Mortons on the Move Builds Overland Truck Camper with Robust GC3 Lithium Batteries

Tom and Cait Morton are the Mortons on the Move, and they’ve been on the move since September of 2015. 

Their journey all started with a tropical vacation that neither of them wanted to come home from. That sparked a desire to work remotely and travel and they realized there was no good reason preventing them from trying! 

The Mortons wanted adventure, and that’s what they got. Their travels started as a one or two-year plan to see the country, and that’s turned into an entire lifestyle with no end in sight. 

Since Tom and Cait hit the road, they’ve become YouTubers, Co-stars of The RVers on Discovery Channel and PBS TV, producers of ‘Go North’ on Amazon Prime, co-founders, and instructors of the online RV Masterclass, and more! 

What Kind of RV Do You Have?

“We actually have two RVs – a 33’ DRV fifth wheel and a Bigfoot 3000 truck camper.

Our DRV is the 32TK3 model – which basically means it has a 32-foot interior, telescoping kitchen, and three slide-outs. It’s just under 33’ long and has plenty of space! This rig has been our full-time home for several years. 

We’ve done a lot of renovations to this RV, including our solar system and lithium battery setup, replacing the flooring, furniture, and more. We tow the DRV with a Dodge Ram 3500 dually with the Cummins 6.7L diesel engine. 

Recently, we added another RV to our family – a Bigfoot 3000 truck camper mounted on a massive Ram 5500 flatbed truck. We’re renovating this huge beast for overlanding! 

What Inspired You to Start the Mortons on the Move Brand?

“Initially, our YouTube channel and Mortons on the Move website were created to document our travels for our friends and family. Since our trip was originally only planned to last one to two years, our web presence served as a sort of online journal for everything we saw and did. 

Once we realized that we could (and wanted to) travel indefinitely, we noticed that people were finding our content useful and helpful!

Since then, we’ve done a lot of work on making our content as helpful and informative as possible for new and seasoned RVers. We’ve put a ton of work into our website and publish at least two articles a day on educational and inspiring RV lifestyle content.”

What Type of Off Grid System Do the Mortons on the Move Have?

“We have off-grid solar systems installed in both of our RVs. In both cases, we went with Battle Born Solar panels and Battle Born Batteries to power our adventures.”

Fifth Wheel Off-Grid Solar System – 2760 Watts of Solar and 800ah of Lithium Battery Storage

“We have a pretty massive off-grid power system on our fifth wheel that consists of 10 Battle Born solar panels – four of the BBS230A and 6 of the BBS230B for 2760 watts of power. Our battery bank consists of eight Battle Born 12V 100AH GC2 lithium-ion batteries. 

We built custom aluminum racks for our batteries and actually mounted them upside down. Our off-grid setup is basically our dream power system, and we built it as big as the available space in our fifth wheel would allow. 

Our upside-down install left plenty of space under the batteries in our storage compartment for additional components. 

Part of what enabled us to build such a large solar power system on our fifth wheel was the rugged and lightweight Battle Born flexible solar panels. We were essentially able to cover the entire top of our RV with solar panels and not have to worry about the amount of added weight. 

Our 24v system has three Victron MPPT 100|50 charge controllers and a Victron 5000VA inverter. This inverter provides a lot of power to run multiple large appliances at once – including the air conditioner. It makes us feel like we are hooked up to the grid all the time. 

Other components of our setup include the Victron Orion converter, the Victron BMV712 battery monitor, and a computer called the Octo GX that communicates with the inverter, charge controllers, and battery monitor. 

We installed this system back in 2020 and it’s been serving us well since! It really does feel like we are hooked up to shore power all the time.”

Truck Camper Off-Grid Electrical Build – 495 Watts of Solar and 540ah Battle Borns

“We’ve set up our truck camper to be an ultimate off-grid and off-road travel rig. Our off-grid power system on the truck camper consists of two GC3 Game Changer 3.0 Battle Born Lithium batteries. These batteries are 270AH each which gives us a total of 540 amp hours of battery power. 

This system also uses the Victron Lynx shunt and distributor, the Victron Multiplus 3kVA inverter, Victron MPPT solar charge controllers, and 495 watts of solar power with Battle Born’s flexible solar panels. 

We also have a 30 amp 12v DC to DC converter, the Victron Orion-TR Smart, to charge the batteries from the truck’s alternator. The last component of our truck camper system is the brains of the operation – the Victron Cerbo GX. This unit takes all the data from each of our other Victron components and aggregates it.”

How Has Your System Improved the RV Lifestyle?

“This is our dream off-grid setup. With this power system, we are even able to run the air conditioner! We can do pretty much anything with it, and it truly has been a game-changer compared to our previous solar setup. 

Running the instant pot and microwave at the same time is no problem with this system. We pretty much never have to use an RV park for power again, and that’s pretty incredible!”

Advantages and Disadvantages of Living on the Road

“Living on the road has enabled us to travel to and see so many different places that we never would have otherwise. This includes traveling to Alaska and seeing so much that it has to offer! It’s also opened our eyes to living off the grid and learning how to be self-sufficient. 

Not only have we learned how to efficiently generate and store power, but we’ve learned a lot about water conservation, waste management, and overall just living really minimally. 

For us, the disadvantages of living on the road aren’t as many disadvantages as they are a learning curve. For example, we’ve had to learn how to navigate a big rig, not to trust Google Maps, and learning to keep a pretty comprehensive tool kit handy for when things inevitably break.”

Do You Have Any Advice for Anyone Looking to Get into the Nomadic Lifestyle? 

“If the RV lifestyle is something you’re interested in, the best thing we can recommend is to do your research. 

There are a ton of helpful resources online to help you learn just about anything when it comes to the RVing lifestyle. 

Just remember to take your time, set a realistic budget, and travel slowly. You’ll enjoy your RV life a whole lot more if you’re not burning yourself out trying to see every single thing in the first year. We also highly recommend joining an RV club or community! Friends and travel buddies make life on the road so much better.”

Any recent and memorable travels? What’s next for you?

“We are currently on our maiden truck camper voyage after renovating it all summer, and it’s been incredible! We’re actually exploring Utah for the first time and loving it. We’re exploring Arches, Canyonlands, Little Grand Canyon, Bears Ears, and Kanab. 

Next, we plan to use our fifth wheel as a “home base” and do more in-between shorter travel with the off-road capable truck camper.”

Keep In Touch With the Mortons on the Move

To keep in touch with Tom and Caitlin of Mortons on the Move, you can visit their website (we recommend signing up for their newsletter), subscribe to their YouTube channel, and follow them on Instagram.