First Time Boondocking.....Need a few Questions Answered

[Glen1978]

We bought a 2005 Fleetwood Gearbox last month and are goin to take it to Taylor Park, Co next month. Ive tried to read as much as I can off here and have answered alot of my own questions. BIG thanks for that. Some mods we have already done include replacing wheels with 16" and swithing to 225/75-16 Firestone Transforce LT tires (load range E). Bought a Reese twin cam sway/weight distribution setup. Purchased a Honda 2000 watt Inverter/genny, Weber Q1200 grill, all LED lights for inside. And a HUGE AC Delco battery that sets on neck....think its 125 ah. My main concern is HEATING as it will be 30s to 40s at night. Read the furnace will suck alot of propane and eat at the battery.....dont plan to run genny all night, just top battery off in the AM. Do the Wave 3 or 6 heaters work at that altitude....10k'? I keep reading different reviews that say yes, then no. Pretty much everyone says the Buddy heaters wont. Need some ideas on this heating issue. Thanks VERY MUCH!!!!

[Glen1978]

Oh yeah plenty used to altitude change but thanks for the heads up. I think we will just wing it and see how it works. Temps seem to be in the 40s at night so we will be ok I think.

[pconroy328]

Lots of great advice but I just wanted to chime in that the temps will most likely be just fine -- even for a native Texan. 🙂

My wife's from South Texas, where temps seem to reach 9000* -- to me at least.

I've been surprised by how long our propane lasts, and the cheap 12V coach battery. We've camped in freezing weather; we've all got nice sleeping bags. It seems like all I had to do was fire up the furnace just to take the chill out of the motorhome.

If you're driving right up to elevation, be sure to bring SPF50 sunscreen and plan on drinking lots of water. Staying hydrated is key.

[skripo]

No way $60. I paid about $20 on amazon for all the parts.

[Glen1978]

Thanks I will check em out. Does anyone know if we could use a small chainsaw to cut up downfall wood there around Taylor Park area?

[BubbaChris]

If you want to see the pillow thingy for the vents, look up item B0024E6QX0 on Amazon.

They create insulation where there is none by default. And as a bonus for us, it eliminates one source of light coming into our TT at night.

Sounds like that's going to be a really fun rig for you.

[Glen1978]

We were going to do the conversion where you remove the factory regulator and put a QC nipple on but dang that was gona be like $80 for all that stuff from Calore. Decided to just get a hose for $25 that plugs into the 1# bottle port and goes to a bottle. We have 4 or 5 bottles at the house and can just take one of those with us. The way we can use the RV bottle if I hook it to grille, a 1# bottle or a remote bottle.

[skripo]

You will LOVE that Weber grill, I have the same one and it's amazing.

[Glen1978]

It is gona suit us PERFECT. I didnt want a huge toy hauler so I could get to some remote places and didnt really want a 5er either. BUT all the bumper pull ones we saw had no seperate bedroom....I like a little privacy if you can follow that...lol. So saw this one with a queen up front and a queen in the back in the garage that sucks up to the roof with the touch of a electrical switch. Its not perfect. Has a couple spots delamination on the driver side, awning was missing, has a leak up in the front driver side corner that I will tackle when we get back. BUT I paid $6500 for it and it had 60 gallons of fresh propane and a new battery on the front. Tires were 15" 225's in great visual shape but they were 3 years old and 5 years old. I bought 4 new Firestone 225/75-16 LT Transforce 10 plys for it and new 6 hole wheels and picked up a nearly new Reese dual cam sway/weight hitch for $375 and a Honda 2000 genny in super nice shape for $675 and we should be set. Only thing we paid full price for was the stupid Weber grille my girlfriend had to have......$200 bucks!!

[skripo]

That is freaking awesome!

[Glen1978]

Under the unit. I have a Fleetwood Gearbox toyhauler. Its a pretty awesome setup. Sorry 120 gallon fresh, 40 grey and 40 black are the specs. Has onboard fuel station. With 18 for toys and 30 for onboard genny. They are both plumbed together so you have 48 gallons of fuel available for use in the toys. Has a nozzle just like a gas station. Also has onboard air pump with quick connect on side, outside shower, built in pressure washer and low pressure propane quick connect.

[skripo]

Glen1978 wrote:
Ive got 125 gallons of fresh water on board.

Where? Aren't the fresh water tanks 40 or 60 gallons? Did you add tanks?

[Glen1978]

Ive got 125 gallons of fresh water on board.

[skripo]

Glen1978 wrote:
...In the evening it will be showers for two adults and two boys....

You will run out of water way before you do batteries!

[skripo]

Here is what I got:

Vmax SLR-125 Solar

As I said, no need to go crazy, any solar specific wet cell will do. The only reason I avoid deep cycles is you never really know how 'deep' they truly are.