International 4000 18' Box truck - Tow Pig

Rickstar321 · 2026-09-23T10:17:14-0600

Well... Of all the hair brained ideas I've had this has the be the hairiest... but I went and bought one so... here we go!

Plan: Build a self sufficient off grid boondocking RV out of an 18' box truck, that will also be the tow-pig for my 04 TJ. This will be "my home" for a significant part of the year as I "camp out" near different wheeling destinations all across the country.

The International I bought has the B6.7 Cummins with the 6 speed Alison trans. I won't be breaking any land speed records, but I'll get there.

* 2K Watts of solar - with supporting power bank
* Mini-split A/C
* Diesel Heater
* Diesel Hot Water Heater
* Full size shower stall
* Composting Toilet
* 2 Burner Convection Stove
* Hot Air Fryer
* 12/24v Fridge/Freezer

bbaldwin237 · 2026-09-23T10:24:35-0600

Should be pretty cool, looking forward to following along!

Wildman · 2026-09-23T10:24:43-0600

Will be interesting to see how it all turns out....

Rickstar321 · 2026-09-23T10:37:56-0600

bbaldwin237 said:
Should be pretty cool, looking forward to following along!

Me too. I've never liked any RV I've been in, maybe because I'm 6'4"... not sure... just never liked them. I don't want this to have the RV vibe at all.

bbaldwin237 · 2026-09-23T10:40:15-0600

Rickstar321 said:
Me too. I've never liked any RV I've been in, maybe because I'm 6'4"... not sure... just never liked them. I don't want this to have the RV vibe at all.

One thing to be aware of, if it matters to you, is that some campgrounds may not allow you in. I know some people with crawler haulers have issues as well.

However, you'll be able to get away with parking some places that you may not otherwise get away with.

ColoJeep · 2026-09-23T10:40:32-0600

Rickstar321 said:
Well... Of all the hair brained ideas I've had this has the be the hairiest... but I went and bought one so... here we go!

Plan: Build a self sufficient off grid boondocking RV out of an 18' box truck, that will also be the tow-pig for my 04 TJ. This will be "my home" for a significant part of the year as I "camp out" near different wheeling destinations all across the country.

The International I bought has the B6.7 Cummins with the 6 speed Alison trans. I won't be breaking any land speed records, but I'll get there.

* 2K Watts of solar - with supporting power bank
* Mini-split A/C
* Diesel Heater
* Diesel Hot Water Heater
* Full size shower stall
* Composting Toilet
* 2 Burner Convection Stove
* Hot Air Fryer
* 12/24v Fridge/Freezer

View attachment 711853 View attachment 711854

Looks like a good thing in my book , The fuel mileage won't be great , but the , " cost per mile " may be pretty good , since Super C or class A MH are stupid expensive . Have Fun !!!

Zorba · 2026-09-23T10:56:40-0600

ColoJeep said:
Looks like a good thing in my book , The fuel mileage won't be great , but the , " cost per mile " may be pretty good , since Super C or class A MH are stupid expensive . Have Fun !!!

Looks good to me too - I bet the mileage isn't any worse than most class A motorhomes.

bbaldwin237 said:
One thing to be aware of, if it matters to you, is that some campgrounds may not allow you in. I know some people with crawler haulers have issues as well.

However, you'll be able to get away with parking some places that you may not otherwise get away with.

A pox on snobby RV parks! There are some that won't allow rigs older than xx years in either. They can foff off...

bbaldwin237 · 2026-09-23T11:06:13-0600

Zorba said:
Looks good to me too - I bet the mileage isn't any worse than most class A motorhomes.

A pox on snobby RV parks! There are some that won't allow rigs older than xx years in either. They can foff off...

While I may agree, like it or not, private businesses get to set their own rules and regulations. And let's not forget, where there's a rule, there's a fool.

ColoJeep · 2026-09-23T11:08:50-0600

Zorba said:
Looks good to me too - I bet the mileage isn't any worse than most class A motorhomes.

A pox on snobby RV parks! There are some that won't allow rigs older than xx years in either. They can foff off...

There is always the tension between a nice older rig and some meth head rig heading towards Mac's area of forest . I wish a park just had the balls to tell the meth heads they can't stay . The extended stay folks is where it gets tricky , if you're living in it , you have little money or plenty of bucks . It can be either .

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GATORB8 · 2026-09-23T11:13:06-0600

I would ditch the solar, and your power bank will have to be massive to handle AC off grid.

If you are going to use a big battery bank, charge it from the truck's Alternator with a DC-DC charger.

Wildman · 2026-09-23T11:18:00-0600

GATORB8 said:
I would ditch the solar, and your power bank will have to be massive to handle AC off grid.

If you are going to use a big battery bank, charge it from the truck's Alternator with a DC-DC charger.

Why no solar? I'm not an expert on it but if you have soft start on your A/C or 12V A/C you can run it off solar from everything I understand...
And even if you have solar Yes you want a D/C to D/C charger but if you're parked for a few days unless you're running your engine how are your batteries getting charged?

Rickstar321 · 2026-09-23T11:34:40-0600

GATORB8 said:
I would ditch the solar, and your power bank will have to be massive to handle AC off grid.

If you are going to use a big battery bank, charge it from the truck's Alternator with a DC-DC charger.

I've been following a guy (nomad brad) on YT that has lived in them for 5 years, he has 2k solar on his 16' box and rarely has to supplement the batteries with a small generator. I think twice in over a year and that was because he was up in Oregon and got caught in several days of rain. He runs everything I've listed above and more.
He's a little different... lol... but hey... he lives in a Box truck and is making good money doing his YT channel, not exactly where you find "normal" people lol... and I definitely ain't normal!

Rickstar321 · 2026-09-23T11:38:35-0600

bbaldwin237 said:
One thing to be aware of, if it matters to you, is that some campgrounds may not allow you in. I know some people with crawler haulers have issues as well.

However, you'll be able to get away with parking some places that you may not otherwise get away with.

Not concerned about that, that's why I want it to be off grid sufficient. BLM land out west is wide open. It's a little harder out east but can be done.

Rickstar321 · 2026-09-23T11:40:47-0600

Zorba said:
Looks good to me too - I bet the mileage isn't any worse than most class A motorhomes.

A pox on snobby RV parks! There are some that won't allow rigs older than xx years in either. They can foff off...

The truck by itself was a Ryder Truck, avg mpg when they guy pulled up the history on his laptop was 12.5. It will suffer a little pulling the trailer but still right about what I get with my TJ.

Zorba · 2026-09-23T11:41:19-0600

bbaldwin237 said:
...where there's a rule, there's a fool.

That's a new one by me - filing it away for future use!

NDSpeed · 2026-09-23T11:41:50-0600

Also quite a bit of space under the box for locking cabinets

Rickstar321 · 2026-09-23T11:57:42-0600

NDSpeed said:
Also quite a bit of space under the box for locking cabinets

OH yeah... And hopefully they get some more refineries built so the diesel prices can get some relief.

bbaldwin237 · 2026-09-23T12:01:06-0600

Rickstar321 said:
OH yeah... And hopefully they get some more refineries built so the diesel prices can get some relief.

Diesel owners right now.....(myself include)

Zorba · 2026-09-23T12:08:28-0600

Rickstar321 said:
OH yeah... And hopefully they get some more refineries built so the diesel prices can get some relief.

Tell me about it. It cost a cool $100 to fill the old MBZ the other day.

NDSpeed · 2026-09-23T12:46:32-0600

So what I'm hearing is this 16 hour oil cooler exchange will be a wise use of 4 months that I've set aside 6 weeks to take care of.

Saving me on Diesel prices.

International 4000 18' Box truck - Tow Pig

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