New (to me) FWC Owner

[craig333]

Do you have a link to the MeTer and the Thermometer? I've had couple and they always break. That one looks nicer than any I've tried.

 

[norcalhusky]

Sure, here ya go:

MT-5 LCD Display Remote Meter for Solar Regulator, Come with 2 Meters Cable, for Tracer MPPT series Tracer1210RN, Tracer1215RN, Tracer2210RN, Tracer2215RN, Tracer3215RN, Tracer4210RN https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECVWDGC/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_lTGEub0QBPNY4

La Crosse Technology WS-9160U-IT Digital Thermometer with Indoor/Outdoor Temperature https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DNIIOS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_IUGEub0793ZFJ

I don't think the thermometer is all that great though, the main unit and the remote unit usually have a different reading if they are right next to each other

 

[norcalhusky]

Did a little bit of work today. The original table was great, but there was no place to really store it when it wasn't in table mode. It was just awkwardly put behind the couch cushion and always in the way. The previous owner had cut and finished a piece of wood to put in-between the dinette seats to better support the bed cushion and it had a nice storage place in between the dinette seats against the wall of the camper. I decided to use this conveniently already cut piece of wood and convert it to the table duty. The table is a bit smaller now but actually easier to sit out because you don't have to slide under it to sit down and it has a nice storage location.

I got one side of the new LED spot lights installed. They look and work great but the mount doesn't leave much room for tilting the lights all the way up. I will need to make a new one that pushes the lights a little further out but in the mean time its much better than the couple of wires just dangling down like there was before

And lastly, I finally got rid of the aftermarket chrome wheels that were on the truck (I hate chrome on trucks...) and replaced them with some flat black Pro Comp alloys that I think look much better. At the same time I got some airbags installed to help with the squat of the truck

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Rig is looking good.

 

[GroovyDad]

Some other simple things I have done include some Quick Fists to hold my axe, a paper towel holder, and a temperature gauge with a remote sensor so I can see how much warmer I am inside the cozy camper

One of the best quick and easy things I have done so far is replace the front window curtain rod with a compression type that is inside the window frame. The old one stuck the curtain out a inch or two and had a nasty sharp bracket behind the dinnete's seat that was annoying to try and lean back against. Even though the pics are kind of dark you can also kind of see the recovered seats that my girlfriend did for me to get rid of the camp ones that were in there. They are actually a nice royal blue that goes well with the other blues already in the camper.

On the outside I mounted a CB antennae to the jack bracket as well

Your add-on's and projects look great. If I were you, I'd hold on to any girlfriend willing to do camper upholstery for you. I just spent $360.00 to get four camper cushions made...

 

[norcalhusky]

Rig is looking good.

Thanks!

Your add-on's and projects look great. If I were you, I'd hold on to any girlfriend willing to do camper upholstery for you. I just spent $360.00 to get four camper cushions made...

Yeah she is great! She loves going out camping and helping me with any improvements to the camper that she can. I'm pretty spoiled

 

[norcalhusky]

Went out to the Big Sur area over new years.... simply amazing place to stay. Especially Prewitt Ridge area. Highly recommended if you have not been out there yet! Picture don't really do it justice but here is a couple....

I'm a little on the fence about the new air bags. They definitely leveled the truck but the ride seems slightly more sloppy and wiggly now like they are too soft... maybe I m just focusing too much on it. I'm going to play with the air pressure some more. I only had them up to around 50 PSI.

 

[norcalhusky]

Sadly I can't seem to get one of the burners on my stove to operate anymore. You have to push the handle down a little bit and turn to get them on. They have always been a little difficult to turn but now I can't get one of them to turn at all. I didn't want to pry to hard when I was out camping and end up with some sort of propane leek...I took the cover off and the little tab disengages properly when pushed down, it just won't turn. Anyone ever have this problem?

 

[Bill D]

Your dog Kaya is awesome. Can't wait to show the GF. I think she's sick of me showing her pics of campers, but she loves big dogs.

 

[idahoron]

Went out to the Big Sur area over new years.... simply amazing place to stay. Especially Prewitt Ridge area. Highly recommended if you have not been out there yet! Picture don't really do it justice but here is a couple....

I'm a little on the fence about the new air bags. They definitely leveled the truck but the ride seems slightly more sloppy and wiggly now like they are too soft... maybe I m just focusing too much on it. I'm going to play with the air pressure some more. I only had them up to around 50 PSI.

The 50 pounds sounds fine. I run mine about 20 pounds What tires do you have and what is the pressure in them?

 

[norcalhusky]

The 50 pounds sounds fine. I run mine about 20 pounds What tires do you have and what is the pressure in them?

I have duratracs. They are e rated. I have the tires at 50 psi also. 35 when unloaded

 

[idahoron]

That is odd. My Tundra feels a little stiff. Like I said I run 18 to 20 in the air bags. I have michelin E rated tires at 50 pounds loaded.

 

[norcalhusky]

I've done a bit of work to the camper over the last few weeks, as there was a few things I wanted to change.

On my F150, because of the deep bed sides and older camper, a platform is required to set the camper on to have proper clearance. In addition to that, the water tank has a drain that hung out the bottom of the side overhang a bunch as well as a bolt that from the propane tank hold down. My original platform was 3.5 inches tall to clear all of this and I wanted to minimize this height. I also didn't like the stock location and size of the water tank. I ended up removing the stock water tank in anticipation of installing a bigger one on the floor of the camper under the front window like the newer ones have. This allowed me to cut a full inch off the platform that I was using allowing a slightly easier entrance to the camper, lower center of gravity and cleaner look between the bedrails, cab, and camper.


Cutting down the riser:

Removed stock water tank:

of note, I'm not sure how often the previous owners cleaned the tank, but I did occasionally and usually used the stock tank for drinking water as well as everything else. Once I got into the cabinet and behind all the panels blocking the stock lines I saw how nasty they were! Like nearly black inside.. was pretty gross... glad I am going to be putting new ones in.


Since I was into the project this far, I decided to do a couple others things I had been wanting to do. So i went ahead and removed the absorption fridge that was essentially unusable while the truck was moving and required to much micromanaging to not freeze stuff overnight. The stock stove had a broken burner after our last trip and I was unable to repair it, so I went ahead and tore that out too.

 

[norcalhusky]

I tore out a previous owners existing cabinet located in the front of the camper under the cab window and built a new one that will house the new water tank. This required cutting down and reinstalling the small lower cabinet with sliding doors to make room for the new cabinet. The cabinet is now flush with the dinette seating and makes for a nice long bench.


new cabinet in progress:

I don't have a great picture of the cabinet finished but here are a couple:

 

[norcalhusky]

One of the bummers of having the older non extended cab over bed is that the bed covers the stove when it is in extended position and you have to get up and make the bed and slide it back to make breakfast or whatever in the morning. I decided to move the new stove over fridge location. I really like this location better!

Running propane to new stove location:

Testing Propane connection:

 

[norcalhusky]

The new stove was a fairly good fit to the stock location, but did require some modifications. I had to remove the pieces around the front frame to make the opening slightly wider and taller. I also had to shim out the front, and move the electrical outlet and wiring from the back wall as the new fridge was deeper.

With the propane done do the new stove and the new fridge in place I lined the doug fir with a adhesive backed oak paper thingy to make it sort look like the stock cabinetry. Came out ok I think!

 

[norcalhusky]

I then needed something to power the new fridge of course. I have a 63 AH Interstate deep cycle/agm battery that I had ben charging with a small solar system before to power the LED lights, but with no connection to the trucks alternator I needed something bigger! I reinstalled the panel that covered the original water tank, just push it back into the cabinet further then before since the tank was no longer there:

Some of the circuits were doubled up on the small original Buss fuse panel, so I went ahead and replaced it with a Blue Sea Systems 12 position block:

The wiring to the existing fuse panel form the battery went through the wall and outside, then back through the turnbuckle access over to the battery on the front passenger side. I believe this was originally the truck <-> battery connection that someone repurposed. I ripped this all out and ran new 8 AWG wire all inside over to the battery compartment and new fuse panel. I used the existing 10 AWG wire over to the new fridge.

 

[norcalhusky]

To recharge the the battery and run the new compressor fridge, I purchased a 100 Watt Renogy panel and installed it on the roof:

With this panel I bought a 50 ft pre terminated 10 AWG solar wire and cut it in half. The factory terminated ends connected to the factory terminated connectors on the panel, while the other ends ran to the existing charge controller I had installed earlier. The pass through the roof goes through a mount I found on amazon as well:

 

[norcalhusky]

The new fridge is AWESOME. I have the 100W panel connected to a 20A MPPT controller. I have not turned off the fridge for at least a month now and the battery is always full very quickly in the morning. I have not really experienced any extended shade or rainy days since it doesn't really rain anymore in California

While doing stuff up on the roof I was also able to install a new fantastic vent fan which is also great. It has the auto closing rain sensor as well as 13 manual or auto speeds controlled by an IR remote.

 

[norcalhusky]

I was going to install new counter tops while doing this but I got lazy like normal and filled the old hole from the old stove with a piece of cutting board that tap plastics cut for me. I think it looks ok and will be useful like this, I have not sealed it all up yet as I still have some work to do on the drawer underneath