A new adventure for me.

[specta]

I've been using my camper for work. I stay in it about 10 -11 nights every month. I work 4 days one week and 3 the next.

It a 270 mile round tri to my job.

Every other week the truck and camper come in and get a good going over and a good detailing on the inside of the camper.




Tomorrow morning I head out to work. I've never driven my truck with the camper on it in the snow. I doubt that there will be much anyway.

Temps are going to dip into the teens and low 20s at night with daytime highs in the 40s.

Should be a fun weekend. :B

[specta]

BigSwick wrote:
I wouldn't want to do it.

Neither would I. 😉

[MORSNOW]

BigSwick wrote:
I am new to truck campers, so there is a lot I don't know. But curious about the tiedowns. Looks like a big camper to be just attached just to the bed and not the frame. I know with my Cirrus 820 and an aluminum body truck I wouldn't want to do it.

Those are HappiJac tie downs and they do go to the frame. The front has brackets that bolt down thru the box into the frame and are secured to the front of the box with more bolts and a load spreading bar. The rear tabs are bolted thru the bumper where an additional bracket goes from the bumper up to the trucks frame. I have been using this same set up for 9 years and driven off road all over Alaska and now the western US. It holds the camper in place much better due to the angles of the tie downs. https://happijac.com/tie-downs.html

[BigSwick]

I am new to truck campers, so there is a lot I don't know. But curious about the tiedowns. Looks like a big camper to be just attached just to the bed and not the frame. I know with my Cirrus 820 and an aluminum body truck I wouldn't want to do it.

[specta]

It ended up being a beautiful drive to work this morning.

Its supposed to get down to 15° tonight, no biggie.
I will leave the water heater on and leave the space heater on too.
I head out at about 2:30 PM and get back at 5:00 AM the next morning so I'm not here when its really cold.

Clear blue skies and 43° right now.

[Lwiddis]

Keep your speed down and enjoy the ride!

[Bedlam]

I can go through a 30 lb LPG tank in two nights fueling my heat, water and generator in those temperatures when boon docking, but my camper is larger with multiple slides. When on shore power, I use LPG as a backup but can run everything off electric.

Traction to get moving will be improved with the camper loaded but your braking will be less due to the additional weight. Like others have posted, you will find you need 4wd less with that additional weight over the drive wheels but 4wd does help with steering control on slick surfaces.

[Grit_dog]

^ Well, that's not enough snow to groom!
Boooo...

I always enjoy work-camping. It's a nice departure from the normal work routine.

[specta]

notsobigjoe wrote:
I drove all over the northeast for years with my RW drive dually. Got stuck once and had to dig out but it was about a foot of snow, but normal accumulations of 4-6 inches I never had a problem. I agree with towpro about the propane use. Run the heater. Good luck and have fun.

Even being a new experience driving in the snow with the camper I'm not too worried. Snow has never been a problem for me.

I'll be running the furnace for sure.




This is all the snow we got last night, I was expecting more.
I'm sure the roads are in great shape, should be smooth sailing to work.

[specta]

towpro wrote:
also not sure about the lance, but 4 season campers might have the propane heater heating the basement. Switch to an electric space heater and you might stop circulating heat into basement. I know the AF 990 we had there was a fan under the bathroom door that sucked air through the basement every time the thermostat triggered on.

Unfortunately mines not a 4-season camper and there's no basement.

I use a space heater along with the furnace. The furnace only supplies warm air to the FW tank.

[specta]

valhalla360 wrote:

wra wrote:
Putting cardboard over the windows help keep the cold out.

Assuming it's not dual pane windows, pick up some of the foil backed bubble wrap insulation (home depot/lowes/etc).

It won't get soggy if you get condensation on the windows. It's cheap and easy to cut to size.

Thanks 🙂

Not the double pane windows, unfortunately. 😞

[specta]

BradW wrote:
Your camper looks similar to our 1996 Lance. Keep an eye on your 12V converter if its a Magnetech. They were a crappy design and prone to cooking batteries........among other things. We kept our 96 Lance 23 years.

Thanks for the heads up.

I just bought this one 3 years ago and I love it. Its perfect for me.

[notsobigjoe]

I drove all over the northeast for years with my RW drive dually. Got stuck once and had to dig out but it was about a foot of snow, but normal accumulations of 4-6 inches I never had a problem. I agree with towpro about the propane use. Run the heater. Good luck and have fun.

[towpro]

also not sure about the lance, but 4 season campers might have the propane heater heating the basement. Switch to an electric space heater and you might stop circulating heat into basement. I know the AF 990 we had there was a fan under the bathroom door that sucked air through the basement every time the thermostat triggered on.

[valhalla360]

wra wrote:
Putting cardboard over the windows help keep the cold out.

Assuming it's not dual pane windows, pick up some of the foil backed bubble wrap insulation (home depot/lowes/etc).

It won't get soggy if you get condensation on the windows. It's cheap and easy to cut to size.

[BradW]

Your camper looks similar to our 1996 Lance. Keep an eye on your 12V converter if its a Magnetech. They were a crappy design and prone to cooking batteries........among other things. We kept our 96 Lance 23 years.