generator in truck bed

[the ol farm boy]

I have had several RV's, all came with a generator, 4000w.  Now I have a 5th wheel with NO generator.  What do I look for in a portable?  I have a 13,500 AC.  How many decibels is reasonable?  Is an inverted as good as a generator?  I know folks talk about Hondas, but how about the ones we can by from Harbor Frieight, $300.00 verses $2,000

just an ol farm boy.

Another question:  20 years ago the truck that I had at the time, it was easy to look out the back window into the box and see the hitch as I backed up to hook up.  My new truck does not have that luxury.  Does any one have a procedures took make  the hooking up process easier?

[Lance A Lott]

I have 2 Champion 2000 watts each that are combined. Some times they would start the ac and sometimes not. I talked to a guy with a honda 3000 and he said the same thing. I bought a Yamaha 6300 and it has always started the ac. My friend has a Yamaha 3000? That uses the battery for extra boost and he says it will start the ac every time. Thats at 700 ft i have been told it is harder to start a ac at high altitudes the 6000 will run the microwave with the ac on I think it would have no problem starting the ac with the microwave on. It would take some effort to put in and out of the pickup. A set of ramps would be best, i use a 🚜.

[NDBirdman]

20 hours ago, the ol farm boy said:

  Does any one have a procedures took make  the hooking up process easier?

My truck is the same way, pain in the backside to hook up.  I bought a couple cheap walkie talkies, I hand one to my better half and have her stand back and watch although her directions leave A LOT to be desired.... love her dearly.  I'm going to put a tool box/gas tank in the back of the bed, I'm thinking of putting a wireless back up camera on it so I can see where I'm going.

[Rover]

We use 2 Champion inverter 2000 watt generators that can be combined to run together for more wattage to run the AC. I think the type you buy at Harbor Freight would be way too noisy and not the inverter type for running more sensitive electronics.

For hooking up the 5W, we installed a backup camera in the truck bed that works with our Garmin GPS. It makes hookups a breeze.

Vicki

 

[Lance A Lott]

I put a camera on the headache rack,my truck is a flatbed. It works great. As I pull a gooseneck I used a piece of 2 1/2" plastic pipe with a slit in it over the ball that worked fine too, camera is much better.

[rpsinc]

On 4/20/2018 at 12:00 PM, the ol farm boy said:

I have had several RV's, all came with a generator, 4000w.  Now I have a 5th wheel with NO generator.  What do I look for in a portable?  I have a 13,500 AC.  How many decibels is reasonable?  Is an inverted as good as a generator?  I know folks talk about Hondas, but how about the ones we can by from Harbor Frieight, $300.00 verses $2,000

just an ol farm boy.

Another question:  20 years ago the truck that I had at the time, it was easy to look out the back window into the box and see the hitch as I backed up to hook up.  My new truck does not have that luxury.  Does any one have a procedures took make  the hooking up process easier?

Dont waste your money on HF generators.  Champions are good and not as expensive as Honda or Yamaha.  Parts are readily available too.   But another option is to buy a conversion kit to use the genset on propane and avoid the dreaded fuel problems but they dont have the same output, so buy a little bit larger than you need if going that way.

Most fuels today have a short storage life and are full of craps that clogs carburators.  I keep new carbs for the MANY gensets I own(Im a contractor) in case I dont run the genset for a while and then need it.  Far more cost effective to just change the carb.  Orifices in them are so small that it is hard to clean them completely.  Even when draining all the fuel out, some will stil sit in the orifices and well, there ya go again.  The ethanol free fuels are great but not always available when you need it.

[markandkim]

I own the dual fuel 3400 w Champion. The best add-on I ever purchased. I don't need to carry liquid gasoline anymore, but still have the option. Starts and runs my 15k AC on propane without a hiccup. It is so quiet too. I love this generator. I've always had Champions.

[lockmup68]

looks for used RV take out gensets. Many motorhomes get wrecked/catch fire/etc. and they part them out cheap. For example, https://usedrvparts.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/c/rvsalvagemotorhomes-partingout.pl

 

[packnrat]

el cheapo tools generators are junk.

and noiser than a honda.

sure hondas you pay a price for them, but they are very reliable.

never had a hick-up from mine

( eu2000, traded for a eu3000)

both could sit for months and start right up. even with the crap alcohol fuel mix. no fuel system cleaning or emptying.

the other brands cost couple dollars less, but can thay do that?

but lowest cost = lots more noise.

bigger units = more noise.

.

[Randyretired]

Harbor Freight advertises generators that are about as quiet as the Hondas and others.  They also claim a higher quality than their others but I don't know anyone that has tried one.  The cheap contractor generators HF sells are very noisy and haven't worked out well.  A friend had one and the voltage was all over the place, when it ran.  We made him park away from us due to the deafening noise.  We have a Yamaha 3000 SEB and it will start one of our AC's even at altitude.   The SEB provides a battery boost at start. We had a Yamaha 2800 that ran our 13.5 AC on our houseboat at 3500 feet.

[packnrat]

on a added note about honda gen.

my eu3000. was under a large old oak tree that fell over. crushed the fender on the trailer ( cheap flatbed) hit the top of the gen.

sat for 10 months before this.

well after clearing the tree away,

( on top of the gen the tree was 18 in dia).

well went out to start it.

only a little plastic trim was broken.

turned on the key,

set to run, 

turned on the fuel.

was going to give it a couple easy pills to move things.

surprise, suprise, suprise.

 

it started right up no hickups. and that was on the first easy pull.

 

i do not know how this most of the time skips lines in my posting?

[Chad Heiser]

12 hours ago, packnrat said:

i do not know how this most of the time skips lines in my posting?

The forum adds a carriage return (extra line spacing) every time you hit enter on the keyboard.  Either don't hit enter and allow the text to wrap to the next line or hold down the shift key when you hit enter to prevent the additional carriage return (line spacing) inserted normally.

[packnrat]

? the program on my i5, does not have "enter".

only "return". "space", "X" it is the back space.

if i keep on typing it will wrap to the next line no space.

touch "return" get the line spacing.

will play with settings. maybe something there?

[Chad Heiser]

I miss typed when I typed “enter”.  I meant to type “return”.  I apparently had a little bit of a lapse while I was typing my original post.  Shift + Return on a computer keyboard will give a single space on the forum.  Return alone will give a double space.

Shift + Return does not work on my iPad or iPhone keyboards, just on my computer keyboard when typing on the forum.

 

[the ol farm boy]

Thanks for the reply.  I have ordered 2 2200 watt inverted from Northern Tool.  They gave a 10% discount with my VA card..  What about using in the rain.  What if you start the evening dry and it's starts to rain when you are sleep and you don't it it's raining?  I bought the wiring package to connect the two, a rain cover, and an extra tank.  I hope it all works out. Did anyone have one stolen?

[Chad Heiser]

On 5/1/2018 at 11:56 AM, the ol farm boy said:

 What about using in the rain.  What if you start the evening dry and it's starts to rain when you are sleep and you don't it it's raining?  I bought the wiring package to connect the two, a rain cover, and an extra tank.  I hope it all works out. Did anyone have one stolen?

When I had my portable generators, I simply set them up under the 5th wheel overhang near the edge of the driver side of the trailer and pointed the exhaust out away from the 5er (be cognizant of any slides above the area).  This put the electrical connections farther under the overhang and basically protected them.  As to theft, I never had an issue, but I also would run a cable through the generator handles and around the front landing gear leg just in case.

[jenandjon]

On 4/23/2018 at 1:16 PM, lockmup68 said:

looks for used RV take out gensets. Many motorhomes get wrecked/catch fire/etc. and they part them out cheap. For example, https://usedrvparts.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/c/rvsalvagemotorhomes-partingout.pl

 

Dang I wish i knew about this site sooner. Are there others like this?

[DJohns]

Don't be too disappointed  as I have checked their prices. NOT what I would call great deals!

[justRich]

We always try to avoid being near a pickup with a generator in the bed unless it's a Honda.  A lot of campers do as you plan, spend a lot of money on truck and camper and then cheap-out on the generator to ruin the camping experience with a very loud contraption (not that you actually plan to do that).  It's an easy trap to fall into.

Just be sure to go for the quietest genset that you can get.  It will serve you well in more aspects than one might imagine.

 

[the ol farm boy]

I planned to leave the generators in the bed of the truck to the rear of the box.  Now i find that would require "hooking up" each time I use the generator with the the long range tanks.  I don't want the AC to quite at 3AM.  I am thinking of using a cargo carrier that fits in the receiver on the back of the 5th wheel and leave in ready to go any time i need it.Any one try that?

[Pat & Pete]

27 minutes ago, the ol farm boy said:

I planned to leave the generators in the bed of the truck to the rear of the box.  Now i find that would require "hooking up" each time I use the generator with the the long range tanks.  I don't want the AC to quite at 3AM.  I am thinking of using a cargo carrier that fits in the receiver on the back of the 5th wheel and leave in ready to go any time i need it.Any one try that?

What are you taking out of the back of the trailer to make up for the added weight ?

And , I'm not sure I'd trust that set up without added security measures : like permanent frame extensions instead of a wobbly receiver mount .

[jenandjon]

Something to look into. I went to Case to get some parts yesterday. Turns out Case IH is making generators.  They had some on hand at my dealer. They look well made. Really resemble the Honda generators for a fraction of the price.

 

https://partstore.caseih.com/us/bc3500ig-p2692894.html?csid=1bc5902d92fec39b2555e6db46b9cca2&sl=EN&currency=

http://deltapower.ca/listing/case-ih-2000-watt-inverter-generator-53123.html

[the ol farm boy]

I have made my decision.  My FW has a receiver that will carry 300 #'s, a carrier that will carry 500#'s, to remove the sloppiness between the receiver and the carrier I ran a  weld beed where the two come together.  i have 2 Honda 2200 generators, an extra tank.  I bought a rubber mat at Lowe's tout on the floor of the carrier so I won't have any viberation in the FW.  Finally, I have a rain proof cover made and 2 bicycle cables to prevent somebody taking them. I hope it all works.  The generators only have 6/10 of a gallon of gas, thus the need  for the 6 gallon extra tank, I do no not  want to get up in the middle of the night to get more gas.  Plus, it is always ready to use.

[lockmup68]

I have an 8k Onan Quietdiesel on my HDT, I simply plug the trailer into the truck when needed. The genset is plumbed into the truck diesel tanks, so plenty of fuel. 

[the ol farm boy]

You have MUCH bigger rig than me.  We have a 30' 5th wheel and a chevy 2500 with 6.0 engine.  Much more power that I need but both a used and the price was right.  

We now have 2-2200 honda generators on a shelf attached to the rear of the 5th wheel with an extra 6 gallon gas tank.  It seems to work.  We will see when we go 3,000 mile trip the end of this month

Thanks for your info