Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

Hello darkness my old friend......


I swear I'll get good pictures of this eventually. Got home late from work. My wife closed. And then my MIL couldn't watch my daughter any longer. She's got a second dental trip to Mexico coming up and needed to pick up some odds and ends.

But thanks to that trip I have a 4-day weekend. This probably could've waited until then but I couldn't help myself.

 

x2 to picking a fridge first

Some of the cheap fridges are terrible inefficient which then makes the power situation vastly different.

I only run a dometic 35 since it’s usually just me or a few people for a couple days. Having a larger fridge is gonna take more power. Also if you plan to run a dual zone with freezer, that’s gonna bump those numbers up again.

Being out in Arizona during the summer is the only time I have ever hit the low voltage cutoff, but that was also with the factory battery and no solar. Haven’t been back out there to try again (I quit traveling for work so I’m not making constant trips out west)

I’ve got one of these I use with my goal zero. You could also use it with the red arc as another input for a super hot or extended stay. Redarc also makes some nice foldable panels for $$$$
https://www.overlandsolar.com/products/bugout-130-rugged-solar-charger

also it’s worth doing some figuring as to how much capacity you actually need. It’s better to have a small fridge stuffed than a large fridge half full.

 

Most things I’m gonna do myself unless it’s a huge job or needs brain cells I don’t have.

I haven’t gotten (or needed to be) brave enough to open up motor or trans but just about anything else is pretty simple.

 

I agree with this. Big decision when choosing a fridge is if you really need the dual zone and ability to freeze. If not, the number of selections opens up.

My first one was an ICECO VL45ProS single zone and it fit the backseat very well but without a freezer. 10/10 would buy again. Currently I'm running the ICECO VL65D dual zone so I can carry ice cubes for mixed drinks and ice cream (for no other reason than being able to do just that). Wants vs needs. VL45 power consumption rated at 0.347KWh/24hr, VL65 is 0.561KWh/24hr. The small one is the one that took ~25Ah on the hottest day and I bet my bigger one would easily take 30-35 when it's very hot.

This is all to say fridge choice being first is critical because had I chosen a 100Ah battery and then upgraded to the larger fridge later I might be in trouble. Lithium battery costs have come way down but they still don't grow on trees.

 

Freshly showered and feeling accomplished, I think I can definitely recommend these to anyone looking for a solid budget friendly skid set.

I spent some more time tightening everything down and making sure it was all snug. I know a common issue with loose skids is a lot of rattling.


Engine skids






Transmission Skid

Transmission skid comes with some "wings" that add more coverage. There's enough room to install after the main part but not a lot. Definitely recommend loosely attaching them to the main thing first.






Transfer case skid. I forgot a rag to keep the jack I was using from scratching them. Had the 3 ton floor jack and some 6 ton jack stands to make plenty of room overall.


Now to stop worrying about them until winter when I have to take them off and use Woolwax

 

What? You don't pull them off for every oil change? Tree that tries to kill you? Wiring job? How quaint...

Look great though! Congratulations... the game begins!

 

We can fix that for you.

 

Fair enough.

Yeah as a standalone.... You'll be more confident once you've done it and see how not hard a ton of this stuff is lol

Interesting that you get to keep your factory cat guards with this setup.
.why take the off? Just spray away all up in there ...




Note about traveling with fridges... A real ceramic window tint (NOT THE CHEAP PURPLE SHIT) will make a huge difference in interior temperature management, esp out in the desert and traveling across the equator

 

I get that, in fact I try to teach my kids and employees how easy most repairs really are. I’m just getting to the point in life where joints and shit are far less flexible. 10 years ago I would have done that job without question, but now… well I look at how much pain it will cost, lol
I put my pier in the other day and I’m still feeling it. I did it in an hour when I was 35, hour and 5 minutes when I was 55. This time took me 3 hours. Aging isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For all the youngsters in here, fully enjoy your youth while you have it!

 

Your last sentence hits the nail on the head.
Sometimes I feel like I've aged 10 years just since last December.

 

To my fellow old farts, 20 minutes a day of yoga will make a huge difference in mobility & flexibility. Just sayin'.

 

Getting older is always better than the alternative.

 

Life is soooo much better when u stretch ur hips and lower back. Sometimes u don't realize u have pain until its gone. Figured out part of the reason I use to b grumpy... that and ex wife. Lol

 

Ceramic tint is great. I should have done it a long time ago. I don’t even use a window shade any more during the summer

 

That Cascadia solar panel looks like a good way to go. Must be popular as they are out of stock at the moment. I'm not too thrilled about it being semi-permanently attached to the hood. Not a deal breaker but I wish there was some way to take it off when ever I wanted. The couple of vids I watched said they have to be kept clean. Any dirt/dust will severely compromise the efficiency of the panel.

Adam, thanks for all of this info. Right now I am leaning to put the battery under the hood. Have a Rago battery box in the cart. The Redarc charger is also on the to-buy list. The plan is to run a fridge only. I have been roughing it all my life. All I need is to keep the food and beer cold. Your recommendation for the ICECO is good enough for me, though I do have a 21" height limit. It has to fit under the shelf.

 

Oh sorry, it's dobinson 2.5" suspension lift, I still need upper control arms and the clamshell bushing to finish it off.

Sorry about the late response things started getting hectic with a work promotion and a job interview that I have to prep for

 

I might have to try this. I've heard good things about it.

Heck, I'm always watching videos of girls doing yoga anyway. Might as well learn something.


Any recommendations for resources to learn about it?

 

I was having back issues last year. Doc told me about this book.
It has been helping.

 

I don't do actual "yoga" but specific stretches for my problem areas. I'm tall with a long torso. I went to a sports chiropractor a few years ago for a lower back issue. He told me it was caused cuz my hips were a mess. I had an ankle injury from wrestling and bad knees from dirt bikes. It all just went up stream.

He gave me some stretches to try. After that I went on a YouTube hunt for info. I slowly built up my own stretch routine I do after I lift weights. I'm 41 and am now more flexible than I was at 31. I'm sure a full body yoga routine would do me even more good but I haven't made it that far yet.

 

I used to do ALL of my own vehicle repairs, simply because I couldn't afford a mechanic. In my teens and 20's I even performed and participated in multiple engine swaps, two of which were performed outdoors.

My friend, Bill, and I even removed a manual transmission, cross member, driveshaft, pedal assembly, master cylinder and plumbing out of a friend's Supra (which she had crashed in the snow) in Andrew Toyota's back parking lot, in winter, and then replaced the automatic in my '85 Supra with it.

This was all done outdoors, in winter! I would NEVER do this again!

I got to a point in my 30's where I could afford a mechanic, and for awhile, I would almost always use one for anything beyond basic maintenance.

But, once I got the Tacoma, I started working on my own stuff again. Having a vehicle that wasn't coated underneath in surface rust made it a lot more tolerable. Now, I'll generally do anything I think I won't screw up.

But, in the case of putting a clutch in my ex's TC, we opted to pay an acquaintance to do it. I just don't have the time and ambition for a project like that.

And, it was especially unappealing because I was giving the car back to her. As much as I liked the idea of having it around, it sat for over a year unused after the clutch started slipping. She didn't expect to need it ever again due to her medical issues that summer, so I took it assuming she'd never drive again. She really surprised the doctors with her recovery.