Pilot_MM's Dadwagen

Oh I should note that the insulation is great but if you are going to be living back there I would probably do Lizard Skin and maybe wool. The lizard skin works, it really does, I have recorded temps lower than the cab of the truck when it’s parked out here in the desert. That being said if you let it get heat soaked it’s really hard to cool.

I plan on covering my black doors in vinyl or getting them repainted to match. They stay hot.

 

Ok time for a largish post. I have been plugging away at getting things done I wanted for our large family trip planned for next year. So this post is about my "leisure batter" (I love that the Brits call it that ) and upcoming projects slated for the next month or so.

Aux-battery:
I had this plan a while back to have a dual battery system in the truck to run all of my accessories. I was pretty much set on getting an Off-Grid Engineering system and having something plug and play. Then after countless hours on TW I started to notice reports of panel cracking where the secondary battery goes. I started having second thoughts. Around this time my good friend Sam with https://yogaslackers.com/teachers/profile/?uid=sam-salwei Yoga Slackers started telling me about the benefits of LiFePo4 batteries. My secondary battery system interest was renewed. After countless hours of talking and emailing, and texting, and messaging I had a plan; I just needed funding. Post 2021 Christmas bonus I had the funds I needed.

It started off as a terrible rough sketch...

I knew I wanted a Dc/Dc (what the Brit's call a B2B) charger, an MPPT controller, and an AC to DC charger. I also wanted to have provisions for switches and circuit breakers, a 12V socket (for my 12V shower pump), USB charger, and a way to monitor all of power usage. Again Sam helped guide me on all of this and I decided to go with Victron Energy components, Blue Sea components and a Battle Born Battery. Being from NV going with Battle Born was important for me.

Once my components showed up I started sketching a little more with a little more detail.


It was time to make a box. As you have probably seen from my drawers I am no craftsman but I can make what I need. Photo dump time:





I went with a Blue Sea Circuit Breaker switch panel so I could reset any faults in the sticks as they might come up. I was able to change switch one to a 5a breaker, my fridge stayed on the stock 15a, and my HF (I scribbled out the V) has a 25a breaker. It is pretty sweet. I bolted it in and wired everything up. All told I think I have 18+ hours in box building and wiring. All of my wires were custom cut and made with flexible welding cable. Here is how it looks next to my fridge

Rear view with Dc/Dc Charger

(This photos is before I bolted down the box)
The only thing I haven't installed yet is my MPPT only because is I haven't decided what solar panel I want. I really wanted a Merlin flexible 100-150W panel but missed my opportunity to get one. Oh well I will keep looking. Once I got the Victron stuff set up my initial calculations (based on winter use) is that I can run my fridge for 15 days before I have to charge the Aux battery. To charge it all up all I have to do is fire up the truck and drive around for a while or plug in the rear to 120V AC power. I imagine in the Desert SW summers I will probably only get half that time but that was my goal, 7 days without moving the truck if I wanted.

The next task was to figure out lighting. My buddy recently got the KC Cyclone under-hood lighting kit and I thought they would be perfect for my application. I ordered 2 single lights only and decided I would make my own wiring harness. I wanted the freedom of moving the lights where I need them; on the doors for area lighting as needed. I found a couple of 40lbs rare earth magnets that had some m6 posts on them and viola! Made my own lights. To hold up my DIY harness I used magnets with carabiners on them.




Let me tell you, this is one of the most handy things I have come up with in a long time. With it being winter here I have notices numerous times how dark the back of the truck is and finding stuff meant digging out the headlamp and looking for much longer than I cared. Now I flip the switch and if needed move the lights where I need to see. So much better and super bright.

Being a ham radio nerd I wanted to have provisions for an HF radio. I have a Yaesu 891 and I like to operate while I am camping or while doing Parks On The Air. It's super convenient having 100Ah of power in the back of the truck so why not add an Anderson Powerpole connector for my radio. I tried it out from La Madre Wilderness Area the other day (just outside of my QTH) and running 75W I was making contacts in the Azores off the coast of Portugal. All from a DIY 20awg wire antenna.



So with power squared away I am ready for my next upgrade. Unfortunately they can't get me in until March 1

This is one of those things I want to leave to the professionals. DIY Sliders should be finished just before too. I will be sure to take photos.

@Gunshot-6A Hey I found you had posted on a HF jack thread and saw you were driving to Tuk from your build thread, did you ever make it? I am only on page 5 of your 127 page thread

Thanks for following along!
-M

 

Yeah, that trip never panned out. 2 weeks prior to departure, my boss announced he was retiring...2 weeks from that day. At least I got a promotion and raise out of the deal.

Also, my dumb self decided that scheduling closing on a house 3 days prior to departure would also be a good idea.

It was gonna be a disaster in hindsight though. I was packing that whole trip into 2.5 weeks to stay in my corporate vacation allowance, and everyone I had talked to that enjoyed a similar trip said it took 4 to 6 weeks to do properly. It was just all gonna be windshield miles in my timeframe.

Plan is still to make a Canada trip, but Ill have a few narrower focused objectives and actually get to spend time out of the truck.

 

@Gunshot-6A Roger. I made it about 50 pages into your thread and started to realize it didn't happen in '19. My plan/goal is to take 5 weeks (all of June) in '23 and take the family (plus dogs) to Tuk. Maybe pop into AK on the way back. I want to hit the road hard up to Tuk and then cruise back. Care to PM me the details on where the airstrip is? BTW if I get there before you I will send you details on where to get a sick AF seal skin hat...

Cheers!
-M

 

There's like 100 of those airstrips. They were scattered all over the Canadian wilderness to give a backup plan if nukes started flying. I'll try and find the page that had them listed.

The milepost guide is also a handy print book to get. Its pretty cheap and has all sorts of good info to reference when travelling, like gas stations/lodging, distances, ferry info, etc.

As far as seal skin hats go...bring me back one and I will reward you handsomely.