RainGoat Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Yeah, it’s the integration of the mattress as a whole single unit which sets it apart from anything over here. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fr8Train Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 8 minutes ago, RainGoat said: Yeah, it’s the integration of the mattress as a whole single unit which sets it apart from anything over here. Yeah my kids love them, they love having their own space camping. We originally had a soft floor camper trailer, that the kids shared with us, they eventually wanted and got swags, and then my wife and I were asking why are we still spending an hour to set up/pack up such a large camper??? So that was when we started looking at getting ourselves something a little "glamping" and we worked our way up to our hybrid offroad caravan, hence the reason for Hoss. And before you yankees ask, this is a soft floor camper: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainGoat Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Ha ha, I’m not going even going to pretend otherwise- fantastic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbro Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Love the truck rim stools,very unique 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fr8Train Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 8 hours ago, mbro said: Love the truck rim stools,very unique Yeah they are a mate of mine's, an old hot rodder around here used to make them, they are pretty sought after around here since he passed, I was lucky enough to get to use them for the Blues Festival where this pic was taken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fr8Train Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 (edited) Started on the dual battery set up, went with a battery box arrangement for universal and flexible operation. The battery will be responsible for fridge duties, auxiliary lighting, and device charging. I got a complete kit that comes with VSR for automatic charging and isolation from main starting battery, but has the bonus of a relay over ride so I can jump start off the secondary battery if need be. Edited April 28, 2021 by Fr8Train Can't spell for s#!t 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R50JR Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 Started on the dual battery set up, went with a battery box arrangement for universal and flexible operation. The battery will be responsible for fridge duties, auxiliary lighting, and device charging. I got a complete kit that comes with VSR for automatic charging and isolation from main starting battery, but has the bonus of a relay over ride so I can jump start off the secondary battery if need be. Very cool. What type/size battery did you go with? I also went with a vsr for my set up. It’s been working great paired with my solar panel. Sent from my Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fr8Train Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 19 minutes ago, R50JR said: Very cool. What type/size battery did you go with? I also went with a vsr for my set up. It’s been working great paired with my solar panel. Sent from my Pathfinder I'm just using my old starting battery, and getting a new bigger capacity starting battery, I have an 80ah AGM but I am reading they don't like being charged on alternators, so I am not sure if I will use that yet, I figured using the old starter battery I can afford for it to be abused a bit while I do more research on hooking up an AGM in my system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R50JR Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 I'm just using my old starting battery, and getting a new bigger capacity starting battery, I have an 80ah AGM but I am reading they don't like being charged on alternators, so I am not sure if I will use that yet, I figured using the old starter battery I can afford for it to be abused a bit while I do more research on hooking up an AGM in my system.I’m not sure I understand. Why wouldn’t an agm battery like being charged with an alternator? A working alternator should put out 14v+. That’s plenty for proper charge on an agm. Sent from my Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainGoat Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 I’m not sure I understand. Why wouldn’t an agm battery like being charged with an alternator? A working alternator should put out 14v+. That’s plenty for proper charge on an agm. Actually, this is a significant issue in 4Runners. Their stick alternator definitely doesn’t fully charge an AGM. Consequently, there are all kinds of gimmicky things you can buy to increase the voltage. I have an Optima 150-40000 Digital 400 12V Performance Maintainer and Battery Charger that I’ve been using on my 3 vehicles& an extra deep cycle house battery I have. My experience is that all the batteries are at ~75% when I plug them in to maintain & condition them about every 1-2mo. Here’s one if those AGM voltage boosters - though there are many more. Somewhere else on NPORA is a thread I started on the topic. IIRC the consensus opinion was that the Pathfinder OEM alternator charges to a higher voltage that the T4R & there was alot of speculation that these were either unnecessary, snake oil, or even damaging. AGM Voltage Boosterhttps://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/216665-voltage-booster-31m-agm-battery.html ArcLight Voltage Booster $55 OEM/+0.5v/+1vhttps://www.arclightleds.com/collection/dual-state-voltage-booster-5th-gen-4runner-fj-cruiser-pg2tb-brs6a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainGoat Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 Interesting battery box. Was that off the shelf or a DIY? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R50JR Posted April 28, 2021 Share Posted April 28, 2021 Actually, this is a significant issue in 4Runners. Their stick alternator definitely doesn’t fully charge an AGM. Consequently, there are all kinds of gimmicky things you can buy to increase the voltage. I have an Optima 150-40000 Digital 400 12V Performance Maintainer and Battery Charger that I’ve been using on my 3 vehicles& an extra deep cycle house battery I have. My experience is that all the batteries are at ~75% when I plug them in to maintain & condition them about every 1-2mo. Here’s one if those AGM voltage boosters - though there are many more. Somewhere else on NPORA is a thread I started on the topic. IIRC the consensus opinion was that the Pathfinder OEM alternator charges to a higher voltage that the T4R & there was alot of speculation that these were either unnecessary, snake oil, or even damaging. AGM Voltage Boosterhttps://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/216665-voltage-booster-31m-agm-battery.html ArcLight Voltage Booster $55 OEM/+0.5v/+1vhttps://www.arclightleds.com/collection/dual-state-voltage-booster-5th-gen-4runner-fj-cruiser-pg2tb-brs6a Didn’t realize hoss was actually a 4runner in disguise. Sent from my Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fr8Train Posted April 29, 2021 Author Share Posted April 29, 2021 On 4/28/2021 at 11:11 PM, R50JR said: I’m not sure I understand. Why wouldn’t an agm battery like being charged with an alternator? A working alternator should put out 14v+. That’s plenty for proper charge on an agm. Sent from my Pathfinder Like I said, it is what I have been reading, and like all research on the interwebs it takes some time trawling through the BS and factual information. Like I said I will just be running the old start battery while work out any kinks etc... and be confident I am not going to ruin a new AGM battery. On 4/29/2021 at 1:38 AM, RainGoat said: Interesting battery box. Was that off the shelf or a DIY? Off the shelf unit, one of our camping stores had them on sale cheaper than I could get all the components and make one for. On 4/29/2021 at 4:46 AM, R50JR said: Didn’t realize hoss was actually a 4runner in disguise. Sent from my Pathfinder No Hoss isn't a 4runner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R50JR Posted April 30, 2021 Share Posted April 30, 2021 You’ll be okay with a deep cycle agm on an alternator. I have a 92ah deep cycle agm on a vsr and also paired with a 100w solar panel. I’ve had it nearly a year with this setup. This keeps my ARB 60L fridge running 24/7. Without any input from solar or alternator, the battery will power the fridge 4 days. Sent from my Pathfinder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fr8Train Posted May 6, 2021 Author Share Posted May 6, 2021 On 4/30/2021 at 12:54 PM, R50JR said: You’ll be okay with a deep cycle agm on an alternator. I have a 92ah deep cycle agm on a vsr and also paired with a 100w solar panel. I’ve had it nearly a year with this setup. This keeps my ARB 60L fridge running 24/7. Without any input from solar or alternator, the battery will power the fridge 4 days. Sent from my Pathfinder Went to a local tradeshow yesterday and picked the brains of some battery gurus, they said the AGM will be fine, and that overcharging with a vehicle alternator is difficult as most pre-smart alternators don't actually fully charge an AGM battery only producing enough volts to actually charge it to some 90-95%. They said this "issue" actually doesn't hurt the battery and you will have a pretty robust auxillary battery system with the gear I am using. So I feel a lot better about that Time to get her wired up now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R50JR Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Went to a local tradeshow yesterday and picked the brains of some battery gurus, they said the AGM will be fine, and that overcharging with a vehicle alternator is difficult as most pre-smart alternators don't actually fully charge an AGM battery only producing enough volts to actually charge it to some 90-95%. They said this "issue" actually doesn't hurt the battery and you will have a pretty robust auxillary battery system with the gear I am using. So I feel a lot better about that Time to get her wired up now...Awesome. Can’t wait to see your set up!Sent from my Pathfinder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R50JR Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 Went to a local tradeshow yesterday and picked the brains of some battery gurus, they said the AGM will be fine, and that overcharging with a vehicle alternator is difficult as most pre-smart alternators don't actually fully charge an AGM battery only producing enough volts to actually charge it to some 90-95%. They said this "issue" actually doesn't hurt the battery and you will have a pretty robust auxillary battery system with the gear I am using. So I feel a lot better about that Time to get her wired up now...Awesome. Can’t wait to see your set up!Sent from my Pathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fr8Train Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 Out with the old, in with the new... Front sway bar bushes started banging during my shakedown run, simple 8 bolt job is now turning into a 2 night ordeal, found two stripped bolts, and suspect threads, getting a tap from work, and a couple of new bolts fix it properly. Ahh the fun of cars and how the simplest job is one broken bolt away from a nightmare. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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