Thinking of buying a utility shell for a stealth/adventure vehicle camper.

[Telcobilly]

 

[Telcobilly]

I got off the truck last Sunday due to some unforeseen circumstances. It's all good, I was going to get off the truck in November anyway. I'm considering getting into non destructive testing as a radiation tech. I have a friend who is making bank and it's seasonal. I'm done with full time work now. I have been cutting my expenses to the bone and paying off debt.
Any ideas of part time work making $1000 + per month is welcomed by me.

On that note, I took advantage of the time off to purge my vehicle of a LOT of excess unneeded items (mostly clothes) and to reconfigure the shell for future living in it. I cleared a lot of open space below the deck, so I could take sponge baths or use the Luggable Loo in a pinch (pun intended,lol) with plenty of head room.

I mounted my TV on the bulkhead lip with the bolt stand-offs, It just hooks on to it and can be slid left or right. I'm going to run it with a small inverter. It came out of my big truck. Also, I used a Harbor Freight load lock as a clothes rod and got a lot of my clothes out of the way.



I installed straps to both halves of the deck and the rear shell door. I have C-clamps for the deck straps to hook on to.





I ran a 12' propane line from inside the shell, through the mounting access hole to outside between the shell and truck bed side.



I did a lot of consolidation in the cab of the truck to allow easier access of the fridge and microwave, as well as opening up the passenger seat.

 

[Telcobilly]

Pix of the tidied up cab. Passenger side is open now. I consolidated the tools and items behind the seats giving me easy access to the microwave and fridge. I bought a small, inexpensive CB with my Pilot fuel points, just need to hook it up and get a magnetic antenna. Useful off road and that's about it. Truckers barely use the CB anymore, I guess the cell phones killed of it's popularity. Also installed my XM receiver.

 

[akrvbob]

Looks good!
Bob

 

[Telcobilly]

Thanks Bob. I'm getting very interested in a starter solar system. I was thinking of a suitcase or windshield system. What would be the lowest wattage for a useful system that you would recommend? Initially I would run it through the starting battery with the goal to install house batteries.
Will

 

[akrvbob]

I wouldn't consider less than 100 watts. Anything smaller will cost as much or more so why throw away the money? I really like the suitcase systems but they don't work in the city, they are boondocking only. I don't know what a windshield system is?

I can't recommend running it through the starting battery unless you just have extremely small electrical needs.

What are you planning to run? Can you mount panels on top of that camper?
Bob

 

[Telcobilly]

Thanks for the info Bob. I agree, nothing less than 100 watts. I could see where the suitcase systems wouldn't work in the city, they would be gone along with stealth. I could mount panels on the roof, the wires could discreetly run through the high mount tail light cut-out above the barn doors. Do you have any experience with the flexible adhesive panels?
I also agree that a separate house battery is the way to go. How important is it to be wired to the alternator?
Will

 

[akrvbob]

I've installed the Unisolar flexible panels several times but they have gone out of business. I'm not familiar with any others.

If you size your solar system right then you don't need to wire to the alternator. But it is actually pretty cheap and gives you another power source in extended bad weather, so I think it is a good idea.
Bob

 

[Telcobilly]

Bought a hitch mounted motorcycle carrier at Cycle Gear on sale for $100. It's rated to 500 lbs which is more than adequate for my DR650 (approx 375lbs) and my dad's Shadow 600 (approx 450 lbs). Now that both of us have shells on our two Tacoma's, this is the only convenient way to carry a bike should the need arise. This carrier is still on sale as of Sept 2014, worth checking out if you need one.



My 2003 Suzuki DR650 set up with 5 gallon tank, upgraded suspension and a Corbin seat.

 

[SoulRaven]

That’s a lot of weight that far back behind the rear axle.

Why don’t you look into a wheel chock on a ball mount with a little ramp that the front wheel is strapped to and the rear wheel is on the road? Remove master link from chain for long distance travels.

 

[MattK]

I loved this thread, I too drove truck (for Scheinder National) for 7yrs in the 90's. They had a no idle policy so I'm very familiar with cold weather sleeping. We were allowed to idle if the temp went below 0 (for the truck's sake not ours). I have woken up in 7 below temps before. That being said the humid heat in the eastern half of the county was way worse then keeping warm. Later I worked for a co in Baltimore and drove Volvos and I agree with you they are awesome. Great work on the bug out truck. Your pay it off quick policy is the way to go. They can't repo a truck you own. Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[Telcobilly]

Thanks MattK, I'm still changing things in it as I dream up better ways. I purged a lot of stuff below the deck and am running scenarios in my head and how I would address them. For example, If I had to take a sponge bath inside, I can lift the left side deck and sit on the 5 gal bucket with the screwtop lid. I would heat up some water very quickly with the camp kettle on a propane stove (1-2 minutes) mix it in a squirt bottle and then wash/rinse myself. The bucket can double as a loo with scented trash bags, wet wipes and tp. The screw top lid would keep the odors at bay.

I bought an ElectroWarmth 12V pad on sale at a TA last year, supposed to be the best one to get. Haven't tested it out yet.
http://electrowarmth.com/12vbunkwarmermattresspad.php

Fortunately, a/c is not a real concern in San Diego, but having lived in Texas for many years, you'd die without it there! I like Bob's idea of following the weather, but I know that's not always possible for everyone.

 

[Telcobilly]

Did some work on the rig today. I ran the microwave oven extension cord through the door threshold panels and then snaked into the engine bay through an opening in the front fender to the inverter. I had to cut the stock plug off, so I installed a new 15amp replacement. As stated before, the inverter is in a drawstring bag for weather protection and it runs through a 150amp inverter. Works great, but the load on the inverter slows the engine down from the load an the alternator. Will this significantly reduce the life of the alternator? I'm going to replace the bag/basket with a box with a lid and cutouts for the cables. I'll simply remove the lid when I'm operating the inverter.

---

I'm putting a "kitchen in a box" with commonly used items; cutlery, bowls, cups, plates, camping pot, screw on propane stove, plastic tub to wash dishes in ect, ect. It's still a work in progress. I want the items to be easy access so food preparation is simplified.

---

This was the "shower stall" I was talking about. It's simply a stick of PVC pipe with a T fitting on each end. It would be very easy to hang a shower curtain or camping tarp to it and clamp it to the doors so it won't blow around. I think you would have to be a NBA player for it to be too short..LOL.

 

[Telcobilly]

tested out the gas detector on my portable gas stove the other day. The button is held won for a 10 cycles of the 3 colored LED's to warm up the sensor. The green LED stays on while holding the button down. In the presence of gas, the red LED illuminates and it makes a buzzing tone. I feel a lot better having to test out my Mr Buddy in the future. I plan to buy a larger propane bottle and I want to be 100% sure there are no leaks. I bought the tester at Camping World in 2013.

Warm up:


Detecting gas:

 

[Telcobilly]

I acquired some more devices to aid my off the grid aspirations. The Kill A Watt is a line powered monitor giving volts, amps and watts of monitored appliances. I'm having fun going around testing the wattage around the boat. This will allow one to chart everything for future solar panels, inverters and generators.


Also, I bought a Black Box portable folding solar charger. It got good reviews on Amazon, so I decided to try it out. I have my HTC One M8 Android phone charging right now. Seems to be real slow, so the jury's not out yet (10-11-14).







After properly positioning the solar charger, I see now that it has charged the battery approximately 9% in a 1/2 hour. The phone is turned off to speed the charging.

 

[LeeRevell]

Hmmmm....... gonna be awhile.

 

[Telcobilly]

It took awhile to get it up, I guess it's better if you are out hiking. I do look forward to a true solar system in the future..

 

[Patrick46]

Getting this rig dialed in more and more all the time!! I like it!!

Wee too have a tote box we use for our kitchen supplies. Our's is pretty elaborate. We've got smaller totes inside the big one with untinsels and cuttlery in one, and spices and condiments in another.

I DO question the inverter inside the bag though...I'd be concerned about it getting too hot in there. (shortening it's life) That's why it has cooling fins on the back ya know. Once you get the rain cover/box built for it will probably help it breathe.

 

[Telcobilly]

Good point. The bag is for storage only, always comes out when in use. I've had no moisture problems in 2 + years .

 

[Telcobilly]

I have a friend who works for Bombardier in the train car division. She has a huge roll of durable blue floor carpet. I cut off a piece to put on the floor of shell. I cut it at a place on the roll where there was a cut as not to waste her carpet. It fit perfect. It really facilitates sliding everything out from the back vs having to raise the deck..MUCH easier.