GEN 2 2019 Overlanding Build

BroncoAZ said:

I’ve run an ARB 55 quart and now a 37 quart for the past 3.5 years. I had decent luck running it off the main battery in my Touareg on all but the hottest of days, but not so much luck on the Outback with the tiny stock battery. My Passat has a second battery, group 31 AGM, that works perfect for up to 4+ days without driving the car depending on the ambient temps. In Phoenix summers it goes for about 4 days without killing the battery, winter time it can go 7+ days easily.

I would recommend a second battery, but I may try it for a couple weeks without. My use is different, I use mine for long range commuting for 3-5 days at a time. The truck generally gets driven at least 30 minutes per day. The stock battery in the Raptor is pretty good sized, so it may be ok without a second battery. I don’t want to mount a second battery in the bed, so I need to explore other options. Maybe a small secondary battery or even a pair of secondaries wired in parallel. I was thinking I might be able to remove the stock jack and fit a battery(or batteries) behind the seat. I use a blue sea automatic charging relay to separate the secondary from the main.

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chuckycastle said:

Been talking to the wife a bit regarding the whole fridge/cooler/battery situation. I’ve been eyeing that 73qt ARB Zero and figured I’d go solar with deep cycle since I, too, wouldn’t wanna touch main with it.

My Guatemalaness keeps me from wishing I had more clearance under the tent (I’m 5’7”, wife’s 4’11”) and my lack of storage space makes me REALLY like the 10” rack which lets me continue to drive into parking structures.

I, too, am finding that the additional weight and drag aren’t terrible; happy to hear it from you since I figured I may have just been telling myself that.

In my ideal setup, I’d have half the bed slide out with the fridge and prep on it while I use the other half of the tailgate for the stove. That’ll be a bit more weight so we’ll see how it goes.

What’s the longest you’ve gone out for before needing a refit?

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amREADY said:

That all sounds great. As much as the 73 space would be nice, I am glad I am using the 55qt for size/weight. Sometimes, I'll bring another cooler for drinks etc and freeze the ice or icepack for it in the main cooler.

I've gone for over a week, but can run indefinitely pending water and food and fuel for cooking if there is a fire ban. I can either quickly top up the aux by idling the truck (which I try to avoid) or have a 120W flat folding solar or just bought a little 20w trickle charge solar I can stick to the outside or inside of a window or hang / lay wherever. Not enough to keep up with the fridge but better than a kick in the head. And I can connect to my main battery too - added a direct outlet in my glove box - so I can just leave it on my dash to keep the main topped up to counteract the alarm, misc lights used when camping, etc.

I've been getting a lot of super specific questions about my build, so need to do up some blogs or youtubes... it's on my list. Happy to share whatever helps.

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amREADY said:

That all sounds great. As much as the 73 space would be nice, I am glad I am using the 55qt for size/weight. Sometimes, I'll bring another cooler for drinks etc and freeze the ice or icepack for it in the main cooler.

I've gone for over a week, but can run indefinitely pending water and food and fuel for cooking if there is a fire ban. I can either quickly top up the aux by idling the truck (which I try to avoid) or have a 120W flat folding solar or just bought a little 20w trickle charge solar I can stick to the outside or inside of a window or hang / lay wherever. Not enough to keep up with the fridge but better than a kick in the head. And I can connect to my main battery too - added a direct outlet in my glove box - so I can just leave it on my dash to keep the main topped up to counteract the alarm, misc lights used when camping, etc.

I've been getting a lot of super specific questions about my build, so need to do up some blogs or youtubes... it's on my list. Happy to share whatever helps.

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amREADY said:

The Dometic PLB 40 is probably the way to go in terms of capacity, weight, versatility, etc.

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BroncoAZ said:

That looks like a nice setup, but I think the dual battery setup I’l looking at will cost half as much.

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Vegas_Sirk said:

Yea I would love to see a full write up on whats involved as I was thinking of adding solar set up to power camp lights and a fridge.

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desertfox73 said:

Looks great. With added weight, do you notice any droop in the rear suspension, or did you address that somehow?

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