@hota and I were talking about electrical, and he suggested I use Xt60 connectors for power distribution. I had to try it. So far I like them much better than any other connectors I’ve seen.
This is the point in the process where having even partially modeled the GFC frame and my extrusion frame starts to pay off. Making accessories is fast and easy.
One of these Xt60 ports is now routed to the back of the truck bed. It powers the Dometic and the lighting. I still have multiple ports to route around for powering other devices.
Nice! I have access to 3 printers at work… if you are willing to share some of your STLs. lol.I think having my spare power bank and sleeping stuff that ill access alot, would be awesome to have it up in a rack like that.
Got my water intrusion fixes done yesterday at GFC Orange County. Kyle did great work, and fast. In and out. Hilariously, halfway through the service we started having downpours here in Southern California.
I saw a new camper there, this is what the new parts look like on the latch side:
Here’s what the fixes look like on my Dec/Jan 22 V2 on the hinge side - simple and straightforward.
I also cut up the old 3rd brake light and made this horrible cap to cover the holes. I had to cut the connector off in order for the cap to fit. Kyle was extremely kind and helped me get the camper out of the way so I could install this. Five star service and much appreciated.
Picture makes it even uglier than it is, and it’s ugly.
Electro-optical upgrades all over. Fixed the tail lights, replaced marker lights with LEDs, got environmental lights in dash working again, replaced license plate lights… optics and LEDs everywhere.
I have a Thinkware F800 pro dashcam - it’s more than paid for itself, as I’ve been rear-ended twice and both times the other person lied. After installing the GFC, the rearview cam was still mounted in the cab, meaning I had no rear view. Finally moved it back to the topper. Cable was just long enough.
I was not real happy with my backup camera, but I had come to rely on it. I decided to try a replacement. I added a Wolfbox G930 (rear view mirror dashcam) as a backup camera. I have it fully installed like a real dashcam, and on all the time, but I’m using it as an always-on rearview mirror. Not sure I like it yet.
Much better image quality and field of view than my old camera. I did have to buy the WDR rear camera, the one that came with the 930 sucks, and also 6 foot extension cable to get it wired in.
I have to say I made at least one mistake involving this mirror. I did not connect the red reverse sensor wire. My thinking was that the red wire was superfluous since I always use it in mirror mode. However without this wire connection, the reverse lines do not appear on the display. This might not sound like much, but there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between looking at a screen and a mirror - you get no depth information from the mirror.
I plan to hack this mirror to have the red reverse wire connected all the time, so that the lines display all the time. I also plan to add a small, optical rearview mirror.
Continuing my saga of making really bad and expensive electrical decisions:
Goal Zero 1000x has failed for the second time (this is my second unit). It’s a POS. Can’t take the heat, can’t take the cold (only good to 30F/104F) – I did not see this when purchasing.
Second Sunpower flexible panel has spontaneously failed. I wouldn’t ever buy another flexible panel for roof mounting purposes. I would only buy hard panels and hard mount them 1" from the honeycomb surface.
After reading many complaints about goalzero and a few other makes, I went with Ecoflow Delta 2 and haven’t had a single problem. Granted, I haven’t put it through any extreme temps though. I have a small dual-fuel generator I can run for less than an hour and completely charge the Delta 2, but I like it enough that I’m planning on buying either another Delta 2, or the Delta 2 Max as I keep adding things that require power.
Also, my Delta 2 came as a package deal with the 220W Solar Panels and I’ve liked not having hard-mounted solar panels so I can occasionally loan them to my son or use them around the house/remote cabin.
I have only heard of issues with the Goal Zero stuff. I use Jackery and havent had any issues yet with both cold and heat. Like stated above the Eco Flow seems to be a very hot pick right now. Might be worth checking out.
So jazzed to have done this walkaround with GFC last year - finally published! Most things in the truck have since been upgraded, so this is like a time capsule of my build.
Yep, that’s a custom bracket. Two people asked so I’m planning on printing up a small batch of them for availability in the next few weeks. The brackets I made fit the wide/HDR camera, not sure about the other camera.
I have a really long answer to this that will come later.
Short answer -
provides good situational awareness
I would only get it with the wide angle, WDR camera
it straps right over the mirror, no problems there
I made my own camera mount for the back, did not like the stock mount at all
I find myself still wanting a mirror because it breaks assumptions (like changing your head position does not change angle of view, the mirror does not reflect your face). it took me quite a while to really understand what the camera image meant
helped a lot with telling if i could back out of a parking spot
My plan is to make a small mirror that goes underneath.
I ended up using a GFC bracket as I needed it to tilt down. I’ll post a picture tomorrow. I wanted it to look over my RIGD tire carrier. It does a decent job, but I realize it would have to be on an “arm” so it could look down at a better angle than it does now.
Any updates on the Airtabs? Did you install them? I think it would be great to have a dedicated thread about them, it is too hard scrolling through all your GFC build posts. Thanks
Hey John, I didn’t end up getting further with that project, though it is still on my mind. The reason is that I ended up installing elevated beef bars and solar on the roof, and I figured that would negate any benefits of the airtabs on my very small rig.
Sorry that the forum format is unwieldy, if I start another aero investigation, I’ll consider a new thread. 136 posts here is certainly a lot of posts.
Yesterday the PL5050 failed me. On the back of the lock cylinder is a cam mechanism that locks the tailgate. It’s pretty light duty, but the real problem is that there’s a socket head cap screw that holds the whole thing together.
If this cap screw loosens, the whole mechanism stops working. In my case it stopped with the tailgate permanently locked.
The good news is that after removing my tailgate plywood and metal cover on the inside of the gate, I was able to remove the PL5050, remove the screw, and apply red loctite to the screw so it can no longer work its way out.
Hopefully I get another year or two from this latch.
For what it’s worth, I was able to copy the new Polaris-type key used on the upgraded bidirectional compression latches for V2 (not the new Pro latches) The blank my locksmith used was:
GFC recommends checking the bed clamp bolts every so often, I also recommend checking these corner braces. Mine loosened up after about a year of heavy use on fire roads plus daily driving.
