Downloading at Campground

[TandeMCreations]

Bought my first Truck Camper this week. Love it so far and have loved all of the ideas I have found on line. My question: How many of you download your camper at the campsite and use your truck to get around the area? Do you leave it on and just leave something at the camp spot to claim your area? Or, do you take it off of your truck and leave it there? Thanks in advance!

[emcvay]

I'm loving the new auto 🙂 Downhill? No problem! Engine brake/exhaust brake on auto and just cruise on down the hill in style without ever needing to touch the break...and that's through hundreds and hundreds of miles of BC mountains 😄

As for offloading, we did that on day one here (Tue) then had to load up and move 100 feet to a different spot (sewage not working at 1st)....was no problem at all 😄 Off loaded again and use the truck around town (here for a wedding so a little different perhaps).

[Kayteg1]

Almost all newer vehicles have manual mode on automatic.
But the computer still has program that will protect vehicle from idiot driver.
My dually will start on 3rd gear from what I tried, but not higher.
It will hold the low gear down to 1000 rpm, but then it will downshift.
Best of all Worlds.

[Grit_dog]

On the contrary, steep grades and switchbacks is where I love having a manual trans truck.
No one can decide which gear you want but you.

[otrfun]

BradW wrote:
. . . That road is a long, very narrow, windy, 9% down grade mountain road. No way I would have driven that truck/Camper down that road without a clutch.

bradw

Wouldn't have been thrilled about working a manual through some of the nasty switchbacks we've driven through these last few months in N. CA, UT and CO. We lock our Cummins in 2nd or 3rd gear, activate the exhaust brake, and we're good-to-go. Keep the Cummins between 2 - 2.5k, which is the sweet spot for maximum exhaust braking on the downgrades, and good, responsive power delivery on the upgrades. Rarely needed the brakes. To each their own.

[Clarryhill]

BradW wrote:

NRALIFR wrote:
BradW said: “Dang manual trannies, you just can't depend on them.....give me a good reliable automatic any day.”

I guess old dogs CAN learn new tricks when necessary! :W

:):)

I admit I was wrong about the new automatics. They have come a VERY long way.

Had to do a double-take on this to make sure it was actually Brad writing. :):)

[mountainkowboy]

Depends on how long we'll be there. A day or two no, the joy of a TC is not having to bring anything else. Drop it and go...

[ajriding]

I never download. I always leave the data onboard. Sometimes I like to cut and paste though, this saves a lot of time when transferring big items. Although it depends a lot on the speed at the campground. If it is slow then I would wait until I find higher access speed. Transfer is a lot of work and there is always the risk of corrupting your work every time you download and then have to upload again.

[lakeside013104]

Don't off load. TC stays on the truck. Where we camp the only transportation required is by foot or by canoe/kayak. No utilities to be concerned with. Exercise comes from cutting enough firewood from the surrounding dead trees to keep a fire at most all times. Fish to eat comes from the river or the pond we camp at. Entertainment comes from what nature has to offer. Occasionally we encounter a Forest Ranger or a Game Warden, who often times look at the campsite and decide for themselves that offenses will be found elsewhere, bidding us 'good day' and departing as silently as they arrived.

Back a few moons ago we did have a fellow camper show up and sit by our fire, shared a few stories and then he too moved on. The North Maine Woods offers 'room aplenty' for those so minded.

Camper on or off the truck is OK. No one cares what you do as long as you don't infringe on other campers private experience with your noise, litter, offensive loudness, night times lights which spoil the star gazing,or uncontrolled pets. Keeping those annoyances in check allows others to enjoy the complete and amazing serenity that surrounds us.

Safe travels,
Lakeside

[BradW]

burningman wrote:
You fire it up in gear and go....

That's one of the reasons I like manual trannies. That's also how we unloaded the camper in the dealers parking lot.... it was rather dynamic. 🙂

But we were a long way from the nearest ford dealer in Brevard, NC and we also had to drive off the mountain on hwy 276. That road is a long, very narrow, windy, 9% down grade mountain road. No way I would have driven that truck/Camper down that road without a clutch.

bradw

[specta]

Kayteg1 wrote:

specta wrote:
If I was going to unload at campgrounds on a regular basis I'd buy me a travel trailer.

Seeing some folks at campground - bu the time they back and park their TT at the spot, crank the stabilizing jacks, unhook hitch and WD bars, lower the steps - I am unloaded with my TC and long gone....
Than with variety of TC and different use of them, we can't apply 1 family routine to others. It is all that suits you.
I just pointed that having pets and traveling in 3-digits temperatures, you can't take the pets with TC and leave them on the streets for hr when you walk at whatever you like.

I've had both. If I regularly left one behind it would be a travel trailer.

But for me I never need to leave one behind.

[burningman]

BradW wrote:
Three times in 23 years.

That doesn't included when the clutch slave cylinder went out on our 2006 F350 and left us stranded at Shinning Rocks Wilderness. Then had to tow the truck/camper off the mountain to the nearest Ford dealer in Henderson, NC. Removed the camper in their parking lot and spent the night there until they could fix it the next day. Dang manual trannies, you just can't depend on them.....give me a good reliable automatic any day. 🙂

Too late now, but you weren’t stuck. If that ever happens again you can still drive. You fire it up in gear and go, and shift without the clutch. Shut it off at stoplights.
I’ve done this several times over the years in vehicles with failed clutch release.
In my (and all) big trucks you only use the clutch once, to start from a stop, then shift without the clutch - and that’s with no synchros like you have in a pickup trans.

[Kayteg1]

Click For Full-Size Image.
This is my camper anti-sway bracing.
Before I found aluminium tubing, I was building T-bracket from short piece of 4x10 and long piece of 4x6 or 4x4
When the pad was out of level, I would put single support in the center and amazing how much the single support helps.
That also easy my mind about water tank dropping down with the floor, what happen before I made some dryrot repairs.

[adamis]

I just went through this for the first time this past week. I've never offloaded before, always traveling every day or two. This time we had a nice week at a private campground that allowed offloading. For the first three days I left it on but then took it off for the remainder of the stay.

I have to admit, I'm a bit conflicted on it. It was nice having the camper low to the ground and easier to get in and out of plus the use of the truck when we wanted. On the flip side, there was noticeable sway in the camper when in it. It wasn't enough to be bothersome but more than I liked. I also had a hard time sleeping in the bed. Yes, I know the camper flipping over isn't possible given the amount of weight in the back of the camper but my sub conscious kept me turning very lightly while in the bed as I slept.

If I was to do it again, I would look for some way to support the camper in addition to the jacks just to reduce the sway.

[Kayteg1]

I had 6-speed on my 1999 Ford F450 and it still worked OK when selling it with 300k miles.
Automatics of the era had to be rebuild 3-5 times to get to that mileage, not to mention that pulling 30,000 lb rig could kill them on fast note.
Don't know how much protection newer cars/trucks have, but in the past I could drive Fiat with failed clutch cylinder.
I switch it to 1st, cranked the engine that would start moving the car and then, with some good feel you can switch the gears without clutch.
Newer cars have clutch switch that will not turn the engine starter until depress, so it would take overriding it.