A new hope ... (build journal and component reviews)

[chorky]

The OEM mosquito netting is two layers, canvas and netting, same way as the tent windows. We did netting only.

Ooo gotcha ok. I thought you were talking about some other option. I didnt know the alu-cab standard was a canvas with netting, I thought it was just all netting. that makes more sense. Yeah with how heavy most 'expedition' builds end up at saving every place you can is important.

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[cug]

You can see the canvas here:

Windows:
https://www.alu-cab.com/product/alu-cab-mozzie-midge-nets/

Door:
https://www.alu-cab.com/product/rear-mozquito-net/

We do have the windows and door nets here, not using them (can't), so if anybody is interested and they work for you, reach out! Happy to sell them. They are great quality, we can't use them due to our furniture, plus they aren't right for our use – we don't need the canvas and rather need to save weight.

 

[cug]

Some notes on this:

• If you get Mopar LED headlights to replace halogen lights, make sure that your truck has four wires going to the lights (the plug going into the light has four wires). Otherwise Halos might not work.
• JTs since about 2021 have most or all of the wiring already in. But ... see next point.
• If you, like me, are missing a fourth wire on the passenger side, which seems to happen more often (Only? Don't know.) with diesel JTs, then this MIGHT (not tested yet) be the fix:
  • https://www.moparfactoryparts.com/oem-parts/mopar-headlamp-wiring-68414409ab
  • Once I have this cable, I'll give it a try and report back.

So, the short wire harness arrived today, and it was a quick job replacing the one that was originally in the truck. To replace the existing wiring, nothing had to come out, it was a bit tight to get my hand in there, but I could remove the plug at the back of the light, disconnect the connector above the light, put new harness in at the back of the light (so I could hold it in a way that wouldn't turn the connector in the wrong way), then reconnect at the top. Put small cable tie holder into the back of the light. Done.

Result: it works. Yeah! Halos on boths sides are on now!

Next steps in this area:

• [ASAP] Get the Baja Designs fog lights installed, if they ever arrive. This really ticks me off, it's been forvever since I ordered them.
• [NEXT FEW MONTHS] Take fender liner out on the passenger side to check whether the dreaded "wire harness rubbing problem" exists and at the same time, install LED front signals.
• [LONG TERM] Get LED rear lights installed (the ones with orange signals) once we really get into shipping the truck around the world.
• [LONG TERM] Install additional, reasonably sized, driving lights.

 

[cug]

Just in case people are wondering, no, I haven't fallen into a hole and disappeared. I'm in Europe right now, traveling a bit:

Overnight wild camp at the Loire river, France.

 

[smlobx]

Love those 79 Series! Did you rent it? If so where?

Will be taking one from Switzerland into the Sahara this fall.

 

[cug]

No, I didn't rent it. It's been in storage for too long ...

Sahara sounds like a great adventure. The setup I have there is very heavy on the rear axle, even worse than a Gladiator with an Alu-Cab, so I would have to be careful in sand. Although people do it,

It's still a super nice travel setup. If we had to, we could take off the camper and mount a lightweight storage canopy and use a ground tent or swag.

 

[cug]

If we had to, we could take off the camper and mount a lightweight storage canopy and use a ground tent or swag.

Truck in "lightweight mode":

Not the most fun location, but had to get service, some small improvements, and safety inspection done ...

 

[cug]

And while I'm in Europe, taking care of a few things that needed doing in person, my wife's been busy with the mosquito tent for under the awning. We wanted to have this for Alaska, but also for general use whenever the flying critters (mosquitos, wasps, ....) are getting too annoying and we still want to sit outside.

First test to figure out attachment points to the awning:

Declared goals for this:

• Quick and easy to attach, we are using plastic rings (12mm diameter) and tent toggles (little plastic pieces sewn to a strap on the tent). Toggle goes through the ring which will stay attached to the awning housing, the legs, arms, velcro – whatever is available at a specific point. I haven't seen it in person yet, but my wife said it was surprisingly easy to attach all by herself.
• Light weight – we were thinking about the Alu-Cab awning walls, and while we think they are awesome, they are also very bulky and heavy, 15kg (33lbs) and a rather large bag we don't have the space for. We mostly need mosquito protection, but if this turns out to be working well, we might build a full awning wall kit akin to the Alu-Cab kit, but with much lighter weight materials and less complicated (e.g. around windows and doors).
• Compact packed size – so far, it's about the same size as a two person camping tent. That's reasonable and will easily fit in a spot somewhere in the camper or under the rear seat platform.
• Easy to use when set up – we wanted no zippers or other complicated door mechanism, but still wanted it to be bug proof. So, the tent has an overlapping door flap, basically just too layers of fabric overlapping about 60cm held closed by magnets. Easy in and out.
• Midge safe – Extra fine netting so the tiny midges found in some areas can't get through.

Also, the Baja Designs fog lights finally arrived. They'll get installed once I'm back in the US.

 

[cug]

So, now waiting for the parts to arrive and actually fit ... ;-)

Of course, these parts arrived just after I had to go to Europe. But my lovely wife unpacked everything and took some photos.

Bear container bracket, this will go to the driver's side molle panel, the container held in with a RokStrap. I have a specific "holder bracket" for the strap, that's not in the photos:

Door panel for upper right quadrant, cutout for a Redvision display:

Door panel for upper left quadrant, this is very thin aluminum, just to hold in the insulation:

And some brackets for mounting Rotopax and other stuff to the outside of the door, on the RhinoRack load bars:

This is how they could be mounted, it's mix and match, I've made some spacers as well, in case they get mounted in line as shown:

This should work nicely to mount two 2-gallon Rotopax diesel containers and a Pelican box for the "smelly diesel thingies".

So far so good. once I'm back, we'll do full testing, then deburr them, and have them powder-coated. There a few more small parts as well, but they are "support pieces", so not shown here.

 

[chorky]

And while I'm in Europe, taking care of a few things that needed doing in person, my wife's been busy with the mosquito tent for under the awning. We wanted to have this for Alaska, but also for general use whenever the flying critters (mosquitos, wasps, ....) are getting too annoying and we still want to sit outside.

First test to figure out attachment points to the awning:

Declared goals for this:

• Quick and easy to attach, we are using plastic rings (12mm diameter) and tent toggles (little plastic pieces sewn to a strap on the tent). Toggle goes through the ring which will stay attached to the awning housing, the legs, arms, velcro – whatever is available at a specific point. I haven't seen it in person yet, but my wife said it was surprisingly easy to attach all by herself.
• Light weight – we were thinking about the Alu-Cab awning walls, and while we think they are awesome, they are also very bulky and heavy, 15kg (33lbs) and a rather large bag we don't have the space for. We mostly need mosquito protection, but if this turns out to be working well, we might build a full awning wall kit akin to the Alu-Cab kit, but with much lighter weight materials and less complicated (e.g. around windows and doors).
• Compact packed size – so far, it's about the same size as a two person camping tent. That's reasonable and will easily fit in a spot somewhere in the camper or under the rear seat platform.
• Easy to use when set up – we wanted no zippers or other complicated door mechanism, but still wanted it to be bug proof. So, the tent has an overlapping door flap, basically just too layers of fabric overlapping about 60cm held closed by magnets. Easy in and out.
• Midge safe – Extra fine netting so the tiny midges found in some areas can't get through.

Also, the Baja Designs fog lights finally arrived. They'll get installed once I'm back in the US.

This is a fantastic idea! I have been trying to think of how to do something similar.

 

[cug]

This is a fantastic idea! I have been trying to think of how to do something similar.

I haven't been around while my wife worked on this, but according to her, it's an absolute TON of work. The materials aren't super easy to handle, the sheer amount of material is quite a pain. There are a few things to still work out, but she needs my help with some of that (need more than two hands), so this will move forward when I get back in about 12 days.

 

[chorky]

I haven't been around while my wife worked on this, but according to her, it's an absolute TON of work. The materials aren't super easy to handle, the sheer amount of material is quite a pain. There are a few things to still work out, but she needs my help with some of that (need more than two hands), so this will move forward when I get back in about 12 days.

I can imagine it's not easy. I have a full wall kit for my awning but it's pretty heavy and bulky. Nice, and has 3 windows and a door. But some standard netting would be a lot easier. I think once built you two will enjoy this a lot.

 

[cug]

I have a full wall kit for my awning but it's pretty heavy and bulky.

That's why we didn't buy it. We had the Alu-Cab mosquito nets for the windows and door and that gave us a good impression of how the full awning room would be. We would have installed the windows and door kit, but they interfered too much with our furniture, so had to roll our own here as well.

If the mosquito tent works out well and we go on a really long trip, we may build our own awning room – from much lighter materials. This will actually be easier than the current project, since it's four separate pieces that have already defined attachment points. But this is something we won't need for upcoming trip, so something to keep in mind, but not something we'll tackle within the next six months.

 

[cug]

So, I'm back in country, checking fitment for some of the new parts:

The bear canister on the left is for our trash, has to be mounted so far out to fit when the door is open:

Overall I'm very happy with the parts so far. Will check the rest tomorrow or Monday, then do some detail work on them and then get them powdercoated.

 

[cug]

More teasers:

There is a lot of space in the box, but we had the choice of tank or silencer, and we chose the silencer, so that we don't have to attach anything before starting the heater. The tank will sit outside on the box (a one gallon Rotopax).

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