By the end of the camping season We expect to have traveled near 1250 miles and spent 22 nights in the camper. Our first trip was to Fish Creek Pond in NY during August. We are heading Mt Desert Island in Maine for 4 days this Friday and to a national dog show in October.
All but one thing in camper is functional at or beyond new specifications.
What is not working appears to be an original Keystone oversight. The wiring for the outdoor speakers was never installed and for some reason the bedroom speakers are not hooked up? Nothing appears tampered with when I pulled the head unit out of the cabinet. Seems wires were never installed. Outdoor Speakers are sealed with factory RTV, and I would have no idea how to run wires.
On the camper rear bumper I have installed a carrier with two additional fabricated brackets to cart cargo & Bikes. It is very rugged and could easily support 500Lbs. Looking into E-Bikes Recommendations welcome.
Rear bumper also has posts mounts for clothes line.
I have 500 Amps of LiFePO4 Lithium Batteries and a 2,000 watt inverter ( fried the 1500W inverter, Gand am glad I bought on Amazon) that runs all 120V AC in the camper less the Air Conditioner. I have 230W of solar, plus a dual fuel generator rated 2970W on propane. Hot water is all fixed with Dinosaur control board.
Tuned up also.
Have wireless brake controller. It works well.
Campers sure do have flimsy shelving. Glue, extra wood bracing and some screws make a difference.
What we did not have for gear in our trusty old Palomino Pop-up, we bought new.
Name it, we probably have it. Lots of neat stuff. Bought all sorts of do dads
Also bought a camper cover plus and 5 Gallons of silicone roof coating to apply, but will wait applying as the roof is fine.
All told, even Mr. Thrifty spent about $3,500 on camper stuff.
PS. Has anyone looked at the cargo capacity of a 2023-2024 Keystone Bullet 26RBPR is? GCVW is same, but camper weights 600 Lbs. more, limiting cargo capacity to less than 800lbs. WTF? That makes the new 26RBPR camper somewhat useless and dangerous. Really bright adding things like a fireplace and an outdoor Fridge, etc.
And now onto our Tow Vehicle. A black 2012 Nissan Titan Pro-4X with almost 150,000 miles bought as a package deal.
I was more excited about the camper than the truck initially.
It had just had in November a brake Job, Rotors and pads, but the Bozo mechanic did not service the calipers, thus most of the brake job was destroyed by the time I bought the truck.
I installed the Power Stop Brig brake trailering kit, Went out to seat and burnish in the pads and the brakes failed at the brake line manifold block.
The shop I normally favored for service was purchased by a dealership chain called NuCar. The AC condenser also had a leak, and I was not going to go camping with a hot ornery wife, so had I had them service that and the transmission also. The service and cost under the new ownership left a bad taste.
No need to go in the details.
In any case, the rest of the work, I did myself. I touched up the paint chips and minor dings, and applied a lot of rust preventative to the underside. In the late fall I will have the car underside and interior panels oiled. other than fasteners, clips, and brackets, the truck is remarkably rust free.
I Installed a HD Transmission Oil Cooler by fabricating custom Brackets and plumbed it with wire braded Hoses with AN fittings
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and Air lift springs
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I had a friend reinforce the trailer hitch mount on the truck, just in case.
I installed a canoe /Ladder rack that works out well.
I added all LED Lighting except the HI and Low beams as I hate the 6000 to 6,500K light and poor beam pattern of LED headlights. The LED driving lamps really do help with lighting immediately in front of truck and to the sides.
Like the camper, I also bought some accessories for the truck.
Guess what? It tows our 6100 lb. Camper over loaded to at least its 7500 Lbs. GCVW along with a bed full of junk reasonably well.
Truck tackled a long 15% grade in Vermont without the tranny cooler installed but had to stop 1/2 a dozen times, but now the transmission cooler should keep the temperature in check. It was fine on interstate 89 with just the factory cooler. Engine temp needle stayed normal.
Just 15 Psig in the air springs along with the weight distribution hitch will take care of any rear end sag.
Tires are 10 ply E rated Falken Wildpeaks. I am happy how it tows.
The engine has an aftermarket tune, K&N cold air intake, and flowmeter exhaust. It is as fast as stepson's 5.0L Coyote with 3,73 gears. But the gas mileage stinks, 8-9 when towing, not towing 13-16 mpg. Still I am getting to like this truck, especially as the truck and camper cost just about 1/2 of of what a new truck alone runs, and that is including all the extra money put in the camper and old truck.
Even my wife likes the truck. Having two trucks in the household is nice.
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