Any Truck Camper Full Timers?

[Kirk W]

Reading how you all save space and weight reminds me of our days going into the backcountry on foot or horseback. Some of the same principles do apply. 

[JimK]

2 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

Reading how you all save space and weight reminds me of our days going into the backcountry on foot or horseback. Some of the same principles do apply. 

I have traveled on foot and canoe in the back country.  The difference between that and a TC is huge.  For the former the limit is 50# or so of gear each person and that would include a tent and cooking and sleeping gear.  Not counting the bed and bedding and cooking gear, I have room for well over a 1000# of clothing, hobby gear, food and miscellaneous.  That includes the entire back seat of my truck, several cubic feet of storage between the camper and truck body, 4 lockers and 2 wardrobes in the sleeping area, several drawers and overhead cabinets in the kitchen area, another 2x2x3 wardrobe, a 1 1/2 x 2 x 3 pantry and a huge storage loft of 2x2x6.  I also have 2 storage compartments and a dual propane compartment and a battery bank accessible from the outside.  Even the rear bumper is hollow and provides storage for a wood saw, HD extension cord, tools and hardware.  

There is just no comparison with foot or horseback camping.  In fact a great many larger RVs have less storage than my TC.  What I give up is mostly floor space, shower stall, oven,  reclining chairs, extra beds, and a big screen TV.    

[noteven]

I still have empty storage compartments inside my 820, and the rest is not that "organized"... 

[kstills]

https://www.airskirts.com/

 

Now that's pretty cool. 

Wondering if you all think they could be used between the truck cab roof and bottom of the TC? Would certainly improve winter camping ability if they could. 

[noteven]

2 hours ago, kstills said:

https://www.airskirts.com/

 

Now that's pretty cool. 

Wondering if you all think they could be used between the truck cab roof and bottom of the TC? Would certainly improve winter camping ability if they could. 

Those are cool. One of my main complaints with TC’s is the overhead messes up the aerodynamics of the truck - a cornering cross wind can set up some annoying whistles. In the 70’s you could buy inflatable donuts to go between the roof and overhead to fair out the area, stop bug smashes on the front of the camper, reduce the camper jiggle for and aft etc. Some people that have designed fairings report 2mpg economy increases. 
 

This company could likely put out a 2020 version.

Edited October 19, 2020 by noteven

[kstills]

33 minutes ago, noteven said:

Those are cool. One of my main complaints with TC’s is the overhead messes up the aerodynamics of the truck - a cornering cross wind can set up some annoying whistles. In the 70’s you could buy inflatable donuts to go between the roof and overhead to fair out the area, stop bug smashes on the front of the camper, reduce the camper jiggle for and aft etc. Some people that have designed fairings report 2mpg economy increases. 
 

This company could likely put out a 2020 version.

I've been giving that fairing some thought myself. I'm wondering if the truck body companies that specialize in camper bodies could come with something like that? Would increase fuel economy and provide better insulation for the bottom of the bedroom which would help reduce condensation in colder weather. 

[noteven]

Overhead fairings - I've seen designs made in a V shape from perforated PVC leaf blockers for rain gutters on houses, attached with J channel to the underside of the overhead. The round hole perforations interrupt the turbulence a full solid fairing would create. Here is some posts on rv.net from TC people:

posts about "airfoils" on truck camper overhead

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by noteven

[JimK]

There are a lot of wind deflectors for RVs.  Most are sold with the intent of improving aerodynamics and fuel mileage.  It is doubtful that any of those make any even minor improvements.  As a reference, you can check YouTube videos from Marion Blair.  He is a pickup truck performance nut who also tows an RV.  His careful studies showed no improvement in mileage.  Some deflectors in the front hood area can help keep bugs from hitting the windshield.  The bugs do seem to hit the camper anyway.

BTW, donuts are still available to go between the back window of a truck and the front camper window.  Inflatables are easy to find.  There is also a substantial vinyl covered foam boot which I believe is still available from Truck Camper Warehouse and also Northstar campers.  Mine works well and prevents any whistling sound when the windows are open.  I typically leave the windows open and a camper vent open so that the truck helps maintain a reasonable temperature in the camper.

I have a gap between the camper and the top of the bed rails.  The gap is about 1 1/2" in the rear and about 2 1/2 in the front.  I made dense insulation foam strips to fill those gaps on all sides.  Sealing off that area helped to keep the camper warm in cold weather.  I also use that area as storage and the seals help keep out dirt and bugs.  At one time I even had birds trying to nest in that area.

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by JimK

[kstills]

I just spoke to Host today, and boy are they going all in with their off grid systems. 

1, 2 or 3 360AH Li batteries, with up to 5 190 watt solar panels! 

Good grief, that's an S ton of power! 

I also got them thinking of possibly offering an option for a composting toilet instead of the flush model. They'd have to delete the bathroom sink (which could be a deal breaker because of resale), my argument was that there was a sink less then 10 feet away that people could use. 

They can't retrofit the diesel/gas heaters because of priming issues when you drop the camper, but they do offer a residential fridge which would go great with the off grid package and leave all your propane for hot water and the furnace, if needed. 

Really nice people up there, it was a great conversation. 

[kstills]

JimK, have you made the run up to the Arctic Circle? I'm reading how beautiful Canada and Alaska are, and I'm really looking forward to that trip. 

[JimK]

On 10/20/2020 at 10:02 PM, kstills said:

JimK, have you made the run up to the Arctic Circle? I'm reading how beautiful Canada and Alaska are, and I'm really looking forward to that trip. 

Sorry I have not been on this forum much and missed this.  No, my northern most Canada trip was to the northern Rockies.  

If you are planning on trips on rough or unpaved roads, I again recommend keeping the TC weight and size down.  When it comes to the toilet arrangements, I would not want anything but my cassette toilet.  It requires almost no water to flush but the tank is small and it still needs to be emptied every few days.  I can empty it at a dump station but often use an outhouse or a flush toilet if no one else is around.  Only one time out of a great many trips, I had to dig a hole in order to dump.  

You might also want to think through your electrical power needs.  My wife uses a CPAP and we have a NovaKool electric compressor refrigerator.  Even so we have done well with 2 AGM batteries and 2 x 135 watt solar panels.  Bill Penney at TCW installed them at a very reasonable cost.  BTW, I would not recommend a compressor refrigerator.  The propane units don't use much propane.

[sandsys]

2 hours ago, JimK said:

BTW, I would not recommend a compressor refrigerator.  The propane units don't use much propane.

But a compressor fridge does not need to be level which is a good thing in many boondocking sites. Check boat/marine supply places for good compressor refrigerators.

Linda

[Randyretired]

We changed to a residential refrigerator when our propane unit failed.  We were able to buy the refrigerator, the necessary solar improvements and batteries and it was still way cheaper than a RV refrigerator.  The residential refrigerator is larger, cools better and cheaper and is easier to replace if necessary.  

[JimK]

A typical smallish residential refrigerator runs at about 200 watts.  That  is about 17 amps.  If it runs 50% of the time that would be  about 200 AH/day.  It would take about 4 good sized RV batteries and several solar panels to keep up with the power consumption.  There must be something going on you are not telling us.

[Randyretired]

45 minutes ago, JimK said:

A typical smallish residential refrigerator runs at about 200 watts.  That  is about 17 amps.  If it runs 50% of the time that would be  about 200 AH/day.  It would take about 4 good sized RV batteries and several solar panels to keep up with the power consumption.  There must be something going on you are not telling us.

The refrigerator we have is 18 cubic feet.  It draws about 1.2 amps at 120 volts or about 144 watts.  I haven't  used a kilowatt meter but the energy guide shows it uses about 1 kwh per day.  That is consistent with our overall usage. If you use those figures I think you will be a lot closer to the actual power requirements. A replacement RV double door refrigerator for our RV would cost more than $4,000.  The residential refrigerator was $500.  Our solar system was purchased for about $.60 a watt for panels, wiring and controllers.  We are using 6v golf cart batteries. Our system is bigger than just the refrigerator.  The inverter easily absorbed the 144 watts.  A way oversized solar system costing half as much as the RV refrigerator would easily power this refrigerator and leave power for other uses. 

[JimK]

11 hours ago, Randyretired said:

The refrigerator we have is 18 cubic feet.  It draws about 1.2 amps at 120 volts or about 144 watts.  I haven't  used a kilowatt meter but the energy guide shows it uses about 1 kwh per day. ....

That seems pretty efficient but even so that would pull about 170 AH/day requiring 300-400 AH of battery and at least a couple of solar panels.  That is quite a load for a truck camper.  Many TCs are maxed out with just a couple of batteries and have roof space for not much over a couple of panels.  

[Randyretired]

2 hours ago, JimK said:

That seems pretty efficient but even so that would pull about 170 AH/day requiring 300-400 AH of battery and at least a couple of solar panels.  That is quite a load for a truck camper.  Many TCs are maxed out with just a couple of batteries and have roof space for not much over a couple of panels.  

I can't imagine a truck camper  with an 18 cu ft refrigerator.  A smaller more approximately  sized refrigerator would use less power.  Less solar and battery!  In any case it's an option and in our case a LOT cheaper than a new RV refrigerator.  The down side is you need sun or a backup. 

[JimK]

So your recommendation on buying a residential refrigerator has nothing to do with the current topic of living in a Truck Camper full time.

[Randyretired]

1 minute ago, JimK said:

So your recommendation on buying a residential refrigerator has nothing to do with the current topic of living in a Truck Camper full time.

Where did you get that idea?  Smaller refrigerator smaller solar and battery.  Pretty simple.  It's an option buy whatever you want.  

[noteven]

I have a DC-DC on board 40 amp battery charger on order to add to my battery recharging system.  

[JimK]

4 hours ago, Randyretired said:

Where did you get that idea?  Smaller refrigerator smaller solar and battery.  Pretty simple.  It's an option buy whatever you want.  

Here is how smaller works on a Truck Camper.  I have a pretty decent sized battery box and was able to fit in $950 worth of Lifeline AGM batteries to reach 300 AH capacity.  I had room for two 135 watt solar panels.  I use that system to run a small, highly efficient compressor refrigerator.  Depending on ambient temp in the RV, it pulls about 25-65 AH/day.  A residential, dorm sized refrigerator would pull about twice that amount.  At this time of year in NY, my two 135 watt panels can produce a maximum of 48 AH/day.  Of course that is not going to happen.  I am likely to get shade at least part of the day regardless of where I camp.  Even worse we have had quite a few cloudy and rainy days lately.  If I removed the old batwing TV antenna, I could fit one more panel, but even that is barely going to keep up with my efficient refrigerator on a sunny day if I camp in full sun facing the correct direction so the A/C unit never shades a panel. 

[Randyretired]

1 hour ago, JimK said:

Here is how smaller works on a Truck Camper.  I have a pretty decent sized battery box and was able to fit in $950 worth of Lifeline AGM batteries to reach 300 AH capacity.  I had room for two 135 watt solar panels.  I use that system to run a small, highly efficient compressor refrigerator.  Depending on ambient temp in the RV, it pulls about 25-65 AH/day.  A residential, dorm sized refrigerator would pull about twice that amount.  At this time of year in NY, my two 135 watt panels can produce a maximum of 48 AH/day.  Of course that is not going to happen.  I am likely to get shade at least part of the day regardless of where I camp.  Even worse we have had quite a few cloudy and rainy days lately.  If I removed the old batwing TV antenna, I could fit one more panel, but even that is barely going to keep up with my efficient refrigerator on a sunny day if I camp in full sun facing the correct direction so the A/C unit never shades a panel. 

You are a hardy soul if you are living in a truck camper this time of year in NY.  I suspect running a refrigerator is only a minor part of the problems you face. 

In any case there are residential dorm size refrigerators that use only the same or slightly more than the refrigerator you mentioned but you don't appear to have enough power for any of these in NY. It might require a little out of the box thinking such as a portable panel, generator or fit more panels on the roof.  I haven't had good luck with RV refrigerators and as expensive as these are I don't plan to have another.  For the cost involved for an RV refrigerator you can buy a lot of solar, batteries and a residential refrigerator and have money left over.  And save propane.  Just thinking off the top of my head a more than adequate system would need a couple of batteries and  maybe 300 watts of solar for a small refrigerator. Maybe more if you plan on spending winters in the far north. I think we have beat this enough and it is time to move on.  It is your choice not mine.  I just wanted to throw out another possibility. 

[JimK]

31 minutes ago, Randyretired said:

.... Just thinking off the top of my head a more than adequate system would need a couple of batteries and  maybe 300 watts of solar for a small refrigerator.

Maybe more if you plan on spending winters in the far north. I think we have beat this enough and it is time to move on.  It is your choice not mine.  I just wanted to throw out another possibility. 

Real numbers are better than the top of your head.  I am not planning on spending this Winter in an RV in NY.  With luck I will be in Death Valley next month.  At that location 300 watts of solar will generate 55 AH/day.  The vast majority of that if not all and more will be needed to run my 3.7 cuft NovaKool refrigerator.  That leaves no power for lights, water pump, charging my laptop and camera batteries.  Even in Southern California in bright desert sun I will need to run my generator.   

The situation is all different if you have the equivalent of a mobile home with plenty of room for a big battery bank and lots of solar panels.  Of course, you also have to pay the cost of lugging all that stuff around the countryside.  This thread is about living in a truck camper which has much less space but is better suited for mobility.

[noteven]

I use a truck camper lots. 5 months last winter AB, MT, ID, NV, AZ, CA, NM, CO....

Alls I know is amp hours are amp hours, none of the above has 14 hours/day of sunlight in winter... so you need enough available amp hours, plus a way to charge on an 8 hours of overcast day. 

I am adding truck engine charging capabilities rather than more solar at the moment. 

Once engine alternator charging is set up, I will consider faster charging batteries, either SiO2 or LiFeO4. 

Then I might add more solar.

If no solar existed on the rig, I would do efficient electric devices to reduce consumption, then fast charging setup first, then spend on solar.

[soos]

When we were full time we lived in a 5th wheel, but we have owned two truck campers- an older Lance, and our newish Arctic Fox(1150). We spend as much as 5 months at a time in our TC. 
Both of our TC have a slide, and both are fully usable with the slide in. Opening it just gives us more floor space. 
Planning meals with a small fridge requires a little thought. For example, the summer we spent In Alaska, I planned at least two weeks worth of meals and bought the supplies when we went to the store. We ate the food in the order that it would spoil.

We looked at Host (Mammoth) and decided against them mainly because in order to use it, you HAD to open the slides.

Our Fox is heavy ( but actually lighter than our Lance was, and lighter than a Host) but it now sits on a 2020 truck, and the difference is mind blowing. Very little sway, and the truck barely knows it is there.

when we travel, it’s always a debate.....take the trailer or TC, and usually the TC wins. It’s just hard to give up that ease of travel for the comfort of recliners. Turning on the microwave to heat up lunch can’t be beat, and the biggest shock when we first had it has been mentioned....

we went to Yosemite and it didn’t matter that we only had one night in each campsite, we simply parked the rig at whatever trailhead we wanted to hike, then moved it at the end of the day.  No more days lost to travel. Pretty cool.