Another Around the World Tacoma

Like you mentioned, the fender isn’t designed for the additional weight of another battery, so dropping the weight was one of the reasons I upgraded. Also the Genesis 4x4 kit isn’t designed for any solar input.

 

We made a quick trip down to Phoenix, as my brother is selling his house in December, and we needed to chat a bit about things he wants to get done to it before he lists it for sale.

With that, I was able to grab my third Renogy 100ah LifePO4 battery, a bonus battery that I acquired a few months ago, that I wanted to install in the truck to increase our capacity to 300ah.

With the removal of the propane tank/hoses, we opened up a lot of space in the 'closet' area of the camper for this third battery.

I was able to use the existing framing back there to secure this new battery pretty effectively. Unfortunately the framing wasn't spaced quite well enough for me to tidy up the second battery, the one laying down on the floor of the camper, so it had to stay where it was. One of the drawbacks of not planning things out 100% at the very beginning.

I took the battery and added 1/8" thick foam to the parts of it that will be in contact with the framing (1" aluminum extrusion) and the water tank.

I then used the horizontal pieces that secured the propane tank to secure this battery. The one next to the fridge stayed put, but the one nearest the water tank was lifted up, flipped over, and then squished down onto the top of the battery. A simple 1" cam strap, wrapped around the vertical and horizontal members holds it firmly in place.

Battery Capacity Increase by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I foolishly thought I had run out of 4gauge connectors, as I couldn't find them in my supplies in the garage, so I ordered a couple more online. I then remembered that I bet I stashed a few away in my Electrical bag, which is stashed behind the passenger seat on the floor.

I found just as many as I needed (5) to get the third battery installed.

I needed to make (1) positive wire to run from the second battery to the third battery, as the original battery is the 'out' for all of the positives (as these batteries are wired in parallel). I then needed to make (1) negative to run from the second to the third battery. I also needed to make (1) negative/ground extension from the third battery back to the frame. When I added the second battery I had to add a coupler to the negative that runs down to the frame, as the original wire was too short. I simply undid that wire and added this longer wire so it reached all the way to the new battery.

With all of that done, and the wiring secured to the framing, and the terminals covered up, I reengaged the breaker and plugged the solar back in and voila!

Battery Capacity Increase by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

And the finished install.

Battery Capacity Increase by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

It feels nice to have that additional capacity, which now seems like quite a lot for a small truck camper, I will admit. My solar system is woefully undersized now, but that is just how it is.

On a separate note, the (3) Govee temp sensors have been working well so far.

Here is a screenshot I took after the truck climbed ~3,000 ft on our 1.75 hour long drive down to Phoenix on Friday.

At this point in time it was 72 degrees F outside, and the alternator was pushing 25a to the batteries in the camper.

Battery Capacity Increase by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

This was not indicative of the entire drive, just the hardest part. Temps were far more reasonable the rest of the time.

My observations thus far:

- When the engine is working hard, and it's guzzling fuel (such as large, long climbs) the temperature picks up significantly, as seen in the photo above.
- When the engine isn't working very hard, but you are moving along at any speed above even 15 mph, a few things happen:
- The alternator sits right around 120F.
- The battery will sit just 3-4 degrees higher than the ambient air temp.
- The engine bay air temp is ~20 degrees above the outside air temp.
- When you come to a stop the engine bay temperature slow rises. I have not observed this scenario enough to offer more insight at this time.

I will continue with this for a while to continue learning what I can. Unfortunately summer is over, so I can't see the temp values when it is cooking outside, but oh well. I will compare a smaller timeframe, as I am mainly concerned with how the system performs when I make the switch.

Thanks for reading.

 

@MR E30
Made a thread to help folks start an Energy Audit to figure daily use, for battery sizing decisions etc. With some basic best and worst case usages.

You input on any devices you use, and actual 24hr or daily Wh, would be helpful if you wanted. These are just rough engineering parameter calcs, but your long term actual experience would be a great sanity check too. Slap a link here and hopefully get some more eyeballs on your FANTASTIC experience and thread... I find huge value in your posts, I know others would love it.
Thx, Dave

https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/power-required-truck-car-camping.246589/post-3197156

 

Dave,

This is a great idea and resource! Thank you for the invite.

After Thanksgiving is over I will sit down and add to the discussion.

 

Folks, Michael / @MR E30 , made a great energy usage post over on a thread I made. However, it totally fits all his posts here, the new battery and electric system upgrades we've read about... I'm gonna copy and paste his info here, he should for sure get credit and double duty from all this typing, in his own thread!

From Michael:
I will share my experiences with my battery setups over the past 16 months. Not as many detailed numbers as you, but it should still be valuable.

For background: (2) full-time workers living in a DCLB Tacoma. Solar is our primary energy source, and has supplied ~97% of all of our energy since we set out.

Our use involves (items added over time): Charging (2) laptops (1 requires being plugged in all day) (3ah each), a 12v 47l ARB fridge set to 37 degrees F (1ah), diesel heater (2ah), 1800w induction cooktop (varies), Starlink powered via SL 120v AC Router (3.5ah), 3.5 gpm water pump (inconsequential), various USB charge ports, and LED lights.

Setup 1: Initial setup (was not expecting full-time energy use when originally designing system), used for late summer and fall of 2023

- 100ah LifePO4 and 200w solar on wedge roof
- Was running a 1000w Renogy inverter (went through two of them, both broke, would not recommend) for AC devices
- SL could only be run when it was needed
- No concerns running LED lights
- No concerns running water pump
- No concerns charging phones/tablet
- Fridge was always on, and draws ~1ah on average
- 12v electric blanket used sparingly at night
- No diesel heater or induction cooktop at this time
- Would require idling the truck every two days for 1 hr. during the 4 day work week. Truck uses .33 gph of fuel at idle, and delivered 50a each hour via Renogy 50a DCDCMPPT Charge Controller
- Battery down to as low as ~25% first thing in the morning, all devices, except for fridge, powered off at night. Depended on how long SL had to stay on after dark to finish work.
- Setup could not handle any cloudy days.
- A lot of 'range anxiety' with this setup.

My takeaways from Setup 1: This setup can be very useful for most, and supply you with all that you need, especially if your travel involves a lot of driving (i.e. daily), or if you have a very low energy demand. During our three day weekends (no laptops and short term SL use) we had no issues, battery up to 100% early in the day, etc. This setup simply did not work during the work week, and I did not want to have to worry about how much charge the battery had throughout the day.

Setup 2: Upgraded setup, used for most all of 2024

- 200ah LifePO4 and 400w solar on wedge roof.
- Upgraded to 2000w Sunthysis inverter.
- SL powered on 24/7 - it uses ~3.5 amps per hour
- Small devices caused no concern
- Fridge still at 37F
- No more electric blanket
- 12v diesel heater used in the early morning hours, sometimes ~8 hours per day
- Still no induction cooktop at this time
- Batteries down to ~80% overall charge each morning. Marked improvement over Setup 1 due to the additional 200w of solar on the wedge roof. In spring batteries hit full at ~1 pm. in summer batteries completely full as early as 11 am.
- Setup could handle 2-2.5 fully cloudy days
- Sparing use of truck engine at idle to charge batteries (once per month I'd say). If I knew we had driving to do I would allow the batteries to drain down to ~30% or so at night, but I would not do this if I knew we had another day or two of work before driving somewhere.
- Very little 'range anxiety' with this setup. Not having to power down SL at night was a huge bonus.

My takeaway from Setup 2: This setup can handle quite a lot of pickup truck campers lifestyles. I can easily charge any number of USB devices, very rarely did I worry about overall system charge level, it was really nice. This certainly is not enough for a larger vehicle, as AC for example would toast this system very quickly, but the way we used it it was great.

Setup 3: More Upgraded setup, Fall 2024, though still in process of understanding system

- 300ah of house batteries and 135ah of backup battery, still 400w solar on wedge roof (max that will fit).
- All the same as before with inclusion of 1800w induction cooktop.
- Absolutely no energy concerns whatsoever.
- System at ~90% charge each morning.
- Setup could likely go 5 days without any solar input, but even on fully cloudy days I will still grab ~40ah over the course of the day.

My takeaway from Setup 3: This is likely overkill, but I love not having to worry about my electrical system at all. I will go all week without checking charge levels once. I have had issues with old LifePO4 batteries, and with my intended adventuring style, I want some redundancy, hence the 300ah (if a Renogy battery BMS goes bad, the CC will not charge it or pull energy from it, basically deleting it from the system) and backup 135ah. At this point in time the induction cooktop has not been a problem, though the wife and I aren't massive cooktop users.

-------------
Hope this is ok with you Michael!

 

Update time:

My brothers house is going on the market soon, so we are here in Phx for the winter as I have renovated his house a bit these past couple of weeks.

While we are here I am using this last opportunity at our 'home base' to make some changes to the truck. Some mandatory, some simply preferred.

Let's start with my engine bay temp research:

I will start by saying that I still do not have enough extreme use case scenarios to see what the under the hood situation can really become, but it all seems promising as of now.

Here are a few screenshots, with my crude outdoor temps noted:

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

They all relay about the same info. The alternator is the hottest thing (it killed the batteries in the one Govee sensor already, apparently they are supposed to last two years. The other two are still at full charge), but never too hot, while the engine bay temp sits right around 105-110, with the battery temp being anywhere from 5 degrees above ambient to 20 degrees above ambient. These are all from earlier in November, but I check the temps every time I drive the truck, I just stopped screenshotting them. In order to do this right I need to start taking more detailed notes and putting that info into a spreadsheet so I can analyze trends. I will start that the next time I drive with a little notebook and pencil.

Here is a cold morning temp check. The truck had not been driven at all, and you can see that the temps just about even out:

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I left the Dakota outside on a night that it hit 18 degrees, meaning the battery dropped below 32 degrees and its internal heater kicked on.

It used 5% of its capacity overnight to stay warm, which isn't too bad IMO. I was a bit worried it might eat up more than that.

For now the Dakota is still sitting on a shelf in the garage. I still don't know when I will install it at this point in time.

After a bit of a delay, this cooktop arrived:

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

It is a very nice looking and feeling piece of tech. I have been cooking on it almost exclusively now since just after Thanksgiving. I am quickly beginning to really enjoy induction cooking. I am taking note of how long it takes to do things such as boiling our water in the morning, making a pot of rice, heating up lunch, etc. The truck had no problem running the cooktop, and I didn't worry about how much electricity it was using, as it isn't that much so far. ~20 amps a day was what I was seeing. Which is less than 10% of our current capacity.

I will continue to pay attention to its effects on the batteries as time goes on.

A bit out of order chronologically, but I just finished up the design of the custom holder/table/tray that I am having manufactured for this new cooktop.

I originally thought about trying to mount it in a fashion similar to how I mounted the two previous propane stoves, i.e. using the stove/cooktop itself as the support.

After an initial inspection of the induction cooktop, while it is capable of being disassembled easily, I decided against using its 'frame' as the support for mounting it to the rear door.

Instead I drew up (3) templates in AutoCAD and uploaded them to sendcutsend.com to have them manufactured.

Here are the three components sitting in AutoCAD:

CAD by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

All components will be out of .1" 5052 aluminum, as this material is capable of being modified by sendcutsend in the ways that I need it. They offer a wide variety of materials, but not all materials can be bent, and not all materials can be all sizes. 5052 aluminum is their most popular material.

At the top you have the sliding bracket that supports the tray when opened. It is a simple piece of aluminum with (1) hole (sized for an M8 bolt) at each end.

Below that you have the tray itself, the component that the cooktop will sit inside of and atop of. The (5) square/rectangular holes are for the fans on the cooktop, and for the electrical cord. The dashed lines are a sendcutsend thing, which represent where I want the piece bent. The tray is lower in the front, as I have the aluminum following the same angle as the cooktop itself. The cooking surface is flat, but the control panel is angled downward slightly, so the front of the cooktop is lower than the back, hence that angle. I have the edge of the aluminum ~1/8" lower than the cooktop itself.

You draw everything in 2D, to scale, with the dashed lines inserted where you want the piece bent. You then load the .dwg or .dxf file (they make it seem like you need a .dxf file to upload to their site, but a .dwg file also works fine) onto their website (after making an account, as they save all of your files for you as well), and then you go through the process of selecting a material, adding bends, adding finishes, and then adding it to your cart.

It is all remarkably easy and very efficient. After seeing the component in 3D on their site, I would go back and edit the original file to fix/correct a problem (their software will highlight manufacturing issues/impossibilities for you right as you are working on the part, very handy), reupload it, and once again edit it in their software.

The final piece, on the right, is the component that attaches the tray to the rear door (while typing this I realized I didn't need (2) of the exact same thing, but rather a pair of mirrored brackets! Getting (2) identical pieces would not have worked, so bear that in mind in the Cart screenshot below, I now have (4) different items on sendcutsend). This piece has an upper and lower mounting hole for the rear door, and then a lower hole for the 'fixed' tray mount, and then a slotted hole for the sliding mount that the sliding bracket moves through from the closed to the open position. It also has a cutout for the bolt head that is mounted to the sliding bracket on the tray itself. The sliding bracket will live in between the tray and the door support, so I had to make room for that bolt head in the support piece for when the stove is closed. The dashed line again represents the lone bend in this piece.

Do all of that and there it is.

sendcutsend by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

We are going to be gone for the holidays, so I will order this after Xmas. A preliminary check of the total price came out to ~$150 shipped to my door, which is not bad at all IMO.

Bed situation:

We had another Exped issue, same as the first. Almost two years after receiving our first warranty replacement, we had another bubble form due to the separation of the outer skin from the inner foam. This happened in early November, and we slept on the mat for the remainder of that month. It lasted just about two years, hundreds of nights of sleep for the two of us, but again it couldn't last long enough for us to take it on our world journey.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

To Exped's credit, they are incredibly easy to work with in regards to their warranty process. Everything is online, and all they need are (2) pictures. One is a picture of your particular issue (the bubble) and the other is an RA number, applied to the mat in a particular location (so you can't claim multiple replacements for the same failed mat), and that's it. (3) emails total and I had a new replacement at my door just (7) days after I filled out the original form online.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The best part is that they don't demand that you destroy or throw away the failed mattress. In fact, they ask you to upcycle/reuse it in some way. The mattress is still usable when out in the open, as you can simply put your feet in the bubbled area. We couldn't do this because the valves are also down there, and being in the camper makes it very difficult to fill the mattress from the pivot side of the wedge. But it will be a good backup for one of the sheds for when family visits.

With the air mattress not being up to snuff, it was time to change brands and styles.

We ended up going with the Hest Dual Long, the only other real option it seems. Even with a Black Friday code it was still just over $500 to the door. Hopefully it is worth all of that money!

Arrived wrapped up tight

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Deployed in the camper. This mattress is .5" longer and 4" more narrow than the Exped. It's thickness is roughly the same. With the mattress shoved all the way towards the front of the truck there are a few inches of sleeping platform exposed. I use this bit to support my knee as I climb up and into bed. The separation in the middle, where the mattress folds in half, is not noticeable as you lay on it. Stacy was worried about that, as she frequently snuggles up on my side at night. Haha

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The tent now closes a bit easier than with the Exped. The sleeping platform in the camper is actually just 52" wide, so the 54" wide Exped would cause the tent fabric to get pushed into the struts when you were closing it. This problem is gone now. We can still pack in just as much as before, which is great, as I was worried that we would be unable to do that since the Hest can't have the 'air' let out of it. But alas, the worries were for nothing.

Another change I made involved the SwitchPro control panel, and where it was mounted. I realized that it was way more important to be able to quickly turn on all of the lights from the bed, at night, than for it to be convenient to access during the day. Too many late night visits by people (even on private property) had me rethinking about where it was mounted.

So I moved it from the toiletries panel to just in front of the bed platform. I ran the cable through the perimeter channel and had it come out under the Velcro cover. The connector to the control panel is just too large, and I would have had to drill a hole that was way too big in the channel to get it to fit.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Easily reachable from my side of the bed, and much faster to turn the lights on relative to accessing the SwitchPro app on my phone.

One other small change I made was with the third battery and its 'mount'. I originally had a strap in there, but it wasn't going to work with my next upgrade/change, so I swapped to using (2) of the aluminum extrusion connector pieces to hold it in place.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

You can see the (2) small pieces on the top and side of the battery. With the water tank behind, and that horizontal bar above, these (2) pieces were all that were needed to hold it very secure. No more strap!

I had to scoot the battery back against the water tank so that I could move the air compressor from the PCC down to a more robust, and unused, area.

You see, the original 26 gauge sheet metal I used to build the first iteration of the PCC was not up to the task of holding the admittedly heavier-than-I-remember air compressor as we bounced along. In the photo below you can see where it had completely torn the sheet metal itself. This was only after ~22,000 miles.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

So, I pulled the compressor off of the PCC and moved it to a piece of 16 gauge sheet metal mounted down in the cubby recently vacated by the propane tank.

Testing out fitment with the battery, compressor, and inverter.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Fabbing up the bracket. I have to say, the 16 gauge is heavy, but it is far more pleasant to work on/with relative to the flimsy 26 gauge. If weight wasn't such a concern I would gladly go 16 gauge for everything.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Getting there

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Mounted up

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

A tight squeeze, but it still functions normally. It is now very secure, and tucked out of the way, while still being accessible and usable by me (thank goodness for long arms, haha).

Seeing the state that the original PCC panel was in, I knew I needed to replace it. It was simply too torn, and I had mounted a variety of things to it over the years leaving it poked full with too many holes.

Not too dusty back there

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

This gave me the opportunity to rework the panel, relocate a few things, add a bus bar or two, and to change the panel from 26 gauge to 22 gauge sheet metal.

It all came out well, though I may have placed the bus bars in less than ideal locations. Working the larger wiring was a bit less beautiful than I envisioned, but oh well. It is done.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I am not very smart, so this time I added a circuit breaker for the solar input. You see, the Renogy Charge Controller is only a 50A charger, which I took to mean 25A from the alternator, and 25A from solar.

But this is not the case. The alternator, or solar charging, is only limited to 25A when it detects the other input as well. It is a full 50A charger when there is no solar input. But even with .1a coming through the solar input, it cuts the alternator input down to 25A. I can't believe I didn't know this.

Anyways, adding that circuit breaker makes it very easy to remove any solar input, in case I need to use the alternator to charge the battery bank, I can get a full 50A out of the alternator, instead of just 25A plus whatever solar may be trickling in. D'oh!

I reoriented the inverter so that we can use all three of its outputs more easily, though I still added the small surge protector as well. I also placed the USB charging block in an area that is easer for us both to reach, as before it was too much of a stretch in a lot of cases, to use from outside of the truck. I retained the air quality monitor, despite no longer using propane, to keep us safe from any potential diesel heater issues.

The leftover space on the PCC V2 will be for a Starlink 12V power supply, and potentially for a Victron Smart Charger (for shore power connectivity) and Victron Smart Shunt, though the charger may also go down in the cubby by the air compressor. The same company that made our flat mount for our dish finally came out with a Starlink NOAC device, which steps up the 12v to 52v (everything I read online a year ago was talking about stepping up to just 48v, which was wrong) and delivers POE in one device.

I made the decision to swap back to 12v power for the dish for a few reasons. One being the use of our inverter for the cooktop. I went back and forth about stepping up to a 3kw inverter, or buying a second 2kw inverter (one for the cooktop only, one for everything else) and mounting it in the cubby next to the air compressor.

In the end, going 12v for SL and a single inverter is what happened. Let's see how it plays out.

One final thing I did was the procurement of a better set of bearings for my lower front shock mount.

The boring old COM10T bearings get way too loud and creaky after getting wet just once or twice, even after just a few thousand miles. The front end sounds like an old man complaining about hip problems, creaking and groaning! I was never satisfied with them.

These FKSSX10T-F1 bearings are as good as they come. SS for stainless steel, and F1 for the tightest fit possible. They aren't cheap ($30/each to the door), but I will buy a few backup sets before we leave the US if they are quieter than the simple COM10T bearings I have been using. I will get them installed after Xmas.

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

12/24 Truck Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

turbodb was the source of info for these bearings.

I still have more upgrades to do to the truck before we leave Phoenix, but I will post about those as I do them.

I know this thread has re-transitioned back to just working on this truck, but I promise the adventure is coming soon. We are right on track with our financial goals, and 2025 is 100% the big year. Thank you for sticking around through this part of our journey.

Until next time.

 

@MR E30
Wow, what a trove of engineering goodness! A real eye opener for me to read how you can get stuff fabbed up... I need to learn Autocad.
Very cool bracket, can't wait to see it!

I have the Hest too, I like it a lot. If you dont have this yet, this mattress underlayment keeps moisture from condensing underneath in the overhang when cold. Den-dry.com, currently sold out. But decent. At 2:18 on this video I made:
https://youtu.be/ineRXSKxID0?si=i8sP9ZcF2LcE-SE4

Great to hear you're getting induction skilled, I also am using it more and more, but pretty much all inside house while testing it with KillAWatt meter.

Smart move on the 50A dcdc CB fix.
What a great post for the tech-oriented! Thanks!

 

I ended the last post with (2) photos of these more precise bearings for my front suspension, and I thought it was going to be like any other piece of maintenance on the truck, but I was definitely off the mark with the idea of future simplicity!

But first, a few recent upgrades:

I was able to visit a local camera store and actually put my hands on my next camera, though I am not in a position to purchase it at this time. The Nikon Z8, a mirrorless camera, and significant upgrade from my D500, was simply marvelous. The autofocus was immediate and accurate. A bevy of other subtle changes exist between the two cameras, but suffice to say, I am eagerly awaiting the day when I can walk back into the store and make it my own.

Z8 with 180-600 and my D500 with 200-500

Z8 vs D500 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Next up was to fabricate the two new pouches that are to occupy the now vacant corner where the Dickinson LPG Fireplace used to reside. We have had almost just as many pouches as we actually need, so with the inclusion of these new pouches we will be set, with a little room to grow, as our travels continue.

Despite the time between my last creation and this one, I still remembered how to best get it done.

Winter Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

A few hours later and they were installed. The upper pouches are high, but we have desired pouch access while up in bed, so these will be used when we are up there.

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I next took to replacing the now sagging elastic straps of the kitchen panel on our backdoor.

Sorry state:

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Time and heat (I am assuming) took their toll on the once tight straps. Now, they barely hold the utensils in place.

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

This time I went with two layers of strap for each location, and I made them a bit tighter. The slight waves in the elastic are because I don't have all of the mounting holes in a straight line.

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I think my original install was too loose, as I had this idea that I wanted one handed retrieval and replacement of the utensils to be top priority, but as I have used this over time I realized that that isn't as important as I once thought. Using two hands in the kitchen is almost always achievable, so I'd rather not open the back door to utensils spilled about!

Reinstalled. Upgraded the small knife to a Wusthof to match the big one.

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Not shown, but I added a small piece of aluminum bar into the spoon/fork/knife pouch to keep it from sagging and 'closing' itself. Much better.

Sendcutsend received my design a while ago. An hour later I received an email stating the it was in the queue for production, with an anticipated completion date of 5 days.

5 days later I received another email (I also signed up to receive text message updates too) stating that my cooktop tray had been fabricated and that it was on its way to me. It is to arrive tomorrow, and I am excited to see it and feel it. In total it ended up costing $166.40 to have this custom set of pieces cut, bent, and then shipped to me. Seems pretty fair in my opinion.

In preparation of the trays arrival, I had one task to complete.

I needed to decrease the height of the nut/bolt combo on the interior of the rear door (from the spare tire carrier) as the original nut sticks out too far from the rear door, and would prevent the cooktop from closing all of the way.

Too tall

Winter Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I found this M12x1.75 Jam Nut at a local Ace Hardware. I originally called this a 'thin' nut, but a jam nut is the appropriate term it seems.

Much thinner

Winter Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Installed and the excess bolt was cut off.

Winter Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Now the tray will be able to fold closed without issue.

The Shurflo Accumulator arrived in the mail. This will be a part of the water system upgrade, soon to come.

Winter Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I had a discussion with @Roadkill69 a while ago about finding ways to silence the clicking from the diesel heater fuel pump. I originally was able to come up with nothing, but then he mentioned enclosing the pump in a hard case, and this was the catalyst I needed to figure this out.

I took some quick measurement and went online and ordered a Pelican M60 Micro Case. It arrived, and it was comically too large.

Winter Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I readjusted my search, using the dimension of the M60 case as a reference, and settled on the Pelican M40 Micro Case instead.

Much better:

Winter Upgrades by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The idea with this will be to fill this case with the trusty sound/heat insulating pads that I have used elsewhere in this build. I'll leave a recess for the fuel pump, but I'll cover all of the internal sides and fill it with as much padding as possible. I am hoping this will decrease the noise sufficiently enough that the fuel pump is inaudible while up in bed. It is not loud by any means, but having it fully silenced will be nice. I will have to modify the short sides of the case for the fuel hose, but nothing a little Dremel action can't handle. I will get to this upgrade in the coming weeks.

Alright, so on to the main crux of my recent truck work.

I was hearing some creaking/groaning in my front suspension for quite some time. I originally attributed it to the poor quality of the standard COM10T bearing used in the lower coilover mount, hence the upgraded version discussed above.

I went to Ace again and gathered the supplies to build a bearing press for this bearing, as I am sure I will have to replace these again on the road, and I want to be able to do it wherever I happen to be.

Stacy and I head out to the garage (can't pass up a good learning opportunity) and I get to disassembling the front end to swap these bearings.

I thought it was going to be just the bearings, and that this wouldn't take long, but that wasn't the case.

I get the lower front shock bolt undone, but I am having a hard time freeing it from the LCA. An encourager and an extension are used to beat it free.

As it pops out the back I basically see the bearing and misalignment spacers fall apart, with small chunks of metal falling to the ground too. Uh oh.

The COM10T bearing is trashed, and had a lot of play in it. This was definitely the cause of the creaking and groaning. What I couldn't figure out what was why everything else in there was so trashed. The misalignment spacers were only ~10,000 miles old, and certainly should last longer than this.

As I retrieve the bolt I see that not only is it slightly bent, but it is also severely beaten.

This is the detritus that fell out:

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Perplexed, I just so happened to have recently talked with @Maxx who had come over to pick up some stuff that I was getting rid of.

He casually mentioned that the lower front shock bolt is too blame, and linked me to this thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-infamous-click-up-front…going-down.800581/

After reading I instantly knew why I had found what I found on my truck.

The slight reduction in the shank of the OEM Tacoma bolt, in the area where the misalignment spacers are in contact with the bolt, allows the spacers to move ever so slightly, as there is an imbalance in that little system. If the spacer/bolt system was infinitely rigid (hint: it's not) this wouldn't be a problem. However, over time, this subtle movement does its damage, and it only gets worse as the system allows for greater and greater movement. With all new parts, even with just my fingers, I could feel play between the bolt and the spacers. Not good.

The solution? There are two of them: Aftermarket bolts from Belmetric.com, or 5th Gen 4Runner lower front coilover bolts.

I originally ordered a set from Belmetric, but they will not arrive in time, as I need the truck this Friday. The PN's for these bolts are in the first page of the thread linked above.

Seeing that they would not arrive in time I went about procuring the 5th Gen 4Runner bolts instead, from a local dealership. Unfortunately, only a distant dealership had them, so it was time to hop on the 1250GSA to go get them!

Those acquired, I also needed new misalignment spacers. Ordering from Radflo is best, but they would not have arrived in time. So I went down to SDHQ in southern Phoenix to see what they had.

They didn't have Radflo specific, but they did have Icon specific spacers, though the front spacer was .06" taller than my Radflo spacer. Being in a pinch I snagged em (~$50 for (2) pair, ouch), and used a grinder to shave off the excess height.

The old spacer and its missing piece, along with the new:

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Here is the misstep by Toyota when it comes to the OEM Tacoma lower bolt (top). In the photo below you will see the reduction in the shank of the bolt, above the threads.

The 4Runner bolt (bottom and part number), while a bit shorter (still get full thread engagement when installed) does not have this crucial flaw built into it.

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Knowing all of this, I now feel more confident in the future reliability of this part of the truck. It would be my luck, as a guy who is habitually distrustful of the integrity of the front end of many of my vehicles (not sure why), that I can also add this worry to my list of worries. Haha

The final carnage, as the passenger side was also completely trashed:

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Fresh FKSSX10T-F1 bearing installed:

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Installed, and torqued (while on the ground), and then marked with Vibra-tite.

Winter Upgrades V2 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The commotion down there did lead to the front hole in both of the LCA's to have some slight damage/elongation. I am going to keep an eye on this, though I am slightly placated from worry by the fact that the OEM bolts do not fit perfectly inside of the holes in the LCA, like they do within the misalignment spacers (it is an exacting fit in there). I added 10 ft*lb. to the torque of these bolts to give myself a bit of added comfort that this won't be an issue again in the near future.

Tomorrow a variety of items show up at the house, so I look forward to delivering another substantial update next week.

Thanks again for reading.

- Mike

 

Guess I know what I'm doing this weekend...inspecting my lower coilover bolts!

 

I chased down various ways of silencing my diesel heater pump to no avail (I got it to be quiet with insulations/foam/etc but the click still annoyed me). I stumbled upon a guy over in the UK named James who makes some nice pump alternatives (he uses diaphragm pumps with some additional electronics and packages them intoa little Nema enclosure box). It certainly ends up being larger than the stock pump but it's completely silent and can be easily tuned for elevation (knob on the pump that adjusts the fuel metering). I figured I would pass it along in case you are interested. Email him with any questions; he was super helpful.

Some links about what I am talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOVVoKN5sms

https://www.fordtransitusaforum.com/threads/silent-diesel-heater-pump.88110/

 

More updates to share:

Last week a variety of things showed up on the same day.

Let's start with the new, V2, rear tent latches, sold by OK4WD for the reasonable price of just $40.

These are a direct swap, requiring no modifications to latch or tent/camper for their installation. Alu-Cab is very good about having detailed install instructions available for all of their products, but there aren't any for this latch upgrade, though they are not needed in all honesty. It is very straightforward.

Difference between old catch (left) and new catch (right). Same bolting pattern, same thickness, but a wider lip.

Alu-Cab V2 Latches by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Old latch (left, skinny) vs. new latch (right, wider). Main difference I can spot between these (besides the new one looking cooler) is that the new latch appears to be 'rebuildable'. Also, the portion of the latch that interacts with the catch appears more resilient. I personally helped a guy passing through Flagstaff years ago who had had the original skinny latch fail, right where the rod part was flattened on the inside of the latch body. This seems less likely to happen with these V2 latches.

Alu-Cab V2 Latches by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I removed the originals, cleaned up the mounting area, applied Sikaflex to the new latches, and mounted them up.

I originally had the latch as low as it could go on the camper (the two holes are slotted for adjustability) but I found this too tight when clamped. I had no issues with the original latches clamping pressure, so I did my best to mimic that with these new ones. Not sure on the exact measurement that I shifted the latches upwards, but I matched them side to side.

More pleasing to the eye for sure. Still lockable, and I carried over the clips from the original latches, as I don't normally lock the tent closed, though the photos online do not show these tethered clips in the photos.

Alu-Cab V2 Latches by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Quick and painless, despite the nuts being inside of the perimeter channel of the camper, but definitely a nice upgrade.

The GP Factor Positive Pressure Vent (semi-reasonably priced at $99) also arrived. The 1.5" hole saw necessary for its installation just arrived today. The package includes a cover, (4) rivets, and a filtered vent that is to be installed under the cover. The cover is riveted from inside, making a pretty clean install. In the photos below you will see that it is a relatively small addition.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

OK4WD shows the vent installed on the top of the tent, on the back of the truck, as shown below:

Winter Updates V4 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

There are some issues with this placement, as far as I can see, though I am no expert on positive pressure vents, and I can't find much of anything online.

- These function by having air flowing through them, creating high pressure (relative to outside) inside of the camper, so that dust will not enter into the camper, as the high pressure air will be working to escape through any holes that the dust would otherwise migrate through.
- The rear of vehicles is notoriously a low pressure zone.
- That part of the tent/camper is where all of the tent canvas lives when the tent is closed. I'm not super confident that the already barely pressurized air (if it even would work at all) would be able to force enough air in there, through/around the tent canvas, and then into the bottom of the camper (where all of my dust enters) effectively.

With that in mind I decided to ditch the photographed mounting location and instead mount it on the drivers side hatch.

Winter Updates V4 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I can't mount it too high, or it interferes with the awning and the hatch can't open all of the way. I also have to avoid the internal framing of the hatch, hence the mid-height choice for mounting position.

This placement will allow higher pressure air flowing around the front of the truck to be pushed into the vent, which is exposed on the inside directly to the main camper area. Having the opening of the cover facing the front of the truck also helps push air in through the vent.

Water ingress is a possibility, though I haven't driven enough in the rain to remember how much water streams along the side of the camper. I think that the vent itself, mounted ~1/4" above the surface of the hatch (due to its own thickness and the gasket thickness), will prevent any streaming water from getting in through the vent. I think it would have to be splashing into the vent to cause any issues inside.

I haven't installed this yet, so if anyone thinks this mounting position is flawed, please let me know.

The Belmetric lower front coilover hardware showed up, and I tucked it away in our Misc. bag just in case we need it. When I add the limit straps to the front end I will have to swap these in, as the 4Runner bolts aren't long enough to incorporate the limit strap mounting tab as well. Photo included for PN sake.

Alu-Cab V2 Latches by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

My package from Sendcutsend arrived, and I was immediately impressed. They include a piece of candy with every order. Nice touch.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Large pieces come as they are, while smaller components are packed onto pieces of cardboard and secured with a plastic covering.

My measurements worked out (well most of them) and it all fit together. Here it is in the open position.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

And here it is in the closed position.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The slotted hole is too high, but no big deal. The notched section for the tray bolt worked out great.

And the sliding bolt just clears the tray when in the closed position.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Very precise fit for the cooktop itself (front to back). Sendcutsend has an online calculator where you can input your dimensions, bend angle, material, and material thickness, and it will tell you what your clear spacing will be. I had this .1" larger than the stove, and it fits great. Just enough room to install some of that insulative foam for a nice tight fit.

Clearance between the closed mounts and the top of the cooktop. Swapping out that lower nut with a jam nut was definitely necessary. More foam will be installed on the back door to give the cooktop a soft place to bear against when the cooktop tray is in the closed position.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Assembled. How to use the open space to the right of the cooktop will be determined in the near future.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I made a couple of errors, most were of no large inconvenience, though one is more frustrating, mainly because I didn't think of it during the design phase.

The first was that I must have transcribed the dimensions of the door bar incorrectly, as the holes were off by just a bit. I easily drilled new holes, and the bar covers up my mistake, so no worries there. I only had to add one new hole to the backdoor to mount this tray, which I am happy about, as the back door has a few excess holes in it now due to the various stove iterations since I first starting building out the camper.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The second was that I failed to radius the corners of the bend relief cutouts at each corner. Another small inconvenience, but something I will pay more attention to in future designs.

The third was a bit more serious. I checked the fitment of all of the components, on the computer, in the open and closed positions and found no interference. However, I did not check the interference of the tray as it swung through its various angles as you open and close it.

At ~80 degrees from horizontal, the back corners of the tray contact the two lower mounting bolts. Argh. It is ever so slight, and I fixed the issue by grinding away a bit of the tray to create clearance.

The main issue with this is the cooktop itself. It too is in the way of these lower mounting bolts. I think I will solve this by removing the (4) little 'feet' on the bottom of the cooktop. These are used to create some space between the bottom of the cooktop and a countertop, to promote airflow for cooling the cooktop. I don't need this gap, as I have holes in the tray itself for this very purpose.

The legs are ~.3" tall, so I hope that by removing them I will have enough clearance to avoid any interference issues. I haven't officially mounted the cooktop inside of the tray yet, as we are still testing the cooktop out and gathering energy usage data inside.

I forgot to take a mounted picture, but I will get one in the coming days.

The final completed upgrade was also done on this rather busy day.

The Alu-Cab Adjustable Backrest for the Canopy Camper!

First impressions: This thing is beautiful and very easy to use.

This is what your money gets you:

- The backrest itself, which consists of a bamboo platform/backrest, (2) brackets, and a metal frame.
- (2) new struts
- (2) mounting plates
- Hardware kit

This backrest is a direct replacement of the original 'desk' portion of the camper, shown removed, below.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Here it is in backrest/relax mode

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I was originally curious, as the Product Description online has no info in it, about how the ratcheting support system worked. I was wondering if I would have to reach back and over the backrest to pull a strap or something to get the backrest to lay back down again.

Turns out it is way easier than that.

Here you can see the multitude of angle options, and the backrest is engaged in the third from the top position.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

In order to get the backrest to lay flat, you simply grab the top edge and pull the backrest more towards vertical, until it gets to the end of its travel, and then let it back down to the flat position.

The photo shows the bracket fully extended, ready to be lowered.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Very convenient and easy to use.

One let down with this product are these hinges. They are symmetrical above their centerline. This is less than ideal. Also, the holes on one half of the hinge, the half that bolts to the camper frame, are too small, and require you to drill them out.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The other problem with the hinge is that the other half of the hinge, the half mounted to the pivoting backrest, is improperly sized for the small dimensions of the frame members.

They want you to use (4) rivets to install the hinge to the pivoting backrest, but the spacing of the holes relative to the width of the frame member, is so close that you end up drilling through some of the side of the frame to get the rivets to work.

I opted to install M5 nutserts into the frame, and to use just (2) of the (4) holes in each hinge to mount the backrest. This allows me to center the holes in the frame member.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

That aside, I measured, aligned, and drilled everything required to get it mounted. This platform is a bit heavier than the original platform, so they have you install a second strut for raising the platform up and out of the way towards the back of the camper.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

And an 'outside' shot of the backrest deployed in the camper.

Winter Upgrades 3 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

First use impressions?

This thing is going to be very nice to have. Our bed is now a far more comfortable place to be for extended periods of time due to having this large, stable back support available for us to lean on.

It is quick to set up, and quick to get out of the way if I need to hop downstairs for something. The bamboo top is shiny and smooth. When the backrest is not deployed this 'desk' portion acts just as the original piece did, so no issues there. Toss a pillow behind your back and lean away. Voila, comfort! A nice feature to have in this otherwise spartan home on wheels.

I did have to buy some Velcro strapping, as we do hang (8) bags on the underside of this part of the camper. The old platform was carpeted on the bottom, so Velcro would stick to it well enough, though on bumpy roads the bags would fall off of the ceiling down to the bed of the truck. With actual Velcro glued to the underside of the bamboo I doubt these bags will ever fall loose again.

One other project/upgrade was started today, but it will take a while to complete it all of the way. I'll start by showing this rather sorry piece of metal that used to house my water pump. This part of my build has faired far worse than I imagined it would, so upgrading and replacing it is something I am excited to do.

Winter Updates V4 by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

It's time to upgrade the water system, and Sendcutsend will once again be called upon to help out. I have already redesigned this piece of 26 gauge sheet metal in CAD, and uploaded the file to sendcutsend online to have it manufactured in .1" 5056 aluminum, with a few changes.

I'll have more on this as components begin to show up in the mail over the next couple of weeks.

Until next time friends.

 

Fantastic posts. Your ability and usage of autocad and sendcutsend is pretty amazing. It is opening up a lot of ideas for me.

Hey, I am not sure I understand the bolt issue for the front shock bearing. I am replacing my 98 Tacoma front shocks with Bilstein 5100s... are these bolts and spacers an issue for me?

 

Dave,

Thank you. SCS has been great so far. My most recent order said that it would be finished on the 17th of this month, and then shipped. But less than 24 hours after I submitted the file I received a tracking number for its shipment. In the screenshot below you can see the rapidity with which they are getting things done. I also like how their interface online is choke full of information.

The image of the part in question, its material and thickness, and down to the minute logging of each step is pretty cool IMO.

SCS Water Plate by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I'll say, if anyone reading this thread needs a .dwg file put together for something they want to have made by SCS, just reach out to me via PM. If the design is simple enough (like my recent water pump support plate), and you provide enough info (i.e. dimensions, a detailed hand sketch, etc.) I will be happy to create it for you in CAD for free. I can handle more complex designs on a case-by-case basis. Just send me a PM

Dave, I have created a drawing demonstrating what I am talking about in regards to the lower front coilover bolt issue.

I will say, this problem is likely exclusive to those of us running coilovers that have a solid lower bushing (i.e. a COM10T bearing), and is likely not an issue if your lower coilover mount is made of rubber (in the case of OEM). I had a pair of 5100's on my 2016 TRDOR, but I can't recall if it had a solid lower bushing or not.

Alright, for the explanation. This is not a 100% thorough explanation of this phenomena, fyi. The drawing also isn't to scale or anything. It is just a representation.

We have a cutaway (side) view of three bolts below. The (2) on the left represent the faulty OEM 3rd Gen Tacoma bolt, with its reduced shank diameter roughly halfway along the bearings length. The bolt on the right represents the Belmetric/5th Gen 4Runner bolt.

Light blue represents the bolt itself. Green are the misalignment spacers, and red is the COM10T bearing. The white arrows represent the load imparted by the shock. I only showed a downward load, but load will be applied in both directions, but I kept it to one side for simplicity's sake.

The leftmost bolt represents an ideal (i.e. nonrealistic) condition, where the load imparted by the shock is simplified to be directly in the center, as every component (coilover, bearing, misalignment spacer, and bolt) is infinitely rigid (i.e. they will never yield/deform/bend/etc.).

The middle bolt represents a more realistic (but not perfect) way that the load (distributed across the entire bearing) and bolt interact. The important thing to note is that some of the load from the bearing is applied to the bolt in the area where the misalignment spacer and bolt are not in contact. Since these materials are not infinitely hard, they will deform under load (how high that load needs to be I did not determine). This small space caused the issue that I, and others, faced. This small space also allows the spacer to accelerate a bit before its movement is resisted by the bolt. F=ma and all that, so a bit of movement is not a good thing in this case.

The rightmost bolt represents the 'fixed' solution by using the non-OEM Tacoma bolts. These (2) other choices do not have the fatal flaw of the reduction of the shank diameter occurring where the bearing interacts with it. The reduction is moved outside of the bearing/bolt interface, which is a crucial distinction.

CAD Bolts by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Hopefully that all makes sense. If you have any semblance of the same problem that I had, then research and find out what others are swapping in in place of the OEM 1st Gen Tacoma bolt. I personally have not heard/read anything about 1st gen problems.

 

@MR E30 thx for the detailed reply! Yah my shock basemount is rubber, no problem.

Man, I love getting a reply from an engineer lol!

 

Love your stuff. Fellow engineer here, looks like we have similar trials and tribulations with our builds. Glad I'm not the only one! I've been waiting for an excuse to use send cut send but haven't had the right one come up yet. I'm sure it's just a matter of time!

Regarding your lower spherical bearings/bolts, I ended up picking up these bolts from 303 shock services: https://www.303shockservices.com/product-page/toyota-lower-shock-bolt-set. They're a direct drop in, and also not shorter like the 4Runner ones. Just for future reference.

 

Thank you! Yeah, I should have been using them all this time. There is something about a machine cut and bent piece of aluminum/steel that I just cannot replicate in my garage.

Thanks for that link. I saw the 303 website in my research, but I determined that they are selling the Belmetric bolts that I photographed above. For the pair that I got from Belmetric, along with a pair of thick washers, and shipping, I only paid ~$30. So basically the same thing.

 

Yeah I hear ya. Someday I hope to have my own shop with those kinds of capabilities, but I certainly don't today!

Good to know about the Belmetric bolts. I couldn't tell from the images that they were the same, that makes sense though. Also good to know that 303 isn't gouging!

 

I'm very curious what you end up doing w/the positive pressure vent. I've had the exact same thoughts on it and intuition. I have a friend with an ACCC and the same vent mounted where they recommend. I'll see him this weekend and ask what he makes of it. Every other positive pressure vent I have seen either mounts on the side with a scoop, or on the front wall, either way the idea is to get a ram air effect. It sure seems to me that where the GP Factor one mounts would be in a low pressure zone. But I'm not positive pressure vent engineer

 

Reasonably confident that the vent mounted at the rear of the camper top is acting as a condensation vent while the tent is deployed versus a positive pressure vent...

 

Oh really? Weird. A $100 vent instead of cracking a window? They call it a pressure vent so I just assumed... I should have read the rest of the description!