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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Is my buddy smarter than I?

    This is why I wired up an A / B / A+B selector switch for roof solar / rear solar when I re-wired for lithium, so that if my roof was shaded it didn't draw down the voltage of the rear portable panel.
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    Yes, the B2B controls charging from both the alternator and the shore power. The idea here (as I understand it) is that if you plug an "unlimited" source of ~13.5V (charging voltage) into the lithium batteries, they will pull in too much amperage too quickly, damaging themselves. The B2B is...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    The IOTA is a converter/charger. Our AC outlets only work when plugged into shore power. This doesn't really bother us, as we don't use any AC appliances while camping anyhow. I'm afraid I don't know what extra wiring Nick was referring to. I didn't have to alter any of the AC side wiring for...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    Thanks. Yeah I hope it solves my capacity issues once and for all. Off-grid camping in dense shady forests was pretty dicey before.
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    They are 12V batteries in parallel.
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    And here's the shot of it all (almost) put back together. And the batteries in their new home, snug as a bug: It's alive! We took it out for a shakedown this past weekend. I am really excited by just how well this stuff worked. The MPPT captured an impressive amount of energy in...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    First I removed the Zamp solar controller. Since the new solar controller is not exterior-facing, I later re-used the slot that the Zamp was installed in to mount the blue sea switch. Then came out the battery separator: And this circuit breaker got re-position to make some room: It's hard...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    To begin the project, I pulled off the lid to the cabinet where the electronics are stored. This is no easy job, as it is screwed in from inside the cabinet. Tricky to do. There are fuses inside this cabinet too! Good thing one of them never went, I never would have found it. Once inside, I was...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    And now for the big one. Over the past season, we started having a number of electrical problems. Basically, the batteries were holding less and less charge, to the point where we could barely go a day without full blazing sun or hours of driving without losing the voltage overnight to the point...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    Next mod was to add airbags and onboard air. This one was a bit out of my skill range so I had a local 4x4 shop do it. I found that I needed the airbags for the new 35" tires to clear the aluminum flatbed's skirt. I don't really like the design of the AlumLine flatbed: un-necessary clearance...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    I love'm so far. I have about 10k miles on them, wear seems minimal, but of course that's not a ton of mileage.
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    Got some new shoes for her. Replaced the stock tires with Toyo Open Country RT 285/75R18, effectively 35", up from stock 33" New wheels too 'cause they look cool :D
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    The stock USB outlets that FWC installs in these campers are complete garbage. Twice these things shorted and tripped their fuse, so I picked up some blue sea fast charge 3.8-amp outlets. This was an easy replacement, and while I was at it I mounted a hacksaw-modified junction box behind them...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    Hi all. Sorry for the lapse in updating this thread. But fear not - I haven't stopped using or improving the camper. Time to catch up! First up is my all-time most cost-effective mod: A paint stick mounted to a scrap angle bracket to create a brace for holding the bed up when rummaging through...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Side solar plug polarity

    I have a multimeter but my camper is 1,500 miles away and I'm trying to put this together before I fly back to it... Oh. right. well, when you put it that way it does seem obvious. Thanks!
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Side solar plug polarity

    I picked up the Flexopower atacama 79 to add some extra solar to my rig. It comes with anderson gray connectors, so I snipped one off and picked up an SAE connector wire to make a pigtail out of. That's when I realized that I don't know the polarity of the solar plug on the camper. Anyone know...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    The bunk bed is holding up just fine, those cam-o-bunks are built very sturdy. At first I had it sized a bit too tight and driving with it up caused some chafing on the curtains. I took off 1-2 cm and now it's just fine. It's a bit of a chore to set up and tear down, so we tend to keep it up...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West wind noise while driving with truck camper?

    Fresh off of 10 days in mine, this topic looms large for me. Wind noise in my setup (Ram 3500 + flatbed Hawk) is pretty substantial. Now, it's certainly not so bad that you can't enjoy a podcast, but its very noticeable. Maybe. Hard for me to compare. I think the larger frontal area of the...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West 2015 Ram Back Up Camera

    I ended up doing the LB conduit body mod as well. Thanks for the great idea! Here's my write-up.
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    Nothing like the pressure of a big trip to get stuff done! This rig is heading out for 8 weeks today! When I got the truck converted to a flatbed, the guys who put the bed on re-mounted the stock back-up camera into the skirt of the flatbed, pointing straight out. This wasn't great, for two...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    rando - what is that mounted on yours, an antenna?
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Hawk Flatbed Build Thread

    For my next mod, I shamelessly borrowed this wonderful idea from elmo_4_vt: making a rear rack out of 80/20 extruded aluminum. Wow, this stuff is fun to work with. I need to think of more excuses to use it. Here's a shot of the finished product: Thanks again to elmo_4_vt for the idea! I had...
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Ram alternator fires

    Yikes! The recall says 2007-2013 Ram 2500 and 3500 may be affected.
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Random FWC Photos

    At the Echo Summit sno-park.
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    RV LIFE Forum Hub, Wander The West Trasharoo

    I might have to steal this idea for my rig. Mounting stuff on the back is my next project. Did you drill through your tools to mount them to the 80/20?
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