EarthRoamer XV-JP Questions

[DavidEllzey]

For those few lucky ones who have XV-JPs:

1. What is your average gas mileage hwy/city?
2. How much does the rig weigh?
3. Does it pull up mountains okay or does it feel much worse than a stock Rubicon?
4. Does anyone know if EarthRoamer has converted a manual transmission XV-JP yet?
5. Assuming sunny days with 10 hours of sunlight each day, do you think the solar panels would be able to keep up with at least a full week's worth of use by 2 people including excessive laptop usage.

Thanks in advance, Dave

 

[haven]

Dave,

There are two members here who own XV-JPs. One (Scott B.) is busy preparing to ship his to South America. The other is Mike Hiscox, whose forum name is "mhiscox." You might send Mike a PM.

The Earthroamer folks would be the best bet for questions about the rig weight, the solar power capacity and the question about the manual transmission. I think you can purchase the Wrangler Rubicon configured the way you want it, and then turn it over to Earthroamer for conversion to XV-JP.

Chip Haven

 

[mhiscox]

For those few lucky ones who have XV-JPs:

Happy to help, Dave. Remembering that I'm a relative XV-JP novice, here's some answers that might also interest other forum members . . .

1. What is your average gas mileage hwy/city? The XV-JP manual, in what I considered to be a nice piece of honesty, says to expect between 8-15 miles per gallon, the lower amount while off-roading. My tanks of fuel on the drive back to Portland were between 11 and 14 miles per gallon cruising the interstates at 65-70. The lowest amount was into the I-80 southern Wyoming 30-knot headwind (inevitable, from my experience, regardless of the direction I'm going ). The best was with a tailwind down the Columbia Gorge. A stock geared truck would do somewhat better.

2. How much does the rig weigh? Right at 7,000 pounds, I was told.

3. Does it pull up mountains okay or does it feel much worse than a stock Rubicon? Not a good question for me, as I've never driven a stock JK and also my truck was regeared. Actually, I'm also no good to ask because I'm used to driving my Series 80 (slow) and my Unimog (glacial) up hills, so the XV-JP seemed like a rocket. It's got 205 horsepower, I think, and has 7K instead of 4K pounds to motivate, so the ER's not going to be fast compared with a stocker. On the other hand, if you care to look at it this way, it'd be tough to find any self-contained motorhome with better performance.

4. Does anyone know if EarthRoamer has converted a manual transmission XV-JP yet? I don't know, but I would like to say that I have no quarrel at all with the automatic. It seems well suited for the engine and had no annoyances. I wouldn't be looking to a manual thinking there's anything wrong with the slushbox.

5. Assuming sunny days with 10 hours of sunlight each day, do you think the solar panels would be able to keep up with at least a full week's worth of use by 2 people including excessive laptop usage? Well, you probably need to do the math based on your specific laptop's consumption. The 80-watt solar panels would put something a little below that into the batteries. The charger on my laptop says it can pull up to 3.5 amps DC which would be about 40 watts or about half the panel's input. The other major power draw would be the fridge, which can draw up to 6 amps, or about 70 watts, on high power. The complication, of course, is that neither the laptop charger nor the fridge will draw those loads continuously, or even close to continously. My spider sense says that you'd probably be OK if you truly got 10 hours of pretty direct sun. However, also consider that if you drive anywhere, even for an hour or so, the batteries will get recharged from the engine alternator and those batteries (offering 210 amp-hours, so figure 105 AH available) will offer a nice reserve.

If you have any other questions I can answer, post 'em up. I'm glad to help.

 

[SOAZ]

For those few lucky ones who have XV-JPs:

1. What is your average gas mileage hwy/city?
2. How much does the rig weigh?
3. Does it pull up mountains okay or does it feel much worse than a stock Rubicon?
4. Does anyone know if EarthRoamer has converted a manual transmission XV-JP yet?
5. Assuming sunny days with 10 hours of sunlight each day, do you think the solar panels would be able to keep up with at least a full week's worth of use by 2 people including excessive laptop usage.

Thanks in advance, Dave

Dave,
I know a bit about them and have worked on the JP ones. I'll pick and choose the ones I'm sure I can answer correctly.
3. Drive one for yourself. It's no rocket ship, but with the 4/1 transfer case is is MORE than enough power off road. On road however it is pretty slow up the hills. Its a lot of weight. Talk to Earthroamer about re-gearing or a V8 conversion I've heard rumors of.
4. The first two were manuals. The often seen green one and a lesser known white one used by the company.

 

[DavidEllzey]

Mike and Tim,

Thanks for your responses. I should have pointed out that I currently drive a JK Rubicon and pull an AT Chaser. So that's my point of reference. If I end up going with a XV-JP, I'll still want to pull the chaser, sans the RTT of course.

The reason I asked about the MPG as I am concerned with the vehicles range. I was hoping to be able to rely on the just the 2 external fuel cans (5 gallon each) I carry on the Chaser without adding another 2 to the rear bumper. This is assuming that the space opposite the vehicles fuel tank, on the other side of the drive shaft is now occupied with batteries and/or air tank. Other wise a Long Ranger fuel tank would be an option.

So, as suspected, power is an issue. I wonder if there is still room under the hood for a RIPP supercharger?

Auto trannys are fine, I just prefer to drive a stick. Call me old fashioned that way but I just enjoy it more. I was hoping that if I get really serious about this that before I pull the trigger on one of these rigs I could test drive one with a stick. Good to know some are out there.

I guess a very small generator might be in order just to be sure. If I do go with this rig my wife and I be doing a quite bit of work from it.

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions, thanks again for the help guys,
Dave

 

[mhiscox]

Mike and Tim,

Thanks for your responses. I should have pointed out that I currently drive a JK Rubicon and pull an AT Chaser. So that's my point of reference. If I end up going with a XV-JP, I'll still want to pull the chaser, sans the RTT of course.

Well, I'm going to be pulling my Horizon sometimes, and am not expecting anything great on the hills. Still, it's all relative, and I seldom have to be in much of a hurry.

The reason I asked about the MPG as I am concerned with the vehicles range. I was hoping to be able to rely on the just the 2 external fuel cans (5 gallon each) I carry on the Chaser without adding another 2 to the rear bumper. This is assuming that the space opposite the vehicles fuel tank, on the other side of the drive shaft is now occupied with batteries and/or air tank. Other wise a Long Ranger fuel tank would be an option.

I'm not too happy with the range myself, and I'd be a good candidate for an auxiliary tank if there were one. I do, however, have ten gallons capacity on the rear rack cans and ten more on the trailer nose, but cans are a poor substitute for a real tank.

Obviously, keep us posted on your thoughts about more engine power. Just 'cuz I can easily live with stock doesn't mean I'd want to.

 

[zigsrig]

not sure if this longrange tank would work with the earth roamer conversion...

but it is worth a look: YOU TUBE VIDEO

 

[charlieaarons]

Be careful about solar panel assumptions. You would think my 123W solar panel would put out 9A at 13.8V, right?
Actually it puts out 7A at 17.5V, assuming ideal solar conditions. The 17.5 is down-regulated to "fit" the battery, so what I get out of each of my panels is 7A at 14V, or about 98W.
The ER 80A panels probably are similar; check the panel specs. The (necessary) regulator can decrease the voltage but it's not a transformer, it can't increase the amperage.
So with two 80A panels you likely get ~125-130W with ideal solar conditions, or ~9A.

Charlie

 

[DavidEllzey]

I'm not too happy with the range myself, and I'd be a good candidate for an auxiliary tank if there were one. I do, however, have ten gallons capacity on the rear rack cans and ten more on the trailer nose, but cans are a poor substitute for a real tank.

Obviously, keep us posted on your thoughts about more engine power. Just 'cuz I can easily live with stock doesn't mean I'd want to.

I think its just a matter of available space left after the EarthRoamer modifications. I have a feeling that the Long Ranger auxiliary tank mounts in the same space that EarthRoamer has already used for batteries and/or an air tank.

The same goes for under the hood, a RIPP supercharger seems to be a perfect solution but hasn't EarthRoamer used up what little available space there was under the hood already?

Dave

 

[mhiscox]

I think its just a matter of available space left after the EarthRoamer modifications. I have a feeling that the Long Ranger auxiliary tank mounts in the same space that EarthRoamer has already used for batteries and/or an air tank.

Give this man a prize. Having paused to ponder the pictures on the link provided, it looks like you have your choice of batteries or the fuel tank. As Dave deduced, that Long Ranger tanks goes in the empty space ER already uses to mount the AGM cabin batteries (covered by an impressive skid plate, thankfully).

Might be a better chance with the supercharger. The biggest underhood addition is the engine-driven air compressor, but that'd be negotiable vs. a supercharger. I'll try to remember to take a look next time the Jeep is here. (It's in a storage garage now.)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and research.

 

[mhiscox]

Be careful about solar panel assumptions. You would think my 123W solar panel would put out 9A at 13.8V, right?
Actually it puts out 7A at 17.5V, assuming ideal solar conditions. The 17.5 is down-regulated to "fit" the battery, so what I get out of each of my panels is 7A at 14V, or about 98W.
The ER 80A panels probably are similar; check the panel specs. The (necessary) regulator can decrease the voltage but it's not a transformer, it can't increase the amperage.
So with two 80A panels you likely get ~125-130W with ideal solar conditions, or ~9A.

Charlie's right, of course, about the panels putting out higher voltages. However, in this particular case, the EarthRoamer XV-JP has this electronic box called the "Blue Sky Energy Solar Boost 2000E." It's designed to take the extra wattage that would normally be wasted due to the panel's higher voltage--as much as 40% on a warm clear day--and convert it into usable charge current through some patented electronic magic in the switching type power converter. (OK, the manual doesn't actually say "patented electronic magic," but neither does it explain what's actually going on. )

The manual does admit that "In actual operation, boost will be somewhat less as some available power is lost in wiring, connections, fuse and in the Solar Boost 2000E."

Anyway, with this exact EarthRoamer setup, the implication is that the panels will get close to their full output into the batteries even though the panel output voltage is way over what the batteries can use.

 

[JRhetts]

Chassis space- compressor vs fuel tank

I think its just a matter of available space left after the EarthRoamer modifications. I have a feeling that the Long Ranger auxiliary tank mounts in the same space that EarthRoamer has already used for batteries and/or an air tank.
Dave

One way to save some space in the chassis and under the hood is to opt for a PowerTank or two instead of a compressor and tank. The CO2 does a GREAT job of refilling tires and running air tools. I carry two 10# power tanks in my Rubi Unlimited, and that is the equivalent of more than 30 re-inflations of all 4 tires from 22 to 37 pounds. This gives me days and days (!!) of off-road/on-road changes, and lots of impact wrench use.

 

[mhiscox]

One way to save some space in the chassis and under the hood is to opt for a PowerTank or two instead of a compressor and tank. The CO2 does a GREAT job of refilling tires and running air tools. I carry two 10# power tanks in my Rubi Unlimited, and that is the equivalent of more than 30 re-inflations of all 4 tires from 22 to 37 pounds. This gives me days and days (!!) of off-road/on-road changes, and lots of impact wrench use.

I agree about the merit of CO2 tanks. I have them for both the Series 80 and my Sprinter camper. I also find myself grabbing one of the tanks instead of using the garage compressor to fill up the car tires and run air tools.

The shortcoming to running a CO2 tank on the XV-JP would be that it's really handy to be able to inflate the tent's struts from the air tank by just holding down a button. It'd be clever to plumb the CO2 tank in place of the air tank currently in the cabin "nose cone," but since the CO2 tank would have to be vertical if it was going to be open all the time, finding a good place to mount it might be a problem.

Worth thinking about it, though.

 

[DavidEllzey]

One way to save some space in the chassis and under the hood is to opt for a PowerTank or two instead of a compressor and tank. The CO2 does a GREAT job of refilling tires and running air tools. I carry two 10# power tanks in my Rubi Unlimited, and that is the equivalent of more than 30 re-inflations of all 4 tires from 22 to 37 pounds. This gives me days and days (!!) of off-road/on-road changes, and lots of impact wrench use.

It also sounds like the under chassis is being used for battery storage, not air tanks. So replacing the on board air with CO2 isn't that attractive. Interesting idea though, keep 'em coming.

Dave

 

[JRhetts]

I own a big ER, and am not fully familiar with the JP - I've driven one on the Camino del Diablo, but have not crawled all over it. Pardon the ignorance.

John