escape the ordinary
TL;DR - The lithium system provides so much more power than I know what to do with, that I find myself turning off the charger so that the battery has a chance to cycle below 90%. The cabinet that I built is good, but needs a few updates.
This battery is a beast.
In the first part of this series, I outlined the components necessary for adding a 12v house electrical system to a Tacoma (or any other vehicle). This time, we'll walk through the specifics on how to do the actual installation of those components in a way that will stand up to the abuse of truck used for adventure. Just a Bit of Background This is my second take at a house electrical battery system installation in the Tacoma. My first system was based around a 12v AGM battery and worked well for more than 6 years. In fact, it worked…
Leave a CommentThe plan with the 4Runner was always to keep it a little bit more tame than the Tacoma. After all, it's our family adventure vehicle - used mostly for home-base-style camping, and less for prolonged driving adventures. But, some systems need to work in both vehicles - and the fridge is a great example. The Backstory Up until this summer, when we ventured over to Washington's Olympic Peninsula, I'd always just nursed the fridge along - running it as we drove to camp, and then turning it off once we reached our destination. There were a few reasons for that…
2 CommentsI've built a couple of storage platforms in the past - a slide-with-a-slide style platform for my 1st gen Tacoma, and a fridge-slide style for my 3rd Gen 4Runner - so when a buddy of mine asked for help building one for his 5th Gen 4Runner, I was happy to help. The goal was relatively simple for this build - a simple platform with some L-track to secure loads, and a way to level out the back of the 4Runner to sleep at night. No fridge slide (yet), but the ability to add it in the future. And, lastly -…
6 CommentsWell, this post is a long time in the making. In fact, I assumed this was a project I'd get taken care of in the dead of winter, since much of it would be done in the wood shop, and none of it required the truck to be outside in the rain and cold. But like many well-laid plans, mine got comfortable and took a six-month nap. So let's start at the beginning... My Battery History To date, I've only had to replace the battery in the truck once. I did that back in 2011 after owning the truck for…
28 CommentsMay 7, 2019. Roof rack built, we now had a place for @mrs.turbodb and I to sleep, but what about the whole reason we decided to get the 4Runner in the first place? We wanted to have something more comfortable for @mini.turbodb! The idea was for her to sleep in the back of the 4Runner - "downstairs" as she likes to call it - but for that to work, I needed to make the back storage area just a little higher so that it would be level with the folded down back seat. Not only that, but I knew that…
3 CommentsJanuary 16, 2018. The Kenwood D710GA has been working well since it was installed. Transmission and reception seem good, the APRS has worked as expected, the display is nice (but not quite as nice as the Icom 5100A), and it's great having it securely mounted under the passenger seat. But the built-in speaker - that leaves something to be desired. With the Icom, I had no trouble hearing what contacts were saying, but even with the volume turned all the way up on the Kenwood, it's just slightly too quiet for me to parse what's being said. Luckily (and of…
3 CommentsAugust 20, 2017. As soon as I installed the bed rack, I knew that there were going to be trade-offs - on the one hand, it made for a much nicer sleeping experience with the CVT; on the other, it was a lot harder to get stuff that was in the bed of the truck. Like the cooler, and kitchen stuff. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a trade-off that’s totally worth it. But what if it didn’t have to be a trade-off? What if I could have my cake and eat it too? That’s what I thought when I heard…
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