Rice Build thread!

I checked last night. The wiring I removed from the camper was 10 gauge to the truck and 8 gauge battery cables. I assume that was the factory wiring. There is evidence someone else had hacked into the truck wiring part.

Getting there. Nearly done with this part. I added a piece of scrap lumber as a divider. Now I can use part of this space for storage without interfering with wiring. I then notched the cabinet face for the fridge cable and reinstalled it. I'll put the access doors back on after the camper is mounted in the truck.




I added an 8 gauge cable for a portable solar panel.




Done in here for now and closed back up.


Box mounted for the Trimetric charge monitor and access holes drilled. This location is out of harms way and can be read and accessed from inside or out of the camper.






I still have to hook up the Trimetrc wiring and mount the solar panel on the roof. I hope to get that done today.
 
As said earlier I had to relocate the charge controller to a vertical position for cooling. Of course I had to remake a couple of cables. The cabling dressed better after the change.








While I was closing up cabinets it was time to add a custom touch. Real deal antique appears to have never been used. Now easy to use from inside or out.


Roof racks mounted up.


I bolted a thin aluminum angle to each side of my 160 watt panel.


Then that was fastened to the roof racks with homemade U bolts.


Then the cabling was run.


I plugged in the fridge this am.


Last evening I moved the camper outside and raised the roof. Let's just say that was no fun without the internal gas springs installed. I needed the roof down to work in the garage. I needed that piece of wood that mounts the struts out of the way to access the junction box in the ceiling. No way to reattach the gas struts with the roof down. Some weight up there now. But all is back together now.

As of about 9am today all is working well. Early am the panel was putting out over 19 volts. Once I set the charge parameters on the battery the controller was feeding around 6 amps to the battery for a few minutes. I went to the L3 level and set the battery profiles in the Trimetric for charging. Then went back to L1 for just watching. Once the battery was charged flow slowed to float charge. Unless the fridge kicks on. Then you can watch the amp draw slowly change from a draw to a + number as the charger lets through enough solar power to cover the usage plus maintain the float charge. Highest draw I've seen from the Truck Fridge when kicking on was around 5 amps.
 
Just a little solar update. Where the camper is parked we lose solar charging about 4:30 pm as the sun hides behind the trees. The fridge is in the camper set at 34* on MAX setting. By 8am yesterday morning when I checked the charge had dropped to 88% and was already charging back up. By noon the battery was back to 100%. It was sunny all day. I saw a max charge of around 5+ amps.

This am is cloudy but I'm getting some charging. It will be interesting how long it takes to recover today.
 
Since I last posted we took our beach trip and I haven't been online much since. I have more stuff on backlog to write up. But at this point I'll just say the new truck carried the camper fine for almost 1,000 miles. I never touched a turnbuckle other than checking them.

We love the solar and the fridge. So nice to keep a lot of meat and such in the fridge and not have to fish anything out of water a week later. Mama Squatch is sold. Enough said?

Until a few days ago the fridge has been in the camper and running with food or drinks in it. I took it out to clean it a couple of days ago. Over almost a month we had maybe 3 days that were rainy and cloudy enough that we didn't get a full charge during the day. But we never got low enough on the battery to cause any issues. Never below 83% charge. Most days the battery is fully charged by mid day. I think we have the system sized well for our needs. I always have the option of adding on portable panels just by plugging into the camper. I have the panels but haven't built them into a portable unit yet. Haven't needed them so far.

At this point the Camper is self contained and runs on solar only. I haven't hooked up the truck wiring yet.

The bed cushion have to be addressed. I have another thread on here about the concrete bed cushions. These have to be replaced soon.

I'll post up some more pics and some mods as soon as I get a chance to deal with the pics.
 
The last night we were at the beach there was a good storm. When it was over around dawn the wind stopped. When the wind stops on the Outer Banks the No-See-Em's come out in droves. Screens don't even slow them down.
They collect around lights. Nasty little biting buggers! :(




A picture of the camper on the truck.


The '05-'06 double cab Tundra has a 20" deep bed instead of the 17" that was on earlier models. So I had to build a riser platform to raise the camper. I made a quick one out of 2x4's and 3/8" plywood.






It works well. But I will probably remake it out of 2x3 and lower the camper an Inch. This board is a true 1". It fits fine all the way around when I checked for clearance.


I'll also trim the rubber bumpers on the front of the camper to snug it forward an inch or so.
 
Our 2012 Eagle came with the single eyebolt with a small aluminum backing plate. Because of the large wheel wells in the Moon Truck I needed to move the front mounts forward a couple of inches. I purchased the newer style 3 bolt mounts from FWC. They have a larger backing plate. I centered them on the old hole and drilled a new hole fore and aft of that one. I then used the old eye bolt for the front most bolt. This gives me 2 eyelets to fasten to.

Old style.


New style.


This allows me to hook up the turnbuckles to the new bracket. And also to run a safety chain from the trucks factory tie downs to the old eyelet on the bracket. Might be nice to have if I ever break a turnbuckle. I intend to eventually do the rear mounts this way as well.


I also got my Bike rack sorted. Because of the overhang of the camper I had to use a 9" extension on the hitch.





 
The next thing to be dealt with is the uncomfortable bed cushions. They were removed and stored in the basement. I was going to get new foam cut but decided to try something else 1st. I had a couple of 3.5" self inflating sleeping pads I regularly sleep on top of a cot with. They are very comfortable. So I thought I'd try a test.

The 1st item to be covered is the step in the bed caused by the slide out.


So I picked up some 1/2" ESP foam and cut a piece to fill the space in front of the slide out. It lifts up and rests on top of the slide out when closed. It should add a little insulation on cold nights as well.




Add 2 extra large 30"x77"x3.5" REI self inflating mattresses. Old and a new one.


Sleeping bag on top. It's pretty comfortable and I'll try it camping soon. If we need more cush we can move up to the Exped Mega Mats. These inflatables should allow us to keep the bedding on the bed when traveling and be much more comfortable to sleep on.


As you can see in the above pics we have the internal 60# gas struts in our camper. After adding the solar panel I'll be upgrading soon to external struts both front and rear to help with the roof lifting chores.
 
Squatch,

You have done some grade A work on your setup. Thanks for the info and pics, I'm sure many are using your info to help them out. You have a great looking rig buddy :)
 
Thanks for the kind words. I'm going to post this here as well as elsewhere as I consider it part of the camper build.

Anyway I picked up a Camco Little Red Campfire. Our truck camper has 2 10lb propane bottles as opposed to the normal 20lb'er. The camper can run the stove and the furnace for some time on one of them. So that leaves the other for this. The idea is for quick setups or campgrounds that don't allow wood fires or during burn bans. I like a wood campfire! But I can see times when this might be fun and handy.

It came in today so I thought I'd try it for a few. It's very windy today. Like 35-45 mph gusts and chilly.

The Campfire and one of my tanks.


Set up.


I also bought the optional cooking grid. It's for pots not meat on the grate.


Couple of fire pics. I didn't burn it long. just set it up, checked for leaks, lit it and took some pics. Pics were hard to get between daylight and the wind. I did feel some heat off the fire as well.




 
We had a broken roof vent cover on one of our fantastic vents. I ordered a replacement. I didn't realize until it came in that it had a domed top and not flat like the normal ones for these vents. Not an issue for us. And now it is clear again. I fogged the plastic on the old one with DEET.





The new one has an upgraded mount for the lifting arm.

Installed.




I also ordered a rear hitch mounted step and a device for holding it steady in the hitch. Both work very well. The step has a bit of a slick finish. I intend to coat it with some bedliner for traction. I'll also add a little reflective tape.
https://www.amazon.com/CR-Brophy-Machine-Works-RHS2/dp/B001U7FSSQ/ref=sr_1_22?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1472169400&sr=1-22&keywords=hitch+step







Our camper has the internal gas spring to assist lifting the top. They are a bit challenged since I added the solar on the roof. I'm still doing my homework on moving to 4 outside lift struts. In the meantime I have ordered 2 80lb struts to replace the existing 60 lb ones on the inside. They should be here any day.

We've had the camper almost 2 years now. it has taken several week long trips. But I'm just now getting around to using the stove and furnace. Both work well.
1st pot of coffee on the stove.


Pic from latest trip.
 
Squatch,

Thanks for your latest post, I've enjoyed following each of your threads. You have shared some excellent suggestions and how-to's, so I come here to learn and enjoy. Keep up the great work, and I'll look forward to your future projects and trips!

Poky




Sent from my iPad using Wander The West
 
As a Brophy camper step owner like yours, let me make a couple of suggestions. In addition to reflective tape, either paint the trailing edge of the top surface white, or stick some glo-in-the-dark tape on the trailing edge. They are serious shin eaters in low light.

Secondly, be careful to avoid driving over a curb when pulling out into the road. I overlooked that in Moab and the bottom step caught the top of the curb and was bent up more than half way to the level of the top stair. Made backing down the steps very difficult in the dark.

Other than those things, I really like the steps. Bosque Bill had his modified and greatly improved them.
http://bosquebill.blogspot.com/2014/02/camper-steps-modification.html

Paul
 
Just a fun note. After I got the camper loaded up a day or so ago I got my propane bottles filled. 5 lbs total cost $2.95! I don't think these bottle have been filled since the camper was new in 2012.

I've actually used the furnace and stove on quite a few trips this fall. Judging from this I'd say neither is a fuel hog!
 
Fantastic fan are warrantied for life. My cracked and I bought plastic dome one just like yours. I called up fantastic van to order a new. The lady spoke almost scolded me for buying a replacement and sent me one for free.
 
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