Aluminum Camper Forum

Hello,

Owning a new Battle Born 100 amp hour battery, this not what I wanted to see.

Fire hazard due to loose internal positive connection?

https://youtu.be/XP2yPY57Wjc

Hey,

We recently had our Zamp 10 amp controller fail after 7 years. So, we ordered a replacement.

Just for fun I made a new harness and connected the controller to our new Bluetti 100 W solar panel. Comparing our smart shunt information with the new controller and the new Bluetti panel we were receiving the same amount of charge, if not 5-10% more than our original Zamp legacy 120 W suitcase unit.

Gone is our old 120 W 70 pound unit and hello our new smaller 100 W unit. Also, the controller can tuck into the back pocket of the solar panel with some reflective bubble foil backer to reduce heat build up from the panel.

New Zamp charging profiles compared to the older version and advanced solar panel technologies made the difference perhaps?

We like easy.

BTW Heavy forest fire smoke is reducing solar input.

I am finally getting rid of that useless OEM furnace. As you know, loud, can't sleep with unit cycling, inefficient power usage, multiple issues with; circuit board, limit switch, sail switch etc.

Used a Camco Wave 3 heater for the past few years. Fell apart with all the road vibrations, can't run at night, severe condensation, especially during rain and snowy conditions. Day use in dry conditions, it is great.

Moving towards a Planar portable diesel heater. Early spring I will remove the Atwood furnace, cap the LP line, install new 3" ducts (hopefully a take off vent under the shower pan providing heat into the rear bath), fab a new access panel with a quick disconnect inlet (reuse the old panel possibly).

The portable unit gives me multi use options and I could mount it in the original furnace space with an exterior tank as well. Yearly cleaning is recommended, so having easy access is a plus with the portable unit. Will run a mix of diesel and or kerosene to reduce soot build up in the burn chamber and increase performance at altitude. Low fuel and power consumption, 12 volt ready, constant run option for cold nights. Dry heat!

Mountain camping is challenging with staying warm, our southern neighbors have the opposite, keeping cool and reducing humidity. In 8 years we have used our AC once for about 10 minutes, that's another item to get deleted. Horrible unit.

Fridge will get an additional 12v computer fan(s) installed in the lower access area with a switch installed on the interior to help with cooling on hot days. Made up a small hard wired USB computer fan for the interior fridge compartment on initial start ups and warm day. Definitely helps with cool down. That and a couple ice packs.

Will provide some pictures when work begins.

PH

Hi,

Finally added some protection for the fresh water tank. It has definitely taken some impacts over the years. Used a length of diamond plate rubber mat, 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum angle, self tapping metal screws and some blind rivets.

Hey,

Finally had to change my electric hot water series switch located on the exterior bottom left corner of the hot water tank.

What a PITA! Easy to remove the switch and gasket, but, one of the connections was either hung up inside the compartment , or Suburban saved .5 cent and didn't extend the wire length enough. As a result one connection popped back inside the compartment after I unplugged it. Can't really get at it from the interior either.

If you change yours, have extended narrow needle-noise pliers or haemostats, just in case you have to fish that connection out from inside the compartment or, just to help extend the wire(s) after you unplug both connections.

PH

Hello,

I just wanted to inform any Tundra truck owners on the forum to avoid this company if you are considering adding protection for your catalytic converters.

Unfortunately, the owner has decided to stop communicating with his customers in regards to lead times, order status, shipping status etc. He is also not providing information on refunds for cancelled orders. Plenty of threads on tundras.com regarding his recent lack of customer service.


Happy camping!

Hello!

If any Tundra owners are wanting to upgrade their suspension, I highly recommend Bilstein 6112 front, 5160 in the rear. I also added new Bilstein UCA's and new Coach Builder shackles with poly bushings. Maintained my rake with .75" lift in the front and .625" in the rear.

The ride is vastly improved, but, towing is incredible! The trailer doesn't bounce around as much on forestry roads or washboard. Just feels good and the drive is a bit more relaxing.

My 2015 OEM Bilstein rear shocks started leaking, that prompted the upgrade.

Very happy!

Hello,

Recently my original battery finally gave it up. I decided on a new Odyssey 27F AGM. As you know the AGM requires an increase in voltage to achieve a full charge. The Tundra will not charge at those higher rates, 14.1-14.7 V.

An Australian company provides an alternator voltage booster fuse. MK2 micro blade, HKB Electronics.

Works great, no issues at all so far, I randomly test the voltage just to be sure and also confirm the SOC. This fuse is very popular in the Tacoma/ Tundra off-roading community.

Having those extra CC amps in winter is awesome!

Poor guy on the Facebook site has suffered a total frame failure. He has a new trailer that had that frame notification and required additional modifications. He and others are very fortunate that nothing happened on the highway. If you have a new LL model it is in your best interest to look at what happened and check your frame.

Hello Everyone,

Just posting some pictures of our last extended camping trip before the real cold weather sets in and the skis come out. Our location is along the Livingston Range, a sub-range of the Canadian Rockies in southern Alberta.

Stunning area but it is prone to high winds, as you can see in one of the pics several trees came down on a tent. Those individuals were ok. Very lucky to make it out alive, they were camping in a small provincial campground not far from our location.

With the Canadian border opening to US vaccinated visitors on August 9 2021, if you are thinking of exploring Alberta and booking or finding a reservable campground be warned. It is very difficult. Waterton National Park and Jasper are almost completely booked for camping in August and part of September. Waterton Town site is really all that remains after the fires a few years ago. Hiking there is really not that enjoyable, it is just burned out, most of the hiking trails are now very exposed with no shade at all. Will be years before we see some improvement. Crandle Mountain campground there is gone. Banff and Lake Louise are probably the same for booking, after seeing zero availability in Waterton and Jasper I stopped looking. The government has also implemented new fees for public lands camping (BLM) and fees for Kananaskis.

Your main option is to look for any first come/ non- reservable campgrounds, there are lots to pick from, but weekends are tuff. Families are sharing and rotating the same spot throughout the summer because the difficulty of finding a nice spot. Campers are also driving out and setting up a tent on a Wednesday or Thursday to secure a spot for the weekend. Even makes camping during the week a challenge.

Also, the province is very much engulfed in smoke.

Lots of forum members have visited Alberta prior, so I thought I would give you an update just in case you wanted to pack up and head north, now that you can!  You can PM me if you would like to know some great southern Alberta areas that are off the grid.

PH

Hello,

This travel trailer is sitting in my storage yard and I noticed today that the roof vent had been damaged and is now rendered useless.

We have had record heat in western Canada and is now being followed up with intense thunder, lightning and hail storms. I would venture to guess this trailer will be seriously compromised.

BLM type camping in Alberta is now a bit crazy. There is a section of mountain road that will inflict some harm on any type of vehicle traveling too fast. This happened one mile from our camping spot. Typical Friday rush to go camping. Gives you perspective on how a tent trailer is made.

Hello,

I was having an issue with our 7 way connection, sometimes loosing our right break light on the rig. The plug was shot, the overall install was a bit sketchy, yellow wire was just cut and left as is. Might be good idea for owners to unscrew your plug and have a look.

Just a thought that owners with an Anderson hitch should change out the cone every few years. I always have an extra cone with us and had to change it out the other day. I should have done it before our winter getaway but forgot to do it. You will notice that it will start to make noise while turning and then it will start to limit the friction action. Ours just eventually stuck and would not let the triangular plate rotate. Any Anderson dealer should provide cones at no charge.

Cheers,

Hello,

After our September winter weekend we are looking forward to our many sunny destinations south. First stop Zion for some outdoor adventures. Hitting the road in three weeks!

Cheers!

New tires last week. The original BFG KO's have had it. As some of you know that tire size of 195 75/14 is not available anymore. There is a Wrangler LT AT tire in the same size but it has a lower load rating and a lower ply rating as well. Plus the cost of them were more than my truck tires.

Ended up with Good Year Endurance tires. Went to a ST 205 75/14. Towed a few hours this weekend and I noticed the trailer felt a bit more solid on the road, tracked a bit better and seemed smoother.

Changed the spare tire as well. That Vail garbage should not be allowed on the road! With zero use and no exposure to sunlight it was just disintegrating sitting under the trailer. Very glad to see that go! This winter we will be in AZ and will order a new OEM aluminum  rim for the spare, then I can rotate a fifth tire in without any hassle. Saw them on etrailer a while ago.

Have a look at the Vail Sport tire picture and imagine what could happen to you and others while towing.

Well, we have our rig in a service shop for our yearly maintenance and what did they find... more failed welds on the exterior perimeter lateral supports and some cracking on the axle support brackets. I'll post some pictures at a later date but we have all been down this road before and it does not come as a surprise.

The good news is that the cracks are just starting and are pretty minor.  Have it booked in at a welding shop in a few weeks. I'm going to request that they reinforce the heck out of it.

At least with other owners posting very similar problems the road to repairing these issues is familiar.

All the best!

Hello,

Just a few pics of our first camping week at the base of Thunder Mountain in Alberta.

A note to fellow campers, the ticks were just incredible, we had to check ourselves constantly and decided to stop hiking, just not comfortable knowing they are trying to find a host. Luckily we did not see any black legged ones. Reports are that they are everywhere this year. Just one more thing to worry about.

Pics,  best  guess is a hind track of a younger grizzly, Thunder Mountain, wild flowers and a young black bear. The usual critters!

Hello,

Just a simple organizational project.

Some leather strap material from a local craft store and a basic shelf purchased from Lowes. No special tools required!

Removed the screws from the aluminum roof trim cover and fastened the straps. Very solid! I couldn't believe how many aluminum shavings came out of that trim area?

Going to add some double sided 3M to keep the shelf and leather aligned. Just waiting for the straps to form and stretch a bit.

Cheers!