nest that was in there from the factory and give me more storage space for big items like chairs and such. I also wired in a fuse block, 12v power ports, an LED fixture over the kitchen area and put a 7 pin RV plug that hooks into the truck bed where I haul a gooseneck trailer. We added some foam under the factory foam bed and have been searching for just the right storage bins.
Some things to tend to are... get this damn fridge figured out
, mount some tie downs inside for gear when traveling, lengthen the shower hose, put in a real voltage meter (instead of the idiot light indicator), and get a decent patio mat (9'x12'). I also need to build some custom tie down mounts to get rid of these stupid bed rail mounts. I'm sure there are others but I'm trying to do them as needed.Attachments
Scoutman
Explorer
Thanks! Here is a shot of the 'new' little one and the 3 yr old little one. We've found that letting them play in the overhead bed while we do breakfast is a great way to keep them out of the way and happy in a small space till we can get outside.
I first thought about going with the cheap indoor/outdoor carpet but the more I read about them the better off I think I'll be with a nicer mat for not that much more money. [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mings-Mark-KO7-Brown-Kokopelli/dp/B002BFVZX8"]Here's the one I'm looking at[/ame] although finding something that's not 'funky' RV colors is sort of hard.
I've been trying to figure out why my fridge is so wacky. I can cool it down nicely on electric and switch over to gas and sometimes it seems fine and other times it's not. I fought it all weekend to stay cool and most of the time it was in the mid-upper 40's :Wow1: I didn't have anything in it that would spoil and hurt anyone but it was frustrating not being able to put trust in my fridge to keep my stuff cold. It was reasonably level, had the fan running, good flame.... all the standard stuff to check. I'm hoping I can get it fixed before the weekend.
BTW, if anyone hasn't seen this site, there is some REALLY good info on fridges and how they work, troubleshooting, replacemnt, repair, etc. Good reading. http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Technical.htm
SLO_F-250
Explorer
Wow that overhead looks much more comphy when your that size! Great shot!
I feel ya on the RV mats. Pretty Ugly! I was looking at [ame="http://www.amazon.com/RV-Patio-Mat-Desert-Sands/dp/B0017JNWP8/ref=sr_1_8?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1302755882&sr=1-8"]this one[/ame].
Yea, my domitec is the same way. Its pretty frustrating. This weekend I was camping at Pinnacles and it got down to freezing at night. My fridge was at 42. I mean REALLY! Colder outside. I figured it had something to do with the thermodynamics of it. The heating element part was not getting very warm. I think it actually works better in hot weather.
Thanks for the link to that site. Ill have to do some more reading now. :coffeedrink:
JCMatthews
Tour Guide
Love the set up
Great set up and pictures. The little ones in the top bunk are darling. I hope soon to be joining the ranks of the pop up camper crowd. Just one comment on the fridge, good luck. My mom has a trailer that we use more than she does, and the fridge struggles staying lit, let alone really cold on propane. It loves shore power and never has any trouble pluged in. It is a Dometic as well. The best little camper fridge was in our '88 Scamper pop up trailer. I actually had to light it on the outside of the trailer. However it would freeze things if I set it that cold. I also liked its furnace better that the one in my mom's trailer. I don't think that newer things are better.
Great set up and pictures. The little ones in the top bunk are darling. I hope soon to be joining the ranks of the pop up camper crowd. Just one comment on the fridge, good luck. My mom has a trailer that we use more than she does, and the fridge struggles staying lit, let alone really cold on propane. It loves shore power and never has any trouble pluged in. It is a Dometic as well. The best little camper fridge was in our '88 Scamper pop up trailer. I actually had to light it on the outside of the trailer. However it would freeze things if I set it that cold. I also liked its furnace better that the one in my mom's trailer. I don't think that newer things are better.
Scoutman
Explorer
We went out in it again this weekend to a local State Park. I ran the fridge on gas for a few days before we went out in it to get it good and cold. I also put some stuff in it to lessen the space to cool. One of those days I did nothing but ran errands and back and forth to work. It stayed cold for the whole time except when I put a warm roasted chicken (stopped by Sams Club) and 4 unchilled bottles of wine in. The temp crept up so I pulled the chicken and it started coming back down.
With that being said, everytime I stopped and parked I was level. I either found a parking spot that was level or I would pull out a few Lynx Levelers. I didn't run the fridge vent fan but would if it were hot outside. I have RV levels (the kind with numbers) on the side and rear and also have a regular set screwed to the trim ring of my sunroof in the truck so I can see how level I am without getting out of the truck. Lazy, I know, but it works great plus people who ride in my truck get to ask why the heck I have levels in my truck.
BTW, here is what I have for keeping tabs on the fridge temp.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Chaney-Instrument-00985-Refrigerator-Thermometer/dp/B000P55SN4/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1303147841&sr=8-20"]http://www.amazon.com/Chaney-Instrument-00985-Refrigerator-Thermometer/dp/B000P55SN4/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1303147841&sr=8-20[/ame]
It's a Chaney Instruments wireless thermometer with 2 sensors, one for the fridge and one for the freezer(or you could stick the other one elsewhere). It allows me to keep an eye on fridge status when driving, while siting at my desk at work, or when in the camper without ever opening the door. You can set alarms for high and low extremes and was only about $30. So far it has been great. I'm going to put velcro on the back to attach it to the truck dash or the fridge door.
With that being said, everytime I stopped and parked I was level. I either found a parking spot that was level or I would pull out a few Lynx Levelers. I didn't run the fridge vent fan but would if it were hot outside. I have RV levels (the kind with numbers) on the side and rear and also have a regular set screwed to the trim ring of my sunroof in the truck so I can see how level I am without getting out of the truck. Lazy, I know, but it works great plus people who ride in my truck get to ask why the heck I have levels in my truck.
BTW, here is what I have for keeping tabs on the fridge temp.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Chaney-Instrument-00985-Refrigerator-Thermometer/dp/B000P55SN4/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1303147841&sr=8-20"]http://www.amazon.com/Chaney-Instrument-00985-Refrigerator-Thermometer/dp/B000P55SN4/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&qid=1303147841&sr=8-20[/ame]
It's a Chaney Instruments wireless thermometer with 2 sensors, one for the fridge and one for the freezer(or you could stick the other one elsewhere). It allows me to keep an eye on fridge status when driving, while siting at my desk at work, or when in the camper without ever opening the door. You can set alarms for high and low extremes and was only about $30. So far it has been great. I'm going to put velcro on the back to attach it to the truck dash or the fridge door.
fridge
Scoutman,
It sounds to me like your fridge is having the same problem that mine had.
Read this post I made on how to correct it. It is simple to do and made a world of difference.
This proceudure has helped several folks on the Wander The West website....give it a try.
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/3677/page__pid__39646__st__0&#entry39646
Basically what happens is corrosion forms on the little slits on the burner....and you just need to clean it out.
Scoutman,
It sounds to me like your fridge is having the same problem that mine had.
Read this post I made on how to correct it. It is simple to do and made a world of difference.
This proceudure has helped several folks on the Wander The West website....give it a try.
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/3677/page__pid__39646__st__0&#entry39646
Basically what happens is corrosion forms on the little slits on the burner....and you just need to clean it out.
Scoutman
Explorer
The burner looked good when I checked it. I had read enough about folks having problems with the burner that I pulled the baffle out of the chimney and took a wire brush to the burner just to make sure. This camper hadn't been used much so there wasn't much to clean. Who knows maybe it did help.
Thanks for the link tho.
Thanks for the link tho.