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After driving nearly 8000 miles on a month long cross country trip in June of 2018, I took a slight detour to the Steens in Oregon. Both my 2 boys and my wife agreed that it's more breath taking than the Grand Canyon. It was the end of June and I knew the weather would be nice. Not much snow...

Front Runner had a Black Friday blow-out deal on Wolf Packs for $35 each and free shipping. I hit my pain threshold from carrying flimsy budget plastic storage containers. Seems like every summer, the sciatic nerve in my back flares up in raging pain from carrying the long black Sterilite...

I want to share my latest success on my 320 Watt solar project for my E350 camping van. More Photos forthcoming. 3 years ago I used at CTEK D250 S dual battery isolator connected to a Lifeline 80 amp battery. I have an ARB 60 quart freezer running off the battery. The CTEK was not...

I am buying a 30 amp charge controller on Amazon and gives the options to buy "negative grounded". I am using the charge controller with 2 Renogy 160 watt panels in series. Do I buy the negative grounded charge controller? Here is the link to the chare controller product on Amazon.

I need a ladder to access the solar panel and cargo box on my E350 van. I mounted a solar panel and cargo box on our E350. The cargo box stores chairs, mosquito tent, sleeping pads, and other lightweight bulky gear. Works great...except it's hard to reach. I stepped on the tires last year to...

I bought an ARB 60 liter fridge freezer and knew little about powering it. I bought a CTEK D250 S dual battery isolator to charge an 80 ah Lifeline AGM battery while driving. It worked fantastic for 3 out of 4 weeks on a camping trip to British Columbia. On the way back, it would not keep my...

I have what I think is an awesome combined solar and vehicle alternator charging system. However, it failed me miserable. I have a Lifeline AGM 80 ah battery connected to the CTEK D250s battery isolater and charger. I connected the Ford auxiliary 12 volt charging circuit directly to the CTEK...

I came across this Roofnest in February and it seems like another great RTT. The Roofnest is similar to many small vendors taking advantage of American ingenuity and and inexpensive Chinese manufacturing. I have not purchased an RTT yet. My 3 Obstacles To Buying An RTT Expensive...

I have an extended E350 passenger van that we use for cross country camping trips and family passenger van. We use 6 10 gallon storage bins for packing most of our camping gear and food in. I have been actively searching for a simple slide out solution for accessing the storage bins without...

Last January I started planning a family cross country trip in my newly acquired E350 PSD with 780,000 mile on the clock. I replaced worn out items like ball joints, brakes, camber bushings, and all all the filters. Everything was ready to go except for the AC when I left the end of May. I...

Our family of four is gearing up for a 5 week adventure from California to Kentucky & back. My kids are 13 and 15. It's 11th year of family camping road trips and each year gets better. We started camping in a 1991 Honda Accord wagon. Moved on to a 1999 Subaru Outback wagon the next year and...

I am looking for a good quality basic wire crimping kit for connecting the ends of the wiring from the charge controller to the solar panel on the roof of van. I am also going to solder a 4 ft length of 12 awg wire to the house battery from an auxiliary Ford trailer battery circuit. I need to...

I have a 12 volt battery box that my friend and I built for my E150 van and I want to move it back and forth to my E350 extended diesel van. I found the 40 amp auxiliary trailer battery wire and I want to tap into it for charging my house battery. I am looking for some sort of t soldered t...

Northwest van trip via California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alberta, & BC Last summer I loaded up or E150 Ford van for an adventure road trip to the Canadian Rockies. The trip started from the Bay Area in California. The drive through California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and...

After months of research and spending too much time thinking about a dual battery set up, I decided on the CTEK D250S as the isolator as it was almost idiot proof to install. It charges the battery with a real charge controller rather than relying on the alternator. It has a built in charge...

Found this Ford E150 van on Craigslist in the Bay Area. Nice set up and excellent condition. It can be put to immediate use. It has the fuel efficient v6. Owned by a professional golfer. It's priced on the high side. KBB value is $1500. The bed set up is worth hundreds. The shelves are...

My wife and I are planning a 3 week road trip from the Bay Area in California to Tennessee and back this July 2015. I traveled the Appalachian and Ozarks as a kid, but never as an adult. I do remember that the evenings were hot. We traveled a lot of back roads in the Ozarks and Appalachian...