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

[cug]

Ah, got it. Yeah, I know the channel and have seen Paul, just didn’t know the full name.

We used the term already in the late 80s when we test modeled some stuff in school.

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[mquetel]

Which panel did you end up going with?

 

[Danable]

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.
• Getting the plugs out of the security gateway is a pain in the ass and the hands. My hands are banged up like crap right now. It's easier when you remove some of the trim panels, they aren't hard to remove, just annoying.
• If the plugs aren't put back in or connected to an OBDII device, the infotainment system (center screen) doesn't turn on. So, do the programming, test the lights, plug the connectors back in or use a Tazer Mini or so.

Regarding the lights:

• Low beams are excellent. Very good spread, reasonable cut-off with some scatter to illuminate signs etc. They are also quite easy to adjust.
• High beams are soso. Don't seem super bright, but they do throw some light down the road. Long term it's likely that I'll add some more lights that come on with the high beams (but can be completely turned off).
• Halos are okay, whatever, not super excited about them, but now that I have them, I want them to work. Right now, passenger side doesn't work due to the missing fourth wire (see above).

Overall, a good modification that would have taken about 30 minutes if it wasn't for that ^%*^&*% OBDII security gateway. Getting those connectors out was a pain. Made it a three hour job or so.

Current state: driving around with only driver's side halo ... ;-)

did you get the harness in? I ordered the harness and programmed for the signature lights (Halos) and passenger side still doesn’t work. Wondering if the diesels take a different sales code or something. If it worked on yours mine must have a wiring issue to the BCM for the halo wire. I used obd JScan to change the options which I’m very familiar with.

 

[cug]

did you get the harness in? I ordered the harness and programmed for the signature lights (Halos) and passenger side still doesn’t work. Wondering if the diesels take a different sales code or something. If it worked on yours mine must have a wiring issue to the BCM for the halo wire. I used obd JScan to change the options which I’m very familiar with.

No, I haven’t received the harness yet.

 

[cug]

Which panel did you end up going with?

It's a 140W Sunflare XPLOR bought from GTFOverland. Yesterday I saw peak output of just over 100W, which I think is pretty good for a day in April with the panel not angled towards the sun but being flat on the roof. It produced over 60W from 9AM onwards whenever I checked. The batteries were never really drained, since all I did was make coffee/tea here in the driveway, no cooking session or so and the fridge isn't running.

If I use about 100Ah on a very heavy use day, have full sunlight here in the Southwest, it can produce nearly half of my charging needs in a day. Sure, I can charge with 55Ah from the alternator if I'm in a pinch, but if I'm in an area where I am exploring more on foot or stay for a day longer, that's very helpful.

And in daily life, the system doesn't have to use alternator power at all to stay charged.

Also, a shoutout to GTFO, they have brilliant customer service, dealt with my stupid questions very nicely, and called back or responded to email in a very timely manner. Easily one of the best companies I have dealt with so far.

 

[cug]

Not really a review, just an opinion piece.

Since I wanted a convenient place for paper towels, I ordered the holder from Expedition Essentials. Received it yesterday, packed it back up today, sold it here on the market place.

Reason being: It's just too heavy for my build.

Everything I put on this truck goes through a check of balancing weight to usefulness. Like the furniture. It's not lightweight. It weighs about the same as a full Goose Gear build-out, but it adds so much more livability that I'm okay with the weight. Same with the rear platform. I've added some weight for increased stability. All good. Same for batteries, heater, spare fuel, whatever other pieces. Always weighing and deciding whether something is worth its weight.

Call me crazy, but yesterday it just bubbled over ... I refuse to accept more 800g in metal parts to hold 250g of paper towels. It just didn't feel right.

Still, it's a well made product, which I'd rate at maybe 4 out of 5. The one down is for the ridiculous weight.

Shopping Experience

Now, on top of that, I bought it at Mule Expedition Outfitters – this will be the last time I've bought something from them. Their return policy is 15% restocking fee and no return label. So I'm stuck with shipping, which for normal people costs an arm and a leg these days, plus they'd charge me for restocking.

Screw that, I'm not suporting this, so sold the paper towel holder with that 15% as a discount and same shipping cost for me. At least these folks aren't making even more money off me.

So, if you buy stuff you're not 100% certain about, don't buy there.

The two items I bought from them:

1. A camera relocation bracket that they first claimed would work, when I proved that this was just BS, they finally relented and took it back, then saying "Oh yeah, we might have received a bad batch".
2. The paper towel holder. Hmpf.

Okay, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. I'm pissed and I'm never again going to buy anything there.

 

[fourfa]

I went to Mule for my ACCC. Camper is great. Their wiring job was ass (wired the center brake light to the blink wire on a taillight... in fact there is no brake-only signal at all in the taillights) and their camera bracket install is sloppy as hell, four self-tapping screws straight through OE sheet metal, four sharp screws poking out behind near the wiring harness, all four set at irregular angles. I got literally the simple possible install, and both items that went beyond bolt down and sikaflex the camper were botch jobs. I think I'm with you

I saw you got a little ribbing about the holder... mine is a 30 year old dirty bungee cord lol

 

[cug]

I got literally the simple possible install, and both items that went beyond bolt down and sikaflex the camper were botch jobs. I think I'm with you

I went to TinyRig and I'd say, they did a reasonable job on most things.

Small problems I had:

• They were supposed to mount the camera with an 813 bracket, that they completely "forgot", even though I paid for it. Offered some half ass solutions that would have cost me extra money, in the end, I got the lower filler panel from 813 and used that.
• They were supposed to provide a common ground cable inside the camper. They wired something to a frame point underneath, but didn't remove the paint first, so while I can measure connection, it's so weak, it doesn't work properly. I did my own.
• They botched a few things on the AC accessories, like forced nuts in the extrusion to a place where they are stuck forever now.
• While they did switch the door around, I have no idea with what kind of drill they drilled the holes for the rivets of the moved bracket for the door strut, but one hole was never going to hold a rivet, it's so large.
• They didn't properly seal the moved bolts, so we had water intrusion in the door during heavy rain.
• They used a sharp edged bolt on the corner of the door, which slightly damaged the door rubber seal.
• Don't know whether they mounted the interior lights, but none of them is actually straight on. I fixed that myself mostly by now (and where I haven't there are still projects planned).

And their after-sales support was pretty uninterested when I asked about some of these things. If I had to get something there again, I'd certainly not get anything beyond installing the pure camper, certainly I wouldn't pay for stuff I had to fix myself later.

I'd still consider the install of the camper to the truck bed as really well done and it seems that there aren't any problems with it either.

 

[cug]

mine is a 30 year old dirty bungee cord lol

That's what I used to do and got tired of it. But I have an option that I might try which seems a hell of a lot lighter and simpler:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0006TZMOE

Not sure I'll actually do this. Right now, we are using a small drybag that fits the roll. Then, when driving, use it to prevent rattle from other stuff. Not as convenient, but it works well enough to leave it alone for the time being.

 

[cug]

More small improvements. Seat cushions for inside the camper:

And they can stay in the camper when driving since they have anti-slip mat sewn to the bottom:

Now, just need to get that backrest done and it'll be comfy ... tiny, but comfy.

We didn't want full on cushions for all surfaces, just big enough to sit on nicely and that's it. Otherwise they are harder to stow away if that should be necessary.

 

[cug]

And to answer a question I got elsewhere: yes, these cushions are made, not bought. My wife made them.

 

[cug]

Soooooo, a long awaited item arrived this morning, the "diesel heater component panel":

It'll get installed like this:

Basically the same way as the Alu-Cab molle panels.

The lid will be mounted with M6 cage nuts and some M6 bolts (like 99% of the stuff we've built for the camper), that's why there are square holes on the front:

On the lid is a Rotopax mount pattern, to mount a one or two gallon Rotopax container:

Stuiff we plan to put inside the "box" (it isn't really a box, lots of venting going on around the edges, bends, etc., more like a deep panel):

• Fuel pump and filter
• Wiring for pump
• Intake silencer
• Exhaust silencer
• A through-the-hull port for the exhaust

Then the Rotopax with a fuel line disconnect on the outside.

The actual diesel heater will sit inside the cabin, with the ports going through the camper wall underneath the above panel.

Once we have all components sorted, additional holes drilled and everything lines up properly, we'll get the thing powder coated black and can finally mount it. That'll happen at some point in June since I'm away from the truck for a few weeks.

But, so far so good ... one big ticket item worked out.

 

[cug]

So, from this:

To this:

And there's only one stupid mistake – one of the top flange mounting holes doesn't work out, the horizontal c-channel in the camper is just 5mm too short. Actually, I had to switch from slots to holes and didn't think to make sure there is c-channel all the way to the edge ... grmbl.

 

[chorky]

Travel oven installed, hot air outlet optimistically installed (we don't have the heater installed yet), side table is functional:

How do you like the trail oven?? First time I've seen it outside of this YouTubers videos. He has used it while on the go to make a variety of things and it looks really awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/@RoamOverlanding/videos

 

[cug]

How do you like the trail oven?

Other than testing, I haven't used it yet. The passenger side isn't wired for power yet, so we haven't used it unfortunately.

We are planning on using it for warm snacks during the day (e.g. warm something up while driving), and just in general warming up left overs.

From all I know it's basically a slow cooker, so nothing happens under an hour or two. Which is fine, as long as I can plan for it and use it while driving. If I wanted to avoid that, I would have gotten an air fryer, but these were all cheap plastic appliances or massive household things.

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