CptSydor
Explorer
Joined 11 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: At what point do I need a WD hitch?
Going to tag onto this thread, as my question is similar. I just bought a RPOD 178 - dry weight is 2700lbs, loaded call it 3200lbs? Regardless, towing with a 2014 F150 (5.0L, extend cab, 6.5' bed, 1750lbs payload). I've towed a Dutchman T@da (2300lbs dry) with this truck before on just a ball, no WDH or sway bar. Had no issue, drove from Ontario to Colorado at 65 to 70mph, even would pass at 75mph if needed and felt virtually nothing back there. Bought the RPOD gently used and the guy had a WDH (no sway bar) that came with it as he was towing with a smaller vehicle. I know I don't need the WDH, it will do no harm hooked up, but is it even worth spending the extra 5-10 minutes attaching it? (I've used a WDH and Sway bar when I had a 27ft, 6000lb trailer for 3 years in there) Ultimately I probably just need to test this, but sounds like the general opinion is that I could sell this WDH. Not that hooking up an WDH is that arduous but if I'm not going to notice any real difference, I'll just drop the trailer on a regular bar/ball..550Views0likes0CommentsRe: Camper and Skiing
bb_94401 wrote: Turned into a long post ... One of the things we like best about our camper is the dry bath, located near the entrance. All the wet clothes get hung up on spring loaded curtain rods, while suction cup hooks hold goggles, helmets, neck gaiters, gloves and hats in the shower. A plastic box with dry-dec tiles in the bottom holds the ski boots and let the snow and parking lot dirt/sand come off without messing up the bottom of the shower. Open the bathroom vent, shut the bathroom door and crankup the propane heater to dry everything and have all the moisture exit the TC. Place the boots in front of the heater outlet in the morning. Nothing like warm ski boots for ease of getting into and first runs on cold days. The tray in the basement holds the active skis and poles, while additional skis are held against the wall in the shower using spring loaded curtain rods with pipe insulation around them. We run with full utilities all winter with the 22,000 BTU furnance set at 70 F all the time, heat is ducted to the basement which stays at >45 F when it is -10 F outside. Road trips are 2-3 weeks. The rest of the time the TC sits in a heated garage. Whatever TC you settle on, get one with a winter package (double pane windowns / skylights / vent covers, more wall insulation, insulated heated basement). Even then you will need to add insulation and plug up the holes in the TC like the Range vent, the AC and uninsulated cord and propane compartments. Then at night temporarily add insulation to the windows, skylights, ceiling vents and door. That way the furnace runs less, you conserve propane and you can get by with smaller battery banks. If I were looking I'd add a non slide 10-8 Citation to the TC suggestions above. An issue with below zero winter camping is that even with a high output furnace the vaporization rate of propane depends on the outside temperature, the wetted surface area of the propane in the tank and the humidy of the air around the tank. Just going from a full tank to 1/2 full reduces the vaporiztion rate by 2x (3x at 1/4 full) even at 60 F, but it still is enough to supply the rated BTU output of the heater. However, drop the temperature to 0 F with a 1/4 full tank and the vaporization rate can only supply 1/3 of the BTUs. At -10 F it supplies <1/4 of the BTUs. At -20 F it supplies <1/10 of the furnace BTU rating. The equivalent of turning down the gas range from High to Simmer. The net result is that the furnace needs to run longer, meaning you need a larger battery bank to keep it running. I have 440 Ahr of AGM 6 VDC batteries in two banks inside the warm space of the camper. Higher recharge rates vs. flooded batteries. Less likely to suffer freeze damage if batteries are at a low state of charge. Depending on how insulated your camper is and how cold it is going to get below 0 F, then your propane heater will not be able to keep up with the heat loss and things will start freezing in your camper. So you need backups whether electrical heat (with a big enough generator(s) output to power them) or a diesel forced air furnace (Webasto or Eperspraecher NA aka Espar). It is forcasted to be -26 F overnight this Saturday, at Castle Mountain Ski Resort outside of Pincher Creek, AB. Having enough generating capacity also allows you to power space heaters, electric blankets to pre-warm the bed (closed cell latex foam mattress - warmer, no condensation or mold under it), block heaters, oil pan heaters and truck battery blankets, in addtion to recharging the battery bank with an 80A converter. Generators are stored under the table inside to make them easier to start outside, when it is really cold (<-10F). Synthetic oil helps as well. Awesome...just the type of experience/advice I was looking for. Greatly appreciate you taking the time to write it out. Good luck at Castle Mountain in -26F (if you are staying). We were at Fernie a couple weeks ago an hit -25C, that wasn't pleasant without a proper set-up. We just got up and left after crawling out of the sleeping bags (and hit some hot springs on the way home)707Views0likes0CommentsRe: Camper and Skiing
rider997 wrote: We camp in 0F (-18C) temps without a problem in our Arctic Fox 811. Drying gear only becomes an issue in late spring conditions or when skiing in the rain. Our first line of defense is to waterproof our gear- this reduces the amount of water you need to evaporate while in the camper. We arrange damp gear around the vents of our forced air propane furnace, and find that even keeping it cool in the camper at night (40F / 5C), the gear is typically completely dry by morning. We also bring resistive element passive boot heaters to dry out our boots. It is clearly necessary to crack a roof vent to reduce condensation in the camper when adding all of this additional moisture to the atmosphere. With 300w of solar (in series) and an MPPT charge controller, our battery bank charges in even highly overcast conditions. We have about 180Ah of battery at 12V, which is sufficient for a week or more of cold weather, partially or mostly overcast camping, while running the heater, the boot heaters, and charging electronics. The Arctic Fox is well enough insulated that we don't have problems with tank water freezing even at the aforementioned 0F outside, 40F inside. (The cold water line to the bathroom has a tendency to occasionally get frosty if it's very windy on the driver's side of the camper). Skis go in a Yakima/Thule box on top of the camper. Poles go either there or in the basement storage tray. Boots will fit in the top box, but since they're impossible to put on when they're cold (and they suck the heat out of your feet), we typically keep them in boot bags inside the camper. Awesome. Great information and highly appreciated.706Views0likes0CommentsRe: Camper and Skiing
Thanks for the helpful replies. (And I can't remember where I got the 1000lbs dry weight for that 1983 Bigfoot 6.10, but I found something official online after much researching before I bought it. I could be under representing, but it was definitely low and a good fit for the f150 even before I gutted it). I posted the pictures of my current rig, just to have pictures. People like pictures. It's not a long term, but rather a temporary solution until I sort out the next iteration. Moving up, I don't need 'luxury', aka a slide and dually, I just want a stock camper that has a wet bath, stove, fridge, furnace. Something like this....or another bigfoot, northernlite, artic fox. https://www.oakcentrervmall.com/New-Inventory-2018-LivinLite-Trailer-CampLite-Truck-Campers-8-6-CampLite-Truck-Camper-Canada-3149427 Just looking to gather experience from people who are camping in sub zero temperatures, especially off grid and making it work (and making it work well). And I'd really love a Van or small class C, but I really do need (need is relative I guess, more a really want) AWD or 4x4. I live is a small mountain town, lane way access to my driveways that are on the side of a hill. I have a FWD minivan with studded winters and need to rally that thing around our neighbourhood to get it into my driveway. If a storm cycle coming through and dumping serious snow, you don't venture out in a 2wd unless you are going to valley below and not planning on coming back up anytime soon.417Views0likes0CommentsRe: Camper and Skiing
Photomike wrote: Have you thought of a wood stove? Those little ones for boats are really cool and put out a lot of heat. You could keep your current unit, add a wood stove to heat / dry things out during the day and then use your furnace at night. If you have insulation in your current unit you are not going to get much better with anything else. I went the van route and I do miss the 4x4 of the truck camper. As much for peace of mind as anything. Here is info on my units. Yes, I had certainly considering a mini wood stove for the current truck camper. But in reality, it's an experiment to test the truck camper combination out. After a couple issues with it, I drew the line and said no more money is going to be spent on it. Ultimately I want a truck camper with all the proper amenities/creature comforts. We do travel a lot in the summer (just started winter), I'd like things to be a little easier/better set up.419Views0likes0CommentsCamper and Skiing
Last summer, after spending many nights traveling around, mainly for mountain biking with our TT (300+ nights in 5-6 years), we wanted a bit less luxury and more flexibility/options and moved over to a truck camper. Ended up finding a 1983 Bigfoot which matched my F150 well (1000lbs stock/dry). It was a cheap experiment. I gutted it and rebuilt it as essentially a hard shell tent for basic camping (still in progress). It's worked well, the comforts are obviously down compared to our 25ft TT (that I had set up with SOLAR, etc), but the places we can access are incredible. I think we are hooked on the camper life. Actually, I'd really like to get into the Van life, but having at least AWD, preferably 4x4 is essentially mandatory where I live and want to travel. After doing the rebuild of my camper, I am also not really interested in building up a van, even if I could find/convert something in AWD/4x4. Last weekend we did our first winter camping trip for some backcountry ski touring and visiting friends skiing at a resort 5 hours up the road. It was great, but obviously heating/drying out stuff was tough. I had my small 1000w honda generator running a small space heater (on low) and a small buddy heater running before bed, or during breakfast. Nothing running during the night, mainly for security on the generator and even with a CO detector, wasn't a fan of the buddy heater running over night (being a voly firefighter and chemist). Condensation was a problem. So moving forward, I'm seriously considering 'moving' up. That will be a F350/3500 SRW truck and buying an appropriate 4 season truck camper. Just here asking for advice from those who travel during the winter months with a factory camper. Our winter trips would likely be 3-7 days. How are you dealing with heating? Ideally we are camping without services, but obviously paying to plug in for a couple nights might have to be a reality (not that hard to find in ski towns). Biggest battery bank you can get to last 3-4 nights (400 amp/hr)? Solar seems to be very ineffective in winter. Install a secondary heater that doesn't require a fan? Ski storage? We aren't adverse to sleeping at below freezing (-10 seems to a limit), but we need to be comfortable and heat up the camper now and then, especially to dry stuff out. Any advice is appreciated. Slowly combining everything I'm reading to make the best choices for us.11KViews0likes40CommentsRe: BC snow tire regulation
Drive safe. M+S while 'legal' are in my experience the bare minimum and don't compare to proper snow tires. Mountain passes are serious business. I tried to warn my parents (from eastern canada), but they insisted on trying the Kootenay pass during a snowfall and ended up having to turn a Uhaul around part way up. Also, two of the 'major' summits on BC highways are part of my response area as a firefighter. I see many crashes. So be safe, if the weather isn't being cooperative, take a break.482Views0likes0Comments1983 Bigfoot
After spending the past 5 years traveling a fair amount in travel trailers, including 250+ nights in the past 3 years, we decided to switch it up. The 27ft TT was getting to be too much, though it served us very well. With a move and new jobs, our priorities have changed and the convenience of a truck camper became appealing. Our biggest desire is to explore more off the beaten path and be able to camp pretty much on the side of any forest road, especially here in BC. So the TT got sold, and I didn't really want to invest much in the camper. I found a 1983 Bigfoot 6.10 Camper for sale. About 1000lbs dry which is a great match for my F150. These campers are high in demand here in BC, so I jumped on this one pretty quick, paid asking price and had in on the truck 24 hours after the add came up, which included a 10.5 hour drive. Didn't even had proper tie downs or anything, just some heavy duty ratchet straps I picked up on the way. I got the camper cheap, and while in OK shape and I could have made it work, it was showing its 35 years. Instead of trying to put lipstick on a pig, I decided to gut it. I've been thinking long and hard about doing a van conversion, so I was excited about starting from scratch. Intent is to make the camper pretty simple. We don't need many frills and I want to keep it simple. - Going to extend the bed to close to a queen size, to better fit my wife and I. - Small portapottie hidden in a step to the bed - Camp stove hooked up to a 20lb propane tank - Small gravity fed water system, or maybe a hand pump. But pretty much a haul-in/haul out. Hot water serviced by a kettle. - Haven't decided how much electrical I'm going to put in. Most likely 150W solar panel and a couple 27 batteries to power a small dometic cooler, but need to research the power requirements further. Maybe a small inverter for charging electronics. - Probably just go with battery powered lights. Intention is to not have any wiring behind the wall. - Maybe a small buddy heater for early/late season trips. - Outdoor solar shower. - Most importantly lots of storage to carry out Mountain Bike gear, which is when we'll mostly use the camper. Just finished gutting the camper. Tonight is starting to fiberglass over all the holes that were made for gas lines, in/outets and going to get rid of a bunch of small light holes around the front and back. Have to rebuid/bolt the tie downs and jacks, then I'll start framing it up. Hopefully in a couple days. Going to try to keep updated here if people are interested. I'm handy with tools, though I'm not a master craftsman, so hoping it turns out okay.1.5KViews0likes4Comments6V battery won't charge
Took my trailer out of storage for the winter a few weeks ago. I made a bad decision and left the batteries in over the winter. It was a crazy time just before I put it in storage and it just wasn't a priority. I have 2 6V batteries, bought about a year ago. When I got the trailer home, batteries weren't charging from the solar system or when the trailer was plugged in. Took them out, filled them up with distilled water, tried charging them inside as a 12V cell, nothing. Disconnected them, and charged one no problem as a 6V. The other won't charge, voltage is staying low. Any suggestions of ideas to try? Or is one battery lost?970Views0likes7Comments
Groups
Bucket List Trips
Bucketlist destinations you just can't miss. Which spots stick with you?Jan 18, 202513,487 Posts Travel Trailer Group
Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Feb 06, 202544,025 Posts
