M109 Camper Conversion, Lots of Questions

[Atten]

Hey folks,

Alright so I am converting the box of my M109 into a camper and have a bunch of questions. This is my first military vehicle and I'm not familiar with how alot of it works.

First of all, I cannot get the overhead lights in the box to turn on. I'm not sure if there is an electrical problem or if I'm just not hitting the right switches or what. How do you normally turn them on? If there is something wrong, are there any common problems with the lights I should look at first?

I see that there are outlets all around the cieling. What do I need to do to get power to these units? Do I need a generator, or do they run off the battery or what? I haven't tested them to see if they work (I assumed you need a generator.)

There are a few electrical items I would like to add, such as a fan/AC unit, micro fridge, etc. What would be the best way to power these items? I know truckers just run them off the battery and let their engine idle. I don't know if plugging them into the outlets would be good for long periods of use.

Has anyone else used their M109 as a camper? What did you put in yours?

Thanks

 

[WPNS421]

Your best guy to talk to is Deuceguy, he has done a complete conversion to camper with all the options.

 

[m109guy]

If you go to the left side of the screen and scroll down there is a box which lets you do a search of the site. If you do a search on "m109 camper" or m109 rv" you will come up with many threads on the subject. All these questions have been answered many times before.

Here is a link to mine which is well documented: MilitaryTrucks.ca Website - M109 Military Truck RV Project

For the 120v lights to work, the M109's box needs to be plugged into power. You either have to get a hold of the special cable that plugs into the side of the box, which will then let you connect to an outlet, or replace it with a more standard plug. Once power is applied to the truck, make sure the main switch on the electrical box is set to 120v, then make sure the circuit breaker for the lights is on, then flip the switch by the electrical boxes to "white lights".

The only lights in the box that will work when not plugged into main power are the two 24v lights in the center. They run off the truck batteries. You need to put the lever on the electrical box to 24v, then turn on the switch by the rear doors.

The outlet strips around the ceiling also need main power to the box to work.

Once you have main power running into the box (120v), you can run pretty much anything you need off the interior outlets. The M109 was built as a shop van which had lots of heavy duty equipment in the back which needed a lot of amperage, so you don't need to worry about overloading the wiring in the truck. I run a 9000BTU A/C unit, 20" LCD tv, DVD player, lights, and microwave all off one of the outlet strips without a problem.

 

[vinny-socom1]

Atten We need some pics!!!!

Vinny

 

[Michael]

It is common for the 24 volt power cable to be unhooked on these trucks by the time we get our hands on them. It is at the front passenger side above the fuel tank.

 

[SCSG-G4]

There is rarely any power inside the box when sent to DRMO. Is that what you are asking? The normal connector is up high on the box and is kinda pricey ~ $200 w/out any cables attached to it. But it is usually for a 60 to 100 amp load (depending on how the shop body was used) and ost of us will only be pulling 30 amps to run some lights, A/C, fridge, and microwave. Depends too if you want to run 110 V AC or 24 V DC for your primary source. Lots of threads out there, keep trying the search terms.

 

[Chevytruck]

you could mount a generator in the spare tire mount to make the power mobile, and the generator depends on what things you need to operate.