The Overland Vessel 1 (OV-1)

[CTO1Mike]

Started my build with the first addition. A 50 Gal aux fuel tank system from Transfer Flow Inc of Chico CA.
Freshly installed yesterday (30 Aug). Still getting used to the system and how it works.
May do a product review thread in the near future after I have a bit more experience with the system.


Eventually I will add a cap to the back to keep the gear safe and clean.
But I am adding things as I see the need.

My rig is a 2017 F250 Superduty 4x4 off road w/4 doors.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Started my build with the first addition. A 50 Gal aux fuel tank system from Transfer Flow Inc of Chico CA.
Freshly installed yesterday (30 Aug). Still getting used to the system and how it works.
May do a product review thread in the near future after I have a bit more experience with the system.
View attachment 115300 View attachment 115301

Eventually I will add a cap to the back to keep the gear safe and clean.
But I am adding things as I see the need.

My rig is a 2017 F250 Superduty 4x4 off road w/4 doors.

I hope you don't have to fill that thing up in California. Second, water might be a better commodity on a camping trip even if your going to Baha.
Your truck looks new, you should get great gas mileage but if you needed an extra tank why didn't you have a dealer installed tank below your bed.
Just asking, I know people have their priorities and I wonder why a bed gas tank. You probably have a good reason other than you saw someone
else with one.

 

[CTO1Mike]

@Lanlubber , Well I plan to use my truck for some long distance travel as well as overlanding.
When I follow Hwy 50 from San Fran to Maryland I will fill it to 50gal.
When I overland I will only put in about 20gal or what ever it will take to provide a safe return margin.
I didn't want to go with a larger main tank as I DO live in Cali and did not want to have to fill that large of a tank every time I stopped at a pump.
With the Aux tank I only fill it when I want to use the extra capacity.

So flexibility and long range planning was the main thinking behind a permanent aux tank addition.

And Thanks for the comment by the way!

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

@Lanlubber , Well I plan to use my truck for some long distance travel as well as overlanding.
When I follow Hwy 50 from San Fran to Maryland I will fill it to 50gal.
When I overland I will only put in about 20gal or what ever it will take to provide a safe return margin.
I didn't want to go with a larger main tank as I DO live in Cali and did not want to have to fill that large of a tank every time I stopped at a pump.
With the Aux tank I only fill it when I want to use the extra capacity.

So flexibility and long range planning was the main thinking behind a permanent aux tank addition.

And Thanks for the comment by the way!

I was talking about an extra tank below the bed, not a main tank. You don't have to keep it full when not using it. A lot of trucks have duel tanks which I think is smart. I have an old International that I still drive. It has duel 20 gallon tanks that I might fill if I were to go on the road but since I don't travel with it anymore I fill one tank at a time alternately for economy. Yes the price of gas in Cali is a killer, blame your legislators for their bad politics that care little about their constituents welfare.

 

[MidOH]

You should always keep your tanks Full.

 

[CTO1Mike]

I was talking about an extra tank below the bed, not a main tank. You don't have to keep it full when not using it. A lot of trucks have duel tanks which I think is smart. I have an old International that I still drive. It has duel 20 gallon tanks that I might fill if I were to go on the road but since I don't travel with it anymore I fill one tank at a time alternately for economy. Yes the price of gas in Cali is a killer, blame your legislators for their bad politics that care little about their constituents welfare.

Ah, my light bulb pops on! Yeah an extra under body tank didn't really cross my mind. Probably because the under side is densely packed already. Thinking back, the only space I saw for a possible under body tank was in the space where the spare tire hangs. Transfer Flow only offers a replacement under body tank any ways. And it was nice that they were so close to where I live. Even got a tour of the plant, a t-shirt and a coffee mug! All while they were installing the new tank. Good folks up there.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

You should always keep your tanks Full.

I never have. I haven't had any problems with empty tanks but like I said I fill duel tanks alternately so that gaskets don't dry out and turn into varnish.

 

[MidOH]

Likely fine in NM. Drive to ND from there, with a mostly empty tank, and that's how you get water in your fuel.

Water condenses from cold air, not cold fuel.

 

[Lanlubber In Remembrance]

Likely fine in NM. Drive to ND from there, with a mostly empty tank, and that's how you get water in your fuel.

Water condenses from cold air, not cold fuel.

I'm not going to ND to find out. Been all over the south from Biloxi Miss to west regions of the 49 states and N to Washington state by way of California and Oregon and back through Utah, Wyoming, Colorado. Never have I had a problem with condensation, even through Nevada and Arizona. At home my vehicles sit for weeks in all sorts of weather changes. Condensation will burn out with the gas consumption and in winter you can see it drip from your tail pipe until your engine evaporates it through the exhaust. That is why mufflers are about the first thing to go on a vehicle.

 

[Cummins_Overland]

Remember to carry extra containers of DEF I'm not sure what the refill interval for that stuff is but I know running out on the trail would put a damper on any trip.

 

[CTO1Mike]

Remember to carry extra containers of DEF I'm not sure what the refill interval for that stuff is but I know running out on the trail would put a damper on any trip.

I have enough on board for 10K. Which is my servicing interval with Ford. When I start my long duration overlanding then I will definitely carry some DEF.

 

[CTO1Mike]

New Aux fuel tank has been working out fine.

Spent some time running coax for my Ham rig install. The antenna is mounted in the channel of the hood, and the coax has been run down semi protected opening to a cabin penetration in the floor of the cabin. The wiring harness for my Aux tank run through this penetration as well.
Will have to forgo any deep water crossings until I get that hole sealed. LOL

Ram mounts have been ordered and should be in the mail soon.
Will have mounting equipment for an iPad, and iPhone, and the face plate of my dual band mobile Ham rig.
Looks like I will have to unbolt the front passenger seat for the Ram base plate.

 

[CTO1Mike]

Finished the install of my Kenwood TM-D710GA dual band transceiver.
Just needed to run the power cable from the battery in to the cabin and up under my passenger seat.
The cable is fused on both the red and black near the battery, and there is a red line fuse on the pig tail coming off the radio.
Came straight off the battery for the red line, and bolted the black direct to the chassis where the battery black wire bolts on.
This option gives allows me to operate the radio with the engine off when I wan to cross band repeat.

When I install the planned secondary battery system I will route the transceiver power to those batteries instead of the starter batteries.

May upgrade the run some day with a conduit of some sort to protect the wires, but it works for now.


Soldered up the coax connector a couple days ago with the help of my 1st father-in-law. Only has a 1.4 SWR, which is good!

 

[4WheelAstroHack]

Looks good!

 

[CTO1Mike]

New Tires! Falkin Wildpeaks All Terrains.

Also added a gadget column a few months back. The Kenwood radio face is held in place and an iPad for navigation.

 

[CTO1Mike]

Latest update to OV-1, a Snomaster Low Profile 96L fridge/freezer.

And I built a storage cart to move it around with, and also store my dry goods and other boxes when not exploring.

The cart is sized so that I can easily slide the fridge into and out of the back passenger area of the cabin.
Plan to have a Redarc Manager30 and a 170AH Lithium battery in a few months.

 

[REDARC_Ryan]

Plan to have a Redarc Manager30 and a 170AH Lithium battery in a few months.

If you have any questions with the REDARC products feel free to shoot me a message, or an email!
rthurston@redarcelectronics.com

 

[CTO1Mike]

If you have any questions with the REDARC products feel free to shoot me a message, or an email!
rthurston@redarcelectronics.com

Ryan, Thanks, Mate! I will if anything comes up, but I am pretty much sold on the equipment. Plenty of you tubers out there with vids.
Patriot Campers in Australia actually introduced me to Redarc through their channel.

I have a small change in plans which I will mention when everything gets installed.

 

[REDARC_Ryan]

Ryan, Thanks, Mate! I will if anything comes up, but I am pretty much sold on the equipment. Plenty of you tubers out there with vids.
Patriot Campers in Australia actually introduced me to Redarc through their channel.

I have a small change in plans which I will mention when everything gets installed.

Absolutely! Love to watch Patriots videos, they're brilliant.
Check out Trailbenders Overland out of CA as well!
Keep an eye out for our REDARC trucks, we will have a couple rolling around the west coast here soon!