Arctic Fox 1140 Monster Rig Features Big Buckstop and Torklift Upgrades

Looking for inspiration on an Arctic Fox truck camper build? You’ve come to the right place. John and Jennifer Schraidel, who roll under the Teton Family Adventures banner, have built what we can only describe as a monster rig with all the bells and whistles. John and Jennifer, along with their two home-schooled children and poodle call Colorado Springs, Colorado and Grand Teton National Park their home. John is a lifelong automotive enthusiast who retired early from the automotive industry while Jennifer plies her passion for photography on their travels. Together, the couple started Teton Family Adventures to create, share and inform others about their automotive pursuits and their adventures as a family.

Thanks, guys, for talking with us. Can you tell us about your truck camper and why you chose that particular make and model?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: This is our second truck camper. This time, we ordered a new 2021 Arctic Fox 1140 WB Truck Camper. We love this four-season camper’s floor plan which features a single slide-out. To us, this model seemed to have the greatest storage possibilities if optioned properly. We love the large capacity fresh, gray and black tanks which total 59 gallons fresh, 35 grey, and 43 black. Arctic Fox has the options that have provided us something we needed as a family of four traveling. We are so impressed with it.

Does your Arctic Fox 1140 have anything unique or custom about it?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: We ordered our camper with every cabinet option we could, in order to maximize storage for our family. We also ordered it with “off menu” tank warmer pads to keep our tanks from freezing in extreme cold.

What are your favorite Arctic Fox 1140 features?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: We love all the storage. There’s a larger clothing ward in replacement of the curbside over cab window. A whole wall full of cabinets allows us fantastic storage and the added wardrobe cabinets that are possible because we went with the wet bath. We love the wet bath version as it gives us ease of use and cleanup. We were able to add an Onan 2500 LP generator and solar panels. There’s an overhead bunk in the dinette for one of the kids. We upsized the air conditioner for our travels in the desert.

We also opted for cabinets without the TV thereby adding more cabinets and storage and we added the TV after delivery. We love the choice of appliances, microwave-convection oven, three-way fridge option, the LP stove/oven, all have been very useful whether we were plugged in or dry camping. We enjoy both awnings rain or shine. An excellent selection of options that made this truck camper accommodate our family very comfortably.

Have you made any modifications to it yet?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: We have added sensors to our propane tanks that help us monitor them on our phones. It eliminated the anxiety of wondering how much was left in the tanks while using LP. We also added a digital leveling gauge and program to help us find the perfect spot with minimal tire blocking to set up camp.

We have permanently added Starlink and their 12 volt DC-DC power supply so we have WiFi wherever our adventures take us. We added a third input to the propane regulator that maintains the rollover function for when one of the tanks empties. We have been really happy with our Arctic Fox and haven’t needed to change much.

Can you tell us more about your truck?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: Previously we had a 2020 F-450 and a 2022 F-450 that we equipped with Airlift 7,000 pound airbags, SuperSprings overload spacers, Torklift 30K super magnum receiver hitch, Torklift tie-downs, Torklift FastGuns, two different lengths truss systems for the trailer that we tow. Our adventures changed to where we needed to increase our trailer towing capacity, which was beyond the capacity of the trusses. Therefore, we now have a 2023 Ford F-550 in Iconic Silver 84 CA 203-inch WB 4WD diesel cab and chassis truck. It’s a 19,500 GVWR, fully-optioned truck including the 2,000 watt Pro Power onboard generator. It also has an 11-foot 4-inch long flatbed.

Can you tell us about your camper’s electrical system including your solar power and DC-to-DC charger system?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: Although the camper had a 45 watt solar panel standard, we optioned the 170 watt panel to be added totaling 215 Watts. We haven’t run out of power as equipped yet. The camper with solar and a LP generator, combined with the F-550 truck equipped with the onboard 2,000 watt generator, so we have the option of shore type power from the truck anytime its needed, gives us overlapping power options. There is a plan for Victron components and battery upgrades including increased DC-DC charging.

Have you made any modifications to your truck to carry your truck camper or to improve its ride?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: No, what haven’t needed to. The Ford F-550 has a GVWR of 19,500 pounds with a payload of nearly 10,000 pounds. It did fine as equipped with our camper and trailer load. The ride with our load was actually not bad. But we have changed a few things. We partnered with Buckstop Truckware in Oregon and did their Super Single wheel conversion with Buckstop Wheels surrounded in 41-inch Continental Military tires, fenders, bumpers, and LiquidSpring Suspension 4-inch lift F&R with their new TruEarth Leveling system.

We changed the rear end final gearing to 6:17/1 from DBL Design. While the truck has limited slip in the rear end, we added ARB air locker and ARB air pump for the front.

Did these upgrades change the dynamics of the truck in any way?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: Yes. After we came home with the new lift and tires we measured the overall height of the rig which was 13 feet 9 inches. We then modified the flatbed lowering the bed 6 inches closer to the frame. We created wheelhouse areas in the bed to clear the tires at the full lowered height. We added under the flatbed, a DOT approved, 29 gallon RV LP tank. A flexible line was run from the new tank to the new plumbing in the camper allowing us sufficient LP gas capacity for travels and camping away from refill possibilities. We also have added an additional 45 gallon water tank. This tank with a separate 12 volt water pump can be used for a variety of uses to either refill the camper with a hose or connect to the street water adapter on the camper or separately just to have water. We created a permanent mount for Ford’s pro power on board generator inverter system, which include the seven way plug for the camper tucked neatly out of the way to minimize wiring.

We are ambassadors for Baja Designs lighting, and they generously partnered with us with some of their best LED lighting options, including a lot of super duty specific new kits that they have out.

Does your rig have an aftermarket truck bed? Can you tell us more about it?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: Our truck arrived unexpectedly so in the rush between events that we needed to attend, we mounted a 11-foot 4-inch long steel CM flatbed that was in stock locally.

Does your rig feature any other accessories or features worthy of note?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: It does. Thanks to our wonderful partners, we have some special goodies. Baja Designs hooked us up with their new Factory Amber colored LP9’s, Ford Super duty LP4 A Pillar Kit with S1’s. Ford Super duty S2 Sport Dual Reverse Light Kit, Ford Ford Super duty Squadron SAE/Squadron Pro Dual Fog Pocket Light Kit, all powered with SPod’s Touchscreen BantumX Power Management Vehicle Kit that installs in the overhead console in replacement of the sunglass holder. It’s Great!

Warn Industries sent us their 16.5 TI-S Heavyweight Winch and its mounted within the Buckstop bumper with Factor55 winching safety gear.

Torklift International took care of us with their FastGuns, GlowSteps, Super Hitch Everest 30K weight distribution system, their 30k drop shank, and 30k trailer ball for our new Logan Coach Trailer which we travel with most of the time. At least half of our Adventures include taking our two Jeeps to locations and events all over.

Logan Coach Trailers built us a custom enclosed trailer for our two Jeeps, that they now offer called the Ultimate Sport Hauler. Included in the build is Rock Slide Engineering R-Steps. This trailer is an amazing addition to our “Overlanding” setup.

Do you have any regrets in your choices? Anything you wished that you had done differently?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: No, not really. For us, this journey has been evolutionary as our travel, and/or our towing needs changed our Camper choice and our truck choices have changed along the way, so where we are now is where we need to be.

What kind of mileage are you getting with your setup?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: The gross average so far has been 7 mpg fully loaded and towing our big trailer. We travel all over the Rocky Mountains and elevation and steep grades don’t help the MPG’s.

What tires do you have on your truck and what inflation values do you typically run when driving on and off-road?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: We are rolling with 41-inch Continental MPT 335/80-20 tires. Great capacity and performance even at max pressure.

Where have you taken your rig thus far?

On one of our first outings, we went from Colorado Springs up through Leadville, Steamboat Springs areas. Then we went up to Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, then up to Montana and through Glacier National Park followed by Canada to Waterton, the Sister side of Glacier. After that, we went to Banff National Park. We have had so much fun exploring the West, and so far we have adventured through: New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, California, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, and Nevada

Where are you planning to take your rig in the future?

John and Jennifer Schraedel: We have a full schedule of off-roading, overloading and camper events this upcoming year. Included in that we are planning to take our completed rig on a long journey through Canada and explore all the major routes in Alaska.