Picking up 2000 Alaskan, truck and trip preparation for newbie

[Shawn S]

I have a 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 4x4 crew cab with 8' bed. Next weekend I am planning to pick up a 2000 Alaskan 10' CO. Any tips for a newbie? It's going to be a long trip, about 9 hours of driving every day for 4 days.

Tomorrow I will begin prepping the truck, starting with installing the camper plug inside the bed. I have Torklift brackets coming, those will get installed next week. I have Air Lift helper bags.

I plan to bring some 2x4's in case we need to raise the camper above the bed floor. I will have an assortment of power and hand tools.

Any wiring tips? I plan to run a 10 gauge wire with breaker from the battery. 10 gauge ground to the truck frame. 14 gauge for the clearance lights, and 14 gauge for the brake lights.

What do I need to do/know for the trip? How fast can you drive with the camper?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Shawn, sounds like you’re getting a nice camper. Good move with the Torklift brackets., I recommend their Fastgun tie downs (including locks) to hold it down.

Consider using a larger wire for the battery, as well as an isolator to keep from running the truck battery down. Same wire for the ground.

Get a good walk through from the owner, including how to ensure the top is locked/pinned when in both down and up positions. You should be able to do normal or close to normal speeds, but a bit slower is always safer.

Welcome to WTW!

 

[OregonOzzy]

Shawn S,
Congratulations on your Alaskan. You will love it. I tried this same exploit; picking up a new to me Alaskan about 2 mths back. In addition to the sage advice above ... double check with the owner if any mods have been done to the Alaskan. In my case the owner had glued wood under the overhang that rode on his truck bed rails (don't ask me why) that increased the height the camper had to be at to clear my trucks bed rails. Jacks did not extend that fair and using scrap pieces of wood to raise under the jacks was a very sketchy operation.
Ask the owner how far the jacks will raise the camper bottom and make sure to check your truck bed height and that the CO section clears your truck cab.
May want to make sure there are jacks available and in working order (don't ask me how I know). If they are Reico Titan newer style you can get extensions that will help provide more clearance if needed.
You may want to take along some extra chain and chain links in case you need to extend the tie down points.
Some extra heavy duty straps - just in case.
Ask the owner if they can move the camper to a hard surface that will make the transfer a lot easier. These are heavy campers and you want to be safe and level. Doing it in the Nevada desert/sand is not recommended. LOL (learned that lesson).
Hopefully it has a charged battery and the pump works to raise and lower it.
Enjoy your new acquisition.

Ozzy

PS: I learned a lot and will be better prepared next time when I try picking up an Alaskan... that one did not work out and it was a very nice one. Still regret leaving it. Still looking.....

 

[Cowgirl in MT]

Hi Shawn!
Congratulations on your Alaskan. I bought mine last spring (a 2010 10’ CO)and I didn’t have a truck so I got a GMC Sierra 3500 long bed.

I put on Torklift brackets and got jack extensions because the truck was too tall. On the maiden loading of the Alaskan I discovered that GMC’S, maybe chevy’s are too narrow…. The back wider areas that are meant to fit behind the wheel wells were an inch - too wide on the bottom. And I had to cut out the plywood 3/8” thick edging up to the where the aluminum siding starts. It is the area under the kitchen sink on one side and the closet area on the other so it would slide in the last 6 inches. Really a bummer to discover.

So measure the metal on the truck on the bottom that holds the tailgate when it is shut.

I will try to post some pictures. The only other issue that I am having is the running lights are not working and the water pump on the sink stopped.

Good Luck!
Carla

 

[Vic Harder]

+1 to what WS said.. consider thicker gauge wire for the charging circuit. I'd do 6g (I have 2g in mine) and have wires for both ground and positive, and not use a frame ground. And an isolator (blue sea ACR 7622 is a good one) or even better would be a DC-DC charger such as the Victron Orion would be a good way to ensure the truck keeps the camper charged. You should also have a battery monitor. I like the Victron BMV 712 or Bluetooth Shunt.

 

[Shawn S]

The consensus seems to be on larger wiring, I will heed that advice. Today I took the topper and bedslide off my truck, tomorrow I will tackle the wiring. Are there any threads that any of you are aware of that talk about how to wire the plug in and the various options with charging?

Edit: I see the link in Vic's signature, reading it now.

 

[Vic Harder]

;-)

Ask questions as they come up.....

 

[Shawn S]

Ask questions as they come up

Lots of good reading Vic. Wiring/charging/batteries is going to be a pretty important part of leaving the grid. Unless someone talks me out of it, I think for now I need to make an operational plug, get the camper, and bring it home. Then I will dig in and see exactly what I have and how I can improve it. The current owner is using the factory wiring, so a 4 wire cord with the 7 pin plug on it.
So I think for now I will wire my standard 7 pin round plug with the 10 gauge power wires and 14 gauge marker/brake wires so I have something for the trip home. I am heading into this blind, and I think it will be much easier setting this all up properly when I have the camper here.

 

[Beach]

Take a couple/few heavy ratchet straps, things might not go as planned on mounting to the truck, straps will get you home.

 

[DanoT]

My guess is that pu trucks today, especially 4x4, have a higher stance and bed height vs trucks being built when the camper was built. 20 years ago. So bring some blocks or base extension for the camper jacks to raise the camper when loading onto the truck.

 

[Vic Harder]

Lots of good reading Vic. Wiring/charging/batteries is going to be a pretty important part of leaving the grid. Unless someone talks me out of it, I think for now I need to make an operational plug, get the camper, and bring it home. Then I will dig in and see exactly what I have and how I can improve it. The current owner is using the factory wiring, so a 4 wire cord with the 7 pin plug on it.
So I think for now I will wire my standard 7 pin round plug with the 10 gauge power wires and 14 gauge marker/brake wires so I have something for the trip home. I am heading into this blind, and I think it will be much easier setting this all up properly when I have the camper here.

that's a workable solution.

 

[Dr.Science]

On power supply: A DC-DC charger (Renogy makes a good one) is useful. Your truck will have an AWG 8 hot wire in the camper/trailer harness which is adequate to support charging voltage. The DC-DC charger will "tell" your truck that it needs to supply full charging current until the camper battery is fully charged, and will prevent the camper battery from discharging the truck battery. It needs a wire (AWG 18 or 20 is adequate) to the fuse box to tell it when the truck engine is running, and this is separate from the 7-pin wiring harness. Easy to route.

Other stuff: ratchet strap to hold the Alaskan top down, unless it comes equipped with a lock to prevent it from rising up. Ratchet straps to hold the camper in the truck until you get the tie-downs installed. Other replies have covered the fitting issues you may have with a late model truck and an older camper.

 

[Aquadoc]

Sean S, or anyone else, how did the fit work out? I am heading down to LA to pick up a 2014 8.5CO, she’ll ride in my 16 2500 Duramax. Has anyone had any fitting problems? My Homie just picked up a 20 8’ CO in a 22 3500 he said it was tight, and he used 1x4s under the floor and has about 2” of headroom above his cab. I’m stopping by the shop on my way down to talk to the guys at Alaska (45miles south of me) BUT wanted to check on here to get insight.
Thanks,
Pete

 

[Vic Harder]

I have a 2015 Silverado, and the rounded corners of the box at the tailgate can be a problem. I chose to put 1/2" of rigid insulation under the camper to lift it just enough to clear (also massaged the camper a bit to get it to fit - ATC Puma - not an Alaskan though)

 

[Aquadoc]

Thanks all WHELP I’m sitting in her right now thinking of a name. 3days @ 700+- miles per day (when I was 17 I made that run in 17 hrs… 80’s JA!!! ) But this old Man is smoked, but brought home a Beute! Previous owner and Brother were AWESOME, while waiting for the wire they walked me through everything, except for a lil electrolysis , strange-ish since she’s lived in LA AND Lake Havesu, since released from the nursery. She fit like a glove. I got 2x4s just in case But I’ll bump down to 1x4s, as I’ve got 3” of Cabover clearance, 2” salvage mat on the rails and front bulkhead of the bed and the wheel well cavities should be rain “proof”