Any RV - Boondocker's on here?

[OldPete]

We're getting ready for our first trip. Likening Boondocking to living on the hook with the boat - hopefully...

800ah Lithium, 800w solar... generator... hopefully this works out! LOL.

Anyone into it?

[Jughed]

We RV a bunch.

Boondocking in the NE is not easy, not many places to stay.

And with 5 of us, the pooper fills up pretty fast.

So we prefer the state parks, South Carolina parks are awesome… they are not as nice in the NE, so we do KOA/private campgrounds.

[noelm]

I guess "boondocking" is free camping without facilities?

[Jughed]

Yep. Out west in the open BLM lands, Utah and Nevada - it’s awesome. Wide open spaces with incredible landscapes. You can go and stay for a good bit of time before you have to move.

The east coast has less options, less open land.

[noelm]

Lots do it here, even in towns lots have free stays in certain places, most are advertised in magazines and so on. All our major highways have decent "rest stops" that you're allowed to stay at for a while, some have toilets, some have showers, some are just a place to park with some trees for shade. Or, you can completely "rough it" out in the near deserted areas, dirt roads, some merely tracks.

[Parker Yacht]

What kind of rig do you have Pete?
What generator?
I do it on the weekends, and my Gen is just like a bote's.
P.I.T.A.

[TheRealMacGyver]

We always stay at an rv park. I have a 38’ Georgetown class A so I just prefer to know I have a place. I also tow a car so it is not easy to get turned around if I end up somewhere I shouldn’t be! I have 75gal water/ 84gal gray/ 84gal black so no issues boondocking there plus a 7500w Onan I could run for AC. I have read about a lot of people that never pay to park, but not sure how true all that is.

[SIM]

Learned something new….Boondocking. When our kids were younger we twice rented a RV with the destination Fort Wilderness at Disney. Both were very fun, memorable trips. Never thought of trying to find a free place to park it. I thought Walmart allowed that. How would you figure out what places were safe and free?

Not sure my wife would have been ok with that. Are there places that allow you to do that?

[Parker Yacht]

They have apps for that.
And Walmart is cracking down on overnight parking.

[OldPete]

What kind of rig do you have Pete?
What generator?
I do it on the weekends, and my Gen is just like a bote's.
P.I.T.A.

We just picked up a Winnebago 1800BH. Been outfitting it for off-grid. Been a blast learning and getting her ready.

I always said I HATE towing, but the Tacoma TRD PRO with the weight distributing hitch makes it reasonable.

We'll see how it goes after a few 1000 miles. LOL.

Wife is planning a pretty good trip Carolinas, Virginia, WV, TN... some boondocking, some parks...
Then the next trip is out west to do some legit boondocking.

Generator. Now... that's an interesting conversation. I ended up with a GenMax 3300i -- it's a lightweight (49lb) that still does 3000w constant (3300 peak). (Amazon) The RPM is a little high under demand, but not terrible. It'll run the AC just a hair above eco mode. I just outfitted it with a second tank (NOT the cap/barb method). It's pretty cool.

The RV was the smallest I could find with tandem axles and not a total POS. Got about 40% off MSRP - could have done slightly better.

[TheRealMacGyver]

This is how it starts, you’ll be looking and bigger trucks soon, then shopping for a 5th wheel! LOL!!

Have fun.

[OldPete]

Learned something new….Boondocking. When our kids were younger we twice rented a RV with the destination Fort Wilderness at Disney. Both were very fun, memorable trips. Never thought of trying to find a free place to park it. I thought Walmart allowed that. How would you figure out what places were safe and free?

Not sure my wife would have been ok with that. Are there places that allow you to do that?

Oh man! There are TONS of apps that show places. People write reviews, etc. Sorta like Active (before it got bought by Garmin and when poopie). If you ever want to go down a rabbit hole...

https://www.facebook.com/groups/124433330976510

I hate Facewaste but for some of these groups it's got a lot of value. The places you can go are just amazing. Now I just need to cut down time at work... well... and the kids. LOL.

[Sans Peur]

I thought about doing that. My problem is time. I took off last October for a week and that was the first time I took any time off since October 2021. An RV requires a lot of time. I don't have any of that.

[TomS]

Our ~30 yo daughter lives in this Four Wheel Camper/Tacoma TRD Pro full time with her bulldog, and works remotely every day. She seldom pays to stay anywhere (due to BLM and other options) and she doesn't need to plug in very often with solar panels on the roof and very low power equipment. It's lightweight, fully self-sufficient, and the Taco takes her off-road wherever she wants to go. She can break it down or set the popup top up literally in less than 5-10 minutes. Verizon and Starlink RV keep her connected pretty much everywhere. She has memberships at national chain gyms to stay in shape and get cleaned up. She's looped the US a couple times CA to Maine, and seen a lot of beautiful places, mostly National Parks, in a relatively short time. Her passion is film photography, which she's very good at, so this setup is ideal. Other than the investment in the rig itself, she lives very minimal. Almost all of her possessions are right in there with her. And she has no student loan debt, fully employed, lol.




Florence just relaxing and standing watch

[SeaCat22]

And has a gun and lots of ammo...in case of evil folks.

[Parker Yacht]

Pete,
Tell me more about your second fuel tank.
I have a Cummins/Onan (Chinese POS) and added the cap auxiliary tank method, and its a major P.I.T.A.
This is my "Land Yacht".

[Parker Yacht]

That's actually one of the cool things about this, you get what's on the TV Ant. All the little tons have OLD TV shows, Manix, Perry Mason, this was Dora, mostly for pictures. :-)))
You must be an expert on Dora!

[jmike]

Boondocking with Dora

[V_Thirteen]

Everyone who had kids recognizes Dora. I spotted her right off.

[OldPete]

Our ~30 yo daughter lives in this Four Wheel Camper/Tacoma TRD Pro full time with her bulldog, and works remotely every day. She seldom pays to stay anywhere (due to BLM and other options) and she doesn't need to plug in very often with solar panels on the roof and very low power equipment. It's lightweight, fully self-sufficient, and the Taco takes her off-road wherever she wants to go. She can break it down or set the popup top up literally in less than 5-10 minutes. Verizon and Starlink RV keep her connected pretty much everywhere. She has memberships at national chain gyms to stay in shape and get cleaned up. She's looped the US a couple times CA to Maine, and seen a lot of beautiful places, mostly National Parks, in a relatively short time. Her passion is film photography, which she's very good at, so this setup is ideal. Other than the investment in the rig itself, she lives very minimal. Almost all of her possessions are right in there with her. And she has no student loan debt, fully employed, lol.




Florence just relaxing and standing watch

Sounds like a really cool and smart young lady! You should be proud.

[OldPete]

Pete,
Tell me more about your second fuel tank.
I have a Cummins/Onan (Chinese POS) and added the cap auxiliary tank method, and its a major P.I.T.A.
This is my "Land Yacht".

Sure. There are two different "general" kinds of generators as far s the fuel system goes. Vent in the cap and vent in the tank. The vent in the cap (usually small generators (2kw and under) can use the cap method, but it still sucks. The larger ones. THAT is a problem for the cap method (even though people do it). Because:

Well... watch this guy:
https://youtu.be/0tg7kg6VYYE (He 'splains it really really really well. Totally worth the watch!)

I spoke with that guy on the phone at length and he's a REALLY cool dude. He didn't have what I needed for my generator but he gave me enough info to do a great job. The funny part is that YOU are a great person to know for this because guess what vendor he uses for all his parts?? LOL. Yamaha! I didn't even think of you and did it via Amazon. I'd rather have had top-shelf parts IMHO for this sort of thing - but it's done. Anyway... So... what did I do?

You need (or similar ends... that brass end (with the two nipples) turned out to be a piece of feces and I went with another set of the silver ones in the top picture for the generator connection) But this gives you the idea. (That's the picture with the parts list... sorry, pics are out of order)

The 1-off-2 valve is really the star of the show. 1 draws from the onboard tank. 2 draws from the aux tank.

The aux tank stays at above the generator (gravity fed).

Now... Pinnelas Power (the guy in the video) makes kits with a fuel pump, but didn't know which is best (we could figure it out!) for my generator. But the gravity method works perfectly fine.

I also hate the piece of plastic in that one nipple (gas connector on the generator). But this should give you a good idea. You could do it with the parts in your shop in 15 minutes. The only thing you may not have (but I'll bet you do!) is the switch.

[OldPete]

Oh. Sorry. The little white cap is just a cover that goes over the port. My son is a whiz with 3D printing and made that cap out of a material called ASA that can withstand the harshest of things. Works great.

[Parker Yacht]

That's great Intel.
Mine is mounted about and does everything he says, except to catch fire. Yet.
I followed the venting but apparently not well enough.
I really don't want to do a pump.