Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

Idk about that but if the hot wire is keyed then I'd just run one to the positive post on the battery in the cMper and be done. If it's a keyed hot then shouldn't drain anything as long as key is off

 

Ham antenna bracket fabbed (from an ARB air comp backer plate), painted, bolted up, cable routed

radio/speaker mounting plate fabbed up, bolted in, wired up

Face plate relocated, mounted, wired up

Roof case + hardware sourced, painted, mounted up, and stickered all to hell.

Damn it was a long day. Ran out of light, got cold and hungry before I could mount up my traction boards. Got a project for next weekend I guess!

 

May be a repost, you can flame me if it is.

http://4wdsolarcalculator.com

It says with a fridge and an led light burning 24/7, I need a 120 ah battery with a 120w panel. That will give me 15 ah and .153 kWh extra

 

I've got to get the fridge and then find the load rating for it and the CPAP I sleep with and make sure I get a solar setup that will handle it plus I'd like a battery reserve for a couple of days in case of overcast or rainy conditions.

 

Well that's encouraging Once I get this figured out it's just a shower and bathroom and we're ready to go away from campgrounds.

 

Well. That means that the calculator would be pretty accurate I am guessing. How many Ah was the battery? Was it the vehicle battery, or a deep cycle second battery?

I am reading through the thread. Lol. I am on page 6 <--- look at this guy, is puke coming out of his eyeballs?.....wtf

 

Ok quick question on roof top tents, when you flop them over, do they support you or does the ladder you attach also become a support, then you can climb up and put your weight on the bottom? I have never seen on in person. I see everyone flops them sideways off the trucks, why not forwards over the cab with a simple small ladder going up the side? That way the awning can cover more area beside the truck for cooking bacon or chilling by a fire pit while talking about different ways to cook bacon, and you wouldnt be having a ladder all up in the middle of it.

 

Yes, the ladder is typically used to support the tent when unfolded. Unfolding to the sides is probably most common but people often unfold to the rear too... Some people like being sheltered while accessing the tailgate, especially for a cooking area.

Most people orientate the tent per the restrictions of the application. E.g. Mine sits below the roofline so being underneath it isn't comfortable unless you're seated -- which rules out unfolding to the rear. Even if I did rotate mine so that it opened to the rear its width would exceed the width of the truck... and that would just be weird.

As long as it's well supported with a roof rack I don't see why you couldn't mount it as you describe -- as long as your roof rack and bed rack are even height. If you put the tent on a bed rack though and open over the cab you'll be climbing over the windshield to get in. You could certainly reverse it and mount the tent over the cab and unfold it onto the bed rack. Kind of a "poor man's" flippac/habitat. Would guarantee stability but I'm thinking you'll want a ladder no matter what. I suppose if you were to do it this way, that would also give you the option of entering through a side window if you really wanted. :/

 

Ok thanks. So the door is pretty much always on the flip out part. I will just mount so it flips back. What do yall do in sand to keep ladder from sinking while climbing?

 

Edit: To keep the ladder from sinking, just use a piece of wood, or some rocks you find around. Doesn't take much. You'll see the piece of firewood I used in the sand in the "standard" picture below.

Both ends have a door, though if you get an "extended" model (vs. "standard"), there will be a larger cover over the door on the side that flips out. You can see that in the pics below (where I've choosen CVT, but I think a lot of manufacturers are similar)...

extended (note that where the ladder is, is where the door is; the rest is a cover to keep you dry on the ladder):




standard (no extended cover over the ladder - if you want to flip frontwards, then this is probably the route to go, and put the ladder to the door in the back):

 

Speaking of fridges I'm looking for feedback from people running theirs in the bed of the truck sans canopy or camper shell as you guys call em. If you get the cover thingy for it does it protect it from like rain snow and dusty ? A slide would most likely be used as well.

 

I have an ARB 50qt with the cover (my write-up here, and the "bed slide" I built here). The cover does keep the dust off the fridge, though I think the cover gets dustier than the fridge would - hahahaha. The real benefit in dusty conditions is that they are usually hot conditions as well, and it definitely helps with insulation.

For rain/snow/winter wheeling, I opt to take the cover off, just so it doesn't get wet and stay wet (and get mildewy, etc.)

I will say - the fridge is one of those "adventure changing" things for me - it makes you so much more self sufficient (no longer beholden to ice); I wish I'd gotten one sooner.

 

Oh I know I've got the 50qt too inside my access cab but I'm making plans for the pupper mod that's coming. Gotta make space for two huskies. Living on the wet coast though I'm concerned about long term having the fridge exposed. I'm also not really interested in a canopy

 

Yep, so I'd say put the cover on in the summer (dry) and leave it uncovered in the winter (wet). Has been working fine for me. Cover it with a blanket or something if you think it's going to get covered in mud, 'cause that wouldn't be ideal.

 

For those with drawers how deep are they? What are people’s opinion of 6” deep.

Looking at these drawers but used.
https://www.americanvan.com/floor-s...-drawers/flat-floor-drawer-storage-units.html

 

Ok so I been thinkin about this for a while. Would there be any interest in a slide in canopy with canvas top and roll down sides and back? Zip side closure with industrial snaps on the bottom, gel coated 3/8 door skin about a foot up the sides and on full front.

 

Sounds good to me.

 

I can biuld the frame and wood, and I have a company nearby that will custom sew the canvas. The only downside is by the time I biuld it, pay for the metal, my time, and the canvas...it would very likely be as mush as a roof top tent, plus it would not be delivered yet.