Another Around the World Tacoma

Tall skinnies on STOCK wheels. My guy <3

 

No other way to go IMO. I love the look.

 

Totally agree. The Pro and Trail wheels are sick but I think the standard OR set will become timeless.

 

A few small updates. Just 29 days to go now!

I finally started to have some rattling from the Alu-Cab table that I installed under my overhang. I noticed this change at the same time that I noticed the legs not quite pressing in to one another, when you close them, in the same way they did when it was new.

I started by keeping the legs closed, flipping the table over, and tracing out where the legs rest against/near the underside of the table.

More Updates by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

To solve the rattling I added ~1/16" thick sound deadening/heat transfer preventing foam (very light, not heavy like dynamat) to where the legs rest, when closed, against/near the underside of the table. It has adhesive on the backside, so you simply stick it to the underside of the table.

The rattling is 100% gone, and it's presence has no impact on how the table closes or slides into the table slide. It is relatively (almost completely) unnoticeable as well.

More Updates by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

It was also time to complete a task that I have had on my list for over 1.5 years now. Mounting my blender to the truck. I have simply been storing it in one of the side cubbies, and pulling it out when I need it. But I want it mounted, though I could never figure out quite how to do it.

Until Stacy mentioned magnets, just like the kettle. Ding, ding, ding. I thought I was going to have to buy a new blender or find some way to clamp it down.

Nope, just magnets.

First step, glue down a piece of 24 gauge metal to where I want the blender to go.

Trace, cut, glue, and it's done. It is just smaller than the base of the blender, so it's invisible when the blender is installed.

More Updates by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Next was to magnetize the base of the blender.

The base of the blender is even slightly recessed. Basically the exact same thickness as the cylindrical magnets that I had in a drawer.

Grab the magnets, some plastic and metal JB weld, and get to gluing.

More Updates by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I didn't know how many magnets I would need, so I used all of them.

It's not pretty, but it is to remain unseen, and this stuff smears too easily, so it is what it is.

More Updates by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

After letting it cure I tested it. I wasn't sure it would hold as we bumped down the road, but testing it on a vertical panel removed all of those doubts immediately.

More Updates by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Time to finally check that off of the list.

I have been diving deep into sophisticated internet connectivity, so Stacy and I made the decision to upgrade our internet setup to also include cellular data (4G/LTE/5G) to supplement the Starlink.

This requires a new router, a much fancier, and unfortunately, more expensive one. We found one and purchased it, after researching what other truck travelers are using. We went with a Mofi 5500 EM9191 5G, single SIM, router. We will be purchasing a T-Mobile SIM subscription, with unlimited data, to utilize the routers cellular functions.

You may be asking "You guys say you are going to be off-grid, so why are you trying to incorporate cellular into your setup? My cell phone barely has reception, and frequently has no reception when I leave the pavement, especially out west".

And that would be true, if the router had the same reception capabilities as our cell phones. But it doesn't. It turns out, that those 'maps' showing providers cellular coverage are technically accurate, IF you have an antenna that can capture those signals. Unfortunately (or fortunately if you like to escape your phone while out camping), our cell phones and their tiny little ceramic antennas, can't grab that signal.

With that, I will be permanently installing a Proxicast omni-directional antenna up on the roof, on the side opposite the Starlink dish (which is not permanently mounted). This will be hard wired, with their 'Low Loss' coax cable, to a connector on the router itself. This will greatly increase the 'reach' of our SIM card and its cellular data. There are a few folks I found that used this method solely, prior to Starlink, to work remote on the road.

Most of the components have arrived, though I am still waiting on a few to show up. Once they do I will do as clean of an install as I can. This will be the first time I need to penetrate the top/roof of the camper. Thankfully I can do this while still having the penetration outside of the tent fabric, so it isn't technically 'inside' of the tent/camper, if you look at it the right way.

I also learned a lot more about Starlink, and how I can make it even more convenient for our setup (fully mobile internet without their ridiculous $2500 device), but I am not ready to take those steps at this time (cutting up the dish itself), but maybe one day. This is no longer accurate, and will cause some people headaches. Starlink has realized that people are avoiding buying their $2,500 in-motion dish, and simply cutting up the $600 dish, and not paying for priority in-motion data, so Starlink, as of 10/1/2023 will enforce a strict 10 mph limit on dishes in motion before they cut service to you, unless you pay $100 more per month to get the in motion service.

No adventure/practice this weekend, just getting this internet capability added to the truck.

Until next time.

 

@MR E30 great build and story. You have really thought through your build and needs. I’m looking forward to reading and seeing more of your adventures. Congratulations on your relationship.
Could you post some pictures of your final build to date? I would love to see how you fit everything in giving you room to move around.
Thank you

 

Thank you!

Sure, I will get a handful of photos together once we are fully loaded and ready to hit the road.

 

Great! Thank you.

 

The weekend has passed, and the antenna install has been completed.

We are doing a full tilt test this Wednesday-Sunday, with Stacy working remote and all, as we are a mere 25 days away from departure. If only these days would fly by! Time is going by rather slowly IMO.

Alright, anyways. This thing arrived early on Saturday morning.

This is a Mofi 5500 5GXeLTE EM9191 Cellular Router

Antenna Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

It seems to be the go-to for vehicle based adventurers who need quality internet connection.

We opted to upgrade from our initial router, as it does not have cellular capabilities.

You opt for something like this because it can do things such as:

- Aggregate multiple internet sources (cellular and Starlink in our case) through one device, to your connected devices.
- Attach paddle (three pictured above) and external antennas to increase your range. If you go to full-blown directional antennas on a mast, there are very few places in the US that you cannot get cell signal.
- You can turn off the bands/networks that your router does not need to search for (old 3G networks, any band used by providers other than your own, etc.) so that it is more energy efficient, and faster.
- You can log the router itself into a campgrounds or libraries, or fast food joints, Wifi network, and get access to the internet through their service provider, without having to log in your individual devices to that network. Some campgrounds will only allow you so many (sometimes one) connection to their network. With this router all of our devices would be connected to their network through a single portal.
- Aggregate multiple cell bands to provide a better signal than a single band can provide (3 maximum)
- Dictate how much of each service you want to use (say 75% Starlink, because unlimited data, and 25% cellular, because Starlink cuts out sometimes for a moment)
- The ability to make your network completely invisible to everyone (no one walking through the forest and getting a push notification that there are wifi networks nearby) with the ability to create a Guest network if traveling with friends/family.
- Among many other things that are too technical for me to elaborate upon.

I will touch on additional details of this particular router when I discuss the woes of finding an appropriate data plan, below.

The antenna, a Proxicast omni-directional antenna, needed to be mounted.

Up on the top of the tent, to get it as high as possible, was the goal.

Thankfully, the ACCC has wiring ran on the passenger side, for the solar panel wiring, so we simply mimicked that same layout on the drivers side.

After making sure the antenna coax cable was long enough (they stress getting as short a cable as you can, as any extra length, and especially coiling any extra length up, can decrease your signal. 15 feet did the trick for us), we started with the penetration on the roof. This was predicated on the size of the connectors on the end of the cable. On the antenna side the connector, an N Male, is relatively large, at ~3/4" in diameter. We didn't want to drill holes large enough to pass that connector through the aluminum. Thankfully, the other end, the end that goes to the router, is an SMA Male connector, and it is very tiny. This meant we had to start at the antenna side, and run the cable from that position.

2 waterproof bulkhead penetrators were used to run the wire. The first, up here on the roof. We drilled straight down so that the cable has the largest bend radius that it can. They stress no bend tighter than 2.5" in diameter, so we tried our best to meet that requirement.

Antenna Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Absolutely terrible photo, but you can see that the tent fabric is connected to the lid away from the outer edge. This allows us to penetrate the roof, without penetrating into the inside of the tent fabric itself, which I personally like. You can also see one of the M5 nut used to secure the track to the roof, which comes in handy later.

Antenna Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

There are braces in the lid that have tiny holes through them, and I was happy that I could feed the small end of the cable through one of them, the top one, as this meant that I wouldn't have to install any clamps to hold the wire in place. The struts for the lid also occupy this space, and I don't want them to crush/pinch the cable, so securing it appropriately is a must.

I was only able to feed the cable through a single one of those slots, as it seems a piece of aluminum was added further down the lid towards the hinges. No worries, I purchased small 1/4" rubber cable clamps to secure the cable in place. The roof tracks use M5 bolts to hold them to the roof, so I undid the nut and installed the cable clamp to that bolt, alleviating any need to drill extra holes.

To avoid any unsightly cable when opening the lid, we mimicked the solar wiring and ran the wiring down close to the bottom hinge. Here we installed the second bulkhead connector and passed the wire into the inside of the channel that runs around the perimeter of the tent, at bed level. (Cable not secured in this photo, we had to set the length of the cable that protrudes outside, and the antenna mount hadn't arrived at this time.)

Antenna Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I had to use a 90 degree drill bit attachment on the drill, and the bit walked a bit towards the outer edge, but it is still within the rubber gasket of the lid, and doesn't interfere with it, thankfully.

And finally we pass through the channel, through a protective rubber grommet, and into the camper, near the small shelf at the hinges for the bed platform.

Antenna Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Next was to get 12v power to this area. The device runs on 12v DC, so it was as simple as cutting the provided power cable after the transformer block and wiring it straight to the BlueSea fuse block (I would have used the cable from the other router, as they are the same connector, but I didn't make that one quite long enough to reach the center of the shelf).

Finally, we ran an ethernet cable from the routers location, through the channel, to where Stacy's computer will be located, to ensure she has a secure connection to the router while working.

With all of this done, the antenna mount arrived.

It is a simple steel pivoting mount, bolted to the roof track, between the solar panel mounts. We modified it a bit to get as low of a profile as we can. This involved cutting the tube down so it was no taller than the antenna itself, as well as shortening it.

Laid down (travel mode). When laid down, the coax cable is tucked between the antenna and the solar panel, keeping it as 'out of the way' as possible.

Antenna Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Deployed (camping mode with tent closed). I have the mount marked for the appropriate angle for when the tent is opened as well.

Antenna Install by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I added a wing nut in place of the standard nut that the mount came with, so that I can adjust the mount without the use of tools.

Yes, this is a potential tree limb gathering hazard, but it is what it is. These types of antennas are paramount to making the investment in the upgraded router worthwhile. We will just have to be extra careful when driving under droopy trees or through tight trails.

With all of that out of the way, it was time to procure a SIM card.

T-Mobile came out on top based on a few YT videos we came across.

We went to the store, explained our situation and the router that we are using, acquired the SIM card, signed up for the monthly plan ($50/month for unlimited data, with the first 100gb unthrottled), and went on our merry way.

Plugged it in at home, tested it immediately and saw ~100mbps down and ~20 up, with a signal strength (just the paddle antennas, we tested it inside first) of -55 dBm (-50 dBm is the cleanest signal possible fyi) and we were excited. This is plenty usable, more than enough even. We are located in the city, but you know, still excited. (As a comparison, my ATT phone at the exact same location does ~170mbps down and ~25 mbps up as a mobile hotspot with 5G+, with Stacy's Verizon phone having ~150 and ~19 in the same spot. This is not indicative of the quality of the router, just the difference in providers coverage in our very particular area, and I included it for no other reason other than I happen to know it).

I found a YT tutorial for setting up many of the features of the router, so I turned that on and followed along, changing many settings, making the router as fast and efficient as can be.

All of a sudden, things just went bonkers. The signal we were getting was terrible (-110 dBm) and the speed was so slow that we couldn't even run a speed test.

Ah, I must have messed something up when setting up the router, so factory reset. No dice. Still poor signal. Hm.

I spend all day trying to figure this out to no avail. I am not a tech guy, and what happens inside of these boxes is a mystery to me, so I am ill prepared to handle these types of issues. We end up calling T-Mobile, as Mofi customer support was not available on the weekend. We originally wanted to just clarify that everything on their end looked good, so that when we went to Mofi we could tell them we already checked with the provider.

T-Mobile (and ATT and Verizon) representatives are not really familiar with third party routers (important to know if you ever travel this road, repeatedly stress that you have a third party router, and even take it with you into the store), as they want to sell you their mobile hotpots. A mobile hotspot can be good, but they cannot add external antennas, nor aggregate multiple internet sources, so they obviously won't work for us.

After explaining our problems, the setup situation, and being transferred around, we end up speaking with a knowledgeable lady who understands the situation. After an hour we come to learn a pretty simple fact: the plan that we were sold in the store does not work with third party routers. D'oh. This explains all of the connectivity problems. Not the router at all, but T-Mobile instead. Apparently the SIM will give normal connectivity to the network right when it's plugged in (hence the great service after the initial test), but once the network realizes the SIM is not in an approved device it severs the connection. The router can still tell it has signal (albeit very poor and unusable) in one of the interactive menus, but no usable data is being transferred at this point.

She did say that she could swap us to a data plan that would work with a third party router, but it was still $50/month, but only for 50gb of data, and throttled data afterwards (3.5 mbps down and 1 mbps up for those who are curious what 'throttled' means to them. The true terminology should be 'useless' as those speeds are just laughable in todays data heavy society.).

The 100gb was barely enough (probably not enough tbh, but there aren't many options), so we opted to cancel the plan all together.

Time to investigate the other two providers.

The router manufacturer included two inactivate SIM cards with the router when they shipped it to us, one Verizon and one ATT that you can activate through Mofi, on their business account. The prices are as follows: ATT, 750gb of 5G+ data for $150/month or 750gb of 4G/LTE data for $130/month and Verizon, truly unlimited 5G+ for $130/month.

After researching with ATT and Verizon directly (I am not a huge fan of a middle man, I'd prefer to deal directly with the provider myself) I came to learn that there are two sides with each provider. The Personal side and the Business side. The personal side is very restrictive. Roughly ~75 cents to one dollar per gb, with maximum limits of 100-150gb/month. Not ideal.

Mofi can offer much better cost per gb plans because you are actually on their business plan, as an authorized user. But again, you are now beholden to both them and the provider for your internet.

Verizon would not even talk to me, a regular person, about a business plan. They require you to have corporate history, an EIN, etc. to create a business account.

Alright, let's see what ATT says. They have the same terrible personal plans, but it is far easier to get a business account with them. You can be a sole proprietor, with just your SSN to get you access to their much better plans. I learned all of this from an ATT representative on the phone.

Turns out, I can sign up as a business with something as simple as a YT channel (might as well make one, as I will post at least one video, a thorough walkthrough/around of the truck and camper) and my SSN, and get access to truly unlimited 5G+ (all of these include 4G/LTE as well, fyi) data for just $95/month. Turns out Mofi wants to make a bit of money each month by having you sign up through them. Can't blame them, but if I can bypass them, I will. Saving some money is just a bonus really.

So, I will go into the corporate ATT store nearest to me tomorrow to talk with them and see what they can do for me. The guy on the phone assured me there would be no problems (he gave me the specific plan name, and ran the IMEI of the router to verify it is a supported device), but until I have a fully functioning router I won't count my chickens too early.

At the very worst, I can simply call up Mofi and pay a bit more, and potentially deal with an extra hassle or two, to get a sufficient amount of data through them. This is the last option, as the Personal plans are just so neutered that they are basically unusable for us.

In the end, this will be a decent monthly bill for our internet access ($150 for Starlink and $95-130 for ATT), but it has to be done. Stacy has to have adequate, reliable internet to do her job, and thus get paid, so the price is simply the cost of doing business. Double redundancy is worth it to us, to remain as untethered as possible.

Phew, a huge wall of text that is most likely not applicable to anyone, but I figured I would detail it all while it was still fresh. Thanks for reading.

After spending all weekend in this oven, we are looking forward to going to ~8,600 ft for the weekend.

Until next time.

 

Good intel about the router. I'm thinking about something similar at my house in LA. If (actually when) the big earthquake hits, this would be part of the setup for connectivity as we got the hell out Dodge city.

Wing nut: maybe a self-locking ny-lock type wing nut so she doesn't loosen up and depart the truck as you're motoring down the highway?

I have not seen anyone discuss lightning strikes with roof-top campers or antennas on vehicles. Is this a credible threat?

 

I forgot to mention, but there is also a difference between Home and Mobile cellular data. Definitely need the Mobile in my case.

The pivoting portion of the mount is actually secured with two bolts. One is a locked M6 nut and bolt combo on the inner side, tightened very tight with tools. The outer bolt is an M6 bolt with the wingnut. The inner bolt is almost tight enough to secure the antenna on its own, and I use the wingnutted M6 bolt to give it that final tightness to keep it in place.

I have not seen this discussed either. I will look into it.

 

Seems that it falls under the "could possibly happen but not really" category. Roof tents and tall antennas have been around long enough that there would be some data had this happened before. Not saying it can't but your luck would have to be pretty bad for that to happen statistically speaking.

 

But not impossible

 

Feedback from our final practice weekend:

8-10 Practice Weekend by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

We practiced with a full day of work out of the truck, and it was not bad at all. The internet connection was stable, and both of our jobs were done without issue. Stacy was much happier to work in the truck, with the bed pushed up out of the way, and the small access platform lowered to make a standing desk, than she was to work in an office, sitting down all day.

It was rather cloudy the entire weekend, and with Starlink running throughout the work day, the router on 24/7, running fridge, as well as charging laptops, we saw our lowest house battery percentage yet, at 27%. After we finished working, and power demands came down, we finished the weekend at 87% battery, so it was able to recoup itself over time.

If the day is sunny, even if the panels aren't directly at the sun, we pull in about 7 amps an hour from the sun, enough to outpace all of our typical use scenarios, apart from running Starlink and everything else, and the fridge running at the same time. This draws out about 9 amps an hour, but the fridge only runs about 15 minutes every hour (depends on outdoor temp obviously).

We set up camp at a location we pre-tested for service a few weekends ago. We arrived late on Wednesday night, and I had the opportunity to use the LP6's again, and man oh man are they sweet. The forest was packed with trees just so, and the LP6's lit up and scattered light everywhere, as if the sun was out.

That Thursday, we didn't even need Starlink, as our cellular connection did not fail once throughout the day, and provided us with ~25 mbps all day. I tested the router speeds hourly (for the most part) and I didn't see any change until Saturday morning, where the speeds dropped off massively. I theorized (this is not verified in any way) that this was caused by a lot of people using cellular data to GPS roads to trailheads, etc. as it was Saturday morning.

I ran Starlink all day just to see how it went. I experimented with Load-Balancing (having your input and output flow through two channels, i.e. cellular and Starlink, 50/50 (you can set it to whatever you like)) and Failover (set a primary and when it falters the router automatically defaults to your selected secondary source). With where we were the router didn't have to do anything fancy, as the cellular signal was sufficient the entire time.

We moved camp to a site a mile away, closer to the AZT, where we would hike for the day. That's the spot photographed above. This was a good decision, until night time rolled around.

Short story, three young guys showed up in three vehicles (one a minivan, which was impressive), and they proceeded to camp within eyesight of us, and then party into the evening, often very loudly.

It wasn't a disaster, as the wind was blowing steadily through the night, until around midnight, and the rustling Aspen leaves put me to sleep despite the noise. They did keep up loud hooting and hollering until after midnight though, but thankfully I was able to run some white noise off of my phone and drift back to sleep.

Always surprising that people behave this way. I'm all about having a good time outdoors, responsibly, but to camp right next to somebody who is alone and who was there first, knowing that you are going to drink and holler deep into the night is just a level of disrespect that is hard to fathom. Call me old-fashioned, but damn.

Anyways, the rest of the weekend was a success. It felt great to be cold again and to be outside. We practiced just being around camp as well. Stacy reading and drawing and me reading and watching wildlife. It was really nice.

One final note was the effectiveness of the cellular router antenna.

The two vertical bars at the top of the screen, next to the wifi signal, are what my phones antenna picks up. The 5 green bars in the center of the screen are what represent what the rooftop antenna picks up. Both are ATT cellular.

The signal is not always this much better, it is always at least one bar better, usually two, but it was nice to see that paying for and installing the antenna wasn't a waste.

8-10 Practice Weekend by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Not ground-breaking stuff, I know. But nice to present and see nonetheless.

I mentioned this was our last practice weekend. With just two more weekends to go, with one upon us now, we decided to do some things around town for the next two weekends. Just 15 days to go now.

With that, the truck has been emptied of all things that are not bolted down. I am in the process of cleaning the interior of the cab and the camper in preparation for filling it back up with things. We want to organize and move into the truck in one fell swoop, not doubling up on things when we pack.

I will also create a searchable document, with all of the things we load inside. Things will be categorized by the bags/containers they are in, and the location of that bag/container within the truck. This will help if I need to determine if I do in fact have a random item, and that it is stored under the drivers front seat. I tried to remember everything, but even after only a year I am surprised to find things in the truck that I do not remember stashing away. Having a document will be helpful.

With that, there are just so few days left to wait. Time is really creeping by slowly it seems, but I know that is just me.

 

You mentioned a while back and may mentioned of the how or what and I missed it but what is your workout set up? I was thinking a couple rings put in the camper slots and a gymnastic rings kit would work well and not take up space. Just run the straps through the rings on the camper so it's elevated giving you bodywt resistance for many exercises.

 

We have a handful of slings and carabiners, for trees branches and trunks and the like. We have a few D-Rings secured to the exterior of the camper via the tracks built into the extrusions. We have the front bumper and the sliders as mid to low mounting points as well.

We have a set of TRX bands, and two sets of resistance bands, with a supposed capacity of 300 lb.

I have been fine tuning the routine while we camp, but there is still work to do. I have been lifting weights in gyms for 16 years now, and it's a huge part of my life, so switching to bands and bodyweight exercises will take some getting used to.

 

This has always one of my biggest pet peeves. And I deal with it almost every night here. I am amazed at the level of disrespect and common curtesy that exists in the world. I work with "professionals" but at times it feels like I am the odd guy out at a never ending frat party.
Rant over.

I have enjoyed your thread and I look forward to your future adventures.

 

We have entered the single digits; just 9 days to go!

Nothing much going on though. I detailed the inside of the cab and the camper. The exterior will have to wait until mid-October to get some love (it's just too hot outside and this doesn't fit in the garage).

Some things (tools primarily) have been packed into the truck in their permanent location. Surprised to find that a lot of smaller things are able to be stored underneath the two front seats. The sawzall, small impact, battery charger, and (2) batteries all fit under the front drivers seat alone. I also pulled my ARB tire repair kit out of its large orange box, and found that it is actually quite small in its individual pieces. Not sure why I lugged around the items in their orange box for so long, as it's pretty space inefficient.

Stacy bit the bullet and upgraded her alloy Specialized MTB to a carbon Pivot, joining me in sweet-sweet Pivot heaven. I love my Pivot, and we are excited to ride them all over the place.

I have been on a mission to use up consumables that I have collected over the years. So I used some cleaner to clean the engine bay. Not perfect or noteworthy even, but I wanted to add something to the single digits announcement.

22,700 miles of dirt. I had to do a weird camera position due to the shining sun.

Cleaned Engine Bay by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Just a bit better, around one hour later

Cleaned Engine Bay by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I have our first 2 months of road life planned out already. I have the idea of the next 4 months after that, but I have a lot of research to do.

Edit: I also started the searchable document (in Excel), which lists each individual item and the bag it's in (if applicable), and its location in the truck. This takes a while, but should be super helpful in the future.

 

I approve of this clean engine bay...bravo zulu!

 

Just trying to keep up with you my friend!

 

And there's always the 70°F Road Trip v2.0 (2023):

http://us-climate.blogspot.com/2023/05/