Kimbo Camper BS and Mods

It looks like the

$155 Thetford Porta Potti 365 Portable Toilet (for RV, Marine, Camping, Vans, Trucks, Healthcare) 92820, White

365

 

Tiny_Livin....we are going to expect a full detailed trip report of the pickup of your Kimbo.....

 

Will do Craig! Bringing it right back to Bend to get licensed and then taking it to Leavenworth for New Years (that’s the plan at least). I’ll keep y’all updated!

 

We'll be over there and in the Wenatchee area this weekend playing in the snow.

 

Folks, I need someone to share some winter Kimbo camping stories so I can live vicariously through you as I wait for mine to arrive in the spring...

 

I will say the bourbon tastes better in the Kimbo when winter camping.

 

Completed a chalk test yesterday on all the tires loaded with the camper. For my weight, tires, and load out 49-50 is what I'm running up front and 56-57lbs in the rear. Pretty sure I had too much pressure in the beginning. It will probably drop a little as I head to colder temps today but the roads will be snow covered so I wont mind the added traction.

 

HD hooks to help hold the skis or board when loading. May try flipping them to see if they can be completely hands free. They can just stay on while traveling and helps when unloading.

 

Snow hunting season is officially under way!!

boondocking outside of Leavenworth, got down to 5 degrees…may not be cold for other parts of the country but for a PNW person - it’s the coldest we’ve camped in so far. Here are a couple pics and I’ll add some more tomorrow.

 

Picked up #158 yesterday in PDX! The roads up north were extremely icy and I couldn’t be more impressed with how well the Tacoma handled the Kimbo. I will even go as far as saying that it handles better than my fully loaded rubicon did lol.

I few things I’d like to share that Collin told me about the gross vehicle weight that I haven’t read:
1. The axle contribution of GFW is based on normal D rated tires - so by getting E rated tires, we increase our payload by 700 Lbs.
2. The support beams way around 45LBs each so if you take those puppies off, you’re getting back around 180LBs (putting a fully loaded kimbo at 840 LBs).

Super excited about this thing guys. My girlfriend, pup and I hung out in it last night and and felt it was super spacious and very cozy. Lots of trips coming soon but I need a break from traveling for a week or so (been on the road for the past three weeks for the Holidays).

I’ll post some pics of the cheap inside mods that I make once everything’s built out. Cheers!

 

That looks great! Congrats on the newest addition!

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with and thoughts on how it works out for ya.

 

Just a heads up - if you were wondering about running your 110v bed plug to keep your yeti500x topped off, it worked great for us this last weekend. Ran the fan and fridge (both 12v) most of the way to eastern Washington (just gotta remember to hit the button when you shut the truck off and start it back up) and arrived with a full battery. Our plug was relocated to just behind the passenger front side of the bed, I just ran an extension cord across the front of the bed and around to the plug on the Kimbo...pretty slick. Also, this is Yeti approved - I called them and asked specifically about it.

 

What is everyone seeing when it gets really cold? Talking well below freezing (under 20 degrees or more).

Some things I've noticed:

• After weeks of rain and then a deep freeze - the door lock froze solid.

Possible solution: Lube your locks!!!! In my case, it was too late so I had to use the old lighter to heat up the key trick...seriously - lube your locks now, it's a total pain in the ass to try and heat a key up in 13 degree weather with a stiff wind blowing.

• The door seems to be a superconductor for the cold, likely due to the rubber used construction instead of insulation.

Possible solution: Working on a warm door cover that will snap onto the door to hopefully help keep the cold at bay a bit better.

• Frost around the window frames

Possible solution: keeping the blackout shades down at night seems to keep the frost at a minimum but I was a bit surprised to see this on the arctic therm window frames

• Frost on the inside of the roof fan (Maxxfan) that melts during the day and drips water down inside the Kimbo - not a lot but probably a teaspoon, more annoying than anything I guess.

Possible solution: Only thing I can think of is to hang a catch pan below the fan.

• Significant heat stratification - 70 degrees in the sleeping platform, 55 degrees at the shoulder when sitting in the common area, 30 degrees below the knee.

Possible solution: Adding a fan to help move the heat around and get some of it down around the feet. Also looking at adding some insulation to the outside of the lower portion of the Kimbo box...not sure how much insulation is below the flooring.

Please share your experiences and possible solutions!!

Thanks!!

 

Glad your in the club Tiny_Livin.....enjoy and keep us up to date....also appreciate the cold weather tips from Profloundering along with the power update from the 110v in the bed...mine is off the truck now waiting fro some warmer weather........

 

Awesome to hear! Keep us updated.

 

Thanks for the tips @Profloundering. Camping near our local mountain tonight for New Years and the low is supposed to be 1 degree lol. Might have the Dickinson heater blasting all night for this one! Happy new year’s eve!

 

Just got back from a three night trip to my old stomping grounds. We got a crap load of snow and more on the way after I left. 33 inches while I was there and another 14 today. Never saw the sun. Temps were cold at night, down to the low teens. Kimbo did great on all nights.

Night 1: Diesel heater only

Night 2: Started with wood stove at 11pm. Became cold enough at 4:30am to remote start the diesel heater around 40 degrees.

Night 3: Diesel heater only

At the end of the trip I had about 75% battery left and enough diesel for another night with the heater.

What I noticed during this time was a good amount of ice melt around the outside, around but not inside the propane storage, and bottom of the door. The door was a little stiff opening in the morning but not bad. Closing the tailgate was difficult though with the snow and ice. The windows were still operational although the front one remained covered.

Inside I was still very impressed with the insulation quality. I did not have any frost form or condensation.

* The inside temps hovered around 75-65 with the windows cracked and fan on using the thermostat.

* There were the occasional flurries that you could feel when the wind blew and the fan wasn't running but no trace left.

* I kept the screen up on the side window which collected snow but did not form ice.

* Front window was barely cracked using the small channel in the windows lock, no ice formed.

* Humidly stayed well below 20% inside.

* Mud room did stay cold enough for a 6pack without the need for a cooler.

I was parked close to friends' houses and access to a bathroom and shower if needed. All in all it work great for it first ski trip and allowed me to stay for free or I should say at the cost of some beer and food. Getting ready inside was really nice. I almost wish I could have hung out longer inside but powder needed to be had.

 

Some other pics from the trip.

 

Yesterday.

 

Some additional pictures from the next morning at about 7 degrees out when we got up - around 65 degrees inside and there were two of us and my wife says I'm full of hot air, so that has to be taken into consideration

The door:


We had a small battery operated fan to move some of the air to the door and it almost immediately began defrosting (it opened just fine by the way):



The front window frame:


Was surprised to see some ice on the base of the wooden strut:



We have a 12v fan ready to be installed - I'll be figuring out the mounting for it this week and will be testing this weekend although we only have one more deep cold camping trip in February, hopefully the fan will help out a bit.