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Great to hear others' positive experiences with the diesel appliances, especially at high altitude I bought my Webasto gear through Marc Wassmann at XPCamper (www.xpcamper.com). FusoFG, you mentioned that you leave your heater on all winter - where do you live (how cold does it get), how...

NothingClever, The appliances (Webasto cooktop and dualtop) are being installed as we speak, so I can't yet say how well they work. For the price, I'm expecting they'll work flawlessly! :) After reading a lot of really good articles and discussion (linked up-thread), I'd summarize as follows...

Thanks! I read someone's comment recently who said you have to build 2 or 3 vans to get it right. We don't have the time (or the budget or the patience) for that so hopefully our first attempt will be useable! The bigger fuel tank is a custom build by Colorado camper van. It occupies the same...

The van has been at Derek's for the past month or so getting more stuff done to it. The list is pretty long this time: Re-build of the driver's side cabinetry - see pics below Install 28 gallon fresh water tank Webasto dual-top furnace/hot water heater Webasto diesel cooktop Install awning...

So after reading everyone's input (thanks!) and doing a bunch of research, I decided to skip the whole dual alternator thing, and go with a single high output / heavy duty replacement, as fastlane suggested at the top of this thread. My reasons are: 1. The second alternator runs off the...

Spotted yesterday in Denver:

Thanks! It's mounted on a tembotusk slide-out tray, which has a latch that locks it in place in both the fully open and retracted positions. You can see it in the pictures; it's the little yellow tab looking thing. The fridge is secured to the tray with cam straps.

I never did get a good answer from Webasto on the altitude issue; the customer service from their US division seems pretty poor (at least the person that I was trying to work with was unhelpful). However, the good people at Global Expedition Vehicles were kind enough to help me out, even though...

The fridge is installed!

Cool, thanks for the info. Sounds like propane is perfectly viable for south america as long as you have somewhere to store a removable tank. We're in a van, so there's not a lot of exterior storage available in our vehicle. Rob, any particular reason you're planning to use gasoline for most of...

Reviving an old thread here... Has anyone used a diesel cooktop (specifically a Webasto with the high-altitude setting) at altitudes over 10,000 feet (3000m)? We're building a sportsmobile-like van in preparation for a trip through South America. Ideally I'd like a webasto cooktop and a...

That's pretty much what I saw with my National Luna 50L split (fridge and freezer). I plugged it to AC power in in my garage, which was pretty cool at the time, probably around 65-70 degrees, using a Kill-a-watt to record power usage. I put a couple of water bottles full of room temperature...

Not sure about using all of the batteries in one bank - seems like I'd have to replace my two starting batteries with dual-purpose starting / deep-cycle batteries, and even then I'd be afraid to draw them down very far for fear of not being able to start the truck. Keeping it all stock Ford is...

dwh, Thanks for taking a look at that! I also sent the question to Belmar tech support and got a confirmation: "Automotive alternators are internally regulated. You will need to take the Ford alternator to a shop and have them disconnect the internal regulator and bring the field wire out. The...

Yeah, a separate belt/pulley would be ideal, but that would definitely require some non-standard modifications to the engine. I'm running into two issues here: If I install a Ford alternator (or an aftermarket alternator designed for the engine), the physical installation should be...

Just in case anyone is interested in the weight thing, the van is now at 3880 front, 3700 rear and 7580 total. That's with the CCV poptop, the center seat, and some basic furniture. I've been trying to estimate total weight, and I think it's going to end out at or slightly above GVWR.

Hmm. Was watching a youtube video on how to install the second alternator, and it sounds like you need a different (longer) belt for the dual setup. One could probably keep spare belts for each of the single alternator configurations in case one of them died, assuming that the shorter belt will...

Yeah, I think you're right. The first time we put him in that seat he was grinning ear to ear - he loved sitting up high, and up front with mom and dad.

The van is taking shape! Derek and Liz delivered it to our house in Denver on Thursday! We absolutely love it. There's a ton of room on the "second floor" where beds for the three of us are, and overall the interior feels more roomy than I thought it would. The center seat for Quinn didn't come...

> One thing to think about is that normal voltage regulated alternators are pretty poor battery chargers. That's good to know. I found a few threads on installing the second alternator (one here...