Introduction and Beginning our Adventure

[loren85022]

I agree with buck kill.. Living in AZ we camp in the shade. Perm roof solar does us little. So we learned from experience, a semi-portable panel and 30' of cord is the trick. Very easy to reposition.

[BroncoHauler]

Keep in mind that mounted solar panels are also great for keeping your batteries charged when the vehicle is not being driven. Lots of little voltage drains over a couple of weeks start to add up.

Of course if you have a garage big enough to hold your SMB, solar won't help.


Herb

[travelguy2500]

Some great comments and ideas here. My final floorplan was very similar to many of your ideas and I've detailed the plan with pics in my post viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8278&start=0

Happy to send more pics if you want and, if you are ever in upstate NY (Rochester), feel free to visit the unit in person.

[danhtran1143]

Originally Posted by buckkiller

I would wait on installing solar power until you've taken a few trips, I've had mine out this winter on some extended fishing trips with no shortage of power.
Buck

Thanks Buck. When you say no shortage of power, are you referring to only using the primary or main battery. In other word, no secondary battery system.

[danhtran1143]

Originally Posted by travelguy2500

Some great comments and ideas here. My final floorplan was very similar to many of your ideas and I've detailed the plan with pics in my post viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8278&start=0

Happy to send more pics if you want and, if you are ever in upstate NY (Rochester), feel free to visit the unit in person.

Great for visual Travelguy. Just what I needed. Question on your rear passenger side bumper rack. Looks like the same one i want for carrying bikes on top. Looks like you also have an open pan or tray with it. I have the same tray and want to add the rack. They informed me the tray I have will not fit and to replace the whole system. What are the dimensions of your tray so to compare. This is what I currently have. Thank you.

[travelguy2500]

I currently have the entire swing arm (including the tray) disconnected from the van as I usually use the van to pull my Airstream trailer and I found the tray got in the way of the trailer when I needed to back-up my trailer and was afraid of damaging the trailer. I've attached a closeup picture of my setup with the swing arm, tray, and the bars on top which were designed to allow to attach a Thule bike rack.

My tray is at my office so, when I get back next week (I'm on the road through wed), I'll measure and post the dimensions.

I'm not using the right swing arm/tray/bike rack extensions and may be interested in selling them to you if they fit your setup.

Kenny as Aluminess was great to deal with and could probably confirm if it will fit your setup.

[travelguy2500]

The tray is 21" long X 15.5" deep X 6.25" high

[danhtran1143]

Thanks for the dimensions. Looks like I will need to go to a completely different swing arm for the bike mount option. I also believe the tray can be removed and a box installed. Can anyone confirm. Any way to tell if these swing arms are interchangeable across the different model years. Might be worth giving Aluminess a call. Any idea how much it will cost to ship something like this to CA.

[surfgeek33]

You will need a brand new swing arm for the bike rack. Aluminess re-design the swing arm because of the weight of multiple bicycles. Instead of mounting them on top of the Deluxe Box, they made a whole new swing arm. Unfortunately, the standard box that come with the rear bumper will not work, because it is too long. The Aluminess swing arms are interchangeable. But make sure your bumper and the swing arm either have 2 or 3 hinge points. The old and the New Swing arms have 2 hinges and the others have 3.

[Gordo]

Originally Posted by danhtran1143

Questions: Do you recommend or is there a way to also do the solar system and batteries. It be nice to be able to use that and not worry about killing the main battery. Is there other alternatives to achieve the same thing, even if temporarily..

I'm new and not sure if it Ok to link to other forum but. here is a link that i found interesting regarding Solar alternatives. http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... hlight=agm

Read McZippie post on 12-06-2010, 07:50 AM the fallow from there....