Quitting Van Life for Truck Life - My Next Full-Time Travel Setup

[@TravelingTroy]

I wanted to thank everyone for following along on my 8 year journey with Van Life and I hope you stick around and see where Truck Life will lead me. I’ll be making both Van and Truck videos for the next few months, so stay tuned for Van tip videos and a Full Truck Build series. ❤🤙

[@alttransport3445]

Hey, have you ever considered becoming the master of your own camper universe? Picture this: you rock a homemade camper on the back of your ride! All you need is an aluminum welder, a little online scavenger hunt for aluminum in all sorts of wacky forms, sizes, and shapes, and of course, some other cool materials. The process would be an absolute blast, and think of the awesome videos you could make! It's time to unleash your inner camper-building superhero!

[@TravelingTroy]

I definitely considered building my own camper, since pre-made lightweight aluminum campers are so expensive, but that kind of work requires a shop. Hard to do stuff like that in a Home Depot parking lot. Maybe a sponsor will rent out some shop space for a couple months for me. Haha!! 😉

[@emmieHD]

I like the white topper on the silver truck. Good call on removing windows and installing a boot. It's a good option to have for safety reasons as well.

[@TravelingTroy]

Exactly. Not just getting into the truck bed but jumping into the cab and escaping a weird situation.

[@yannkitson116]

Looks like a nice truck and the top is fine as it is colorwise. It is more important to get it waterproof.

[@TravelingTroy]

Agreed. I would rather spend extra time on waterproofing now. Good to solve the issues before starting a build. 👍 Thanks for the feedback on the colors. ✌️

[@anitasimmons3599]

Your topper is perfect. The color contrast is nice, and adds intrest. As an older verticality challenged woman, going through a pass through from truck to topper on a 1970s truck and topper was not bad. You are smart not spend the money to rebuild the suspension on the van, because there are too many miles on that engine at this point. I can't wait to follow your truck life journey, thank you for taking us along. Safe travels.

[@TravelingTroy]

Thanks for the feedback on the topper. 👍 Good to know the pass-thru window hack works. 😁 I’ll need to configure the cab layout to allow for easy access through the back window. Might take some sitting and thinking. As far as the van goes, your right, not worth the money at this point. I bought it 8 years ago for $4000 and I think I squeezed most of the good out of it.

[@E.Humperdinck]

The white topper actually fits well with the silver truck. It doesn't contrast that bad and I think it looks nice actually. The topper looks clean and in good condition. Thanks for these vids Troy!👍. I've been looking into Van Life for a while and just started exploring truck slide-ins and truck toppers. This vid is very helpful man.

[@TravelingTroy]

Excellent! Glad the video was helpful. I’ll be bouncing between Van and Truck videos for a while, so they could be beneficial in your research. Next van video planned is “What would I do different” in my van build. Thanks for the feedback on the topper. The more I look at it the more I like the two-toned colors. Someone else commented that it adds interest, makes it not so boring looking as color matched truck and topper. I agree. 👍 Thanks for checking out the videos and leaving a comment. ✌️

[@DarronSanderson]

Great video Troy. I will miss ur Astro. I'm still building mine up. Love the colors on your truck. Scott

[@TravelingTroy]

Thanks Scott! I knew I would go a different route from the Astro van one day, but I didn’t know I would go 8 years with it and I wasn’t sure what my next travel vehicle would be. I finally have a direction and I’m looking forward to getting this truck build completed and see just how far back, away from the masses, I can take this 4x4 truck. 👍

[@MsSoozy]

Sorry about the leaks but like you said the weather certainly showed you the problem areas. My Astro has no leaks that I know of but I don’t live in mine, but I do have a seal leak at the doghouse somewhere. We will fix it and make it work for camping. Be safe.

[@TravelingTroy]

I have had many ask me about fixing the back door seal leak. It’s very common on Astro vans. I would park the van at an angle with the front end lower than the back, then run a water hose or car wash on the back doors and roof. Maybe have someone inside the back of the van looking for leaks. I show how I fixed it in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZ3SeGSpjbmoZrs Have fun camping in your Astro and I hope you find the doghouse leak. 👍 Thanks for watching.

[@sherenedonnelly1617]

Good luck with your new truck build!

[@TravelingTroy]

Thanks! It’s gonna be fun, exciting building something new. 😁

[@catdaddy2899]

H-town in da House 🤘😎...

[@noway57]

Cant believe even the f150 is leaking inside. Yeah the camper top i could see but a 13yo truck. I ve had toyotas that sat in a Texas field for yrs and were over 20yrs old and never had that problem. Scottie Kilmer a car guy on yt says use AT205 re-seal to help recondition seals. Its made for transmissions and rear main seals to help condition rubber. Maybe rub, spray some on that, he uses it on headlight seals, rubber bushing, and, other things. Might be worth a try for $6, I believe autozone sells it.

[@TravelingTroy]

Thanks for the Scottie tips. I’ll look into that. Someone else mentioned it could be the 3rd brake light on the back of the truck cab that is allowing water in. I’ll be taking a look at that too. 👍

[@VanInhalin]

thats a nice topper. 500 is a good deal for that.

[@TravelingTroy]

Yes! I thought it was a great deal and it’s in really good shape, overall. I was seeing them more in the $1200+ range (in my area), so glad I jumped on this and got it quick. 👍

[@davidmurling4252]

Where the third brake light is on your truck maybe that's where the water is wanting to leak in.

[@TravelingTroy]

Correct. The brake light on the outside of the topper has a piece missing from the brake light cover. It partially broke off and that is where the water is entering the inside of the topper. 👍

[@davidmurling4252]

@@TravelingTroy I was referring to where that third brake light is on the roof of your truck that might be where the water is leaking in onto the back seat

[@TravelingTroy]

Oh! Right on the truck. Hadn’t thought of that being the issue. Thanks for the tip. I’ll check that out. 👍

[@TravelingTroy]

@@davidmurling4252 I do remember that cab brake light being discolored, looked like it was trapping water, so you’re probably right that it is the cause of the cab leak. Cool! I’ll check it out.

[@anitasimmons3599]

@@TravelingTroy one of our Dodge Dakota pickups had a leak at the break light and in the rear window and it was one of the rare trucks we purchased new! After over a year, the dealer finally fixed it, because if they had not, they were getting the truck back under the "Lemon Law". They had to replace the carpet padding and remediate mold too.

[@kathrynarnold1966]

It looks great. Did you place the foam space filler between the topper and truck bed? Yeah...no. I made that mistake when I bought the used topper for a trailer I have that was made from a Chevy longbed. Except my topper is steel and it took six men to lift it off the ground and onto the truck bed. Now I have the roll of foam but not the six men.

[@TravelingTroy]

I fully believe in doing preventative measures to avoid future issues, so yes, the plan is to add a fresh new seal between the topper and the truck rail. It took three of us to transfer this fiberglass topper from the original truck to mine. I haven’t looked up the factory weight on it yet, but I’m guessing it weighs about 200 lbs. I do plan to replace the old used seal, so I may trick my friends into meeting up at a park for some pizza and touch football or frisbee golf and put them to work lifting the topper for me. 😉😁😜🏈🤙

[@kathrynarnold1966]

@@TravelingTroy Do you have other social media besides YT?

[@TravelingTroy]

@@kathrynarnold1966 Yes. I do have others, but I stopped using them all for the most part about a year ago. I know, having a YT channel, you should promote your videos with social, but I get sidetracked easily and it’s best if I focus my time on the main objective which is making more video, more consistently. I’m just guessing here what your next question would be….. 😉

[@kathrynarnold1966]

@@TravelingTroy Seriously ... I've missed seeing your videos and I'm glad you're back. You're down to earth and more along the lines of what *I* need to hear about than, say, VCVL Chrome with his big income and hyper-sensitive ego or Vanlife Plus who aims to match Chrome and works his Patreon fanbase so he is constantly receiving pricey gifts from females who shower him with flattery. (lol...I just priced his new Jetboil double-burner stove while I was chatting with someone in Cabela's ... $399, not to mention the pricey isobutane cannisters. I bought the $39 Bass Pro Shop propane double-burner. But maybe you could do with an adoring Patreon groupie following!) I'm hoping you'll share more with us about your adventures in pressure-cooker meals and vanlife food in general. Eating healthy while learning vanlife minimalism is going to be a critical challenge for me. P.S., if you have a category for dead broke senior followers, I have a couple of dollars I'll commit to send to *your* Patreon every month.

[@TravelingTroy]

@@kathrynarnold1966 Well Kathryn, you’re in luck. I’m sitting here editing my next video, available later today or tomorrow morning. Title: 10 things I’d do differently with my van build, if I were to do it again. Also, a new video format to make cranking out videos easier. I’m not a natural in front of the camera like “Chrome”, so I have to plan things out more. As far as Patreon goes, I have a more Robinhood approach….Take from the rich (sponsorships) and give to the poor (free content). I haven’t done a single sponsored video yet, but I receive offers all the time. I just needed to decide if I wanted to make the commitment to YT, as I have other income streams. Currently, I am doing ZERO nighttime cooking. Too hot, but I have my new, larger pressure cooker and hope to put it to use down the road. Thanks for tuning in. 😁

[@motocampphoenix1708]

Bedrug.

[@TravelingTroy]

Definitely considering a bedrug. 👍

[@jimgiordano3613]

You are going to regret this move to a pickup.