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I made some 1/4" plywood brackets that I bolt to the jack mounts on the driver's side. They have holes in them to slide through a pole (used for a drying line when needed). I hang a Coleman (?) shower enclosure on the pole. It takes less time to set up than it does for our water heater to cycle...

Apologies. Heinphoto is quite correct about the wider back of Hawk. I only glanced at mine sitting on the truck when I should have peered into the gap between truck and camper. Alan

Hawk base is same width front to back (Mine is anyway 2013). Biggest advantage I see in putting it at the rear edge would be that it's easier to climb in the short door - just lean forward as you go up your ladder/steps. That said, some folks leave their tailgate on and like having a "porch"...

Late to this topic, but I think I accidentally fixed my "tin canning" roof. It was a dark and stormy night ... with the wind blowing fairly hard when the flexing woke us from our slumber. I reasoned that if I took my speaker stand and very gently extended it in pretty much the middle of the...

We use hot water from the water heater only when we've had showers that afternoon. Otherwise we heat some water on the stove while we eat. If we have more than a minimal amount of dishes, I do them outside and use the shower wand to rinse them after washing in a pan. Minimal amounts are rinsed...

Sadly, there isn't a picture. When I did pretty much what you're doing (2 12 volts instead), I eliminated the battery separator since the DC/DC takes care of that. You definitely want a fuse between the charger/controller and your truck battery. Renogy docs should tell you the size of this fuse...

Yes, I made this mistake and used MC4 for make/break connection. It didn't last so long. SAE socket or similar is a better choice. You might also consider an on/off switch so you don't spark across the connector - don't need if you connect before positioning panel in the sunlight. Alan

We use a small 300W inverter that has two 110AC plugs and two USB ports to charge our phones, tablets, and camera batteries. We added a power strip because we could really only use one of the 110 outlets at a time due to their spacing on the unit. So far, we plop inverter, power strip, and...

Wonder pictures from what must have been a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing. Alan

Marmots are a problem as well, hence https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/marmots.htm Anyone have plans for custom tarp wraps for truck with camper? Alan

I'm intrigued that the deck seems to be cantilevered off the back of the camper. Lot of stress on the jack brackets(?) if two adults go out there. Of course maybe only one adult at a time goes out to address the crowd. Seriously, arthritic dog run? Where do you store this thing while in motion...

My experience is that the stock FWC separator worked - sorta. When house batteries are low and they need charging most, the separator valiantly prevents them from getting charged. Solar helps in that it can raise the voltage of the batteries enough to allow connection and a virtuous cycle...

At Red Rock Canyon SP in CA we camped near a vault toilet that someone mis-eimptied their tanklet around not quite hitting the mark. We were only staying one night and were all set up by the time we found out so used our cassette toilet for number 1's and walked quite a ways to another vault for...

I wish I liked him more. I keep rooting for someone to beat him. That said, he's impressive as hell. Alan

I'm convinced some folks only camp so they can have a roaring fire.

We camped in the CotM NP a couple of years ago. Pretty typical NP campground though not a lot of trees, so privacy a bit less than most. Staying out on "the range" sounds pretty good if next day's activities aren't in the main part of the park. Alan

This checker is my new hero. Brava! Alan

We usually use a small 110 inverter to charge our phones, tablets, camera batteries etc. Yup, it costs more in energy, but it goes so much faster. Come to think of it, the camera battery chargers only work on 110 - caused me trouble at Crater Lake before we got the inverter. Anyway, it's good...

I have a current sensor in the battery box reading the alternator feed. It's wired to a readout looking through the front window of the camper into the back window of the truck. Alas, the rear-view mirror's polarizing won't let me read it while driving and I have to turn around, so I only look...

Update on my charging choice (re-hijacking my thread :)): I used 4 AWG welding wire and shortened the path from about 30 feet to just under 15 feet. Went with the Renogy 40amp DC/DC charger. On test drive after letting camper batteries get down to 12.3 volts with no load (lost the percent of...

Thanks guys. I'm drawing up a schematic and making a shopping list. After inspection, it isn't really that big a deal to run new wire through the truck and coming in through the passenger side of the camper makes that quite simple. The biggest hassle will be probably be removing and replacing...

Vic, Thanks for your answer. I used to see 5ish amps max from the setup before. Thinking about this I realized that you are totally right about upgrading the wiring regardless of the ACR vs DC2DC debate. I went out and poked around the truck and camper, did a bit more online research and have...

We just returned from 2 weeks in the Pacific Northwest where it was cloudy, rained a bit and campsites are often under trees. 200W of solar did what it could, but we needed the truck to do its part to keep the batteries happy - it didn't. The original separator seems to have gone wonky since we...

Now that just doesn't seem right. Where was this? Most places have a max for people (good) and an extra charge for extra vehicles (eh, if it fits in the space... but, whatever). You have a tow vehicle and a trailer - same as a whole lot of folks. Maybe be sure to have the regulations available...

I just unloaded my camper from the truck. It took about an hour including putting the jacks on and then lowering onto the dolly. I did it by myself. Loading takes a bit longer and I always have my wife help me insure that I'm lined up properly. Like anything else, the more you do it, the easier...