1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

LMAO! Casey, you have an endearing quality about you, and I mean that in the most respectful way.

 

I'm just cheap & willing to learn. I'll either get it right eventually, or mess it up so bad that i have to pay an adult.

 

Lol. I get it. Or, you have friends willing to lend a hand where you fall short and help you. That's what friends are often for, no?

 

x2, 3.5 for me

 

I just did mine a week ago and probably got similar results. I just simply followed Toyotas specs and all is well.

 

Don't park that nice rig under failing infrastructure!!!
But seriously read the recommended thread, it will tell you all you need to know. Lower ball joints and timing belt being some of the top priorities.

So how was the fishing?

 

GA is also pretty lackluster in the union department. I think the only union that we have here is the IBEW, but there could be some others. GA is a "right to work" state, but we don't even have to be given a lunch break here. Most places of employment do give you a lunch break, but they don't have to. Atlanta is booming and GA is growing more and more each year and we have a pretty big footprint in the movie industry because of our tax breaks. Hell, they just demolished the old GM plant down here and turned it into a massive movie studio.

 

Was waiting for this to hit $200 again but it looks like this maybe be as low as it will go without the membership.

20 Ton Shop Press

 

i’m about due for a new one. My old HF 20 ton press doesn’t quite work the same after i used it to replace my wheel bearings. They were that tight.

 

I'm pretty OCD, so starting to work on my vehicles always sort of scared me since it was unknown territory. I've always been pretty comfortable fabricating from scratch mostly metal and wood, but I think the constraints of vehicles kind of scared me off. But I started to realize that a lot (not all) of it is nuts and bolts, and began to work on stuff myself. Whenever I start a project on a vehicle, I always say to myself "What is the percentage chance that I mess this up?" It's usually 10-20%. But I'm usually saving 50-75% over paying someone else to do it. So now I take the gamble every time. Only thing I ever had to surrender on so far was my wife's AC in her Odyssey (which coincidentally continues to be a problem). Big gamble coming up with the suspension, but I'm gonna roll the dice again! I'm doing it with a buddy of mine who has done a lot of work on trucks, so I figure two idiots can probably figure it out.

 

It’s was great, I live down here on the gulf of Mexico so I’m always fishing and camping. Caught enough trout to try em on the fire

 

Does anyone have a camping setup with a solar system? I’ve looked at a few and I honestly have no idea what I’m looking at. I just need it to power a couple of small lights and charge a couple small cameras. Any suggestions?

 

i'm in that same rabbit hole. Theres lots of videos out there to muddy the waters. I havent bought a panel or charge controller yet, but i got the cheapest 100ah 12v lithium battery & 2kw inverter (inverter isnt neccesary if you can run everything off 12v) i could find & have been pretty impressed with its performance. It'll keep my fridge running for a week, and even ran a portable air conditioner for a few hours @ 750w.


I havent added a vent in my battery box yet, but taking the lid off keeps everything cool enough for heavy loads. I can leave the lid on for the 45-60w the fridge uses.

 

Many different ways to skin a horse with solar and battery banks, no one-size-fits-all setup really. Portable foldable panels versus hard mounted panels, are the hard panels going to be mounted on the truck? Hard mounted on the truck will make it where you can't park in the shade.

Normal 12v battery? Is the normal 12v that's tied into the vehicle's outlets somehow? If not, you'll have to wire up outlets or get a battery box. Is the 12v battery going to be a typical flooded one or a LiFePo4? LiFePo4 is the bees-knees for offgrid/camping. LiFePo4 voltage remains constant as it is discharged and can be discharged lower than 50% without damaging them, unlike flooded batteries.

Or a 12v battery bank with a built in inverter such as Anker/ Jackery? These will be much more user friendly and ready to plug in a solar panel right out of the box. Also available in LiFePo4.

Sounds like you have a light load, but are you going to want to set it up for faster charging off the truck when it's running? (Most of my charging is done off the truck and the solar is just supplementary)

Does everything you're wanting to charge charge via DC or will you need an inverter to get AC power?

How many watts or amps do your devices draw? For example, if your devices draw 100 watts DC and you leave them plugged in for an hour (assuming they don't reach full charge), you will drain ~100Wh (watt hour) from your battery (equal to 8.3Ah - amp hour). If the battery was at 88 Ah (1056Wh), this will bring it down to approximately 80aH or 956 wH. This ties into battery type again; an 88aH flooded battery won't be able to use the full 88aH available while a LiFePo4 can. This is rough math and there's a few more variables, but helpful for determining how big of a battery you need.

Just some of the questions to consider. I have a battery bank with a 24v DC-to-DC charger, and two 100watt foldable panels for when I'm parked; it works for me, may not work for you.

 

I’ve been looking at these, I think they might work. I thought about it and these seem to be the easiest one to work with for me.

 

Son of a bitch

 

For a few lights and recharging things, that might do, but that's a super low storage capacity IMO. You'll be charging it off of the truck all the time if you're using it constantly and aiming to get it to full capacity. If you add a fridge or something else later on, that won't be enough for it.

And that panel is rated at 21 watts with a 23% conversion efficiency. It'll probably provide closer to 16 watts under ideal conditions and best placement. Even then it will take over 5.5 hours to bring the bank from 0 to a full charge.

 

Awe crap, heard something cracking in the steering wheel on a turn, wheel stiffened up and now my airbag light is on.

 

Sweet.

 

That’s weird. Hopefully you’re not at risk of it accidentally deploying.

 

Made it home. Was worried about that too. Guessing airbag wires cut loose from the plug or maybe the plug somehow got loose and got crushed on the turn.

Good news is I have a weekend project now

 

Not seeing any visible damage…

 

Today is the day for my annual truck cleaning.


any cons to staining polo's plywood platform? How long does it take for stain to quit stinking?

 

Sheiiiiiit I'd kill a man for $30/hr, home boy

 

That's why I keep Casey around

We work well together, because he usually knows how to do what I don't, or knows a better way to do what I think I know.
Plus he works for beer.

 

Right to work is a joke. TX is also right to work. More like a right to fire you over anything, pay you dogshit, make you work holidays while already on OT but only pay 1.5x$, etc... or if you're in the movie industry (including theatres) you get zero OT ever.

 

you need any measurements for the rear platform while i have it out?


its only 4' wide so i have access to both cubbies.

 

I work on commission, so I have never seen overtime pay. My pay depends on how many people wreck their vehicles and drop off with me for repairs. December is usually always very slow.

 

80 hours & 2 weeks per diem. Contact for further info.