Questions about running generator in back of truck

They aren't UL approved for use in the rain but from what I've read, that is only because the outlet itself is unprotected.

:) Hi, I mount my Yamaha 2400 in the back of my bed, near the tailgate. I have not run it in the rain yet. I made a curved up exhaust extension so my exhaust goes straight up. (before exhaust modification) With my generator mounted in the center, it still made my inside bed panel hit about 200 degrees. I felt that this was too hot.

Years and three rvs ago I had the generator in the back of the truck. I was not as worried about the rain as I was the exhaust. The back pressure may send the exhaust into the cab. I would try and build some sort of extension.

My Honda is at the front of the box with the exhaust on the drivers side. I use a Honda vinyl cover when I'm not using it. I use it mostly in the desert so we haven't seen rain in 3 months. If it did rain hard enough I'd just put something over the electrical plug area to protect it. The exhaust side of the truck bed gets warm but nothing to damage anything.

I have a lot of solar but power AC, micro, coffee etc with the generator. I use a ton of power over night so I put the big amps back in with the genny when making coffee etc. Cloudy days need a genny on hand.

I have used my 3500 several times in the back of the truck and it worked well. Be careful with the exhaust as it will burn or melt anything in its way.

Do you have a back window that opens? If you haven't noticed the wind blows forward in the bed while moving. Plumbing the exhaust so that it doesn't come back at you may be an issue!

Lots of folks seem very worried about exhaust. So Butch50 let me ask this.

Do you plan to run the generator while parked, having your fifth wheel extended over the generator? That sounds dangerous. Maybe with a bumper pull hitched up six feet away? Yup I've done it several times.

If you plan to run the generator while driving, I myself would not (and do not) worry about exhaust. I figure it gets plenty diluted while driving. I run one or two Yamaha generators in the bed depending on circumstances.

Back when I owned a Honda EU2000i I first ran it while camping with the genset in the back of my Avalanche with the tailgate open but the cargo lids in place. That protected it from any rain (which is important) but it sure got hot running in there so I shifted the genset forward and placed a 10" fan in front of the genset ... one of the genset's outlets powered the trailer, the other was used to power the fan. This solved the overheating issue entirely and any exhaust was blown out the open tailgate.

We have a box that sits over it when not in use to keep it dry but we have to remove the box to run it.

We try not to run it out in the rain.

It shouldn't be too hard to string up a small tarp if you will use it a lot in the rain. If it's a couple feet above the bed rails, it should leave plenty of air to cool it while keeping most moderate rains off it.

Thanks for all the responses.

To answer some of the questions the generator will not be running while we travel. It will be only used when we are stopped to run one of the A/Cs. Most of the time the truck will be unhitched from the trailer.

Like I stated there will be some protection with the Diamond plate I plan on using over it. The generator will be sitting in the middle of the bed so I don't know if the exhaust would be to hot as it would be at least at least 25" from the side of the bed. If needed I would add some more exhaust to get above the bed to keep heat from the truck. It would be very hard to put my cover on it as it is hard to access my bed if I was to use it while the truck was hitched to the trailer. Being a Mega cab dually the rear fender comes out very quickly behind the cab which makes it almost impossible to get into the bed

Thanks