Project "Autonomous" F-350

[pappawheely]

Great stuff Pappawheely. I was going through your thread from the beginning on my phone, and at a certain point the photos started coming up as broken links. I was so bummed. I checked on the computer when I got home and realized it was Photobucket who was undergoing maintenance... Back to reading it/viewing it today... 43 pages to go!

Thanks to everyone for your input. I got some special light to my solar panel this morning. Heading to KOH this week. I hope the weather clears up a little; sideways rain and high winds right now.

 

[pixelcodex]

Did you find gold in the cab? :sombrero:

Thanks to everyone for your input. I got some special light to my solar panel this morning. Heading to KOH this week. I hope the weather clears up a little; sideways rain and high winds right now.

 

[pixelcodex]

I alluded to an interesting thing that happened during my trip to cover the Vegas to Reno race. I was hoping to get some additional information from a manufacturer but that’s been slow to come. Here is my story, your mileage may vary. I was at my last spot of the day and the sun was going down. I had my door open so the dome light was on. I kept hearing a beep and thought it was coming from a young spectator who was playing a game on her phone. When there were no cars coming I could hear well enough to figure out what the beeping was. It was coming from my CTEK D250S. It was the low battery warning. I started the truck and noticed the alternator gauge was reading low. I let the truck run and disconnected the battery cable; the truck died. Luckily, I was not too far outside Tonopah so I headed into town. I had been camping in the desert for two days and was covered in sweat and dirt from a long day in the silt beds so I got a room. Everything was booked because of the race so I had to stay in a dump. You know the kind of place where you peel back the sheets to look for bugs and take a shower with your sandals on. I had two different strangers asking me a bunch of questions about my solar panel in the parking lot so I was worried it would be missing in the morning.

The next day I walked to the auto parts store. They did not have an alternator and would not have one for 4 days. In another bit of luck, the girl at the parts store saw me shooting the day before so she knew who I was and did everything she could to help me. She sent me to a shop up the hill that had a brick nose bronco that was going to be scrapped. For $35 bucks I got the alternator and the harness. My truck had been converted to a 3G, one wire alternator so I needed the harness to make it work. I got it installed, it was charging, so I headed towards Vegas. It soon started to overcharge at 18 volts. It was not internally regulated. I made it to Beatty before I stopped; not wanting to burn up my Odyssey AGM battery. The wires were so hot, they melted the duct tape I used to shield them. I got another room because it was well over 100 degrees, (that blew my whole low-budget trip). I made several calls and was 50% sure there was an alternator in Pahrump so I decided to drive on the batteries as far as I could and call AAA if I didn’t make it.

I left Beatty at 8am heading across some desolate Northern Nevada landscape. I made it to the alien/brothel gas station and stopped for fuel. I pulled out my electrical meter and checked the state of charge. It was at 12.5 volts. I know that my CTEK will take a charge from either the solar panel or the alternator depending on which source is greater. What I didn’t know is that it also sends juice from the panel to the starting battery. When I got underway, instead of taking the road to Pahrump, I continued south towards Vegas. I drove straight to Henderson before making another stop to check the battery. It was still at 12.5 volts. I decided to keep going to my destination, Laughlin. I made it the whole way. It was a long, hot day with no ac fan running in 116 degree heat but I was safely at my destination. I spent the next couple days in the hotel getting my stories out and took a few hours to run some errands in town. As long as the sun was out, the truck started and drove without issue.

At the end of the week I drove from Laughlin to Hesperia, again with no issues. I wished that I had saved my $35 in Tonopah and the cost of the room in Beatty. In total, I drove 450 miles on solar and battery. The alternator was disconnected. I talked to CTEK but have not been able to reach anyone who can speak to the technical aspects of what went on. I don’t know if it’s a fluke or an added bonus but I will find out. I have replaced the alternator and will now carry a spare, but it’s nice to know that if all else fails, there is still a way to get home.

Even if the people at CTEK did not reply to you, this story really caught my attention. When I initially saw it on your thread, I thought the CTEK was a fancier solenoid. I started to look more into the D250S and it's an incredible device. Not only does it help charge the batteries more efficiently but it includes an MPPT charge controller for solar. I recently built a little solar portable setup to use as a source for a fridge and miscellaneous items and have been testing it at my house. I am using a charge controller that is not MPPT, but I know those are charge batteries more efficiently. I am definitely adding this to my wish list, and will incorporate it in my next iteration of the setup. On a related note, I also saw they sell another device to work in conjunction, which apparently apps the charging capabilities of the setup: Smart pass. Are you using or have you looked into that as well?

 

[pappawheely]

Even if the people at CTEK did not reply to you, this story really caught my attention. When I initially saw it on your thread, I thought the CTEK was a fancier solenoid. I started to look more into the D250S and it's an incredible device. Not only does it help charge the batteries more efficiently but it includes an MPPT charge controller for solar. I recently built a little solar portable setup to use as a source for a fridge and miscellaneous items and have been testing it at my house. I am using a charge controller that is not MPPT, but I know those are charge batteries more efficiently. I am definitely adding this to my wish list, and will incorporate it in my next iteration of the setup. On a related note, I also saw they sell another device to work in conjunction, which apparently apps the charging capabilities of the setup: Smart pass. Are you using or have you looked into that as well?

I will be honest with you, I looked at the smartpass but still don't understand what it does????


I was out at KOH on Tues. Shot some photos of hammertown and qualifying. Camped in the truck bed that night, (it got down to the 20's) and shot the UTV race for UTVSportsMag. on Wed. I'm heading back out tomorrow to shoot the Ultra4 race for Crawl Mag and others.

 

[Larry]

Pappa,

Man, you know I’m no Ford guy but I got to say….. Your rig is the most tasteful well done Ford to grace threads of Expedition Portal. No bling, just all the right things done in all the right places. Well done my friend! I like your Ford even better because it is NOT a damn diesel. I deal with Nav diesels every day and wouldn’t own one if it was growing on my ear :costumed-smiley-007

 

[pappawheely]

Pappa,

Man, you know I'm no Ford guy but I got to say….. Your rig is the most tasteful well done Ford to grace threads of Expedition Portal. No bling, just all the right things done in all the right places. Well done my friend! I like your Ford even better because it is NOT a damn diesel. I deal with Nav diesels every day and wouldn't own one if it was growing on my ear :costumed-smiley-007

Thanks Larry! That's high praise from a guy with such an outstanding truck. BTW, I drove a 79 Blazer for years. I used it as a chase truck all over the US and Mehico! I still have the chassis; a 63 Willys PU body is sitting on top of it.

Some pics from KOH race morning; waiting for the cars to show up at sunrise and a little Red Dragon action! That weather we had a few days ago was so fierce, it peeled the paint off my front bumper. I guess I should have torn it down and got it powdercoated.

 

[pixelcodex]

I will be honest with you, I looked at the smartpass but still don't understand what it does????

I have watched some videos from CTEK and read a bit online, and as far as I can tell, it adds more charging power from 20A to 80A. So, if you have more panels, more batteries, etc, you would benefit from that.

Awesome photos as always, specially the last one!

 

[UHAULER]

Pappa,

Man, you know I'm no Ford guy but I got to say….. Your rig is the most tasteful well done Ford to grace threads of Expedition Portal. No bling, just all the right things done in all the right places. Well done my friend! I like your Ford even better because it is NOT a damn diesel. I deal with Nav diesels every day and wouldn't own one if it was growing on my ear :costumed-smiley-007

Lately i've been thinking an 8.1 and a 5 or 6 speed in a 92-97 f350 crew cab , would that be wrong ?

 

[Bojak]

Pappa,

Man, you know I’m no Ford guy but I got to say….. Your rig is the most tasteful well done Ford to grace threads of Expedition Portal. No bling, just all the right things done in all the right places. Well done my friend! I like your Ford even better because it is NOT a damn diesel. I deal with Nav diesels every day and wouldn’t own one if it was growing on my ear :costumed-smiley-007

Want to second this. Your truck is spot on. Love your attention to detail. I bought my new radiator based on your build (and oem was stooooopid $ for what you got).

 

[pappawheely]

Want to second this. Your truck is spot on. Love your attention to detail. I bought my new radiator based on your build (and oem was stooooopid $ for what you got).

And I bought my radiator based on Rot Box's build thread. So much knowledge on this site, I love it!

 

[DT75FLH]

What are the chances of you catching Gene in a pic???

LOL thats easy ricks dad !!!

Nice JOB! and it was nice talking with you in Laughlin.

And I missed the truck at KOH. We were spectators this year, but still ended up helping a buddy out at remote pit 2 with a EMC truck.

 

[pappawheely]

What are the chances of you catching Gene in a pic???

LOL thats easy ricks dad !!!

Nice JOB! and it was nice talking with you in Laughlin.

And I missed the truck at KOH. We were spectators this year, but still ended up helping a buddy out at remote pit 2 with a EMC truck.

Ha, I did not know that was Rick's Dad. I did not shoot the EMC race, no clients for that. I almost went out by pit 2 on Friday but instead I shot the desert and then went up Jack for lap two, then hiked down and back up sledge for lap three. My knees are still sore!

 

[pappawheely]

The learning curve continues. I have been wheeling my truck pretty hard for several months now and the result is that the cab is getting tweaked. I adjusted the driver's door before heading to KOH and when I got back the rear door on that side is not closing right. I also have a gap opening up between the cab and bed near the rockers. There are only four cab mounts on the crew cab, apparently that's not enough if you are constantly twisting the truck. I was always concerned about the spaghetti nature of the obs frame. Mounting the box on the rear will not make it better. In light of this, I have decided to swap my 4x4 drivetrain onto the U-Haul instead of putting the box on the F350. There are many advantages to doing this. First off, due to my SORD shackle reversal kit, all I have to do is bolt the mounting brackets to the U-Haul frame; no fabrication involved. The other upgrades I have made like the steering, Champion radiator, Warn Winch bumper, etc. will also bolt on.

The frame in the rear of the U-Haul is already flat and straight. I don't have to create an elaborate mounting system; I just need to add spring mounts. I will have to modify the rear axle spring pads for my wider Atlas leaf springs but I had planned to swap the dually axle into the F350 and run a single anyways, nothing lost there. The U-Haul is still OBD-1 and is an XL so I won't have to deal with power windows and other amenities that I would rather not have for weight concerns and simplicity. The U-Haul frame looks much stronger with a bigger cross section and additional gussets. I also get a boost in GVW. The F350 has a 9200lb GVW. The U-Haul is 11K. I converted the back seat area on the F350 into storage and mounted the Odyssey AGM batteries there. On the U-Haul I was thinking it would be nice to slide the box towards the rear and create a utility box behind the cab where I can mount the batteries, propane tank, tools, etc. Since I have designed my interior space with most of the weight towards the front to keep it centered between the axles, I can do this without creating a tail heavy condition.

More thoughts are that the truck cab is smaller so it will be easier to cool it when temps get real hot. The single cab may also allow me to create a pass through to the box. The wheelbase is a little shorter which will help off-road. I always thought of the U-Haul as a parts truck, I hate to think that the F350 has now taken on the role but...... Thoughts?

 

[java]

I think its a good call honestly. The frame is beefier, and is already built for a box. That will save a TON of headache. Its just bolting on parts.

I would do a pass thru If it were me, but the interior needs to be designed around it a bit.

 

[patoz]

The first question that pops into my head is, will that U-Haul box stand up to all the twisting and flexing incurred when 4-Wheeling? Aluminum is somewhat brittle, and I believe that whole box is put together with pop rivets.

Other than that, your plan sounds fine.