Well we just got home from our first trip with the truck camper and it all went off with out too many issues! We left our farm in South East Saskatchewan and went all the way to South East BC through the Rockies and a stop in Banff. We put on over 3,500km in ten days on the road. There was a couple things that surprised me with the camper, first of all I am surprised how bad my fuel milage was with it in the truck. I normally get 18-20mpg, and with the camper in the best I got was 17mpg (in the mountains going down hill most of the time) to the worst which was 11mpg and the total average for the trip was 13.5mpg. We have a Palomino Bronco 1250 and would of thought with it being a pop up we would of got better milage then that. Also found out how handy the truck camper is! We pulled into our site, got level, cranked up the top and we where camping! So much easier then taking the tent. The only issue we had was when we left home the fridge was on propane, and we drove over 5 hours the first day non stop and when we went to call it a night the fridge was out. I think it must of been out for a while as the fridge was almost warm inside. Didn't help it was over 30C that day. But after that it worked great and never had any issues. Also its kind of a pain to tuck the canvas in when you crank it down, but not the worst thing in the world. We had meet 3 people while we were on the road ask us about the camper! They were all interested in getting one like ours and asked us how we liked ours, told them so far so good! Anyway I have probably bored all of you for long enough, just thought I would pass on the info!

Good deal!I'd think a popup would do a bit better on fuel. Diesel I presume by your numbers. Our full height camper turns 18 mpg empty into about 12 with camper and 15 mpg empty to about 10-11. Although, hook a 6-7klb boat behind it and it doesn't seem to get much worse. 70-75mph into a stiff headwind camper and boat netted me an all time low of 7-8mpg though this summer. Definately cleaned the carbon out of the engine!Yeah and keep an eye on the fridge on propane. high speed with big head winds or crosswinds will tend to blow out my fridge once in a while. I'm in the habit of checking it now when I stop if I'm hauling butt down the freeway or hit some wind. Ours switches to DC if the flame goes out, but fridge uses a lot of DC power.

Rotaxxx wrote:Well we just got home from our first trip with the truck camper and it all went off with out too many issues! We left our farm in South East Saskatchewan and went all the way to South East BC through the Rockies and a stop in Banff. We put on over 3,500km in ten days on the road. There was a couple things that surprised me with the camper, first of all I am surprised how bad my fuel milage was with it in the truck. I normally get 18-20mpg, and with the camper in the best I got was 17mpg (in the mountains going down hill most of the time) to the worst which was 11mpg and the total average for the trip was 13.5mpg. We have a Palomino Bronco 1250 and would of thought with it being a pop up we would of got better milage then that. Also found out how handy the truck camper is! We pulled into our site, got level, cranked up the top and we where camping! So much easier then taking the tent. The only issue we had was when we left home the fridge was on propane, and we drove over 5 hours the first day non stop and when we went to call it a night the fridge was out. I think it must of been out for a while as the fridge was almost warm inside. Didn't help it was over 30C that day. But after that it worked great and never had any issues. Also its kind of a pain to tuck the canvas in when you crank it down, but not the worst thing in the world. We had meet 3 people while we were on the road ask us about the camper! They were all interested in getting one like ours and asked us how we liked ours, told them so far so good! Anyway I have probably bored all of you for long enough, just thought I would pass on the info!This sounds like the numbers are pretty close to what we get as well. We've got a Ram 3500 with a cummins diesel and I have found the key is constant driving and good roads will yield the best mileage - plus finding that sweet spot as well for your speed.

One other idea - you probably do this already - When you get the TC ready for the trip, start the frig on AC first and let it cool down. In the extreme temps of summer time, its hard for these things to get going only on propane. Plus remember these dometics work on cooling the freezer first then the lower unit.J

I had the same problem with my fridge, stopped cooled it to a constant 32 degrees but traveling it would not work on propane constantly heated up so after many experiments I found if I put a maxair fan cower over the exhaust of the fridge it works like a charm even in hot weather may be goes up a few degrees, I always start my trip with it running a day before and try not to put too much stuff in that needs to cool down. Here is a pic of how I fixed mine, lap527 has a side exhaust and they made a cover for their exhaust as they had the same problem, also fixedDave

Do you have a exhaust fan? Some tent campers have found out that if they turn on the fans while dropping the top it helps suck the canvas in during that process.JMHO

First trip a success with the new truck camper!

Rotaxxx
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions all! I will have to give them a go! My truck is a Dodge 2500 Cummins with the 6 speed manual as well. Tomorrow we are packing up again and heading out with the kids on a 400 mile trip for 4 days. Hopefully it goes as smooth as the previous trip!
Freeborn530
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
Try using a long bungee type cord around the tent to keep the sides tucked in when lowering the top.
sljohnson1938
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
did not read every reply so - do you have a 3 way frig? if so when driving I would suggest using the DC setting, since you are moving should be no drain on battery.
raising and lowering the top. do you have an exhaust fan? on our outfitter to lower the top we would close door and all windows, turn on exhaust fan and lower top slowly. this sucks the canvas sides in. on my outfitter it took 17 turns to lower the top, so I would turn 5 times, pause, then 5 more.
was never a problem.
good luck.
also I got 15 mpg.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 15, 2018
Kayteg1 wrote:
The fridge could die due air bubble in propane lane, but if that happens again, you can add wind shields on the back of refrigerator.
Happy camping.

Air bubble?
lap527
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
djg wrote:
I had the same problem with my fridge, stopped cooled it to a constant 32 degrees but traveling it would not work on propane constantly heated up so after many experiments I found if I put a maxair fan cower over the exhaust of the fridge it works like a charm even in hot weather may be goes up a few degrees, I always start my trip with it running a day before and try not to put too much stuff in that needs to cool down. Here is a pic of how I fixed mine, lap527 has a side exhaust and they made a cover for their exhaust as they had the same problem, also fixed

Dave

Hey Dave...yeah 3 years of frustration and works like a charm. I posted pics of our covers awhile ago. The fine line was getting the air flow correct without reducing the intake of air.
Kayteg1
Explorer II
Aug 15, 2018
The fridge could die due air bubble in propane lane, but if that happens again, you can add wind shields on the back of refrigerator.
Happy camping.
PFitt
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
Yeah we put a Max Air fan in and we would shut the camper all up turn the fan on high then lower the roof slowly and the canvas would pull itself in without anybody having to be on the outside!!
Itchey_Feet
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
Do you have a exhaust fan? Some tent campers have found out that if they turn on the fans while dropping the top it helps suck the canvas in during that process.JMHO
djg
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
I had the same problem with my fridge, stopped cooled it to a constant 32 degrees but traveling it would not work on propane constantly heated up so after many experiments I found if I put a maxair fan cower over the exhaust of the fridge it works like a charm even in hot weather may be goes up a few degrees, I always start my trip with it running a day before and try not to put too much stuff in that needs to cool down. Here is a pic of how I fixed mine, lap527 has a side exhaust and they made a cover for their exhaust as they had the same problem, also fixed

Dave
pscansetzer
Explorer
Aug 15, 2018
One other idea - you probably do this already - When you get the TC ready for the trip, start the frig on AC first and let it cool down. In the extreme temps of summer time, its hard for these things to get going only on propane. Plus remember these dometics work on cooling the freezer first then the lower unit.

J