Project Alpha Bound II: Electric Boogaloo

[ab1985]

Well, progress has been at a stand still since we moved in August. The garage in our rental is terrible and doesn't even have enough juice to run a welder, so updates for the next few months may be more trip related as we look for a house.

We made it to Land Between the Lakes a few weeks back. What an awesome place!

Can you see the cruiser?

 

[Warlord6]

Truck is looking awsome man. Can't wait to see it in person. Maybe we can hit Windrock again!

 

[Mauka2Makai]

The Campteq looks right at home on your cruiser... looking forward to the completion of your interior and seeing the final layout.

 

[wuntenn]

This is a great build. What I like is its simplicity and 'real world' ambition. One question - are you lining your alloy roof? A few sleeping mats (closed cell foam) stuck on would prevent condensation, damp sleeping bags/mattresses and smells. That aside, its not turning your van into a blobby overweight turtle, it's retained enough of its clean lines to keep it looking neat. That's a good call.

 

[ab1985]

I haven't had condensation issues up to this point. I leave bedding (matresses, sleeping bags, and pillows) up their full time which keeps the cold out while driving. I'm going to see how it does this winter and may add foam board insulation in sections.

 

[ab1985]

I've been digging into my boxes of parts to find small jobs I can tackle at home in my crappy rental garage (it's a PITA just to find parts in the sea of household goods that we've yet to unpack). The Sears DHP I put in last spring is a great starting battery, but it's lousy for running the fridge and accessories so I decided to tackle the dual batteries. I have an IBS system on the shelf that I bought for my 4Runner but never installed. I've gone back and forth on what kind of auxiliary battery to use. I finally decided just to buy a cheap marine battery and figure it out as I go before spending big bucks on an Odyssey. Today I stopped by my local auto parts shop and while chatting with one of the sales guys he mentioned they had a few batteries that had been on the shelf for a while and were collecting dust. Apparently, after being on the shelf for 12 months they mark them down and sell them as "used". I ended up grabbing an Optima 31M for $45 - score! It bench tested fine. Fingers crossed, but for $45 I figure what the heck.

I relocated the washer bottle and shoehorned it in tonight. I'll tackle the wiring tomorrow.

 

[marshal]

are you still in the louisville area or did you relocate to nashville? im over in La Grange. love to meet up

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

Which parts store do you use?

 

[ab1985]

We've been in Nashville since August.

This parts store was Auto Zone. I try to stick to Napa and O'Rielly's but I had a $5 coupon.

 

[LaOutbackTrail]

I'm gonna go bug the guys at the autozones here in town now!. There are several guys at the local O'Reilly s that know me by name. Sad, but I was in there three or four times a week when I rebuilt my montero.

Thanks for the info. Would like to see what you come up with for the dual battery system.

 

[marshal]

too bad. maybe we'll see each other at the gorge or black mountain

 

[fireball]

I've been gathering the parts for a dual battery install on my hundred series and it is a lot of parts effort and money! Looks like you're off to a good start with a leftover controller and a steal of a deal on the battery.

Surprised to hear what you said about the diehard platinum battery. A lot of the 100 series guys are having good luck with the Marine platinum batteries as both main and auxiliary. That's the route I was planning on taking. I was also under the impression that the platinum has the same internals as the Odyssey.

 

[ab1985]

too bad. maybe we'll see each other at the gorge or black mountain

I'm sure well get back to the gorge. Love it there

 

[ab1985]

Surprised to hear what you said about the diehard platinum battery. A lot of the 100 series guys are having good luck with the Marine platinum batteries as both main and auxiliary. That's the route I was planning on taking. I was also under the impression that the platinum has the same internals as the Odyssey.

Like I said, great as a starting battery but doesn't seem to power the fridge near as well as the yellow top I had in my 4Runner. I've read so many conflicting accounts of 80 series dual battery set ups. I figure I'll start cheap and see what works.

 

[fireball]

Speaking of many different accounts, isn't that the truth?! I've done tons of reading before deciding on my set up and still not sure I've made the right decision!

I'm using the Tmax battery controller set up and the Platnum marine for the auxiliary battery. At one point I was ready to scrap it all and just buy a bigger main battery and carry a set of jumper cables and always travel with friends!