From Freightliner ambulance to RV - we hope!
- Thread starter rossvtaylor
- Start date
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Our toilet arrived! Cause for celebration? Maybe...
Anyway, the Airhead arrived and it is quite sturdy. This things seems to be popular with the sailing community and has good reviews from them, so my hopes are high.
Anyway, the Airhead arrived and it is quite sturdy. This things seems to be popular with the sailing community and has good reviews from them, so my hopes are high.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
And... today, the new camera system came. I'd previously installed a cheapo import that worked okay, but the clarity/resolution wasn't too impressive. Right now, I have two side cameras and a rear camera (plus an unused extra rear camera). This new system will replace those three cameras and the monitor. Just looking at these new bits, it's pretty clear they're much more substantial than our current kit components. The side cameras are metal, instead of plastic, and the rear camera is quite hefty. Heft isn't necessarily an indicator of quality, but these new bits just look and feel like quality things.
Upon the recommendation of others here, in Scooter's thread, I ordered a high resolution single-camera system and two side cameras from reviewsafety.com. Here are the item numbers we got - note the side cameras are side-specific, unlike my current stuff (in which you rotate the camera inside the housing):
And pics of the bits:
Upon the recommendation of others here, in Scooter's thread, I ordered a high resolution single-camera system and two side cameras from reviewsafety.com. Here are the item numbers we got - note the side cameras are side-specific, unlike my current stuff (in which you rotate the camera inside the housing):
And pics of the bits:
Mattersnots
Adventurer
Those look nice. I'm curious to hear how well the side ones work. Would it be feasible to get rid of the side mirrors with these cameras? My mirrors are so huge I'm worried about losing them either in Mexico or a narrow bridge.
patoz
Expedition Leader
Not in my opinion. Electronics can fail, but mirrors pretty much keep on working in any situation unless they get smashed!
java
Expedition Leader
And then you go and buy a hand mirror and tape it on!
Fold them in as needed, but dont get rid of side mirrors IMO. Camera is a nice "feature" but mirrors should always come first.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Having had a set of side cameras on ours for about a year now, I'll say I freakin' love them. Even though this current monitor isn't the best quality, the side cameras mounted above each front tire are so handy. I find I use them more than the mirrors for lane changes. And, for backing and tight quarters maneuvering, they are super helpful! I like the concept so much, I thought it worth upgrading them to something better.
We still have side mirrors. I had replaced ours with a style that will fold in, if needed. But they are good back-ups to the cameras and, as pointed out, most state laws still require mirrors... cameras can supplement, but not replace, the legal requirement for those.
So, where is the cheapo 4-camera system going? I'm going to make that a rooftop clearance camera. I can rip that off three times and still have a camera left.
We still have side mirrors. I had replaced ours with a style that will fold in, if needed. But they are good back-ups to the cameras and, as pointed out, most state laws still require mirrors... cameras can supplement, but not replace, the legal requirement for those.
So, where is the cheapo 4-camera system going? I'm going to make that a rooftop clearance camera. I can rip that off three times and still have a camera left.
patoz
Expedition Leader
So, where is the cheapo 4-camera system going? I'm going to make that a rooftop clearance camera. I can rip that off three times and still have a camera left.
Yep, I'm going to have a rooftop clearance camera also! I have also heard of people putting them underneath, especially on rock crawlers, so they can see what's going on there also.
Last edited:
cjken
Explorer
Haha
Years ago I was driving back from Oregon after a summer of windsurfing.
I had nearly bald tires on the rear. my van and got sent sliding by the wake of a convoy of flat bed semis in the rain. It had not rained in weeks so I’ll the oils floated to the surface of the thin film of water on the road.
I slid off the road and rolled over ripping off my drivers side mirror.
I ended up taping a shaving mirror onto a stick and ended up getting the rest of the way home that way.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Part of our plan includes some rooftop storage and solar. With some deadlines looming for a few camping trips, I squeezed out the time to make some progress in that regard and we now have our 768 Watts of solar on the roof and converting energy for us. We had the rig in Snowmass a couple of weeks ago and it worked great... previously, we had to start the engine every few days to recharge.
As with so much of this truck, we're using materials we have. That grill bar, for example, was well pipe we pulled. The cage on top, supporting the solar and providing storage for paddleboards or other other things, was formerly a bunch of extra wire containers we had at the factory. Here are some pics:
So, between the wire cage and the frame it's quite sturdy but is fairly light. I welded up the frame and positioned it on the roof, then tack welded the 4x8-inch tabs while up on the roof (to get the slope angle right). I took the thing down, finished welding, installed the panels, and put it back up there. The final attachment relies mostly on Sika 252 with a couple of 1/4-inch lags in each plate, primarily to hold it while the SikaFlex cured. Before doing this, I did grind through the paint to make sure it's bonded to the aluminum itself.
Inside the rig, there's a Midnite Solar charge controller. Love that thing!
I also added a spare tire mount, positioned off-center to allow the MaxxAir vent on the other side.
At this point, it looks a bit funny with the cage all alone up there. The next steps include the "door" on the back of the cage, pipe rails down each side (allowing space between the rails and the cage for kayaks on edge, if we want), and a front roof rack over the cab (which will come up over the spare tire and raise any branches slightly above the side rails and solar panels).
Since installing this, it's gone from AZ to Snowmass and back, then from AZ to Austin and back. The wind gusts while driving to Austin confirmed it's definitely not coming off.
As with so much of this truck, we're using materials we have. That grill bar, for example, was well pipe we pulled. The cage on top, supporting the solar and providing storage for paddleboards or other other things, was formerly a bunch of extra wire containers we had at the factory. Here are some pics:
So, between the wire cage and the frame it's quite sturdy but is fairly light. I welded up the frame and positioned it on the roof, then tack welded the 4x8-inch tabs while up on the roof (to get the slope angle right). I took the thing down, finished welding, installed the panels, and put it back up there. The final attachment relies mostly on Sika 252 with a couple of 1/4-inch lags in each plate, primarily to hold it while the SikaFlex cured. Before doing this, I did grind through the paint to make sure it's bonded to the aluminum itself.
Inside the rig, there's a Midnite Solar charge controller. Love that thing!
I also added a spare tire mount, positioned off-center to allow the MaxxAir vent on the other side.
At this point, it looks a bit funny with the cage all alone up there. The next steps include the "door" on the back of the cage, pipe rails down each side (allowing space between the rails and the cage for kayaks on edge, if we want), and a front roof rack over the cab (which will come up over the spare tire and raise any branches slightly above the side rails and solar panels).
Since installing this, it's gone from AZ to Snowmass and back, then from AZ to Austin and back. The wind gusts while driving to Austin confirmed it's definitely not coming off.
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
And, here are two more photos - one of the lifting-to-the-roof process (thank goodness for the forklift) and one of what it looks like from the side, from our Snowmass trip. Now, to make the other roof rack bits!
patoz
Expedition Leader
Looks good Ross! You are the first person I've seen who mounted them with the recommended 6" of space between them and the roof. This is to allow for air movement and reduce the heat transfer to the panels, since heat is the worse enemy of solar panels.
I'm curious though, where did you find 256 Watt (768/3) solar panels? Most of the 60 cell panels I've seen were 250 Watts. Also, did you wire them in series or parallel?
I'm curious though, where did you find 256 Watt (768/3) solar panels? Most of the 60 cell panels I've seen were 250 Watts. Also, did you wire them in series or parallel?
rossvtaylor
Adventurer
Thanks, Pat. Raising the panels up was certainly done intentionally... since my last career was in renewable energy.
As to the panels, I actually transposed two numbers and they're 265W panels (for a total of 795). They're Kyocera KD265 and wired in series, putting about about 100 volts into the MPPT charge controller.
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