The one thing I saw on the weekend of a guy rocking a topper setup. Was it looked like he piped it up the rear fender into what I would assume was that little storage box in the Tacoma’s. I should’ve taken a picture.
It really got me thinking of the same thing; just for those times you want to be a little more stealth. I tell yeah though, not having to flip the tailgate down every time I want to get out is a game changer. But it is a little bit of extra crap to carry around…or potentially forget.
Have you checked out John Mck 47 on YouTube? This guy knows everything about these diesel heaters. He has like a 12 part series on them. I highly recommend anyone interested in these heaters to watch all of his videos. I’m in the process now of building one in a box. There’s a great larger pelican case harbor freight has to contain all the components. Running a longer exhaust can also benefit for location installation. Corregated heating pipe is a great option to transfer heat from the unit to the tent area.
The one thing I will note. I honestly don’t run the heater throughout the night and find that it’s plenty warm in bunk mode. That being said, I do use a -22F/-30C sleeping bag. One of the main reasons for doing this is the fact that I’ve been finding that it’s hard on the battery in the cold. So unless you have a DC to DC charging system and are planing on running the truck; you’ll likely kill the battery over a three day trip (at least in the north anyways). Just not enough daylight in winter to fully charge the battery on 100W solar.
Originally I thought of figuring out a way to also pipe heat up to the tent; but felt that it actually wasn’t necessary. I have a small battery operated fan that moves the heat around up high and keeps the condensation under control. So far I’ve been able to pull off multiple 3 night ski touring trips in deep snow (so gear got real wet) And have been able to dry my gear, and chill out in comfort. But I have resorted to bringing a second 100aH deep cycle to use if the lithium battery dies. That 9A every time you turn the heater on and off is a real battery killer.
This is one thing holding me back. I want to put it on a tire table, and then route into the lower bed. But then how will the heat get to the “upstairs”
My only idea was to make a PVC tube vent and cut a small hole in the floor of one of the panels. I didnt want that to be permanent, but I suppose the vent hole could be plugged and covered when its not winter. I also do not want any tubing going through the windows.
I may act on this plan soon, but i am also redoing my dual battery setup, and the cold and wiring has me deferring the project
why not just leave one of the panels out and I believe someone on here shortened one of the panels by 2 inches to allow for a silt to allow the air to pass through… I remember seeing a picture of that floating around somewhere
Here is my latest creation. Using Kayak deck plates and a couple of 3D designed/printed parts. I bet using this could work great on the lower flip out camper door too.
I carry two lids. One just seals things up when not in use. The other has the heater duct attachment built in.
I love what @keeganbuilds posted and this is the route I’ll be going with… will be mounting that in the area circled in red and I’ve already measured it so that when the panel is flipped up, it does not hit the Awning bag
He isn’t on this forum yet but I’ve been trying to convince Ben, the owner of Yona Adventure Gear to get on here and sell them as he already makes this attachment and I posted a picture of that in the other heater thread I believe…… the port that I will be installing is a Yona product
the idea on mine is that in the summer time I turn my fan on and it pulls cool air through the whole tent. and since I incorporated a screen no bugs get in too.
For the sleek look, absolutely go with @keeganbuilds ‘s design…. I happen to like the chunky look and I’m more of a set it and forget it kind of person
Absolutely!.. I’m loving all the different ideas and perspectives on how to do this… I actually even had an idea the other day but this is 10000000x times above my abilities where we could take out the end plate on the lower frame (V2) and plug that with an adapter attachment for the hose in the D shape of the frame and then perhaps install a vent at one or two points along its length and that’ll give it “central heat” but I’m not sure how that would impact strength and integrity but maybe not that much as there are already two access holes on the outside edge for the clamps ( I already have those sealed up with plugs)… warranty would be fukked though
