Truckzilla: rear shocks

Mileage somewhere around 137k.

After a few bouncy rides and a visual appraisal, I bought Rancho9000XL shocks for the rear end.

Here's the old left rear shock as it came off:

And a disconcerting close-up:

It's interesting that the UPPER housing would rust thru.  I saw a recommendation online to NOT install the gators on the Rancho's on the grounds that they fill with water, which - rather than guard against corrosion - accelerates it.  I assume the same thing must be going on here; I left the gators off the Ranchos.

I cranked them both to 9 and took a test drive.  I didn't notice a big difference, but I didn't bounce, either.

Maiden Truck Camp

Our first truck camp in early April 2013:

We headed north around 6pm Friday, following a bath from the water heater drain plug.  Within a few miles we were besieged by rain and wind (and a tornado warning), and so pulled over to wait it out.  We were back underway in less than an hour, by which time it was dark - whereupon we learned that  Truckzilla's headlights are crap (at least with 2500lb of camper on the back).  It turns out to be a common problem with this SuperDuty vintage.  The combination of wet roads, terrible headlights, and unfamiliarity with how the rig handled made for a scary trip... for the driver, anyway.

White-knuckling on at barely 55mph relatively blind, we made it to Friday night's stop: Mohegan Sun casino.  After giving them a pile of our money and having a bite to eat, we caught the shuttle bus back to the camper and settled in for our first night... which couldn't have been better.

The aerobed was comfortable and the furnace kept us cozy in nearly-freezing overnight low temps.  Morning coffee and not having to find/ dress for a bathroom break was fantastic.  The low temps meant we had some condensation, but nothing terrible.  Having arrived in the rain in the dark, and almost forgetting where we were, we greeted our first morning of truck camping:

The casino let us have a little of our money back and we headed south towards Hickory Run.  Having spent one night in the camper, we already had a small list of Walmart-ables, so found one enroute.  Shopping done, and a bit peckish, we made sandwiches and ate lunch in the camper in the Walmart parking lot.  While not some romantic boon dock in Alaska, the convenience of having a fridge, a dinette, and a bathroom in the bed of your pickup defies belief.

On to Hickory Run.  It was so early in the season that we had our pick of sites.  We filled up with water at the park and backed her in.

We took a walk to the camp store, the amphitheater, and around the RV loops to scope the best spots.  It was cold, but at long last, we were 'camping':

After a chilly nap, we decided to 'rough it' in the camper for some heat and some scrabble.

Scrabble with a view, at least:

After dinner, shore power allowed us to watch a movie and plug in the electric blanket. Another easy night in the camper: it's warmer and the bed may be more comfortable than at home.
Everything worked, and there were no major snags or surprises - a great shake-down cruise.