I have plans to put it in a welded HDPE locker and vent it through the floor (propane is denser than air so it needs to vent through the floor). I have a propane + CO alarm on that back panel that will serve as a first line of defense. Hopefully it doesn’t kill me before then. I think the risk is relatively minimal.
The main concern is the propane regulator or check valves on the tank failing. The regulators have a vent port that has to face down to vent. If something fails, you want a containment and alarm system. Containment system alone will not help because the box will still go boom, but it will give you time to react if you have an alarm
I installed the alternator and decided to drive the AlCan to AK. Packed everything into the truck and headed out. Nothing like AK to give some cold weather testing. Today (Christmas) I crossed the border into AK. Still going strong, even with the cold and solo driving. I’m excited to keep making improvements and see how the GFC can be modified for better winter use. Planning on staying for a while.
It’s been a bit! I’m slowly going to post pics of all the changes I’ve made. Starting with roof stuff.
1- Starlink High Perf Flat dish. Works in AK when slid all the way forward on these rails. The 140 degree FoV interferes with the camper and you get noticeable dropouts every ~10min in AK
2- Chopped my Prinsu Habitat for the GFC with an angle grinder in about 10min. Less risk of slapping the camper on bumps. @jedgar - your drip rails fit again.
A note on GVW: I decided that I’m going to upgrade my entire suspension system and beef everything up to handle the extra weight. In the first post of this thread, I said I would never go above GVW, but I understand now that the limitation is mostly suspension. My new goal is to keep the rig under 6000lbs as a hard stop, and have a base “wet” weight of no more than 5800lbs. If I need to, I will do a brake upgrade to help with stopping distance.
I made a gRPC python library work on my raspberry pi that I have mounted in the truck. It queries GPS location of the starlink dish every 5 minutes and logs it to a private GitHub repository. It’s awesome because I can go back in a few months or years and make some pretty maps of all my travels! It’s already logged 1300 points.
Who knows if I’ll actually be able to see this massive project through, but here we go:
Tonight I laid out the plan for where I want to get to in the next year with my electrical system.
Location
First, most of the electrical system is moving to the cab. I weighed my truck with a bike on the back yesterday and had a rear axle weight of 1100 over stock when the truck was only 200 over GVW. This was a major wakeup call. On a DCSB tacoma, weight in the bed gets multiplied because most of the bed is behind the rear axle. I’m committed to this truck for the foreseeable future, so I need to move the ~175lbs of electrical gear into the cab and keep the bed floor space open.
A/C
Second, air conditioning is happening. Can’t live without it in the summers. That’s a big demand weight and electrical wise. I want to install the AC in the cab, and move the Propex plus propane tank into the cab (with a tank locker for safety). I’ve given up on the “stealth bed” concept. It adds too many constraints to this tiny truck.
Dual Battery
The thing that has always bugged me about dual battery setups from the start is that the AGM starter battery seems like dead weight, iirc it is 40lbs or so. I’d much rather simplify the system and allow the alternator to charge the LiFePo4 pack directly with direction from an external regulator. There’s not much space for extra alternators under the hood. Lithium starter batteries exist, but with 400Ah @ 12V I can easily start the truck and stay within the limits of the batteries I have. If the whole pack goes dead, two options: wait for some solar to charge the bank up, or jump start with a NOCO pack that I plan to keep on hand no matter what.
Modifying my alternator
Basically the idea is to take the internal regulator out of the alternator, and replace it with an external regulator that has sensors on the battery pack. The whole truck will start and run from my LiFePo4 pack. I’m planning to use the ARCO Zeus regulator. The modification process involves opening the back of the DC power engineering alternator, removing the LIN regulator, and adding wires to allow connection to the ARCO zeus regulator. The bigger issue is tricking the tacoma into thinking that all is well on the alternator. I may need to do some reverse engineering of the LIN protocol on my vehicle, but that’s not hard with my skillset.
Remote start
I don’t have the telematics module installed anymore for privacy reasons, so I will add my own remote starter and connect it to my network. I’ve got all sorts of fun automation tasks in mind.
People keep asking that question. I’m happy with the Tacoma and GFC, and I see a ton of untapped potential. Vans are bigger and more cumbersome (I know there are smaller ones) and lacking capability off-road. If I was going to switch platforms at this point, it would be to a bigger truck (F250 or F350) and a box on the back, but that’s getting out of the size I want. The point for me is to keep it small and nimble, so I can go just about anywhere I want. I’m having so much fun with this, why stop?
Totally fair! You also do so much exploring and I can see where the Tacoma thrives. A 4wd van is my next step I think. I don’t utilize the Jeep at all and it’s on road manners are so awful that the pros and cons don’t make sense for me. It’s cool to see everything you’re doing
I moved back to Austin for work in the last 2 weeks. I’ve come full-circle back to the GFC. I was looking for a bigger rig - based on an F-350 with a more spacious camper. I canned that idea when I made the decision to move back to Austin since I’m not full-timing in it. So here we are again. Time to get some projects done.
