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RE: Chassis Ground on a Bigfoot truck camper????
I've got 2 or 3 grounds bolted to the camper tie down ring on the front drivers side. I assume they would ground through the tiedowns to the truck frame. I am the 2nd owner but I'm pretty sure it came from the factory like that.
That ground is for grounding the camper to earth when the jack foot is touching the ground.
My 2000 BF's main grounding point for the battery negative and AC ground is attached to the propane copper tubing that is located under the bed step, where the converter is.
Jim
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bigfootford
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02/13/21 10:51am |
Truck Campers
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RE: New Ford 7.3 Gas
That new 7.3 is way above the old 7.5 460 gasser.. I am impressed.
My f250 with it's 4100lb camper on and towing a 2500lb trailer or a 2,000 lb toad it pulled quite good but on some real steep curvy roads it was close to running out of power! Like coming out of Shelter Cove Calif.. and some other places.. 4.10 rear and E4od trans.
Old 7.5 205-275 hp and 345-375 torque
New 7.3 430 hp and 475 torque!
That is some impressive numbers!
Jim
Haw, If I was a youngster like you I would have not one of these but a nice Dodge with a great diesel.. and a 6 speed Alison trans.. That is my want... Skipro3's truck to me is a great rig.
Ok, I’m looking forward to seeing one in your driveway!!
3 tons
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bigfootford
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02/09/21 07:32pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: New Ford 7.3 Gas
That new 7.3 is way above the old 7.5 460 gasser.. I am impressed.
My f250 with it's 4100lb camper on and towing a 2500lb trailer or a 2,000 lb toad it pulled quite good but on some real steep curvy roads it was close to running out of power! Like coming out of Shelter Cove Calif.. and some other places.. 4.10 rear and E4od trans.
Old 7.5 205-275 hp and 345-375 torque
New 7.3 430 hp and 475 torque!
That is some impressive numbers!
Jim
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bigfootford
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02/09/21 10:29am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot (old vs new)
Make a fiberglass 2 or 3 piece box using the disappearing foam method and West Systems epoxy. I have made lots of things using this method.
https://youtu.be/xOQPM9Z8wXw
Jim
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bigfootford
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02/07/21 09:37am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot (old vs new)
Yep getting those tanks out is a pain in the TAIL!
My compartment still looks good but my camper sits in a cave when not in use.
Great to see that you are still doing maintenance on that beast!
Our BF is a 2000 so there is aways things to do!
Hope you and your family have a great year and maybe we all can get together again!
Jim n Sheila.
A link to our last get together... Adamis's, 3tons and the Bigfoot fords..hahaa
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tQm6zqgcFkZivSHA8
Jim
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bigfootford
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02/06/21 11:02am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Picture trails is shutting down
SO this doesn't effect the method now? Do you know when the switch from picture trail was made?
Regardless, now is a good time to browse through the Trip Report 3.0V sticky to look at some of the past trip reports.
If there is a trip report along with the pictures you would like to save on your computer it is easy to do. In Chrome, click the menu (3 dots top right corner), choose "More tools", choose "Save Page As". Make sure the type is "webpage, complete". Then choose the folder you want to save it in and the file name. It will create a html file AND a folder with the same name. To open, just open the html file. All of the pictures, text, etc will be there.
If you use a different browser than Chrome and don't know how, let me know and I will be glad to figure it out for you.
I have over 150 trip reports from Don Curley, Whazoo, and Seldom Seen Smith already saved but will be saving a lot more over the next month.
That is a good way to save the pictures... Thanks.
Jim
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bigfootford
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01/21/21 10:32am |
Truck Campers
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Picture trails is shutting down
I have a few pictures from that era before one of our members made a little program to save our pictures on the forum. I will review them to see if they are of any value.
If any of you have anything of value for a topic you might want to review this...
https://www.picturetrail.com/members/closing.html
Jim
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bigfootford
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01/17/21 10:45am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Time to Develop a Solution for Scissor Stairs (Bigfoots)
The platform with garbage cans installed sure is not for everybody.
I would prize Stow'n go bracket. In the design I pictured above it holds the steps flush with step bumper, so I could step on it to enter the camper just to grab something. My 230lb bend factory bolt at 1 point, but those were all-thread bolts, that I replaced with ones who have thread only on the ends.
Than it takes 5 seconds to undo the straps and pull the steps.
Hahahahaaa, Garbage Cans....
That shows your colors sir.... hahahaa
Storage Tubs... They hold my Smoky Joe and bbq equipment. The other holds my levelers, jack pads and a big throw rug....
They have traveled for well over 150,000 miles, clear to Prudhoe Bay and across the US 6 times.
I have replaced the tubs 1 time. The nice is if you bump into them they can move around. They sit on seat belt strap material.
The door handle is in just the right place to offer stability climbing in and out.
Jim
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bigfootford
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11/06/20 09:14am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Time to Develop a Solution for Scissor Stairs (Bigfoots)
Hay Rob, guess you did not look at my BF to realize my porch is what you need. Mine is 18" but you could do it less. Simple bracing from the rear jack brackets.
Here is the build thread showing what Reddog1 and I did years ago. I did get the Glow Steps from Torquelift. A big difference in rigidity.
https://i.imgur.com/EYD9CM5l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9sJERovl.jpg
https://www.rv.net/forum/Index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25135064.cfm
Jim
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bigfootford
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11/05/20 11:00am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Firestone Ride-Rite Airspring Defective Design Bent Brackets
Agree with HMSbeagle!
Over the years I have had 2 friends that had Firestone bags.. There brackets bent... Inspecting them we found that they were properly installed but engineered wrong.
Air lifts are the best. Mine are 21 years old and do have a bit of rubber cracking but they do not loose air. I run with 40psi with my 4100lb bigfoot camper on the back of my 94 f250. I installed an onboard compressor that is great. No leaks anywhere.
Jim
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bigfootford
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10/28/20 04:26pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot tripping house GFI
Good that you found that it was the fridge.
You can disconnect the hot lead and neutral to the heater element and retest. That will verify that the heater element is defective and has an a slight short, not a complete short as that might trip the campers breaker.
Jim
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bigfootford
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09/30/20 12:09pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Bigfoot tripping house GFI
Just for grins, unplug your fridge AC cord inside the outside fridge access cover.
Reset your GFI and see if it trips again.
Some reading here if anyone is interested.
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19658290/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm
More reading on the subject. Nice to have an understanding of the fridge and GFI's.
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19726244/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm
Jim
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bigfootford
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09/09/20 11:20am |
Truck Campers
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RE: bigfoot on shortbed srw
I just reviewed 6 years of different model years of BF brochures 2000 -2008 there are no 2500 series 9.6 listed as for short bed use ,
they only list 9.4 and once an 8-11 b was listed as for short box use
OOOH, where is the OP? I kind of knew this but did some assumptions.. Guess we need the WHOLE story eh?
Jim
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bigfootford
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09/01/20 06:30pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: bigfoot on shortbed srw
Ok, got that over with...
My 9.6 2500 weighs right at 4200lbs loaded with water, food and clothes.
My f250 is a supercab gasser and weighs 5,800 lbs. SRW. Total weight of truck and camper is 10,060.
My rear axle weight loaded is about 66xxlbs.
I have 19.5 tires and Air Lift air bags in the rear. I run about 40psi, just enough to level the truck.
Camper bought new and has been on 2 f250's. Camper has about 200,000 miles on it.
I have no other suspension changes.
Tire capacity is 4950lbs each so I have lots of reserve weight capacity on the rear of my truck.
I would check your tire capacity.. and figure that camper will weigh about 4K loaded. Decide later if you need air bags and anti sway etc.
Jim
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bigfootford
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09/01/20 02:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: bigfoot on shortbed srw
Original post says 9.6 short box camper on short box truck. Don’t see sagging issues with that. Old non basement BF’s had sagging issues, but haven’t heard of it with newer ones. Lots of plywood in the construction. Had my 2002 9.6 LB on LB truck for 14 yrs from Alaska to Texas to Maritimes with never an issue.
Wow, I totally missed that the OP said sb 9.6... Thankyou...
Sorry OP for missing that...
My 9.6 lb on a long bed does sag a bit. Not bad but you can see it. It is a basement 9.6 2500.
Jim
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bigfootford
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09/01/20 01:43pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: bigfoot on shortbed srw
The 9.6 BF is not built with enough fiberglass frame structure to support that much weight hanging over the rear of a short bed truck. Also center of gravity would actually reduce front axle weight. My 9.6 only puts 300lbs on the front axle..
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I have a friend that has an older BF that is 11'5". Even on a long bed the rear of the camper has sagged quite a bit and caused a delamination of the internal structure of the walls at the rear overhang. He fixed that but the sag was not much better.
My 9'6" does sag just a bit back there too and that is on a long bed. No structure problems though... 20 years, lots of miles and many rough roads! All the way to Prudhoe bay and more.
Lastly... Both the gray and black tanks are in the overhang... 50 gallons when full. Along with that part of the fresh water tank is in that last 1.5' of overhang... A short bed would place about another 2' of water weight in the short bed overhang of the camper.
The 9.6 holds about 50 gallons of fresh water...
Jim
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bigfootford
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08/31/20 11:09am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Any experience with GreenLiFE Lithium-Ion Batteries???
Well there is a cog in the wheel...
25 amp max charge rate!
https://azimuthsolarproducts.com/product/12v-100ah-sio2-battery/
Battery Type
SiO2 Composite Electrolyte Battery
Nominal Capacity (25°C/77°F)
100 Ah (1.2 kWh) @ 20 Hour
Nominal Voltage
12V
Max Charge Current
25A
Max Charge Voltage
14.7V
Internal Resistance (25°C/77°F)
=< 6.8 m?
Max Discharge Current (25°C/77°F)
900A(5S)
Depth of Discharge
100% DOD
Operational Temperature
-40?C to 65?C (-40?F to 149?F)
Self Discharge
< 1.6% per Month
Life Cycle
3400 Cycles at 40% DOD; 1500 Cycles at 80% DOD; 620 Cycles at 100% DOD
Dimensions
16.8 x 30.7 x 21.5 cm (6.61 x 12.08 x 8.46")
Weight
27 kg (59.5 lbs)
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bigfootford
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08/29/20 11:42am |
Tech Issues
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RE: What's changed about camping?
Lot's you have listed have been going on for years.
Pretty sad. The only way to get around lot's of those issues is to do your trips/camping after school starts. Impossible with kids sadly.
One more thing that really is bad that many state campgrounds have been taken over by commercial companies thus no forest service. The prices have doubled and tripled in popular areas.
Jim
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bigfootford
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08/02/20 10:10am |
RV Lifestyle
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RE: Tank drop!
Oh Arctic Fox had serious trouble years ago!!!!
https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21247815/print/true.cfm
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1437/6215710/19441226/312443304.jpg
Jim
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bigfootford
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07/26/20 10:40am |
Truck Campers
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RE: After 25 years the water heater - UPDATE page 5
Think the Atwood water heaters were all aluminum so no anode.
Maybe the older ones were steel.
Well at least you were not on a long trip and the thing let go...
You will like the auto ignite....
Jim
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bigfootford
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07/20/20 10:35am |
Truck Campers
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