Corey's 2007 FJ Cruiser built for expedtion/overland, & daily driver

[Corey]

HalGuard HG250R Fire Extinguisher Relocated 12-31-2011

Since I moved the Powertank earlier this month I lost my location for my HalGuard HG250R fire extinguisher.
I decided I did not need the el cheapo Kidde in the rig anymore since it is only for outside fires, you never want to use that type on your rig as it is bad for your wiring inside the rig and underneath the hood.

I am going to throw the Kidde into my camping gear footlocker to battle outside fires with.

I ended up putting the HalGuard in the same location as the Kidde one was.
I just had to take out the plastic tray over the wheel well and drill new bigger holes, and used the old hardware from when the HalGuard was mounted to the old Powertank bracket.

The HalGuard one is for battling fires inside of your rig and underneath of the hood since it is a "clean agent", and will not ruin your wiring.

 

[STREGA]

I've been sportin a Halguard unit for the last 3+years. Great little fire extinguisher, not cheap though and glad I haven't needed it yet!

 

[Corey]

Cool, they are suppose to be one of the better ones on the market.
Cannot remember what i paid for mine, but it was not cheap.

I get practice at work putting out fires, as the Boeing fire department gives demonstrations throughout the year at our campus where I work out of.

PS, that is the perfect cubbyhole too next to it for the small rolltop table I bought from Wil at Sierra Expeditions.

 

[Corey]

Went to Cartoys today to get my Sirius tuner diagnosed as it was only playing out the right channel.
I suspected a loose connector, and I was right.

While I was there I looked at the newest GPS/DVD offering from Pioneer, and I decided to replace my Pioneer AVIC D3 from 2007 with the much improved Z140 which has built in bluetooth for phone calls, transferring Pandora music from my Droid Bionic to the stereo, voice recognition for playing songs off of the iPod, making phone calls, and entering an address into the GPS/Maps system.

Since the older Pioneer did not have voice recognition, you had to enter an address manually if you wanted to navigate somewhere.
My Droid Bionic with Google Maps does a much better job since I just have to tell the phone where I want to go, and it tells me how to get there.
Now with this new Pioneer AVIC Z140, it can do the same.

This deck is a huge improvement.
For a complete listing of what the deck can do so I do not have to type it all out here, here is the link from Cartoys page.
http://cartoys.com/products/product.cfm/Pioneer/Pioneer-AVIC-Z140-DVD-w-Built-In-Nav-iPod-BT

Here are a few pictures, and also a 1080 video I shot using my GoPro HD 2 camera.

[video=vimeo;41210885]https://vimeo.com/41210885[/video]

 

[codename607]

Really nice build thread. Love the website also. You got mad skills!!!:victory:

 

[Corey]

Thanks you very much 607.

How are you liking your 2013 FJ Cruiser?
Mine being over six years old now still feels and drives brand new.

 

[codename607]

Thanks you very much 607.

How are you liking your 2013 FJ Cruiser?
Mine being over six years old now still feels and drives brand new.

Oh I love this thing. Had it now for a couple weeks and it still makes me smile when I drive it down the road.

 

[escadventure]

Green FJ's= very cool. I've got perhaps the ugliest color FJ- brick red. But they're hard to come by here in Germany. Love the truck though.

Hey Corey, where'd you get the tray for the second battery?

 

[Corey]

Hey Corey, where'd you get the tray for the second battery?

G'day, the info is on my personal website in my sig below under the mods section.

 

[plainjaneFJC]

With all the talk about the ADD actuators failing, I was wondering if you have had any problems with yours Corey?

 

[Corey]

Scott, I hang out over at the Blue Room too, but I have not ran across any threads on the ADD, may have missed it.
Not one problem with my FJ, no infamous fenderwell cracks, nothing.
It just keeps purring.

Consistently getting around 16 MPG combined city/freeway every week I fill up too.
It has been a very great rig.

 

[Corey]

ArkPak Installed 9-14-2013

A few years back I bought the Goal Zero Ranger 350 Battery/Inverter kit and it worked out great.
Bought five of their three watt LED lanterns too that you can daisy chain off of each other where you just plug one light into the battery only.

This year the Goal Zero battery would no longer hold a charge.
As soon as you take it off of the charger, it would start to discharge, and it would be dead within a few days, not good.
I looked on Amazon to source a new one, and a lot of the reviews said the same thing, the batteries did not last very long.

I was reading in one of my Overland Journals about a new system out of Australia that was basically a nice battery box with charge ports built into it, 150 watt inverter, and you supply your own group 31 battery.
AGMs seem to be the favor since they do not spill, and I bought an Exide marine one listed in the links below after seeing that was the one ArkPak was using in their videos.

When the ArkPak was first introduced, it was for 240V overseas, but they started to produce 120V versions for us on this side of the world.
You can read up on all of the specs right here.
http://www.arkportablepower.com/ArkPak#features_benefits

This was installed in my rig on top of the cargobox, and it can charge when it is in the vehicle by plugging in the optional 12V to 12V charger I bought, or from 110V at home, and you can if you want leave it hooked up at home all the time since it has a built in Smart Charger to keep from frying the battery.

With Goal Zeros products you do not need a charge controller since their batteries have one built in, but you do with the ArkPak if you are going to charge it up via your solar panel(s).
I went with the Goal Zero Guardian 12V Charge Controller since it will hook up to my Powerfilm 60W foldable solar panel, and the other end had large battery clips on it that you can hook to the ArkPak or even your own battery in your rig.
My rigs main battery is charged up by another charge controller I installed a few years back when using solar when camping to keep the battery topped off when using the ARB fridge/freezer for extended times when out camping.

Links For ArkPak
Both sites have some very cool videos to watch too of the ArkPak in action.
Main Australian site
US site to order from

Exide XMC-31 MEGACYCLE AGM-200 Sealed Maintenance Free (AGM) Marine Battery from Amazon

Goal Zero Guardian 12V Charge Controller
Guardian 12V Charge Controller from Amazon (where I bought mine from)

Cable to mate a Powerfilm solar panel to the Goal Zero Guardian-12V Charge Controller from Expedition Off Road
I do not believe Goal Zero offers this cable, only Expedition Off Road where I bought mine from.

Here are some pictures from the installation in my FJ Cruiser earlier this morning.

All parts laid out showing the battery, ArkPak, 12V and 110V chargers, and the Guardian Charge Controller.

Installed on the brackets/mounting kit.

You can see the green LED on the 12V plug that powers the charger for it.

12V cable plugged into the charging port.

One bracket at each end of the box.

You loosen a screw on the mounting plates and slide its tongue into the bracket on the ArkPak, then retighten it.

Comparison of the Goal Zero Extreme Ranger 350 battery/inverter and the ArkPak.
One is considerably bigger, abut also way more powerful.

Three of Goal Zeros LED lamps hooked up to the ArkPak.

LED panel showing battery voltage and indicating a full charge.
The battery I received from Amazon last night was shipped from Exide this month, so it has not been sitting in a warehouse discharging for a long time.

Mock setup (notice the covered wingnuts on the ArkPaks external battery connections) showing how you would connect the Guardian Charge Controller to the ArkPak and to my Powerfilm 60 watt foldable solar panel.

This is a very well built unit, and I like that you can replace the battery should it ever go bad.
The whole package including the Exide battery and ArkPak is pushing over 80 lbs, I can feel it when I lift it

This will be great for running the LED lamps in camp, charging up batteries for my various electronics, and having a third backup battery.

 

[jeremyk]

That's as big as a Honda Eu-1000, why wouldn't you go for one of those - if you need alternate power? The batteries you have should hold plenty of charge for a solar system. Why not have an off-the-grid option?

 

[Corey]

That's as big as a Honda Eu-1000, why wouldn't you go for one of those - if you need alternate power? The batteries you have should hold plenty of charge for a solar system. Why not have an off-the-grid option?

Many of us do not believe in using generators when camping.
See this thread.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...-Portable-battery-boxes-and-where-to-buy-them

 

[Corey]

Springtail Folding Rear Door MPAC Molle Rack Installed 11-16-2013

I have a few other Springtail products in my FJ Cruiser, and a while back I saw on fjcruiserforums site that Doc had released a new rear door rack that now can fold down into a table.
Doc comes up with the coolest ideas for our FJ Cruisers, so thanks Doc for another cool product!

This is perfect for setting a small camp stove on to cook with if you take a short trip to the mountains without taking your main cook stove you would use when camping.
Or if you are a minimalist camper who likes to pack light, this can serve as your kitchen prep/cook area, and also as an area to eat at.

I like to do day trips sometimes to explore to find new areas to camp at, and this will come in handy if I want to cook up some Top Ramen, Mountain House freeze dried, etc.
A nice hot meal would beat out a cold sandwich any day, especially if it is cold outside.

I was able to get on all four bags like my old rack, but they interfere (you just have to move the sides of the bags inwards) with the knobs you turn to let the rack down to turn it into a table.
I will more than likely just use the two bigger bags and one of the small ones.

Here are a few pics of the new setup.

Folded up, knobs are hidden since I still have four bags on it

Down in the table position

I may look for a narrower cutting board, as there is room to store one inside of the racks recessed area

My other Springtail products.

My first Springtail MPAC rack

My Springtail side mount rack for my Powertank

Links

FJ Cruiser Rear Door Folding MOLLE Rack Combo

FJ Cruiser Rear Door Folding MOLLE Rack