Just finished a week long camping trip with what I have taken to calling the "tent rack".
A few notes.
The addition of the stereo antena and the cb antena worked well. Able to pull in fm stations even when a ways off the beaten track.
The water storage should be easier to fill.
Propane..... There has to be a good compromise between the portability of the Coleman bottles and convince of a 20 lb tank. But i've not found it yet.
Battery... Works great for 2 days or so of camping... Runs fridge, water pump, lights, stereo, etc. However, after about 2 - 3 days...it needs a better way to charge. Currently I have about 35 watts of solar panels to recharge, and they work Just fine if the sun is out and you are stationary. Unfortunately, neither of those were the case this trip. We spent a fair amount of time on the road during peak solar charging hours, and it rained almost everyday further reducing the effectiveness. Currently there is no electrical connection between the truck and the tent rack. But if I take this type of trip again, and I will, I need to add a way to charge the tent rack battery off the truck while it is running, and then isolate the two batteries when the truck is not running.
Another option that will work just fine with charging off the trucks alternator, is to add a second battery to the tent rack. Between I those two options, I should have both the battery capisity and the charging ability to run everything indefinatly.
To add the second battery though, I think that I will have to ditch the marine battery box that I Currently have the single battery in, and just have the two batteries exposed. This shouldn't be too big a deal, though my biggest fear would be something metal grounding or arcing and causing other damage. So, I may use something to partially seal off where the batteries and the water pump are in order to avoid any cargo shifting and damage to the electrical.
Sound ok?
Other notes...
I think that my old camping labs Rtt had a much better mattress than the arb tent has. After 6 consecutive nights, I was ready for my own bed.
A few notes.
The addition of the stereo antena and the cb antena worked well. Able to pull in fm stations even when a ways off the beaten track.
The water storage should be easier to fill.
Propane..... There has to be a good compromise between the portability of the Coleman bottles and convince of a 20 lb tank. But i've not found it yet.
Battery... Works great for 2 days or so of camping... Runs fridge, water pump, lights, stereo, etc. However, after about 2 - 3 days...it needs a better way to charge. Currently I have about 35 watts of solar panels to recharge, and they work Just fine if the sun is out and you are stationary. Unfortunately, neither of those were the case this trip. We spent a fair amount of time on the road during peak solar charging hours, and it rained almost everyday further reducing the effectiveness. Currently there is no electrical connection between the truck and the tent rack. But if I take this type of trip again, and I will, I need to add a way to charge the tent rack battery off the truck while it is running, and then isolate the two batteries when the truck is not running.
Another option that will work just fine with charging off the trucks alternator, is to add a second battery to the tent rack. Between I those two options, I should have both the battery capisity and the charging ability to run everything indefinatly.
To add the second battery though, I think that I will have to ditch the marine battery box that I Currently have the single battery in, and just have the two batteries exposed. This shouldn't be too big a deal, though my biggest fear would be something metal grounding or arcing and causing other damage. So, I may use something to partially seal off where the batteries and the water pump are in order to avoid any cargo shifting and damage to the electrical.
Sound ok?
Other notes...
I think that my old camping labs Rtt had a much better mattress than the arb tent has. After 6 consecutive nights, I was ready for my own bed.
