new guy intro

I bought a 2023 TRD Off Road, loaded with everything except roof rack and mud flaps. I was hoping it will be more reliable than domestic full size trucks. At 6,000 miles Toyota dealer changed engine oil, but I later found out he over torqued the cannister so much that it distorted the threads and I had to get a new one. Tranny fluid was low from the factory, but was not checked at first dealer service. Rear pinion gear started to whine at 6,000 miles, Toyota dealer did the cab sound deadening TSB, which made it quieter, but they refused to check gear lash. At about 10,000 miles, I changed everything to synthetic fluids.

I have been reading a lot of threads here to help me decide what to do with it. So far: Lear cab-high camper/topper with 8 AWG wire to fuse block in the topper. Firestone air bags on rear axle at 5 to 10 psi, with 150 lbs sand bags in front of bed, front tire pressure 35 lbs, rear 30 lbs, to dramatically improve the ride when loaded and unloaded. Cali Raised catalytic converter anti-theft shields, heavily modified with extra steel welded on and steel cable clamped on to reduce theft risk. LED lights in cab and for back up lights. Air cushion to make that stupidly uncomfortable front seat comfortable. I pulled the fuse for the stock bed lights to avoid accidently turning them on and draining the battery. I signed up to prevent Toyota from selling my private information. I added sound deadening material under the back seat and up the rear wall. Lots of tire/road noise coming from air vents in back wall, so I covered them up with sound deadening material, truck is relatively quiet now. I did a lot of work to seal and waterproof around cab antenna, cab rear light, and bed. I am in the process of figuring out the fuse and relay boxes.

I am setting this truck up strictly as a "bug out" vehicle. I am 70 years old and have been camping, off-roading, and dirt bikes since I was a kid. I now have too many aches and pains for any of that any more, have no intention to ever do any of those things again. Since my wife has a car which I use all the time, I will probably put only a few thousand miles per year on this truck. I have put minimal camping gear in 5 gallon buckets, stored in my garage, so that in case of emergency evacuation I can load up and leave fairly quickly.

That leads me to my current question. I have been reading lots of threads about the smart alternator and different methods to charge an auxiliary battery, including about guys who added an additional dc to ac inverter. I bought a 24F Walmart Everstart AGM battery as back up, and if necessary, replace stock battery. I have a 10 year old 750 watt, modified sine wave dc to ac inverter and new 2 amp NOCO (Amazon) battery charger. Can I use these to charge the auxiliary battery in the bed, without problems of undercharging from the smart alternator? I will start a new thread with this question.

 

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