Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

Counter point. Get a jump pack that utilizes usb c. Then you can charge off dc which is more efficient. You can also use it as a charge pack for your devices if needed.

this is what I would get (I have the older model gb70)

https://no.co/gbx75

Personally I wouldn’t bother with changing the alternator. In my experience it makes almost zero real world difference, especially if you are running a solar panel. Plus I’d rather take load off the electrical system than put more on it for the sake of long term travel reliability. Changing that in nowhereville or the side of the road wouldn’t be fun.

X2power 27f agm is a solid battery

 

Must not be far enough from civilization!

 

Tyler... are those power lines? Really?

 

He has to stay within cell service to moderate. Probably a bylaw of the mod clan. Lol

 

It wasn't freezing.... But it was cold ish. I enjoyed it

Tuning it to run higher output isnt changing it, since it's still within the ecms factory Range of things lol.

But to all of this, yes. Esp with the solar and driving, hell be fine. Assuming his driving doesn't have 580 lights on

 

Much better. That moderator sheet must be making mush up stairs...

 

It isn't safe by the power lines.

 

You know what they say about people that live under power lines.

 

Not what I heard

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCc-RWIp7XU

 

Dang that sucks Rich but glad you made it home safe and got to do a little exploration. That's the trouble of doing what we do - you can build them as far as you can, but sometimes gremlins appear and you have to change on the fly. Minor speed bumps, once you get those sorted should be ready to rock fo a good long while. If it was easy everyone would do it!

On the other had as someone with a 2nd gen approaching 140k now, why you gotta tell me things like this? LOL

I'm your Huckleberry. I have a Redarc charger, 200Ah lithium house battery, and a big ass ICECO 65L dual zone fridge/freezer. It's overkill for most people, but probably suited very well for your major expedition.

If I had one piece of advice, I would say decide on what size fridge/freezer you want first. Then decide where to put the 2nd battery - and I only say that because some people are deadset on putting under the hood (which limits options). If you aren't married to 2nd battery under the hood, that opens options for all sorts of lithium options. Some concerns about lithium in below freezing temps but that can be mitigated with relative ease.

Decision number 2.5 = Decide, other than the fridge, what other loads you are going to run on the battery. Being serious here so bear with me. Do you intend to run a microwave? A blender for margaritas? Induction stovetop? Those are all very big loads and your considerations will change drastically if you go that route. You have to plan for these things otherwise you are going to buy equipment twice and that becomes expesive QUICKLY.

The Redarc acts as it's own isolator but depends how you configure it. most DC-DC chargers do. There are considerations if you want the 2nd battery to be able to jumpstart the main battery so keep that in mind too. I bought a NOCO jumper pack instead because I think it's more versatile, but some people don't want to carry yet another piece of gear. So think about that too.

If you can dream up answers for these things, all that is left is to start wrecking your credit card balance with gleeful abandon. And I can definitely answer any questions you have or demo my system to you. Feel free to PM as needed or maybe we get a group PM going to help build it out?

The tune/alternator voltage boost often isnt necessary using something like a Redarc or Victron charger. They have a buck-boost converter internally and will increase voltage as needed for the 2nd battery depending on how you set it. Unless you are going to do a tune anyways for other reasons, save your money on this step. And right on cue about the solar...

I have an X2Power 27F AGM as my main battery, it's a beast. Even still, in the most demanding (hottest) conditions it's not enough to comfortably run my fridge unless I drive around daily. Since I have plans to be offgrid sometimes for days without moving, I went the house battery route.

I have one of those Cascadia panels now, just pending installation. Even charging at 100% sunlight/output it may not power all fridges adequately. Though I definitely agree as long as you drive around a little bit each day you'll be perfectly fine as the DC-DC charger is going to output far more and far quicker. Some of the newer fridges with Bluetooth and fancy features really suck a lot of power. Most I used in a single day just from the fridge was 25-30Ah but it was HOT, and mine is pretty efficient...

Using one of those stand-alone power packs like a Goalzero/Bluetti/Jackery is definitely a viable option. The only thing I don't like is most use older battery technology though many now are switching to lithium ion. Plus side is they are kind of all-in-one. Down side is usually they have higher cost per Ah by a factor of 2 or 3.

I agree with keeping it as simple as possible for fixes on the road. That being said, if you buy good quality parts hopefully you won't have to fix it much (if at all) once on the road. There is definitely a difference in some of this gear. Buy once, cry once.

+1 to the satellite messenger reccomendation. For a big expedition like this it's a must.

 

I had it done last year when the A/C compressor was being replaced. Since it was already apart, the cost was far lower. The $800 is what he said they'd charge normally. For that much, I'd be tempted to try it myself.