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RE: Driveway Slope
GreyBeard97 - My blocks were home made. I took a 10"x8"x2" board and cut it in 9.5" lengths, I made 8 of these. I then took 2"x4"s and cut 12 of them, then cut each one at the degree slope of the driveway. I then assembled each one and painted them since they will be outside all the time and see quite of bit of weather.
WarrenS - I like what you did with the X-Braces, I might have to add that to my setup. My ramps could also be about 6 inches higher (currently 10") I can't go to much higher due to the space under the running boards. I would like to get the truck perfectly level but it is better than no ramps at all.
Loading and Unloading takes about 5 minutes longer as I have to get out and position the ramps.
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Vintagebronco75
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10/11/09 11:16pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Inflatables? High pressure floors?
A couple of years back at the local home show I saw a company our of Montain view CA. They make a fold-able boat that was very impressive. If I remember it was only like 50lbs and folded to about 1 or 2 inches thick and you can put different size motors on. In one of the links it looks like it is going about 15mph, and it only took about 10 minutes to set up.
Porta-bote
On the water
6 minute setup video
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Vintagebronco75
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10/06/09 09:07am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Driveway Slope
I almost wet myself the first time I unloaded my camper in the driveway. I thought the front of the camper was going to fall over. I went as far as putting in some anchors in the driveway for a little safety factor and realized that the rear of the camper was off the driveway at one point. After that experience I HAD to find a different way to do it. Thanks to others on this forum I came up with making ramps for the front of the truck (I should have made them taller) and blocks that match the angle of the driveway. When loading/unloading the camper sees a almost level ground and I have almost no binding on the jacks. I might however add in a brace for the bottom so that when the floor comes in contact it will allow the front jacks to release the binding and then I can set them back down.
Here are some pictures of the first unloading and the last picture is what I came up with.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/3909200124_3d2e331a6c.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/3909201428_4819daf7d4.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2582/3909200832_c812393cb3.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3571/3909201626_ea2fa13647.jpg
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Vintagebronco75
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09/11/09 01:25am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Installed flat panel TV & roof A/C.
Nice install, that 19" TV fits really good in that spot. Did you have to get a special flat panel tv made for the RV community?
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Vintagebronco75
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09/02/09 07:38pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Beachfront camping Bay Area Califonia
We drove down HWY 101 this spring and came across a neat area called Fern Canyon. There is a campground right on the ocean and it is a little off the main route so there is not a whole lot of people. There is lot of great hiking and scenery. It might be a little out of your range but defiantly worth it.
Gold Bluffs Beach Campground
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Vintagebronco75
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09/02/09 07:34pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Photo Thread - Post a Photo of Your Truck Camper Here
This is from my recent trip to Sand lake Oregon
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2504/3879769155_49ff32e8b0.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2499/3879630465_c24b77b6e7.jpg
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Vintagebronco75
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09/02/09 07:11pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Another Tire Failure
Your doing the tire upgrade right by going with a higher capacity rim and if weight is the cause of the tire failures you have been seeing then this should fix it. Remember that when you load the truck to the full capacity you need to have the tires at the full air pressure, the side wall will say Max X capacity at X pressure. Also remember you are increasing the sidewall height of the tire so you will have more of a balloon effect and it can make the ride nerve racking when loaded, unloaded it rides great.
One thing I don't know about and maybe someone out there knows. If you are at your full weight rating of a tire what happens when your bouncing around quite a bit. I see in my Air bags the pressure increases when I go over bumps so I would assume the same thing happens with tires. Would this not cause a tire failure over time?
Good luck with the new tires and rims
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Vintagebronco75
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08/06/09 03:35pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Another Tire Failure
I just went through most of what the original post has except for tire failure and some things don't seem to be adding up. He states each wheel is overloaded by 170lbs per tire, Assuming he has E rated tires then the total truck weight is 13660lbs with camper and a calculated tongue weight. He also states this is on 8 inch rims. Now when I was looking at rims I could not find that size with a weight rating of 3415 so I wonder if the rim is a lower weight rating and could be causing the tire failure.
I did the 285/75 r16 upgrade on the stock F350 rims and the ride was terrible and although the tire had a higher rating you were still limited by the weight rating of the rim. After a couple of weeks I had to upgrade to the Vision 81 rims with (don't remember the tires off the top of my head) and it was like night and day the ride difference. Don't waste your time trying to find a tire that won't fail....do it the right way and upgrade your rims to a 19.5
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Vintagebronco75
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08/06/09 12:01am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Ford F350 rear axle 3.73 versus 4.10 and Rim/Tire Choices.
Some depends on the year your looking at. I have a 2004 F350 Crew cab (4 door) 4x4 diesel. The camper certification is for 1435 LBS. There is almost no campers that are going to be that light so I did all the modifications I could think of for improved saftey. First took care of the Airbags. Then I upgraded the front springs from 5200lbs rating to 6000 lbs. Installed Torklift superhitch as I was not impressed with the stock hitch and I tow a trailer with an offroad truck and quad. Installed Torklift stable loads and tie downs. Upgraded the stock tires to higher load rating (3415 to 3750). Just put the camper on last month (Lance 915). Upgraded the shocks to Rancho RS9000. The truck handled well but thought it was a little squishy. I then upgraded the rims to Vision 81 and tires to Michelin XDS2 245/70R19.5, this was a huge improvement in ride like night and day change.
My gears are stock 3.73, the 410 were only offered in the duely configuration although I might change depending on the gas milage differences.
If I had to do it again I would have bought an F550.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/29/09 03:34am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Torklift tiedown locks
I'm sure it is because when you go to Home Depot they require you to put in your zip code when searching for something and then it saves your store in cookies on your computer. So my local store stocks them but the one you are set for doesn't stock them. When I hit their web site and from other visits they know the store closest to me is the Kalispell, MT store at zip code 59901. I would be willing to bet if you went to the Home Depot main page and did a store locator and entered the zip of 59901 and then tried it then it would work. Might give it a try and let me know if it works or not. This is interesting.
Let me try and see if this link works for you for a picture of them
Master Lock 4 Pack Zinc Plated Laminated Steel Body 1-1/2 In.Hardened Steel Shackle
Store SKU# 195200
I selected a number of different stores in the Hilsboro and entered the SKU# 195200 and it shows them. You should be able to see them from that
Hope this helps you out
Thanks, the picture came through this time. I didn't realize you guys were talking about normal locks I thought their was some special lock you found at Home Depot that was close to the Torklift lock. How do these hold up while going down the road, do they flop around.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/15/09 05:09pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: offloading camper on slanted driveway
I unloaded mine for the first time last week and have a similar driveway as yours.
I backed up into position and then drilled 2 holes into the concrete and put in anchors, just in front of the rear bumper so that I can use my tie downs.
I unclamped the front tie downs, then unclamped one rear side and used that clamp with some chain links to go down to the anchors, I then did the other rear side the same.
I then put all jacks down to the concrete. I started with the front jacks and lifted about 1 inch then went to the back jacks and lifted about 1 inch. When I did the rear I would constantly keep an eye on the tie downs for tension. I wanted just a small amount of slack just in case the camper started tipping forward it would catch it. once I had the camper high enough above the bed I drove the truck out slowly. I had to raise the front of the camper twice as it would have touched close to the rear of the bed.
Once the truck was out I slowly lowered the rear first to get it closer to level, and then lowered all the same until it was low to the ground and level. I then connected the chain link to the camper so that it would not walk forward.
I did not see any stress on the jacks but i did have a couple of feet move slightly. I wonder if wood would allow the jack feet to adjust a little better than concrete.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/15/09 12:54pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Lance Speaker Removal
Do your speakers look like this?
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2455/3723713431_49ce222539.jpg
The sound is really bad an needs to be upgraded. I'm looking to probably do the same as you and need options.
I agree with gregdennis53
definably if you are in the Portland area Car Toys is a great place to go. I had them do the install on my truck and have not had any issues with it in the last 5 years. You can see the type of work they can do ---> F350
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Vintagebronco75
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07/15/09 12:36pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Torklift tiedown locks
I got mine at Home Depot and they are a Master lock and all keyed the same. I just took one of my pin locks with me and compared to the locks ro see which ones would fit. I don't know if these Master Locks are exactly like mine (been awhile back when I bought mine) but you get the idea.
I'm getting the following error.
The product you are trying to view is not currently available in the store you are browsing, please try a different store.
do you have a picture or the lock info. I need to get some locks for mine as I'm worried they are going to come up missing one of these days.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/15/09 12:20pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Onan Generator Install
Thanks for the pictures, although my exhaust will be different as it has an external muffler I now see what I need to do for mounting it to the frame/bumper. I also found an older thread that had some pictures.
Onan Generator Pictures
I am going to try and get to the project today or this weekend.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/15/09 12:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: connector on roof?
Vintagebronco75,
I have a 2 terminal plug next to my radio antenna on the roof and blue and white wires under the sink and also back by the battery box. I am hoping this is solar pre-wire but not sure. This is on a Lance 1010 2003 model. Was your rooftop connector 1 male and 1 female connection in the plug?
That is where mine is and what I remember it looking like. I can't get on top to verify at the moment but here is a picture.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2546/3714435155_104b3ae679.jpg
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Vintagebronco75
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07/12/09 07:25pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Sore subject and I'm bringing it back up!
I've used that same dump site two times now in the last 3 weeks. The first time I meet a really nice older couple that informed me of this problem you mentioned but that day it was cleaned and did not have a problem. The second time I used it was last week 6-8-09, no one else around the area was a little dirty and there was tissue built up in the strainer. When I was just getting ready to leave I noticed a Taco Truck waiting back a good distance. When I left they waited to move forward until I was out on River Road, I have a feeling they know their not supposed to dump there. I will keep my camera with me and if I see it happen will defiantly take some pictures. Actually now that I am thinking about it, my neighbor works there and I will have to ask him about it when I see him next.
I'm glad it's a free dump site as its only a couple of minutes from the house but I would hate for it to close because of a couple of abusers.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/12/09 10:18am |
Truck Campers
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RE: connector on roof?
My solar conector is next to the antena on my Lance 915.
From Lance manual
The pre-wire solar panel connector is mounted on the
roof of the camper near the front of the camper. The
mating connector is supplied in the loose parts box.
Two wires, 12ga blue (+) and 12ga white (-) run from
this location, are looped in the cabinet next to the
galley and terminate behind the battery compartment
for future connection to the battery. The 12 ga blue
wire must be fused with a 10-amp fuse when a solar
panel is installed.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/12/09 06:22am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Onan Generator Install
This is a good time to think about taking step-by-step pictures and writing a tutorial for other folks installing or replacing a genset. The need is obvious by the lack of available material.
Someone else could be helped by a few minutes work and that is why this site exists.
Not a bad idea.
I'm having a hard time finding anything on the net so if it helps someone else then it will be worth it.
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Vintagebronco75
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07/12/09 06:02am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Onan Generator Install
Looks like I will need to get the LP swivel connection but all the other parts seem to be in the kit as you have mentioned. I emailed lance parts and they sent me a install procedure with a drawing of the muffler. The only bad thing is the procedure is very generic and looks to be written for a camper back in the late 1990's.
Can someone take a picture of the generator installed on a lance camper so I can get an idea of where some of the brackets need to be installed. You can email them to me if you can not post them to the forum.
Thanks
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Vintagebronco75
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07/12/09 03:42am |
Truck Campers
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RE: First Camper
I haven't posted any updates as I have been out in my new camper the last 3 weekends. Thanks for all the suggestions, I did have the dealer mount the plug higher up so that I can plug it in without getting into the camper but still can get to it inside as well. I am glad for the site as I used all the info for the PDI and discovered several issues. I think there was a list of about 15 different items that needed to be fixed. Most of them small but a couple that had to have replacements ordered, several switches that the indicator bulbs had burnt out, one cracked backup lens, Side awning has a tear, couple of outside bulbs, but for the most part the dealer (service dept) was more than happy to fix all the issues I had. I'm kinda glad I don't have to deal with the salesman and it will be with the service dept.
My first morning in the camper I used all the facilities and noticed some water on the floor outside the shower door. I thought that it was me when I got out but the next morning the same thing happened. I took the camper in for service and they found a fitting under the sink back by the stove had a bad seal and was leaking. The fitting was replaced but now I'm wondering what damage the camper has that I don't see. I removed the camper a couple of days ago and noticed a square spot that I had originally saw at PDI but thought it was just a stain. The wood seems weaker in that location and has a small portion scraped away.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516/3712647394_5f5ef36cb2_o.jpg
Overall I am very happy with the purchase. The truck handled the load without any major problems. There have been about 3 times that it was a little white knuckle driving while on the freeway passing semis. I had just bought new tires but have decided to try some 19.5 rims and see if that helps at all. The tires I have now do have a bit of sidewall flex.
Here are a couple of pictures of the first weekend.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/3667431850_a7cf13ff60.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3368/3667431710_f11250ee12.jpg
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Vintagebronco75
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07/12/09 03:36am |
Truck Campers
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