New-to-me truck and camper

Camper is on the truck! :)

You may be right. My recent experience does involve a gas leak
The fridge conversion was more for parking off-level, and saving propane is a minor thing. Solar power is free.

I don't quite understand the extreme propane conservation measures.
Without considering heat, regular cooking, 24-7 fridge on LP and hot water as needed for dishes and bathing, 2- 20lb bottles literally would last an entire summer possibly longer.
I've got 30# bottles and only pack one in the summer, even on extended trips.

Extreme cold, 3 nights at close to 0F and day times up around freezing, used 1 30lb bottle for a 4 day trip with no regard for conservation of heat really (except when the batteries went dead middle of the night, lol).
Summer camping, 4 weeks, mostly no hookups, fridge, hot water and cooking, less than 1/2 of a 30lb bottle.
4 weeks fall camping (at work), cook 1 meal a day, lots of hot water (used it like it was free because I was in the woods and could dump the gray water at will, but had a water hookup), fridge on LP, heat on every night, temps near freezing outside used exactly 1 30lb bottle.
Heat uses alot of propane, the rest of the camper features use very little.

Yes, I think your solar and two batteries will handle your needs. Your biggest hog is the inverter, but a 300 is not so bad as my 1500.
Lights and fans are near nothing.

I have the Danfoss fridge, just installed it so can't make claims, but looking forward to parking on a slope and powering it for free - as long as there is sun. I think it will go 3 days with overcast skies, so that is usually longer than I stay in a spot and can charge off alternator if I must.

I had (still have) a single compartment ARB danfoss fridge. The issue with one compartment is the need for both a fridge and a freezer. I upgraded to a two compartment. I cook every meal so food storage is a must, and a freezer is so nice to keep food for long periods. I got an Iceco, so I can actually turn one compartment off if not needed (such as when I have ate up my frozen goods).

I just ordered a MPPT off ebay for $50. Well see how it goes, but with this I can run the panels in series (so they dont have to all match). Running in series will get more out of the panels.

40 gallons is a lot for one. Carry a jug (the square blue one that holds 4-5 gal) so you can refil the big tank if a hose is not an option. Stay away from WI water.

I use a water filter, so have a 2 gallon jug I use to fill the filter jug, so as to not waste tank water. I can fill the 2 gallon jug anywhere anytime and is easy to fill often, even with stream water.


The biggest downside of soloing is loneliness. A dog would help, but then you have to keep up with a dog, and are stuck with a dog and he will limit your activities to dog friendly things. Its not like a house where you can just say bye and lock the door..
You seem to be set up pretty good right now, so enjoy it.

ajriding wrote:
For sure, and at minimum, get a 2nd 150 panel. Get the poly as it will do better in the shade. What charge controller type is it? PWM, MPPT or neither?
The MPPT is the best, and the most expensive, but ebay has them for $50 and up.
What will you be using the electric for when not hooked up? Inverters are power hogs, the propane heater fan is a power hog, tv and laptop charging is power hog.
Get LED lighting.

You said, batteries? You will need at least two.

You will need two propane tanks, but I think that TC has it.

Learn to take cold showers to minimize the times running to get more propane (I know the wife won't go for that…).

Propane refills are cheaper than the tank exchange.

Don't poo.

The big 3 when boondocking are:
Need more water
Need more propane
need to dump waste water.

If you can diminish the need for these three things then life gets easier.

Personally, I just got rid of the propane fridge for an electric one to save propane.
I rarely heat the camper as that is huge propane loss, but to save pipes freezing I will.
I got rid of toilet (use a throw away method), so do not use the black tank.
I let the gray water drain onto the ground when I can. legally of course, so never go looking for a dump station and never have to smell rancid water.

If you are soloing then these work great, but if you have another person then it needs to be agreeable for both.

On your weight be sure to pack all your stuff before hitting the scales. People say their stuff adds 1,000 lbs.
Camper weights never include liquids, but sometimes dont include the options like Air Cond, or anything you have but might have been an optional add-on. Rarely do campers weigh what you are told.
With your 350 you should be just fine though. These truck are over-loaded all over the country with not issues.

Winter will be here soon, so don;t let the pipes freeze. You may end up somewhere where it freezes at night that you did not plan on… Have a plan to keep pipes warm, or to winterize them. Inspect your compartments so you know how and if they are insulated and what areas will freeze first…

Thanks for the thoughtful message. The new charge controller is not MPPT, as the panels are different sizes (the original is 150 watts, and the new one is 170 watts), but is a modern PWM good for a 500 watt system. My system will be 320 watts on the roof. I have 2 batteries in the camper’s battery box under the dinette seat (2 Lifeline 150 amp 12v batteries for a total of 300 amps).

As for what I plan to use the electricity for: lights at night, charging batteries, and running a small inverter (300 watts) for my laptop. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything else. I do not plan to use the microwave a lot (and might eventually delete it), and my camper has a locking generator compartment for a Honda Eu2000 if I want to run the AC. The camper has LED lights throughout.

The camper has two 20-pound propane tanks, which I plan to refill. One thing I might do later is replace the 3-way absorption refrigerator with a compressor refrigerator to save propane and have a more efficient fridge. Do you think my solar setup will handle my current needs in addition to a compressor fridge?

I appreciate that most of your advice applies to boondocking, as that is my goal. My camper has a cassette toilet, which means I never have to stop at an RV station ever. I will use biodegradable soaps for myself and my dishes and dump my gray water tank on the ground (where practical and legal). The toilet cassette can be dumped in any conventional toilet, pit toilet, port-a-potty, etc. I have read several tips online to reduce intervals of dumping the cassette, such as flushing with a few sprays of pink RV toilet liquid (and not water), using cat holes while in nature (where practical and legal), etc. The camper has a 40-gallon fresh water tank, so that can definitely be stretched for a while with the water-saving techniques you mentioned. I have taken many “bucket baths” and “sponge baths” in my life, and so I know how to do it. I might not take cold showers, which you advised, but I might heat water on the stove and take bucket/sponge baths so as not to waste water while waiting for the shower water to heat up.

If I end up spending a lot of time in cold weather, I might consider not using the furnace and instead installing a catalytic heater (like the Olympian Wave series), but the people I am buying the camper from advised against it due to the health/safety risks. Still, some full-time RV’ers swear by them, and I believe a few truck camper manufacturers even install them as a factory option (Capri Campers, for example).

I will be soloing full-time. I might get a dog, but for the time being, a woman is not in the plans.

For sure, and at minimum, get a 2nd 150 panel. Get the poly as it will do better in the shade. What charge controller type is it? PWM, MPPT or neither?
The MPPT is the best, and the most expensive, but ebay has them for $50 and up.
What will you be using the electric for when not hooked up? Inverters are power hogs, the propane heater fan is a power hog, tv and laptop charging is power hog.
Get LED lighting.

You said, batteries? You will need at least two.

You will need two propane tanks, but I think that TC has it.

Learn to take cold showers to minimize the times running to get more propane (I know the wife won't go for that…).

Propane refills are cheaper than the tank exchange.

Don't poo.

The big 3 when boondocking are:
Need more water
Need more propane
need to dump waste water.

If you can diminish the need for these three things then life gets easier.

Personally, I just got rid of the propane fridge for an electric one to save propane.
I rarely heat the camper as that is huge propane loss, but to save pipes freezing I will.
I got rid of toilet (use a throw away method), so do not use the black tank.
I let the gray water drain onto the ground when I can. legally of course, so never go looking for a dump station and never have to smell rancid water.

If you are soloing then these work great, but if you have another person then it needs to be agreeable for both.

On your weight be sure to pack all your stuff before hitting the scales. People say their stuff adds 1,000 lbs.
Camper weights never include liquids, but sometimes dont include the options like Air Cond, or anything you have but might have been an optional add-on. Rarely do campers weigh what you are told.
With your 350 you should be just fine though. These truck are over-loaded all over the country with not issues.

Winter will be here soon, so don;t let the pipes freeze. You may end up somewhere where it freezes at night that you did not plan on… Have a plan to keep pipes warm, or to winterize them. Inspect your compartments so you know how and if they are insulated and what areas will freeze first…

Kayteg1 wrote:
From what I remember from 6l is, that it is the delta between oil and coolant temperatures that is critical as it indicate clog oil cooler.
I replaced oil cooler on my truck twice and it is not leaving good memories.
This is beside TC forum anyway, so have a nice vacations.

Yes, that is a critical thing to watch, along with exhaust gas temps. Sustained 15 degrees difference means there is a problem with the cooler. Unaddressed, the failure of the oil cooler leads to failure of the EGR cooler and, ultimately, blown head gaskets. Using correct coolant and not mixing any old coolant from AutoZone is important, as is keeping on top of maintenance, using only Motorcraft filters, etc. The problems with the 6.0 are well known at this point 13 years after the end of production... and so are the definitive solutions. It's a fine, pre-emissions engine that happy and responsible owners are getting 500k miles or more on... if they correctly address the issues, which some owners ignored and allowed to spiral out of control. Is what it is.

Of course, I'll keep this thread updated, and if my engine blows up on me all of a sudden on the road, I'll come back and tell it straight.

From what I remember from 6l is, that it is the delta between oil and coolant temperatures that is critical as it indicate clog oil cooler.
I replaced oil cooler on my truck twice and it is not leaving good memories.
This is beside TC forum anyway, so have a nice vacations.

Sweet setup!
Truck's bulletproofed now and ready to rock! 6.0s rip with a small tune.
Just keep up with good oil and coolant.
Nice camper too. Have a blast.

Well, in the weeks since my last post, we’ve been busy preparing for the camper. We installed a Bluetooth head unit in the dash, Rancho 7000 shocks in the front and 9000 adjustables in the rear. We will install the rubber bed mat and upper StableLoads later this week (basically right before we pick up the camper). The dealership will install the tie down system. Truck actually has stock sway bar, which we will try out first. If needed, I will install a Hellwig later.

The truck was in very good shape, but the radiator was corroded, so I had the entire cooling system replaced (new radiator, degas bottle, hoses, engine oil cooler, BPD EGR cooler), as the cooling system is the pivotal failure point on the 6.0 (and is responsible for the EGR failures and, ultimately, the famous head gasket issues). FICM was weak (reading 40 volts or lower), so that got replaced. Injectors were in good shape, practically like new. Metal air inlet connections, turbo got cleaned and rebuilt with new unison ring, new glow plug harness, connectors, O-rings, any hoses that were getting soft got replaced, new batteries (the old ones were 7 years old), new fluids and filters, etc.

Besides the cooling system replacements/upgrades and FICM, the most critical work was the new O-ringed heads, ARP head studs, and the tuner. The tuner was a “need.” The O-ringed heads and the studs were a “want” that I decided to go ahead and do while the cab was off. The custom tune deletes the EGR cooler without having to remove it or weld it, and it interacts with the truck’s computer to stop it from throwing codes due to the delete. If I ever want to go stock again (for emissions testing or for resale), I can set the tuner back to “stock” mode and open the EGR valve. Note that I am *not* running any “performance” tunes, adding HP, etc. The tuner also has a very good gauge displays. I’ve got EGT, TFT, EOT, and ECT on the screen. Those temps are set to give me an alarm when they start approaching critical temps (I know what those are and why they are important). Brakes are in good shape, as is the suspension system. Ball joints are good. Tie rod on driver’s side is a tad loose, but still good for another year or so. Shocks were replaced, as I mentioned above. I want to replace the spare tire with the same tire as my current Nitto Terra Grappler G2’s (which are larger than the stock 275’s), but I’m not sure if it will fit in the space allotted under the bed.

I’m having the camper dealership install a Froli sleep system and a Cirrus foam mattress, as well as an updated charge controller and a 170 watt panel (for a total of 320 watts on the roof to match with the 300 amps of batteries). Oh, I forgot to mention that last time – the batteries are in very good shape, two Lifeline 150 amp 12v batteries.

We couldn’t find any high-quality jumper cables, so we made our own with 1/0 gauge pure copper wire and clamps. Now I know why we couldn’t find the jumpers we wanted – just the components themselves were rather pricey since we bought quality. It is seriously heavy-duty, I’ll probably have them for life. I also have a 4000 amp lithium jump starter. I will be prepared to start my 6.0 diesel if I ever run the batteries down… or to start a Mack truck.

I’ve still got to get my road kit, generator, recovery straps, come-a-longs, air compressor, camp chairs, etc., etc. But the actual truck is pretty much ready to receive the camper, and the actual camper will be pretty much ready to use once I pick it up. So lots of progress made. I’ll post another update (hopefully with pics) once the camper is on the truck and I start living in it, and I’ll go back to the CAT scale and weigh the truck and camper “wet” (with 40 gallons of water and 40 pounds of propane) and post my weights here.