Corey's 2007 FJ Cruiser built for expedtion/overland, & daily driver
- Thread starter Corey
- Start date
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
Thank you.
Mike, a very high quality rack indeed.
I do not see why not, in fact the XL model would fit on my rack too, it would just hang off the rear of the rack a bit.
The width would be the same.
A little update on the shelf project I have been working on.
This is much better than the shelf/hardware I used last year that is posted earlier in this thread.
Same info is also posted in Scott's thread on "What did you do to your expedition rig today."
Finished my shelf project for the AutoHome Maggiolina AirLander this morning.
Here are the parts
Got to use the new Dremel 8200 I bought a few weeks back to cut some more 13" rods so I would add a second set of swing down arms to hold the upper shelf.
Bought some better metal shelving a few weeks back too at the same time I picked up the Dremel.
Having two shelves is better than one
Surprisingly they do not weigh to much, and with the metal hooks anchored into the open grooves near the top of the roof, they are able to support quite a bit of weight.
Also picked up an indoor/outdoor thermometer yesterday that can sit up there.
The sending unit for the outdoor temps can be attacked with string to the horizontal awning pole when it is setup.
Hardware without the shelves in place
I should have snagged a picture of the shelves stored, but I forgot.
They lay on top of the bed next to the pillows, and the ladder lays on top of them.
I do not think the roof would close with the hardware left up there, so it will go into the rig for trips.
Forgot to mention the I got the idea from an over the door shoe rack I picked up a few months back.
Stock photo from their site.
I went out and bought another rack and then shortened up the horizontal rods to 13" and cut half the plastic off since it did not need to be that long.
Last edited:
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
Thanks.
Yes, I wanna see how long I sleep
Nope, just for size comparison of what I can fit up there.
I was originally going with just one shelf, but when I bought the replacement ones, they came two to a pack.
The first year I used the tent everything went on the side of the bed, kind of a pain keeping it organized.
I am a creature of wanting things organized, so this work out for awhile for me.
To bad it will not support the weight of a duffel bag, mucho to heavy.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
New Optima Redtop Installed 11-17-2010
First a few updated pics of the new BajaRack, then onto the new battery for my dual kit.
My Yellowtop Optima (installation detailed earlier in this thread) crapped out on me more than a year back, and with winter fast approaching and a darn messy winter at that thanks to La Niña, I thought it was time to get a new battery for my dual setup in case the stock Toyota one dies on me.
I had gone to Sears last weekend to have a Platinum Diehard installed where the Optima was, but no battery Sears had would fit my Blue Torch Fab battery tray.
I emailed BTF and heard back from them, and the tray was only designed to hold an Optima battery.
Reading all the negativity on how the Optima batteries have gone downhill over the years and my own experience with a fairly new Yellowtop tanking on me, I was hesitant to go with another one.
I called up Les Schwab Tire who I have dealt with for a very long time to see if they still carry the Optimas and they still do.
I explained to the guy how with my Painless Wiring dual battery hit it is recommended to not hook any accessory such as a fridge, lights, and communications equipment to the second battery, but it should only be used to start the rig in case the main battery is worn down to far.
He then said that I had the wrong Optima installed right now, as the Yellowtop is a deep cycle battery meant to be discharged and brought back up.
The ideal battery in my case would be the Redtop which is a starting battery only.
http://shop.optimabatteries.com/products/productdetail/part_number=34/78/1737.0
When the time comes to replace the stock battery, I will go with the DieHard Platinum P-5 - Group Size 35 which is a drop in replacement for the stock FJ Cruiser battery.
Speaking with Les Schwab today though he said a deep cycle is not the best to use for a starting battery, as the power it released at a slower rate than a starting battery such as the Redtop I got today.
A starting batteries power is released like a "bam" of energy burst.
I should be fine with the Platinum Diehard as I do not think it is considered a true deep cycle battery.
I am hoping to get a lot longer life out of the new Redtop than I did the Yellowtop.
The factory battery is getting a little sluggish, probably from doing duty running the ARB fridge on camping trips before I got setup with Solar for recharging it starting in the 2009 camping season.
The new Redtop has a seven year warranty through Les Schwab Tires with the first two years having free replacement provided should it die.
That should give me plenty of time to see how this new one works out for me.
He was very impressed with the dual battery setup and the Painless Wiring kit being able to switch over to the Redtop to start the rig in case I run down the stock one.
I do not see that happening really though using the solar setup to keep the stock battery topped off, but it is always better to safe than sorry, hence why I run a dual setup in my rig.
Here is a picture of the Yellowtop verses the new Redtop installed today.
Yes, it is much filthier under the hood today, rainy season and pine needles are the norm right now.
First a few updated pics of the new BajaRack, then onto the new battery for my dual kit.
My Yellowtop Optima (installation detailed earlier in this thread) crapped out on me more than a year back, and with winter fast approaching and a darn messy winter at that thanks to La Niña, I thought it was time to get a new battery for my dual setup in case the stock Toyota one dies on me.
I had gone to Sears last weekend to have a Platinum Diehard installed where the Optima was, but no battery Sears had would fit my Blue Torch Fab battery tray.
I emailed BTF and heard back from them, and the tray was only designed to hold an Optima battery.
Reading all the negativity on how the Optima batteries have gone downhill over the years and my own experience with a fairly new Yellowtop tanking on me, I was hesitant to go with another one.
I called up Les Schwab Tire who I have dealt with for a very long time to see if they still carry the Optimas and they still do.
I explained to the guy how with my Painless Wiring dual battery hit it is recommended to not hook any accessory such as a fridge, lights, and communications equipment to the second battery, but it should only be used to start the rig in case the main battery is worn down to far.
He then said that I had the wrong Optima installed right now, as the Yellowtop is a deep cycle battery meant to be discharged and brought back up.
The ideal battery in my case would be the Redtop which is a starting battery only.
http://shop.optimabatteries.com/products/productdetail/part_number=34/78/1737.0
When the time comes to replace the stock battery, I will go with the DieHard Platinum P-5 - Group Size 35 which is a drop in replacement for the stock FJ Cruiser battery.
Speaking with Les Schwab today though he said a deep cycle is not the best to use for a starting battery, as the power it released at a slower rate than a starting battery such as the Redtop I got today.
A starting batteries power is released like a "bam" of energy burst.
I should be fine with the Platinum Diehard as I do not think it is considered a true deep cycle battery.
I am hoping to get a lot longer life out of the new Redtop than I did the Yellowtop.
The factory battery is getting a little sluggish, probably from doing duty running the ARB fridge on camping trips before I got setup with Solar for recharging it starting in the 2009 camping season.
The new Redtop has a seven year warranty through Les Schwab Tires with the first two years having free replacement provided should it die.
That should give me plenty of time to see how this new one works out for me.
He was very impressed with the dual battery setup and the Painless Wiring kit being able to switch over to the Redtop to start the rig in case I run down the stock one.
I do not see that happening really though using the solar setup to keep the stock battery topped off, but it is always better to safe than sorry, hence why I run a dual setup in my rig.
Here is a picture of the Yellowtop verses the new Redtop installed today.
Yes, it is much filthier under the hood today, rainy season and pine needles are the norm right now.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
That is correct.
Sounds weird as I know a lot of guy's will hook up their fridge, winch, and other stuff to the second battery, but that is wrong if you run a Painless Wiring kit 40102.
I wish I could find their instructions online, and I do not know where mine are right now.
But they state with their kit to run your winch, lights, and anything else off of the stock battery.
In case you run the stock battery down to far, flip the in cab switch all the way to the right, and that allows the second battery to jump start the dead one or power anything hooked to the stock battery.
Switch in the middle position the Redtop is off line, and if you flip it to the left, it charges the Optima when the rig is running.
That is the position I keep it in most of the time.
When the rig is off, the solenoid disconnects the two batteries if you leave the switch all the way to the left, same as if you had the switch in the middle position when the rig is on.
It is a pretty simple system that saved me one time a few years back.
I had run the fridge to long without starting up the rig for almost five days.
I flipped the switch to the far right, then turned the ignition key to start the rig, and it fired right up from the old Yellowtop.
Once the rig was running, the alternator charged up the stock battery.
PS, I found a link for the manual at the URL above.
http://www.painlesswiring.com/Manuals/40102.pdf
Sounds weird as I know a lot of guy's will hook up their fridge, winch, and other stuff to the second battery, but that is wrong if you run a Painless Wiring kit 40102.
I wish I could find their instructions online, and I do not know where mine are right now.
But they state with their kit to run your winch, lights, and anything else off of the stock battery.
In case you run the stock battery down to far, flip the in cab switch all the way to the right, and that allows the second battery to jump start the dead one or power anything hooked to the stock battery.
Switch in the middle position the Redtop is off line, and if you flip it to the left, it charges the Optima when the rig is running.
That is the position I keep it in most of the time.
When the rig is off, the solenoid disconnects the two batteries if you leave the switch all the way to the left, same as if you had the switch in the middle position when the rig is on.
It is a pretty simple system that saved me one time a few years back.
I had run the fridge to long without starting up the rig for almost five days.
I flipped the switch to the far right, then turned the ignition key to start the rig, and it fired right up from the old Yellowtop.
Once the rig was running, the alternator charged up the stock battery.
PS, I found a link for the manual at the URL above.
http://www.painlesswiring.com/Manuals/40102.pdf
craig
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
What is wrong is that you are going to kill the starter battery. It isn't designed to be drained and recharged repeatedly (deep cycled). Run your accessories off of a Deep Cycle battery, and start with a Starter battery. If your painless dual battery setup doesn't support this, then you might have the wrong dual battery setup.
The Odyssey/Sears Platinum Marine batteries are deep cycle, but also have a good amount of CCAs for starting.
Running two Deep Cycle batteries in parallel will give you plenty of starting/winching amps too.
The Odyssey/Sears Platinum Marine batteries are deep cycle, but also have a good amount of CCAs for starting.
Running two Deep Cycle batteries in parallel will give you plenty of starting/winching amps too.
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
Here is the info directly from the Painless PDF file.
When I replace my stock battery very soon, it will be the Diehard Platinum, and that will be better for discharging some like it does now when I run the fridge and Maggiolina light.
To be honest with you though, I do not see the main battery getting discharged to much anymore since I run a solar setup that keeps it topped off when camping for days at a time.
When I replace my stock battery very soon, it will be the Diehard Platinum, and that will be better for discharging some like it does now when I run the fridge and Maggiolina light.
To be honest with you though, I do not see the main battery getting discharged to much anymore since I run a solar setup that keeps it topped off when camping for days at a time.
craig
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Corey,
Just think about it for a second.
Does it really make no sense to run accessories that will repeatedly drain the battery off a battery that isn't designed to be drained/recharged.
Does it really make sense to only use the deep cycle battery as a backup starter battery?
Craig
Just think about it for a second.
Does it really make no sense to run accessories that will repeatedly drain the battery off a battery that isn't designed to be drained/recharged.
Does it really make sense to only use the deep cycle battery as a backup starter battery?
Craig
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
Craig, I know a few others who run this exact same kit over at www.fjcruiserforums.com and have it setup the same way I do.
We are running it the correct way via Painless Wiring's info.
Since Painless designed the kit, I have to agree with their logic of how to use it.
And the Redtop also is not a deep cycle battery, it is a starting battery according to Optima.
The Yellowtop is their deep cycle battery.
And my main battery (soon to be the Diehard) will not see much discharging when camped since it is trickle charged via my solar setup.
During the cooler hours of the night, the fridge does not cycle as much as it does during the day.
And in the past before I got the dual setup the winch was only wired up to the main battery, and winching was always done with the engine on.
Not much draining with the rig running.
craig
Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
I misunderstood and thought the red top was your main battery.
Replacing the main battery with a Die Hard platinum deep cycle will fix the problem that I see with the setup. The platinum has high enough CCAs to work as a starter battery.
Does it switch over to the second battery entirely, or does it give you an option to run them in parallel to get higher amps when winching/cold starting?
Craig
Replacing the main battery with a Die Hard platinum deep cycle will fix the problem that I see with the setup. The platinum has high enough CCAs to work as a starter battery.
Does it switch over to the second battery entirely, or does it give you an option to run them in parallel to get higher amps when winching/cold starting?
Craig
Corey
OverCamping Specialist
OK, gotcha.
Yes, the new Redtop is the backup battery for an emergency start should the main one fail on me.
So this Sears one is indeed deep cycle too?
If so, that will be good since the accessories are hooked to the main one.
I think when putting the three way switch to position three that both batteries are still connected, and the juice from the Optima goes right to the other battery.
Yes, the new Redtop is the backup battery for an emergency start should the main one fail on me.
So this Sears one is indeed deep cycle too?
If so, that will be good since the accessories are hooked to the main one.
I think when putting the three way switch to position three that both batteries are still connected, and the juice from the Optima goes right to the other battery.