This forum is full of great ideas and invaluable information. I very much appreciate everyone who has made this forum so great. I figured that since I got so many ideas from reading about all of your projects, I should give back by sharing mine:
Last Year I decided that it was time for me to buy an RV. My wife and I originally thought about buying a class c rv, then we looked at some 5th wheels. A friend of mine had a Lance truck camper, and convinced us to look at some of those as well. We went to the dealer and checked out some brand new Lances. We fell in love with the idea of a truck camper and we almost bought a 2012 Lance 830, but then decided to wait for a bit. After talking it over, we decided to look at some used campers rather then going out and getting ourselves into debt. I spent many months reading the forums here and on other websites, and finally decided that I wanted to find a nice used Bigfoot camper. I finally found one in July and after a brief negotiation with the seller, we bought a 2006 Bigfoot c25 9.4 on July 31st. Since then, we have been either camping or upgrading the camper.
I started with my truck. I have a 2005 F350 crew cab shortbed 4x4 that I bought new back in 2005. I opted to go with the torklift tie downs, fast guns (actually, these came with the camper!), and firestone airbags. I have since added a hellwig big wig sway bar and KYB monomax shocks - the sway bar made a huge improvement! I also installed a DC power 190a alternator to handle the truck mounted 1000w inverter. I just bought brand new Toyo open country 35x12.5x20 tires to replace the ones that have been on my truck for 50k miles - they've been great tires and that is why I chose to run them again.
As far as the camper, I have done the following to it:
-Installed new Dinosaur control board in Dometic refrigerator (the refrigerator worked intermittently on propane when I first got it)
-Coleman mach 1 power saver air conditioner w/ heater (11k btu)
-Removed the cheapo bathroom fan and installed a fantastic fan (8000 model)
-Installed (5) group 31 AGM batteries (125ah each for a total of 625ah), 3 were installed in the generator cabinet & 2 in the original battery cabinet.
-Installed a Tripp-Lite 2000w inverter/charger (100a 3 stage battery charger. I also took the opportunity to rebuild the step-up platform while I had it open as I'm a big guy and the original step was pretty flimsy.
-Installed a Trimetric 2025 battery monitor (highly recommended!)
-Installed LED lighting throughout
-Installed a Sony stereo deck (I can stream music from my iphone to my stereo over bluetooth - love it!), 4 alpine speakers + tweeters, & a 10" soundstream subwoofer.
-Installed a 24" LED flat screen television w/ built in DVD player on an articulating mount so you can watch it in the cabover or from the dinette.
-Mounted a microwave inside the cabinet over the range
-Replaced the original Parallax converter with a Progressive Dynamics 4645 3 stage charger - I wired this to an external port that plugs into my truck and is currently powered by a Xantrax prowatt sw1000 inverter - the idea behind this was to be able to run my refrigerator on 110v while going down the road to conserve propane and to top off my batteries at the same time. I plan on upgrading the truck mounted inverter to a prowatt sw2000 because the sw1000 cannot handle the surge from the pd 4645 when it is first powered up if my camper batteries are low.
-Installed a new single basin stainless sink (25"x22"x8" heavy gauge, great deal on ebay with cutting board!)with new faucet and spray nozzle. I also added the faucet mounted culligan water filter (water tastes great coming through this filter).
-Installed new Shurflo revolution water pump (much noisier then my whisper king that it replaced, but definitely more water pressure / volume).
-bought a 60" x 22" aluminum hitch mounted cargo rack for carrying camping chairs, firewood, etc.
-Installed an Ambient Weather ws-1171 weather station
-Converted the closet to a pantry by adding shelves
Projects that are in the works but not yet completed:
- I have (2) 145w solar panels and a Rogue mppt charge controller sitting in my office waiting for installation.
- I have high flow CPU fans that i'm going to install in the refrigerator flue to help with cooling in hot climates
- Plan on ordering a carefree awning for the rear. The camper came equipped with one originally but the previous owner removed it (though he left the mounting brackets in place so it should be pretty easy - I got the original part # from bigfoot and carefree still makes it).
- My rear camper jacks are loose (the bottom screws are pulling out). I have tightened them once, but they are coming out again. I am going to use over sized stainless steel lag bolts and 2 part epoxy. Hopefully this will fix the problem. If not, I may have to figure out how to gain access to the backside and bolt them through the wall with a reinforced plate on the backside.
-I bought a honda eu2000i to bring with me when I'm dry camping and want to use the A/C. I am still trying to figure out where to put a mount to carry it outside the camper.
I'm sure there will be many more projects since I will continue to read this forum!
Last Year I decided that it was time for me to buy an RV. My wife and I originally thought about buying a class c rv, then we looked at some 5th wheels. A friend of mine had a Lance truck camper, and convinced us to look at some of those as well. We went to the dealer and checked out some brand new Lances. We fell in love with the idea of a truck camper and we almost bought a 2012 Lance 830, but then decided to wait for a bit. After talking it over, we decided to look at some used campers rather then going out and getting ourselves into debt. I spent many months reading the forums here and on other websites, and finally decided that I wanted to find a nice used Bigfoot camper. I finally found one in July and after a brief negotiation with the seller, we bought a 2006 Bigfoot c25 9.4 on July 31st. Since then, we have been either camping or upgrading the camper.
I started with my truck. I have a 2005 F350 crew cab shortbed 4x4 that I bought new back in 2005. I opted to go with the torklift tie downs, fast guns (actually, these came with the camper!), and firestone airbags. I have since added a hellwig big wig sway bar and KYB monomax shocks - the sway bar made a huge improvement! I also installed a DC power 190a alternator to handle the truck mounted 1000w inverter. I just bought brand new Toyo open country 35x12.5x20 tires to replace the ones that have been on my truck for 50k miles - they've been great tires and that is why I chose to run them again.
As far as the camper, I have done the following to it:
-Installed new Dinosaur control board in Dometic refrigerator (the refrigerator worked intermittently on propane when I first got it)
-Coleman mach 1 power saver air conditioner w/ heater (11k btu)
-Removed the cheapo bathroom fan and installed a fantastic fan (8000 model)
-Installed (5) group 31 AGM batteries (125ah each for a total of 625ah), 3 were installed in the generator cabinet & 2 in the original battery cabinet.
-Installed a Tripp-Lite 2000w inverter/charger (100a 3 stage battery charger. I also took the opportunity to rebuild the step-up platform while I had it open as I'm a big guy and the original step was pretty flimsy.
-Installed a Trimetric 2025 battery monitor (highly recommended!)
-Installed LED lighting throughout
-Installed a Sony stereo deck (I can stream music from my iphone to my stereo over bluetooth - love it!), 4 alpine speakers + tweeters, & a 10" soundstream subwoofer.
-Installed a 24" LED flat screen television w/ built in DVD player on an articulating mount so you can watch it in the cabover or from the dinette.
-Mounted a microwave inside the cabinet over the range
-Replaced the original Parallax converter with a Progressive Dynamics 4645 3 stage charger - I wired this to an external port that plugs into my truck and is currently powered by a Xantrax prowatt sw1000 inverter - the idea behind this was to be able to run my refrigerator on 110v while going down the road to conserve propane and to top off my batteries at the same time. I plan on upgrading the truck mounted inverter to a prowatt sw2000 because the sw1000 cannot handle the surge from the pd 4645 when it is first powered up if my camper batteries are low.
-Installed a new single basin stainless sink (25"x22"x8" heavy gauge, great deal on ebay with cutting board!)with new faucet and spray nozzle. I also added the faucet mounted culligan water filter (water tastes great coming through this filter).
-Installed new Shurflo revolution water pump (much noisier then my whisper king that it replaced, but definitely more water pressure / volume).
-bought a 60" x 22" aluminum hitch mounted cargo rack for carrying camping chairs, firewood, etc.
-Installed an Ambient Weather ws-1171 weather station
-Converted the closet to a pantry by adding shelves
Projects that are in the works but not yet completed:
- I have (2) 145w solar panels and a Rogue mppt charge controller sitting in my office waiting for installation.
- I have high flow CPU fans that i'm going to install in the refrigerator flue to help with cooling in hot climates
- Plan on ordering a carefree awning for the rear. The camper came equipped with one originally but the previous owner removed it (though he left the mounting brackets in place so it should be pretty easy - I got the original part # from bigfoot and carefree still makes it).
- My rear camper jacks are loose (the bottom screws are pulling out). I have tightened them once, but they are coming out again. I am going to use over sized stainless steel lag bolts and 2 part epoxy. Hopefully this will fix the problem. If not, I may have to figure out how to gain access to the backside and bolt them through the wall with a reinforced plate on the backside.
-I bought a honda eu2000i to bring with me when I'm dry camping and want to use the A/C. I am still trying to figure out where to put a mount to carry it outside the camper.
I'm sure there will be many more projects since I will continue to read this forum!
