At -23F did your water system freeze or where you carrying water in jugs?
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If you spec a heater right there are lots of peep that camp in the scamps in sub freezing temps. I'm looking at installing a catalytic heater in my scamp 13 to get away from the suburban furnace noise and battery draw.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000BUV1RK#Ask
And recent pic from this weeks adventure:
Attachment 168178
I just picked up an $800 '91 Ford Explorer with functioning 4WD...may be living out of it in Idaho this winter if you wanna hook up and shred!
Here is the furnace out of my 13' trailer on Craigslist. PM me on here and i'll do a mag discount. Great heater and works, but is overkill for me here in Cali and in a smaller trailer.
http://reno.craigslist.org/rvs/5123681899.html
Attachment 168237
We carried water for drinking and cooking. Flushed the toilet using "pink stuff". It would have been impossible to dump in those temps as the pink stuff becomes a thick slurry at that temp and won't flow, although the pipes outside the heated space didn't burst. Next winter we are planing a modification to build an insulated fiberglass, hinged cover that will protect the dump valves when not in use. We will drill some holes in the trailer floor and install a fan to direct heat into that space to enable dumpiing in temps hopefully down to the teens.
Think I am going to take a look at this thing for a build out for truck camper. Was originally envisioning a Mitsubishi type box truck chassis but intrigued by this van flatbed.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07...5c978cbc66.jpg
What are thoughts on center of gravity if I mounted it in structural cradle just behind fiberglass cab extension - Just by eye I would have to shave about 30" off back to accommadate the short bed bigfoot camper. TC itself is fairly light at sub 1500 lbs wet. IDK if it would drive like shit with camper looking like it would sit back a bit further?
Plus sides for me would be -
ability to do a bad ass portal btwn fiberglass cab extension and TC for acces w/o going outside.
Having a nice storage/kennel/mudroom built in.
Easier for parts etc - not sure what engine it sports yet but figuring maybe in the 12-15mpg range loaded if it is high 300hp?
Would also build a pocket in cradle under TC to support slide in ski storage (not that high and wide).
Most work would be hacking off 2.5 ft with close second being the support frame and cab access, but welding work is relatively free.
This would be a fair weather rig utilized in late spring/summer, so snow wouldn't mostly come into play. But handling and center of gravity do's and don'ts aren't my thing. Would sacrifice the pocket underneath and sit camper right on existing bed if that made a big difference in how it rode.
Would appreciate any feedback
http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/cto/5111786719.html
Truck camper without the rear hanging down wouldn't require chopping the bed. Then enclose the area under the camper overhead and mount tool boxes under the sides and have tonnes of storage. CG might still be just forward of the rear axle.
I've thought about swapping the pickup bed on my F250 for a flatbed and adding the tool boxes. Would be able to store all kinds of gear and keep skis out of the crew cab.
NoPost- cool idea, I've thought of flatbed conversions and I concluded aerodynamics would be the main concern.. Whatever you build needs to be ok with hwy speeds. It can handle the weight, there's plenty of space. All about what you put on that bed. Gl- keep updated if ya grab it
I was looking at that as well, that option providing a small porch and the additional storage. Would be sweet to build in some aluminum boxes from bed level in that area created by raising. Problem I see is that fucking up CoG worse going up approx 1.5 ft, which is adding a lot of surface area to effect wind loading on hwy transverse to body. With no AC unit I think it would still be sub 12 ft clearance. Gonna look at it tomm and grab measurements to compare with truck bed for height and where it sits front to back relative to back tire.
NoPostholio: How would a travel trailer without the wheels work instead of a truck camper?
^^^now your talking - think I have some pics of builds like that on a box truck frame. Would have to be super shorty, but they do make some nice little ones. Thanks
I think you'd get a larger camper that way, without the need for a cab overhang like on truck campers, so it'd be more aerodynamic. Also, trailers are much more common than truck campers and cheaper too. Would think that a used one off craigslist would be pretty easy to find.
That van flatbed was gone - locked down this today
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07...bd3395e858.jpg
To park the bigfoot in after selling the duramax - v10 with 4.3 rear - think it will pull OK, just a lot of gas station stops.
Anybody have any usage history with happijac tie down for TC, specifically the one that mounts off frame btwn cab and bed.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07...d4c5aa5e6d.jpg
look on craigslist for some torklifts or go to a welder and show him a pic of the torklift tie downs and get him to fab you something up.
or put a flatbed on the ford.
the v10 will treat you good...i have one in the plow truck that really gets with it..
the front happijac is bitch to install and the bumper mounts for the rear are known to fail.
I bought a 2014 (new body style) Transit Connect a few weeks back. It will someday be a family hauler, but until I get to that stage in life, it's going to be my adventure mobile.
My goals were to create something that my wife and I could sleep in on trips to bike, ski, see things, etc. but not have it compromise everyday functionality (so no built in cabinets or removal of all the seats). I wanted the platform to fold sufficiently that we could have the second row of seats up, but have it be reassembled for sleeping in a minute or less. If it takes too much longer than that, the utility of not having to pitch a tent gets less (at least in good weather in the summer).
I built the main platform last week. I need to add a few reinforcements and add ons and it will be ready to go. the back is on a frame. The front hinges in on itself in the middle but then folds out and becomes rigid as neither side can go any farther on the hinge path as it's running into the other.
Our shake down cruise starts in 10 days or so.
A few photos from my build so far:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/319/2...6a6aa018_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/501/1...09306a76_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/493/1...cd67260e_b.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/463/1...c5d97e5a_b.jpg
The underside of the front panel and the slot in the frame that it fits into:
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/467/1...821c6c57_b.jpg
The back platform folded and stored away. The middle seats are up in this pic and fully useable.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/276/1...d3ee236f_b.jpg
My setup isn't as fancy as most here, but I'm pretty excited about it. Before i got married, I spent a good number of nights in my Honda Fit with the seats folded down and a cot over them. This is going to be a bit more spacious.
Nice MB! That looks like a great platform for it and clean woodworkingmanship too. :yourock: Will it see Lot B this winter??
I just spent the weekend in my XJRV aka The Sarcophagus. The platform is hinged and folds out onto the back of the passenger front seat that's flipped forward, it's not super secure but since that end of the platform is only holding my fat head it works OK. The mattress is a 2" memory foam queen size topper folded in half to 4", super comfortable. I did the reflectix as suggested earlier in this thread but instead of painting one side black I glued black felt onto them. I haven't done the windshield yet but the rest of them block light 100%. I can be in there with all the lights on inside and somebody walking past would never know.
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps8liouhd7.jpg
http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps5mhxsam5.jpg
I have no doubt that it will see Lot B. Probably as soon as Ullrfest. I'll probably be looking for excuses to justify building it.
I love the old XJs. Yours looks like a pretty awesome adventure vehicle. The window treatments are one of my next projects. The windows on the Transit Connect are BIG, esp. the windshield driver's side. I think I'm doing mosquito netting before blackout blinds first, though. I'd like to be able to sleep with the windows/tailgate open during the summer. I might do the sliding doors as well, but the windows alone would be easier and not as much trouble when I inevitably have to get up and pee in the middle of the night.
I'm considering getting a memory foam topper. I have those interlocking foam squares as a base layer, so I was hoping that I could use a 2 in topper without folding it. I'm generally a fairly firm mattress person.