I've been looking at wireless cameras. I think that they would be a great safety addition. Have any of you tried hooking up a separate wireless transmitter so that it'd run through an in-dash display? I'll be installing a stereo that has a screen.

Howdy folks. Been a while since I last posted. Got a question for y'all if you don't mind.
Have any of you used a backup camera on your TC? I'm looking at upgrading my truck's radio and was thinking of getting a backup camera on my TC. What I'm wanting is something I can hardwire above the door so that I can see everything behind me. What are your experiences? Any advice you can offer?

Thanks

So this is a case of smashing your thumb with a hammer and blaming the hammer???
Sorry you had a bad day.
Perhaps you should avoid slides altogether. I'd also suggest being careful with awnings, and anything that sticks out.


Also, beware of hammers, they hurt. My thumbnail is black right now after I smashed it with a hammer.

Thanks for the tips! I can use all that I can get!
I do have the Oxygenics shower head. But I showered daily for four days in it while boondocking. I used as little water as possible, but I think I used too much washing dishes. I like your tip of washing dishes in a separate pan and dumping it nearby as well as the sewer cap with a hose attachment. I'll look into getting something like that before my next big trip. I plan on getting me some leveling blocks before I do anything else as that was something that annoyed me more than filling up my grey tank.
Oh! I also just installed an awning on my camper. A Dometic pull out awning. It barely fit but still fit great. The main roller tube came with a very big dent in the middle of it. I couldn't see it with it rolled up and didn't find it until I had everything installed. I'm talking with the people I bought it from and they're going to find me a replacement. Wish I had it for my last trip. Then again I'll have it for my next one in a couple of weeks so I'll be happy.

I was boondocking but I wasn't alone out there. It was a fairly crowded impromptu campground for a function. Otherwise I'd have used the outdoor shower instead. Also I needed to as I was at a shooting competition and was covered in gunpowder.
In case you're wondering I got first in my category.

I went on my first trip this past weekend. I had a blast. I've never been this comfortable while camping before! I slept like a rock. Normally I'm up every couple of hours tending to a fire. Not this time!
I started out with a five hour drive. It took me a while to get used to the camper and get everything set right. I stopped several times to adjust mirrors and pressure in my airbags. How I normally do my mirrors doesn't work that well with a camper. Once satisfied I had a pleasant drive. I arrived and got myself settled.
This was a four day boondocking trip so no hookups. I then learned that I need to get me some leveling blocks. I arranged my camper to have a slight lean to the rear and leveled with the jacks side to side. It didn't take much to level the camper, I chose a good site.
I had myself a good time. Each evening I would start up my generator and run the A/C to cool off for the night. While it had power I'd watch TV or a movie. Once cooled I'd shut everything down and go to bed. It was extremely comfortable.
It's very nice having a stove to cook on while camping. So easy. I also learned a few things. Here's what I learned.
1) Leveling blocks under the tires would be a big help.
2) Take less food. I had a lot of leftovers.
3) Use less water. I filled my gray tank and it overflowed into the shower slightly.
4) It's so much fun.

So about my shower. Since I was at an angle, my tanks were essentially smaller that what I thought they were. My sensor showed that I had room in my grey tank so I took a shower before I left. As I got things cleaned up and stowed away I had to wash a couple of things. When I went to clean up my shower the bottom was full of water. I had to slightly drain my grey tank and the standing water drained back into the tank. I checked for damage or wetness under the floor and saw nothing.
I have a membership with the Good Sam Club. I was able to use that at a nearby Flying J to get a dump station discount. I dumped the black tank, hosed it out, then dumped the grey. While there I topped off my truck's fuel tanks and then I was on my way home. It's so nice being able to stop at a rest stop and have good "homemade" food instead of that fast food crap I normally get.


This is so much fun. I wish I'd gotten into it much sooner. I'm not getting rid of my tents and tarps just yet, I'm just adding another method.
Oh, surprisingly I wasn't the only truck camper there and I saw about 5 or 6 others on the road.

Going out again this next weekend for an overnight. I'm looking forward to that one too.

I have a small rug at my entrance to keep my boots and wipe my feet. Other than that I don't have any. It matches my camper and looks decent for a $1.50 garage sale find.

I'd avoid heating up the loop unless you plan on welding it shut. Heating it will ruin any temper the metal has making it much softer and easier to bend out. I've had a couple of turnbuckles give out because I did that. I heated them up to fit over a loop and then closed them tight. The loops I bent gave out while the others didn't show any signs of stress much less failure. Don't do it.
If you're worried about them coming off while driving I'd suggest tying them on. You can use thin wire to wire them on the camper loops or just use some stout line of some sort.

I have a '97 Lance on a '95 F-350. The previous owner of my camper doubled stacked 2x4's for clearance on his truck. While taking it home I noticed that I had a lot of sway. I removed one layer or 1.5" and that little bit improved the sway and handling immensely. You want the camper as low as you can get it and still have clearance. I would remove the last layer of 2x4's except I have things bolted into my bed that I need.

It was the switch. I got a new one and installed it. Worked perfectly.

What my plan is, is to plug the camper in and let the fridge get cold a day or two before I leave. That way it only has to maintain. I'll only be using the 12v while driving and I'll be switching to propane or shore power as soon as I get to my destination. I'm not looking to power it all the time just while driving. Honestly this will more than likely only be used to charge electronics or other things in the camper.

My concern about the police is because there's a cop here that hates me and will ticket me for the slightest violation. He's ticketed me for 1 mile over the limit a few times. I think it was because I fooled around with his daughter.

Oh, I know all that. Problem lies with my father. We split the bill on the camper. He has the truck, I have the camper. We already share the truck whenever I need it. I have no problem with just running it off of propane. He, however, wants everything as it's supposed to and got gung-ho and started wiring the truck up. He's already installed the relay, and cut a hole in the dash for the switch so stopping now is a bit out of the question for us. We're in with both feet. Besides, you never know when you'll get pulled over by some Barney Fife that'll write you a ticket for running propane while driving.

I think I may have gotten a bad switch. I tested the relay this morning and it works fine and how I expect it to. I'm getting some strange things out of the switch. I'll be getting a new switch today and I'll test that out to see if it's a problem.

I've been trying to hook my Lance up to my truck in order to run the fridge off of my truck power. I'm having trouble that I can't seem to figure out.
So here's the deal. I bought an Intellitec Battery disconnect relay and have it mounted to the inner fender on my truck. I have an 8ga wire running from the battery through an in-line fuse then to the relay. From there there's a small wire going up to a 5a fuse to a red wire going to a mom on-off-mom on switch. From the "I" and "S" terminals I have black and white wires going to opposite sides then I have a green ground wire opposite of the red on the switch. The red and green wires are on the single posts while the white and black wires are on the ones that cross over. I do not have a wire running back to the plug for the camper yet as I'm trying to get the relay working first. No matter how I hook the switch up I am getting constant power from the relay. It is not disengaging.

What am I doing wrong?

Truck: 1995 Ford F350XLT with 7.3L turbo-diesel, twin batteries, and large alternator.
Relay: https://www.amazon.com/Intellitec-Battery-D...s/dp/B00KPR8QAO




Using this diagram A and D are my White and Black wires leading to the "I" and "S" terminals. B and E are the Red hot wire coming from the fuse off of the large batt. terminal and the Green ground wire.

I installed a King Jack HDTV antenna on the roof of my camper. It picks up near 25 channels. The antenna I have for my house picks up four or five. It's a simple install and works great. Clear signal and picture.

I found mine on Ebay. The seller was fairly close so after talking with him I drove up and saw it in person before buying it. It was better than what the pictures showed and he even honored the price at that time. I got it for $3000 when the bidding ended at nearly $7000 when he canceled the auction. He even tossed in a new mattress. It's still in plastic! He's a great guy too. He was selling it to make room for a classic car.

I read it. But there's hearing how big a flame is, then there's hearing how long the fuel lasted.

Dang towpro. That little? I'm still going to hook it up to truck electric, but I'll keep it on auto so that it'll switch between the two. Good to know that the fridge only politely sips propane.

Oh I know. I just want everything working the way it's supposed to. Besides I'd still like to be able to charge the battery and things off of the truck while driving. Biggest problem I'm running into right now is that I'm wanting to run it through the fuse box on the truck but I can't find the little metal things the spade fuses plug into. I'll probably end up running an in-line fuse to it, but I'd rather hook it into the fuse box for a cleaner install. I am that picky.

Oh I was fully planning on cooling it down before hand and that I'd put in cold food. But I know that some places don't want you running propane while driving. And there's no point in using up the gas when the truck is already running. I'd rather save the propane, and utilize the truck.
Still. I want to have everything hooked up properly. I'm going to try to wire it up today. Depends if I can fix my brother's car or not. As well as finish my brother's project on my daily driver truck. He decided to surprise me by taking the fender flares off and painting them. He didn't finish....as usual.

I got me a great boat off of a client that went through a divorce that started in November. Also got a couple of trailers, a car, and several other things that way and only had to trade work for them. Sometimes being a contractor has it's perks.
So....wooo divorce season.....yeah. Works though.


Oh, and I don't think you're screwed on weight. It'd be close but there's a lot of people out there sucessfully camping that are over GVWR.

Just a quick question on my fridge.
I was re-wiring the 7-pin plug on my truck and saw that the power supply wires are 10 or 12 gauge. I got to thinking about the fridge on my camper.
My 1997 Lance 880 came with a Dometic 3-way Refrigerator. Gas, AC, and DC. It'll run off of the truck as well. I know that the power comes through the 7-pin trailer light plug on my truck. The harness coming off of my camper has 8 gauge wires for truck power I was wondering if my truck needs 8 gauge wire as well.
I want to get things right while I have everything torn apart.
Do I need 8 gauge wire for the power supply on my truck or will the 10 or 12 gauge wire be enough?

I've found that the best time to find a camper or anything like that is November and the like. People don't want to pay for storage and you can usually negotiate a good deal on them. Also, it's divorce season. More people get divorced towards the end of the year than the beginning. Campers, motorcycles, boats, etc. are usually the first things to go in a divorce.
Sad to say but it's true.

So it wouldn't hurt it at all? If not then that'll be the best thing for me.

I've looked at those. I do like them, but they are too tall for my purpose. The door is 24"wide by 15 1/2" tall. Unless I can lay it over onto it's side it won't fit. Would that hurt it? Not running it like that, just transporting it. I think it'd flood out the engine and get oil into bad places, but if it works it works.

So, a regular generator's major draw back is going to be the noise level. Hmm.... If I can make the Yamaha fit I think that's the route I'll go otherwise I'm stuck with a screamer.
Oh, I'll be getting a spare tire carrier soon. I'm recovering from an ankle surgery and have another at the end of this week, so I can't actually go out to a junk yard and get the parts I need yet. I've set aside funds for one, I'm just waiting until I'm able to walk better.
I'm also going to try, sometime this week, to go see a Yamaha ef2800i in person and see what it'll take to make that work for me. I'd still rather spend the extra money and get the better genny.

So, I found a generator that'll fit and more than powerful enough. The Champion 46597 3500 Watt generator. Problem is, it's not an inverter. Is that a problem?
I won't have many electronics other than the TV. My camper was built before inverter generators. I'll probably only charge my phone, if that. I'm really only wanting it to run the A/C an to use on job sites.
What I'm wondering is, if I can use a surge protector to protect my electronics.
I don't have a microwave, won't get one either.
Won't have a computer.
No tablet.
Fridge, A/C, and charging the battery is all I'm really concerned about.
Do I need an inverter generator? or will a regular generator work well enough?