dry camping with no generator

2 golf cart batteries should go really long way, especially if you have LED lights and don't use that power for TV or computers.
Than once you hook up truck to the trailer, the 30 amp charge wire should supply enough power for slide and lift the trailer with electric jacks.
Lately we camp with camper and the truck plug will power all 4 jacks simultaneously lifting 5000 lb camper.
Than if you leave the truck engine running with hookup for few minutes, it should recharge RV batteries to some %.
Still good idea to carry jump cables.
Lastly I would advise to buy one of those $90 generators from Harbor Freight as backup.
That thing will run our coffee maker and microwave as well.
One more thing to consider is disconnecting power cable on truck battery if you are not restarting it for few days.
The cabin light used each time you want to get something will add to parasitic discharge.

Having been stuck in the boonies with dead batteries - I would advise you to do a test run at home to determine the capacity of your rigs batteries. Other peoples experience are helpful but each rig is different.

The first thing you should do is get a volt meter and don't let your batteries get below 11.5 volts.
Before I installed solar panels we could go 2 or 3 days. Today with solar panels is day 40 without being plugged in and no generator.

Life is great,
Kent

We go dry camping for two weeks every year. We do have a genny but I run it every three days to fully charge my two 12V AGM Group 31 batteries.
We do not use the furnace and use lights only at night when getting ready for bed. The Fridge and stove run on propane and we remove 1 light from every fixture to cut down on power consumption. I may be able to stretch it to 4 days but I wouldn't count on it. We are very power frugal when we dry camp. We don't shower in the the RV since we only have tank water and we only use the toilet at night to avoid filling the holding tank. We brush our teeth at night and that is the only pump usage as well. It still takes 6-8 hours of charger and genny to fully charge the two batteries.

With conservation a three day weekend should be easy. Starting with a fully charged battery is most important. Bring a voltmeter and check each morning with the attempt to stay above 12.2 before you roll. Yes the power from the truck will pull in the slides and operate the jacks if needed.

You might go a week with a high level of conservation. Incandescent lights tend to be the biggest drain that can be controlled.

The 12 Volt Side of Life

This too is my plan of attack for this year. We usually camp on electric sites but several times each season find ourselves without power either because park power has failed for one reason or another or the only sites available are dry. In any situation we've run into so far our single G27 Interstate battery has kept us going for a weekend with moderate use but to cover the eventual need to recharge I invested in a Honda EU2000i. In actual practice I found I used the genset so infrequently that I recently decided to sell it and invest some of the proceeds in a pair of new G31 batteries with reserve capacity that matches a pair of 6 volt GC-2s and will therefore not only significantly lengthen the time we can keep going without shore power but will also more effectively power the 1000 watt inverter I installed last year. Since the G27 still holds a charge I'll take it along in the back of the truck as a spare ... JMO, but this is a much simpler approach for those of us who dry camp only occasionally and if push comes to shove I'll always have the G27 in reserve to keep the fridge running or power the awning and slide motors. :)

WyoTraveler wrote:
When dry caming in my previous TT I parked my PU facing my TT. In the morning I used jumper cables and charged my batteries quickly. One advantage is no one can acuse you of running a generator. I suppose I used a little more fuel than a generator. Unfortunately you can't do that on over night stays when you stay connected.

I camped at one NP that has quiet time hours where you can't run a genny. One year the guy next to me would start up his vehicle every morning and let it idle to charge his batteries, and his vehicle was in bad need of a tune-up and a new muffler to say nothing of the fact that he'd park it within a few feet of my RV. The next year I went camping at the park the quite time hours were rewritten to include use of generator AND engine idling.

When dry caming in my previous TT I parked my PU facing my TT. In the morning I used jumper cables and charged my batteries quickly. One advantage is no one can acuse you of running a generator. I suppose I used a little more fuel than a generator. Unfortunately you can't do that on over night stays when you stay connected.

i'd figure a couple of days with led lights and NO furance.

you could run your truck, attached to trailer, daily for a couple for a couple of extra days. but DON'T plan on more than 2 days.

Leave the truck running while you operate any slide or jacks,......but it may have to run a long while before operating them, if the batteries are discharged.

Dry camping w/o a good charging source is a bad idea, and will probably cost you the failure of 2 deep cycle batteries in the process.

Use good jumper cables from truck to 5'er for faster charging.