Tundra + Four Wheel Camper Edits
This is a blog post/video that we’ve been looking forward to sharing for some time now! Today we’re going to be covering all of the edits that we’ve done to our home on wheels over the last year of living in it. The list isn’t nearly as extensive as we thought it would be, but I think that’s a testament to how well this build has been working for us! Everything we’ve edited since moving in has aided in making this tiny space more functional and efficient for life on the road.
**Some of the links provided in this blog post are affiliate links. If you end up purchasing some of these pieces of gear we get a very small portion of the sales. Thank you as always for supporting us and our life on the road. It gives us the opportunity to share so extensively with you all!**
House Power
Our Battle Born Lithium Batteries
We’ve made some pretty substantial changes to our power system in our Four Wheel Camper. We need a really robust off-grid power system that can keep up with our needs for work. We removed the battery the camper came with and replaced it with two 12V 100Ah lithium batteries from Battle Born to give us a total of 200Ah.
Within the battery compartment, we also added a 600W inverter since the camper didn’t come with one. We wired this into the AC plugs right below the battery compartment. For easier access to the switch, we drilled a finger hole into the side of the battery compartment. The finger hole enables us to turn on and off the inverter without having to open the battery compartment, which often has stuff on top of it.
Lastly, we swapped out the battery monitor and charge controller for Victron versions so that we were able to monitor state of charge and solar yield through the app on our phones. It’s a much easier way to navigate through everything and to change settings.
This setup is still a work in progress because we aren’t getting any charge from our alternator. For the last year, we have charged our batteries exclusively from our solar panels and been perfectly fine. The charge relay from the factory isn’t meant for lithium batteries so we need to get a different relay to make it work. We’re hoping to get it taken care of soon.
MAK installing the Victron charge controller
Supplies Used
Battle Born 12V 100Ah Lithium Batteries
Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor
Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 Charge Controller
Hilitchi Professional Insulated Wire Terminals Connectors Ratcheting Crimper Tool for 22-10AWG
AIMS Power 600 Watt 12 VDC Pure Sine Car Power Inverter with Cables USB Port
BETOOLL 10 Ton Hydraulic Wire Terminal Crimper Battery Cable Lug Crimping Tool With 8 Dies
If you’re going to be doing some serious work to your power system (in any camper or vehicle), we recommend investing in good crimpers. Both of the sets above are the ones that we purchased for our Sunrader build and still carry with us to this day. When working on a power system it’s important that all of your connections are crimped properly to keep them working through all the bouncing that comes with life on the road.
Solar
Overland Solar Bugout Panel
This Overland Solar 120 watt panel is new to us but is the workhorse of our power system! We carry two cord extensions so we can park in the shade and move the panel out into the sun. By doing that we can keep the camper cooler which will then keep our refrigerator from working so hard. The panel can also be placed in the windshield like a sunshade while we’re away from the rig and keep it plugged in. It keeps the cab cooler and we’re collecting extra power.
Storage Pocket & Book Shelves
Shelves installed on the dinette benches
Even though adding little bookshelf and storage pockets isn’t the most groundbreaking edit, they’re a great way to turn unusable real-estate into storage. We only carry a few books (mostly sketchbooks and our kindles), but this spot makes them easily accessible.
We made a storage pocket that is mounted just inside the door for the small odds and ends that we frequently use when sitting at the dinette. In this pouch, we store regularly used charging cords, coozies, coasters, and our hotspot.
Leather pocket for storing small odds and ends
Both of these storage options were made using scrap wood and leather from our Vanagon and Sunrader builds. The covers are made of leather and brass snaps so we can easily clean behind them. When living on the road EVERYTHING gets dusty and occasionally needs to be cleaned!
Side Note: we don’t like to carry a lot of books because they’re really heavy. When you’re loading up your rig it’s really important to be conscious of weight because you pay for every pound you drive around at the pump. Books add up fast and are the reason we use kindles. They’re great for reading and you can have anything from cookbooks to trail guides in them!
Bed Vapor Barrier
We hadn’t seen the full benefit of adding the vapor barrier until this past winter set in! While camping in colder temperatures condensation is unavoidable. We’ve found that the metal components in the camper can collect a good bit of condensation or even freeze on colder nights. By keeping the mattress up off the bed platform with this barrier, it gives that moisture a chance to evaporate and keeps the mattress from getting soaked! Huge shout out to our friends Mary and Dean for this little tip, it’s been tremendously helpful!
In the picture above, you’ll also see that we have a 1” mattress topper that makes a big difference in the comfort of the bed.
Dash Organizer
We recently added this dash organizer from 67 designs and FCS fabrication which we shared in more detail over on this post. We did this so all of our navigation tools have an organized place and it keeps our view out the windshield clearer than it’s ever been!
Reflectix Window Coverings
This winter we experienced some pretty cold temperatures and decided to add some reflective window coverings to better insulate the camper at night. Each of the coverings is made up of two layers taped together and cut down to the shape of each window. When they aren’t being used they live under our mattress on top of our vapor barrier. We found that they are really helpful at keeping the temperature moderated.
Magnetic Fridge Plate
Before we got on the road with this rig we added a little metal plate to the front of our refrigerator so we could stick magnets and photos to it. It was a fast and easy little upgrade that really allows us to personalize the inside of our camper. The metal plate is adhered to the fridge with 3M strips and both items were purchased at Home Depot.
Litter-box Cabinet
From the factory, we opted out of the cassette toilet and instead got a blank cabinet. This is now home to Luna’s litter box. We used a jigsaw to cut out her little door and added a fun little sign that was gifted to us to decorate the cabinet!
Thank you so much guys! We hope that you found this blog post to be helpful. We did these things to suit our needs for day to day life on the road, but they’re also a fun way to make a truck feel a little more like a home! If you guys have any edits to your own rigs that you like we’d love to hear them in the comments below!
Be well!
MAK
