Alaskan Camper Build Up

[ericvs]

Hey Carlyle,

I looked through the thread, but didn't find what I was looking for. (sorry if I missed it) How do you have your propane setup? You have the exact same bbq and camp stove as me and I see they are plugged into the truck. Did you run a high pressure line from your propane tank and a quick disconnect so you can connect your camp accessories there or did you convert your weber and camp stove to run on a low pressure connection?
Thanks for the inspiring build!
Eric

 

[Carlyle]

Hi Eric,

All the hoses are high pressure from the tank to the various quick disconnects. There are quick disconnects for stove, barbecue and generator. All the hoses were made by a local hydraulic shop to my specs. That way the hoses are much more resistant to the hazards spraying up from the road.

Glad you liked the build!

 

[drodio]

Carlyle, I'm fascinated by your 19.5 vs. 20 MPT81 experience, as I'm trying to decide what to put on my 08 Ram 3500 dually as I do an SRW conversion for an XP Camper.

I have a thread going over here w/ a discussion about the pros & cons of each http://forum.xpcamper.org/index.php/topic/34-turn-key-rigs/?p=1127 . You seem to be one of the few that's really experienced both, so I'd love to know what you think. Specifically:

1) I hate road noise; for whatever reason it just drives me crazy. I'm considering a Toyo M608z on a 19.5" Rickson. I know you didn't run the Toyo specifically, but I was wondering, how was the road noise on the 19.5s vs. the 20s?

2) I'm planning on doing 95% road driving & just want to be able to get to a deserted beach or campsite now & then. It sounded, from your experience, that the biggest problem with the 19.5s wasn't the traction per-se (i.e., getting stuck) but rather the uncomfort of the high PSIs you had to run while offroad. Is that accurate? I assume the MPT81s are much better in this regard. Is it still worth the trade-off for you?

3) How's the wear been on your new set of MPT81s?

4) The 68mph K speed rating of the MPT81s really concerns me... thoughts on that?

5) The MPT81s are *huge* compared to your older 19.5s!!! Do you like the larger size? Does it matter?

6) Any opinions on what width I should go with? I don't mind skinny tires so I'm not worried about looks.

7) Since I'll be mostly on-road, I'd like to maximize MPGs and I'm assuming the 19.5s provide better MPGs than the 20s, although it seemed you weren't certain. Do you have any better idea now that you've run the 20s for a while how MPGs compare?

8) If you were in my position having to choose, which would you go with now that you've done both?

 

[Carlyle]

Carlyle, I'm fascinated by your 19.5 vs. 20 MPT81 experience, as I'm trying to decide what to put on my 08 Ram 3500 dually as I do an SRW conversion for an XP Camper.

I have a thread going over here w/ a discussion about the pros & cons of each http://forum.xpcamper.org/index.php/topic/34-turn-key-rigs/?p=1127 . You seem to be one of the few that's really experienced both, so I'd love to know what you think. Specifically:

1) I hate road noise; for whatever reason it just drives me crazy. I'm considering a Toyo M608z on a 19.5" Rickson. I know you didn't run the Toyo specifically, but I was wondering, how was the road noise on the 19.5s vs. the 20s?

2) I'm planning on doing 95% road driving & just want to be able to get to a deserted beach or campsite now & then. It sounded, from your experience, that the biggest problem with the 19.5s wasn't the traction per-se (i.e., getting stuck) but rather the uncomfort of the high PSIs you had to run while offroad. Is that accurate? I assume the MPT81s are much better in this regard. Is it still worth the trade-off for you?

3) How's the wear been on your new set of MPT81s?

4) The 68mph K speed rating of the MPT81s really concerns me... thoughts on that?

5) The MPT81s are *huge* compared to your older 19.5s!!! Do you like the larger size? Does it matter?

6) Any opinions on what width I should go with? I don't mind skinny tires so I'm not worried about looks.

7) Since I'll be mostly on-road, I'd like to maximize MPGs and I'm assuming the 19.5s provide better MPGs than the 20s, although it seemed you weren't certain. Do you have any better idea now that you've run the 20s for a while how MPGs compare?

8) If you were in my position having to choose, which would you go with now that you've done both?

Hi Drodio,

There is no truly right or wrong answer for you, so you have to decide how much you will use an off road tire.

1) Road noise is about equal between the 19.5's and 20" tires tires that I have had.

2) The 19.5's did not perform well on mud, sand, ice or snow, but did do well in the rain which might be a bonus where you live. The MPT81's, even without airing down have far superior traction in all conditions and even drive better on the highway. In addition, I found one annoying thing about the narrow 19.5's was that if your tire caught the edge of the road, it took effort to steer them back and could literally jerk you around.

3) The MPT's have poor wear compared to the hard rubber of the 19.5's which are truly a long wear commercial tire compared to an off highway military tire. I have 33,000 miles on my truck so far and am half way through the second set. The MPT81's are extremely heat sensitive and high speed and hot pavement literally wear them out exponentially faster. Don't drive your truck like you would your sedan.

4) See 3. They drive great at speed, but you'll be buying a lot of them...

5) Size of the MPT's is fine, I had to do a little cutting around the fender flares for clearance. I would have to put a lift on the truck if I went with any bigger tire though. You may need a slight lift on the a 3500, I had to put levelers in the front and I barely clear with the 5500.

6) Skinny tires work the best in my opinion for an all round expedition vehicle. If you want to play in the mud and look good in the parking lot, let the wide ones.

7) I weigh 15,000 lbs and get 12 mph. I'm sure I get a little better milage with a narrow 19.5 as there is less rolling resistance, but I would need new shocks by now as they ride rougher at high psi.

8) For me, I'll stick with the MPT81's. I just wish they would lower the price. If you don't go off road or have as much weight then you should look at other tires. If you put these tires and wheels on your truck with it's weight you would find them extremely rough. On mine, they feel great.

Hope this help and congrats on the XP camper, Marc makes and great rig. Oh, and don't forget air bags!

 

[Carlyle]

Here is private post that deserves sharing with some gray questions from Thane that I tried to clarify:

Originally Posted by Thane Hall
Hello Carlyle, i'm a recent switchover truck camper from a 4wheel to Alaskan. Had seen a few pics of, I believe it was yours, Ford Super Duty with Alaskan mounted on Ute flatbed. While that is my goal down the road, for now my '03 8' (actually 7'8" which i totally don't understand why you would give up interior space to be able to keep your tailgate on and fold-up-able on your truck while camper is on??? but i stumbled upon this unit and snatched it up) cab over Alaskan is mounted on my '02 F350 crew cab long bed.

I got lost a little on what you currently have. did your ford/alaskan c/o burn? now you have the dodge 550/14' alaskan non-c/o?

In any case. some of your pics of your Ford w camper show Yakima racks mounted on the roof. I dont have the stock alaskan boat rack which (as Bryan advises) mounts the the side walls rather than thru the roof. And i'm looking to gain some sort of Roof storage/rackage.

did you install the Yakima little fake rain gutter mounting 'feet' thru the roof? Or did you intall their longer track system to enable crossbar adj. per different loads?

How much weight did you ever get on the Yakima system?

Any sagging roof issues?

Mounted thru the 2x2's that run the length of the roof i'm guessing?

Also looking to make external weatherproof boxes to hang on rear wall of camper (as i have the smaller/short camper and storage for family of 4 is a little tight for longer trips/gear). Did you ever mount anything on rear of the camper? how did it effect the lift system? (uneven balance of L-R load on camper)

I had mounted the little flip down steps to gain access to roof on my 4Wheel but can't remember the mfgr....saw you had them as well. Was it Confer? Which sold a bit ago didn't they? Do you know if still available?

Thanks for any/all input.

thane



Hi Thane,

On the original Alaskan camper that I had, the roof was reinforced at the factory and the Yakima tracks were then mounted by them on the roof. The bolt went through the roof, but not the ceiling and the the arrangement worked well. I never put much weight up there per Bryan's recommendation, maybe 50-60 lbs. Never any sagging issues ever. I was going to mount a kayak up there, but never figured out a good way of getting it up and down.

I never hung anything off the back of the camper as didn't think this was sturdy enough more anything to be hanging off the back. My spare tire mounts to the flatbed, not the camper. Side to side adjustment is ind of tricky

The flip up steps I believe came from West Marine. Any sailboat should have them though.

Let me know if I can help with anything else.

Carl

 

[Overland Hadley]

I am sure it is here somewhere, but can you post a photo or a link to your previous setup.

 

[Advanture]

I am sure it is here somewhere, but can you post a photo or a link to your previous setup.

Just go to the first post in this thread. The thread starts with his previous rig.

 

[Francis]

Carlyle,
I am looking for the old style (1970's) LP gas bottle to fit into my utility box side compartment. I believe they were originally used on forklifts. The size is a 5.5 Gal horizontal. I have talked to Brian and he said good luck, especially one in good shape and that can be recerted. I am just starting to look for one and am not in a hurry. In your travels you might come across one. If you are in the area give me a call and we could have a cool one.

Francis

 

[BigRed1]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum. Carlyle, I saw your rig on TCM, and after reading all 91 pages..... that rig is AWESOME!! Also, I'm really jealous of you guys that live out west. Out here in the north east there isn't many places to go legally.

 

[chilliwak]

Hey Carl I am looking forward to hearing about furure adventures this summer. It will be cool to see pics of any activity you have going on right now. I hope the trails treat you well this summer and I am looking forward to seeing pics of anything your fine:Wow1: rig is doing. Cheers, Chilli...

 

[Carlyle]

Francis,

I will keep an eye out for one of those tanks, maybe one of those fiberglass tanks might even work. Any propane tank seller can order from the Manchester line of tanks.

BigRed1,

Glad you enjoyed the build and welcome to the forum!

Chilli,

I finally got my wheel back from Rickson. I somehow broke a weld in one and waited forever to get it fixed and sent back. At least they honored it. Now that I have a spare the trips will start again. The fish are trembling at the thought!

 

[Overland Hadley]

I finally got my wheel back from Rickson. I somehow broke a weld in one and waited forever to get it fixed and sent back. At least they honored it.

Any more details? Did the wheel totally fail, or "just" start to come apart?

This also happened to the "GOVE" rig, also on Ricksons.

View attachment 187856View attachment 187857View attachment 187858View attachment 187859

 

[Carlyle]

Nothing so drastic! I walked out one day and my tire was flat. I pumped it up with my air and went to the local tire shop to check for a leak. It ended up being a small crack in one of the welds between the two parts of the wheel. Rickson stood behind their product and paid shipping both ways. It arrived back the first time with a shiny new powder coating, but still leaked... They paid shipping both ways again and it now is fixed and as good as new. I had to splash some dirt on it so it would match the other four though.

 

[chilliwak]

Carl, the fish are going to have to swim deep to avoid my rod and reel this summer. I am looking forward to seeing any pics you post. Lets make this the best adventure summer ever... Cheers, Chilli...:Wow1:

 

[kinder]

Carl,

It was nice meeting you today and thanks for walking me around your rig. It was amazing and inspirational, one day I'll have mine built the way I want it.

R,
Kirk