Hello from the Kenai River, in Alaska. I'm new to the forum, and new to truck campers. A number of years ago I began considering a truck camper while stationed in Alaska. Family illness took us outside, and we ended up buying a 31' bumper pull which became our first RV/Camper. We jumped headfirst into camping by taking a trip from Oregon to South Carolina and back in December of 2009, 40 days on the road. It was eye opening, and the learning curve was steep. Part of that curve involved a broken rear axle housing on my 1 ton Ford in Arkansas on Christmas eve. No fun, and costly.
This past spring (2013) we began making plans to return to Alaska, and my desire for a truck camper was rekindled. From previous research, we knew we wanted an Arctic Fox in Alaska. They seem to hold up the best in the extreme cold, and the fit & finish far exceeded anything we saw from Lance. A trip to both dealerships confirmed that to be still true, and we began the search.
I've owned a 2000 Ford F350 DRW 4x4 7.3L since 2003, while the engine is mildly built (intake, exhaust and a few computer chips) and I installed an exhaust brake. I knew I would need to beef up the suspension though. I ordered new rancho shocks (M7000), and installed a set of airbags (Air Lift, Loadlifter5000 with Dual on board controller and compressor). I also bought a set of Cooper ST MAXX tires, & upgraded my brake components (new heavy duty discs and pads). Having dropped $3,500 in truck prep....We felt ready for any camper.
We lucked out, and found a very lightly used 2003 model Arctic Fox 1150, with the options we wanted already installed. Bunk & genset. The generator had 100 hours on it, and all maintenance well documented. Ended up paying cash and getting it installed with fastguns, torklift tie downs, SuperHitch Magnum receiver, and the SuperTruss receiver extension. Right around $13K. We felt good about it, I took it on a shake-out run from Portland, OR to Lakeview, OR. Definitely changed the way the truck drove, but I found I was still getting 19mpg without wind and at 50mph. Hard to be upset about that. I made two mods right away. First, on the way home I got an 8' gas line made with a quick disconnect for my camp chef stove to attach to the line at the rear bumper, and second....I trashed the mattress and installed my 12" memory foam mattress. Heaven.
Here's the pic on the way back from Lakeview:
We moved out of our house and into my hangar/shop for 45 days, living in the camper. The AC was a godsend, and my two children (10 & 2) began wearing in the camper. Ugh. Pristine 10 year old camper started show wear on the carpet and upholstery real quick with those two. Still, I really fell in love with the camper. The second week of September, 2013, I loaded up my 8' utility trailer (with my Leer 122 Browning edition camper shell installed on 30" walls on the trailer), and headed North up the Alcan to our new home on the Kenai River, in Alaska.
Here's a pic of the trailer:
My daughter painting the inside:
I wish I could say it was an easy trip...but it wasn't. That trailer had two break downs that forced me to hire a welder to install metal. Once...the tongue broke clean off just outside Destruction Bay, Yukon. Miraculously...no one, and nothing was hurt. But that story is for another thread.... Gas mileage for the 2650 mile trip = 17mpg. Pretty good for the weight and hills. The week after we got here I did a 1K mile round trip to Fairbanks for my brother's wedding reception. It was fun going up through Denali, but I was pretty "camped out" by then. Since taking her home in August 2013 I've put 4,500 miles on her and slept in the camper for 55 nights. Pretty happy with Arctic Fox!
So here we are in Alaska, with the camper we've always wanted....waiting for spring! Winterizing was easy, though I really wish I had the money to buy a good cover or build a roof to park her under. Hopefully next year. I crawl up and push the snow off once a week, and we're keeping heat on at about 30F inside. I'm hoping the constant temperature will help minimize expansion and contraction. Over the winter I'm sewing a net to snap onto the bunk so my 2 year old son can sleep in the bunk safely. He was falling out of the dinette bunk almost every night...despite piling pillows and zipping him in a sleeping bag. My 10 year old is getting a bit heavier than I'd like for the bunk also. I'll have to take pics of the net after I get it fabbed and sewn up.
Any other Alaska members? We're looking forward to getting out doing some boondocking this summer. We boondocked through most of canada and Alaska, the arctic fox is made for it!
This past spring (2013) we began making plans to return to Alaska, and my desire for a truck camper was rekindled. From previous research, we knew we wanted an Arctic Fox in Alaska. They seem to hold up the best in the extreme cold, and the fit & finish far exceeded anything we saw from Lance. A trip to both dealerships confirmed that to be still true, and we began the search.
I've owned a 2000 Ford F350 DRW 4x4 7.3L since 2003, while the engine is mildly built (intake, exhaust and a few computer chips) and I installed an exhaust brake. I knew I would need to beef up the suspension though. I ordered new rancho shocks (M7000), and installed a set of airbags (Air Lift, Loadlifter5000 with Dual on board controller and compressor). I also bought a set of Cooper ST MAXX tires, & upgraded my brake components (new heavy duty discs and pads). Having dropped $3,500 in truck prep....We felt ready for any camper.
We lucked out, and found a very lightly used 2003 model Arctic Fox 1150, with the options we wanted already installed. Bunk & genset. The generator had 100 hours on it, and all maintenance well documented. Ended up paying cash and getting it installed with fastguns, torklift tie downs, SuperHitch Magnum receiver, and the SuperTruss receiver extension. Right around $13K. We felt good about it, I took it on a shake-out run from Portland, OR to Lakeview, OR. Definitely changed the way the truck drove, but I found I was still getting 19mpg without wind and at 50mph. Hard to be upset about that. I made two mods right away. First, on the way home I got an 8' gas line made with a quick disconnect for my camp chef stove to attach to the line at the rear bumper, and second....I trashed the mattress and installed my 12" memory foam mattress. Heaven.
Here's the pic on the way back from Lakeview:
We moved out of our house and into my hangar/shop for 45 days, living in the camper. The AC was a godsend, and my two children (10 & 2) began wearing in the camper. Ugh. Pristine 10 year old camper started show wear on the carpet and upholstery real quick with those two. Still, I really fell in love with the camper. The second week of September, 2013, I loaded up my 8' utility trailer (with my Leer 122 Browning edition camper shell installed on 30" walls on the trailer), and headed North up the Alcan to our new home on the Kenai River, in Alaska.
Here's a pic of the trailer:
My daughter painting the inside:
I wish I could say it was an easy trip...but it wasn't. That trailer had two break downs that forced me to hire a welder to install metal. Once...the tongue broke clean off just outside Destruction Bay, Yukon. Miraculously...no one, and nothing was hurt. But that story is for another thread.... Gas mileage for the 2650 mile trip = 17mpg. Pretty good for the weight and hills. The week after we got here I did a 1K mile round trip to Fairbanks for my brother's wedding reception. It was fun going up through Denali, but I was pretty "camped out" by then. Since taking her home in August 2013 I've put 4,500 miles on her and slept in the camper for 55 nights. Pretty happy with Arctic Fox!
So here we are in Alaska, with the camper we've always wanted....waiting for spring! Winterizing was easy, though I really wish I had the money to buy a good cover or build a roof to park her under. Hopefully next year. I crawl up and push the snow off once a week, and we're keeping heat on at about 30F inside. I'm hoping the constant temperature will help minimize expansion and contraction. Over the winter I'm sewing a net to snap onto the bunk so my 2 year old son can sleep in the bunk safely. He was falling out of the dinette bunk almost every night...despite piling pillows and zipping him in a sleeping bag. My 10 year old is getting a bit heavier than I'd like for the bunk also. I'll have to take pics of the net after I get it fabbed and sewn up.
Any other Alaska members? We're looking forward to getting out doing some boondocking this summer. We boondocked through most of canada and Alaska, the arctic fox is made for it!
c.traveler2 wrote:
Welcome to the TC forum, in about 18 month I will retire from my job and Alaska is first thing on my list, I'll have questions for you about Alaska when the time gets closer to retirement.
Ask away. I've done the alcan 8 or 9 times now, all but 2 were towing heavy loads. One with the camper. Hopefully I'll have more input on the camping situation by then....we've never RV camped in Alaska before now. We'll be looking for off the path places where we can escape the crowds....something that can be tough to do in Alaskan summers. Still, it's hard to leave home when this is your view every day.
