Third try - now a Bison!

[TheBison]

There's still a lot more work to do. I have relocated the WeBoost on a shorter mast to the top of the rack, and the ham radio antenna will be relocated to the hood soon to eliminate weird radiation patterns from the back as it now exists. The house battery, 10 gallon water tank, fridge slide, solar panels, and a roof storage box all need to be added, as well as the remainder of the lighting that is planned. Additionally, with the added weight of this setup we will be adding Peak Suspension add-a-leaf springs to make up for the rear squat that is developing. Most of these items are now on hand and they'll be going on in the next few weeks, so look for more updates!

 

[CR-Venturer]

Looking awesome! Some very nice additions to the rig. Those Leitner boxes are pretty slick, but kinda pricey. I imagine they're fairly light weight as well, though, which is a benefit vs similar boxes you can get.

 

[El-Dracho]

Looks fantastic. Those are some really good solutions that I like. Great! Thanks for sharing here. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you add.

 

[zgfiredude]

Dude, I truly appreciate that your OCD level is world class!

It takes one to know one

Looks awesome.

 

[TheBison]

Looking awesome! Some very nice additions to the rig. Those Leitner boxes are pretty slick, but kinda pricey. I imagine they're fairly light weight as well, though, which is a benefit vs similar boxes you can get.

Pricey? More like painful. But I do really like them and I couldn't find anything else even remotely similar.

 

[TheBison]

Dude, I truly appreciate that your OCD level is world class!

It takes one to know one

Looks awesome.

My OCD with wiring is the result of having to chase down electrical problems in other people's rat-nest wire installations too many times at work - let alone my own early feeble attempts.

 

[CR-Venturer]

Pricey? More like painful. But I do really like them and I couldn't find anything else even remotely similar.

I've seen similar boxes designed for contractors that at least in terms of form and function are very similar, but much heavier I'm sure as they're made of metal, and also not modular like this system.

 

[TheBison]

I've seen similar boxes designed for contractors that at least in terms of form and function are very similar, but much heavier I'm sure as they're made of metal, and also not modular like this system.

I drive a work truck with the boxes you are talking about. They would work fine, but my wife deep-sixed them for style points. And they are heavy and ding easily.

 

[CR-Venturer]

I drive a work truck with the boxes you are talking about. They would work fine, but my wife deep-sixed them for style points. And they are heavy and ding easily.

Your wife let you buy a more expensive truck accessory because it looked cooler? Sounds like a keeper! lol

 

[TheBison]

Your wife let you buy a more expensive truck accessory because it looked cooler? Sounds like a keeper! lol

You have no idea!

 

[TheBison]

Did a bit more work this weekend and got some pics. I mentioned I had moved the WeBoost to the rack with a shorter mast so it didn't swing in the wind or on rough roads so badly. I also mounted rear facing white reverse and amber chase lights and got them wired in to the switch panel. You'll see the battery box temporarily mounted in the bed; once I decide I like it where it is it'll get mounted permanently.



Working indoors and continuing with the theme of modularity, I built a frame for the two 100 watt solar panels that will be going on top of the rack. The frame is made out of common 2040 aluminum extrusion and equally common hardware pieces that are compatible with it; I also added white, yellow, and red lights on 45 degree angle brackets to provide some outward-leaning camp lighting. The solar panels and lights are equipped with modular plugs (MC4 and waterproof color-coded Anderson Powerpoles, respectively) so that once the entire frame assembly is bolted to the top of the rack all of the electrical connections can simply be plugged in to pre-run wiring harnesses.

 

[TheBison]

Got the solar panels and storage box mounted to the top of the rack and wired up all of the lights and panels.





I also mounted a 10 gallon water tank on the passenger side for weight distribution, but I ran the fill tube up high onto the driver's side so that it (and the upcoming shore power connection) would be on the usual side for RV/campground hookups. The fill tube goes to a simple 1.5" PVC fitting with screw cap, and the whole assembly is supported with a length of aluminum angle channel hanging from some all-thread rod and hose clamps from the rack. The tube has been covered with black loom tubing since these photos were taken to protect the tube from UV and hide the color. The tank vent tube goes to a small filter run up towards the top of the rack, and the discharge is plumbed to a spigot mounted on the back of the Decked drawer frame.

 

[TheBison]

Had the front bumper disassembled this week for some surgery! I removed the front center section and painted it AEV black to match the rest of the AEV bumper instead of the stock silver color, and I talked my friend Rich @WJ Overland into making a welded hoop with an antenna mount for an Alamosa Antenna GMRS Australian-style antenna. I liked the look of the optional AEV bumper hoop but I couldn't get over the fact that they charge over $400 for what is basically a replacement center section (that I already own) with a few dollars of tubing welded on. That, and their hoop wouldn't accommodate the Hella lights we have and doesn't have an antenna mount. This hoop uses the factory bumper hardware with mounting plates holding the hoop and just bolts right on. It looks so much better than stock, protects the lights since it is designed to be out in front of them a bit, and I have a soft spot for Australian overlanding style - hence the antenna. The pictures show the antenna leaning at an angle, but in reality is is completely vertical.

 

[TheBison]

So, I haven't posted in forever! We finished up the mods and then hit the road to the Pacific Northwest in early June and really didn't slow down after that. So... here's where things stand.

Just before we started our trip I finished installing an Ironman tilting fridge slide for our Iceco fridge/freezer. This has worked out really well!

 

[TheBison]

Later in the summer, I added fuel storage back on. We had carried 2x Rotopax on the old rack; in this new configuration, we now have a 4 gallon Rotopax and 5 gallon Wavian on the Rig'd swingout. The Rotopax still leaks like a sieve sometimes (I have replaced the spout and gasket multiple times) and I am dissapointed in some of the rust showing up already in some non-wear areas of the Wavian but at least it doesn't leak at all.

 

[TheBison]

We don't always bring our trailer, so we upgraded our tentage for when we're roughing it on tougher trails. We have a Gazelle tent (love it) and a Slumberjack awning and screen room. We will always prefer the trailer but when the planned route is above about a moderate rating, we want to travel light and fast, or if there are no other trailers in the group, we like having another option.

 

[TheBison]

Now it comes down to winter projects. Upgrades include:

• AEV snorkel with cyclone intake
• AEV transmission skid
• Hood solar panel from Lensun for start battery trickle charging
• LED fog lights to replace stock halogen in the bumper

Additionally, we discovered a few things that need tweaks to work better:

• New Android tablet for navigation (our cheap $100 generic one we bought to try out Gaia a few years ago has worked but it has run its course, so it's time to go with a better model)
• Upgrade the wiring from the engine compartment to the Renogy 20A DC-DC charger (ran it with cheap 8 ga wire that in reality looks more like 10 ga at best and the voltage drop is unacceptable with a 25 foot wire run. Will be upgrading to quality 6 ga welding cable.)
• Upgrade wiring to the communications equipment under the back seat. When I ran 10 ga wire from the engine compartment to under the back seat all that was there was a 50W ham radio. Now there's a 15W Midland GMRS and a Weboost (which actually draws several amps when it's dealing with weak cell signals). This will probably be upgraded to 6 ga wire as well.

There's always the rearranging, reorganizing, and restocking to do as well. Plenty to keep me busy!

 

[Autism Family Travels]

Have a look at android head units. They are awesome if you get the right one.

 

[Autism Family Travels]

This is one option. I would recommend you go with the upgraded ram/rom on it too. Ours is low powered and you can tell when trying to get apps to fire up. But once it's running it's great.

OEM 9 inch Android 13.0 for 2017-2020 Chevy Chevrolet TrailBlazer S10 Colorado Isuzu D-MAX Dmax MU-X Radio with Bluetooth HD Touchscreen GPS Navigation System support Carplay DAB+ (seicane.com)

 

[TheBison]

This is one option. I would recommend you go with the upgraded ram/rom on it too. Ours is low powered and you can tell when trying to get apps to fire up. But once it's running it's great.

OEM 9 inch Android 13.0 for 2017-2020 Chevy Chevrolet TrailBlazer S10 Colorado Isuzu D-MAX Dmax MU-X Radio with Bluetooth HD Touchscreen GPS Navigation System support Carplay DAB+ (seicane.com)

Are you running this actual unit? I've heard mixed results with the Android head units. Some love them, others not so much...