ACELA 6X6 WITH SLRV EXPEDITION BOX NEW BUILD

[poohbearusvi]

Fresh Off The Boat.
Nearly two years but finally here! Picked it up at the dock and then drove it to get a wheel alignment place. The rig was stretched 31" and never aligned. Want to take care of those expensive tires. The drive TO Los Angeles from Palm Springs in a one-way car rental took 4 1/2 hours! Should had taken 2 hours and 9 minutes. Bad, Bad traffic. Coming back, same bad, bad traffic. It took 4 hours! First impressions: the rig looked even better in real life. We are very happy. Right now we are going through all the buttons and figuring out where everything is and where everything is going to go. It's a process. Having lived aboard a sailboat for a few years, it's important to have a place for everything. The Sirocco II fans in the rig are super quiet and efficient. The Coleman Mach 8 air conditioner is keeping the unit very comfortable in 115 degree heat. Tomorrow I'll be filling the water tanks and testing all that. We are planning to be on the road after the long weekend to avoid the crowds. We'll be heading north asap to get to cooler weather.

 

[Arjan]

Very Nice.

You plan on a cover on the back to keep those spare wheels a bit clean ?

 

[poohbearusvi]

That might be number 638 on my “to do” list. So many little things to go over. Still packing.

 

[zb39]

Looking great, enjoy it! CONGRATS.

 

[charlieaarons]

Very Nice.

You plan on a cover on the back to keep those spare wheels a bit clean ?

FWIW, a very small thing:you can save a very small amount of weight (~~80kg on rear axle pair, considering overhang) by replacing steel wheel on upper left spare with an inflated inner tube. At least that’s what I do. 2 ruined tires on a long trip is plausible. 2 broken wheels (both Fe and Al are weldable) is much less likely.

 

[poohbearusvi]

FWIW, a very small thing:you can save a very small amount of weight (~~80kg on rear axle pair, considering overhang) by replacing steel wheel on upper left spare with an inflated inner tube. At least that’s what I do. 2 ruined tires on a long trip is plausible. 2 broken wheels (both Fe and Al are weldable) is much less likely.

I normally wouldn’t worry about an extra 80 kg on the rear of my 6x6. However, my two spare tires are part of my rear tail lift. Getting rid of 80 extra kg of weight would give me a lot more options if I decide to add a small motorbike back there. Thanks for the tip.

 

[charlieaarons]

You’re welcome. I figured the actual bolttogether 2 piece steel wheel actually weighs ~55 or at the most 60kg; the 80kg number was taking into account the overhang effect. But saving even 55kg would help your lift issue a lot.

 

[poohbearusvi]

We've been on the road for three weeks. Ironing out the little bugs. Our first off grid trip was to the top of Schnebly Hill near Sedona. Did it in my Jeep about 4 years ago. Road has not been maintained and was rocky. But we made it. Found a nice spot near the edge. Next off grid place we went to was spectacular. It's the Little Colorado Confluence Overlook on Navajo land, near Tuba City. We got a backcountry permit to go there. It's 26 miles of initially gravel road and then two track. It was muddy as well. You definitely need good gps and map as there are multiple criss crossed tracks. It would be easy to get lost. We didn't see another human and were able to park literary 13 paces from the edge of the Grand Canyon. We then drove the Valley of the Gods road. Again, spectacular scenery. Better than Monument Valley. We are in Moab right now planning our next move.

With our solar panels (and sunshine) we can run everything (AC, two fridges/freezer) all day and the batteries will be at 90% by 5pm. We haven't had to run the ac at night while off grid. Batteries drop 15% overnight. We have all electric (cooktop, BBQ, Miele speed oven). If we do heavy cooking, that'll drop batteries another 20 percentage points. We tried out the engine alternator for charging one evening. Started up and put on low idle. Batteries were charging @ 118 amp/hours. At high idle, it's charging at 290 amp/hours. It doesn't take long to top the batteries up.
We have plenty of water (150 gallons). Limiting factor for off grid is grey and black tanks. We have an outdoor shower so that works out well. And both my wife and I pee outside. At night, she uses a pee jar, same one she used when we traveled in Africa with a Defender and rooftop tent. We figure we can safely be away from a dump station for 7 to 8 nights.


On The Edge of the Grand Canyon



A little rain and a rainbow at the top of Schnebly Hill.

 

[Bigly]

Oh hell yes!

 

[Alloy]

We've been on the road for three weeks. Ironing out the little bugs. Our first off grid trip was to the top of Schnebly Hill near Sedona. Did it in my Jeep about 4 years ago. Road has not been maintained and was rocky. But we made it. Found a nice spot near the edge. Next off grid place we went to was spectacular. It's the Little Colorado Confluence Overlook on Navajo land, near Tuba City. We got a backcountry permit to go there. It's 26 miles of initially gravel road and then two track. It was muddy as well. You definitely need good gps and map as there are multiple criss crossed tracks. It would be easy to get lost. We didn't see another human and were able to park literary 13 paces from the edge of the Grand Canyon. We then drove the Valley of the Gods road. Again, spectacular scenery. Better than Monument Valley. We are in Moab right now planning our next move.

With our solar panels (and sunshine) we can run everything (AC, two fridges/freezer) all day and the batteries will be at 90% by 5pm. We haven't had to run the ac at night while off grid. Batteries drop 15% overnight. We have all electric (cooktop, BBQ, Miele speed oven). If we do heavy cooking, that'll drop batteries another 20 percentage points. We tried out the engine alternator for charging one evening. Started up and put on low idle. Batteries were charging @ 118 amp/hours. At high idle, it's charging at 290 amp/hours. It doesn't take long to top the batteries up.
We have plenty of water (150 gallons). Limiting factor for off grid is grey and black tanks. We have an outdoor shower so that works out well. And both my wife and I pee outside. At night, she uses a pee jar, same one she used when we traveled in Africa with a Defender and rooftop tent. We figure we can safely be away from a dump station for 7 to 8 nights.


On The Edge of the Grand Canyon
View attachment 673570


A little rain and a rainbow at the top of Schnebly Hill.
View attachment 673576

How big are the grey/black tanks?

 

[poohbearusvi]

100 liters each

 

[waveslider]

Thanks for the update on electric usage. I will go back and re-look at your capacity and which appliances you got. The one thing we have waffled on is an AC so its curious to hear your experiences.

 

[Ramdough]

100 liters each

Wow, that seams really small. I think even a casita has that size gray tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[poohbearusvi]

Wow, that seams really small. I think even a casita has that size gray tank.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A cassette toilet has 5 gallons capacity. 100 liters is 26 gallons. Wish we had more but I had to give up something else.

 

[poohbearusvi]

Thanks for the update on electric usage. I will go back and re-look at your capacity and which appliances you got. The one thing we have waffled on is an AC so its curious to hear your experiences.

We would have died without an AC. It’s 99 in Moab right now.