Made Some Progress

Bretly I think we make our own “luck.” If I see that the tires are threadbare or dry-rotted I’ll replace the tires before a long trip - my chances of a flat or blowout are much less. If the cooling system is losing fluid I’ll get it fixed - my chances of an overheated engine or blown head gasket are much less. It’s very well proven that a well-maintained vehicle, common sense, and attention to detail go a long way in avoiding breakdowns.

Again, we make our own “luck.”

@Axel - I certainly agree with your statement and I religiously maintain my rides and their records, but things however well maintained can only last so long before entire replacements are needed. Also maintenance, doesn’t prevent both tires blowing out because someone in front of you did not properly secure their tools.

Bretly, yes of course you can’t forsee everything, and as you stated nothing lasts forever (don’t buy a van with 200K+ miles and expect nothing to go wrong). But we can avoid many things that some people see as unavoidable if we think ahead and pay attention. I spent decades maintaining and repairing airplanes, and that kind of thinking kept them from falling out of the sky.

There are many things one can do to avoid everything from inconvenience to outright disaster. Paying attention to one’s driving and the road in front of you for example, may prevent you from running over something that could puncture a tire. Accidents are quite easily avoided with proper training, experience, and attention to the circumstances constantly unfolding all around you. I’m bewildered by how drivers, especially here in the US, don’t look far enough ahead of them and get surprised by something I’ve noticed from a mile away. I learned to drive in Germany, have held a CDL, and have ridden motorcycles for 40 years, and my biggest culture shock upon returning is the absolute ineptness of most American drivers.

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Greetings!

That’s one reason I prefer pre-computerized vehicles. Mechanical stuff will often give you fair warning of upcoming problems, while electronics just die without warning.

Cheers!


"The only place where health, wealth, money, success,
or happiness comes before work is in the dictionary."
~ Rubber Tramp



All-mechanical vehicles have gone the way of the dinosaur, and in my experience the newer cars have proven to be more reliable. For many things, with an engine code reader (decent ones are around $30 on eBay), it’s fairly easy to diagnose problems. Fuel injection is incredibly simple and reliable compared to carbs once you know how it works, and components in newer cars last much longer, reducing the number of breakdowns.

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Following the ball joints and tie rod ends the van needed an alignment. For this I let the professionals with their alignment rack do the job. Today I’ll mount the solar panel on the roof, and maybe the mounting tube for the awning.

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Installed the solar panel and awning. Still need to connect the solar panel, as well as run the wiring and switches for the lights and fans.

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Which panels for your decide to use?

I used a 150-watt HQST panel and a Morningstar SS20L controller. Battery is an Interstate 110 amp AGM type. Will use it to run a couple small fans, LED lights, device charging, and maybe a radio.

Today I connected the battery and solar panel to the charge controller - So now the panel is charging and maintaining the battery. Still left to do for the electrical system is: connect fans and lights, connect the inverter, and secure the battery. Was getting too hot outside to continue working. I purposely got a small inverter (300 watt sine wave) to limit the size of AC appliances that myself, the other half, or friends bring along.

Connected the vent fans today. I installed a hi-lo switch on one of the fans by running a resistor across a switch in series with the positive lead, but the 50 ohm resistor is too much; ran too slow (barely at all). When I get a chance I’ll place another 50 ohm resistor in parallel to bring it down to 25 ohms, which should do the trick.

Also picked up some lumber to extend the legs on the futon frame to make it high enough to store things underneath.

Tomorrow my plan is to install the awning storage tube on the rack. I made it from a 10’ section of 6" PVC with a cap glued at the front and a threaded plug at the rear. It should have enough room for the awning and 3 sections of awning frame. Will drill holes in the bottom and up 45 degrees for drainage/ventilation. When it gets too hot to work outside tomorrow I’ll make a trip to the electronics supplier for more convoluted tubing and wire harness hangers so I can finish wiring the lights.

I think you might want to double your battery bank capacity. Large banks are definitely the way to go, though you might want to wait till the electric is finished.

What did you make the awning from?

I don’t see myself using more than about 10 to 30 amps a day, which a 110 amp battery should easily handle. It’s for camping trips, not living in more than a few weeks at a time. If I start adding appliances, then I’ll add more solar and battery.

The awning is made from canvas.

Rooftop awning storage.
image0 23 image1 8

Greetings!

Be careful that the awning storage doesn’t shade the solar panels…

Cheers!


"A cheap factory camper van or motorhome will save
you money both now and later." ~ TruthMatters


I thought of that. The sun would have to be down to about 20-25 degrees above the horizon for it to start to shade, and by that time the panel isn’t very effective anyway. The pictures make it look closer.

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Almost finished with the electrical system. Connected the LED interior lights today. Left to do is install a grounding strap on the battery and install the inverter.

Should probably make up some window coverings too.

Once that’s done I’ll work on modifying my futon to work in the van and install a folding table/shelf connected to the wall. Then I'll change all the fluids and we'll take it on a weekend camping trip to test it out!

Greetings!

Sounding good, I’ve been following your postings and love them!

Cheers!


"Always avoid expensive solutions to cheap problems." ~ OffGrid


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All done except for the futon.

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Some photos of the completed van: https://forum.projectvanlife.com/t/it-is-done/5246/2