2015 Subaru Outback - Expedition Retrofit

midlifecrisis

Observer
So question,
IS the 12v plugged into an existing factory plug?
I noticed that if I have the fridge into something with direct, thicker gauge wiring to the battery (I.E. the new wiring I did) vs OEM wiring, it is more efficient. It seems from my experience and others on this board, that the fridge acts like the voltage isn't there on some OEM wiring systems and basically just sits there, or doesn't turn on as it should etc etc. Its a hit and miss thing on my car. Some weekends it would work on OEM plugs, some weekends it wasn't that great.

As for the hose, im in the same boat. not sure how I want to extend my stuff out either

Like Michael said, maybe a simple catch basin would do the trick. I certainly don't want 20 feet of hose full of water all the time.

The 12V lead is direct to my house battery setup (through a fuse box) with 12ga wire so I wouldn't expect any issues with that. I chopped off the crappy connector and hard wired it.
The inverter is plugged into the OEM outlet in the center console.
Not sure what the issue is there, I'll have to keep an eye on it and maybe play with some things to try and isolate any issue. It seems like one of those lovely ghost in the machine things that I hate.
Someone along the way in this forum had said not to have it run through a fuse box but I wasn't excited about that....maybe I'll try it without and see. It's just weird how it wasn't working until I cycled the motor then everything was fine.
 

freshlikesushi

Free Candy
well that is quite interesting. You eliminated the issue that most had, and you have the same issue. Maybe it was just a glitch? Has it repeated itself that you know of?
 

midlifecrisis

Observer
well that is quite interesting. You eliminated the issue that most had, and you have the same issue. Maybe it was just a glitch? Has it repeated itself that you know of?

Nope, not yet.
I'm leaving again tomorrow for a long weekend with my folks on the Klamath river so we shall see if I have any more issues. Frig is in the car plugged into shore power until blast off tomorrow.

A follow up thought: thinking back, if anything it seems like it "catches" when switching between voltages. I'm not super deep on electrical so I'm not sure if that makes any sense whatsoever, but that seems to be when it goes into that weird "tween" stage where it's not cooling even though the readout is active.
 

midlifecrisis

Observer
Hey guys, it's been a while hasn't it? Life has a way of pushing on by in leaps and bounds while you're only sort of paying attention.

Hasn't been much going on with the build, although I've used it on several occasions for up to a week and had zero issues with it so far, including the refer which was the best choice I've made. Did a week in Banff, Canada last month and it was amazing to have full autonomy with no ice runs required. Just like the make it up and tear it down bed in a motor home, the ice runs are something that has always irritated me so I am VERY happy to be done with those.

I'm starting to contemplate tire upgrades because it's almost time to strip the factory rubber off and get some good traction devices. Still haven't decided if I want to go with a mid-range traction/freeway kinda tire, or go to a second set of tires/wheels completely so I can have a dedicated set with much more aggressive tread. Gotta remember I drive this thing everyday.

I did start carrying the spare on top in the cargo rack and have been pretty pleased with that. I fashioned a J bolt that makes popping it on and off of the rack very easy.
 

midlifecrisis

Observer
Oh, and I did get the switch setup, hot leads and all of that jazz for the house batteries to charge off of the alternator when driving. It's always interesting to explain to the oil change guys.

That whole setup has been rock solid....twin 6V house batt's charging off of the alternator and the refer working off of the inverter when under power, and then everything transitioning to the house batt's when parked. I've had zero issues with that and after a week in Canada I never saw the voltage drop below 13V with basic daily driving. No more stressing about drained batteries on the trailer or whatever sitting at the campground and perpetually cold food. Mission accomplished on that point.
 

midlifecrisis

Observer
I'm going to add some info on a little update project I undertook over the last week or so that Mr FlagRS will recognize....

I wanted to abandon the factory cross bar roof racks in favor of something much more stout and I don't like the Yakima Landing Pad method for a variety of reasons, so semi-inspired by another fellow over on the Outback forum, I decided to fashion some replacement mounts for directly attaching after market bars to the factory hard points. Previously I had my cargo basket attached to the factory rails and then Q-Towers and round bars attached to the top rails of the cargo basket (yep, they grab just fine and are very solid), with the kayak rack on the round bars. It worked just fine and felt reasonable, but the factory bars liked to flex with as much crap as I like to put up top and it never "felt" really warm and fuzzy. That combined with how tall of that was has always bugged me, so off to the laboratory.

IMG_2386.JPG

That is my adapter block.
The basic idea here was to remove the factory cross rails completely and fashion a mount that would attach to the factory tie down points. I don't think the way that Yakima decided to go with the Landing Pads makes sense. I'm sure it does to the marketing people, but to me they chose the weakest way of attaching to the car body when they could have chosen the much better tie down pads with positive beefy bolts (2) at every corner. Instead their system friction fits into two of the factory rail holes and attaches with a single screw at the other two (one of which is only an M6). I'm not a fan and the fact that it's all taller than it needs to be doesn't help.

So I went out into the world to find a suitable, inexpensive and easy way to attach something round to something square and came up with these motorcycle handlebar clamps that do a lovely job with a minimum of modification. These particular ones are very cheap because they are discontinued, so I got them for $5 a pair. The round is a little over sized (1-3/8" as opposed to 1-1/8" for the Yak bars) but I decided I liked having an 1/8" hard rubber gasket in there anyway for a variety of reasons, so all's well that ends well. They are essentially a prototype so I just wanted them to be functional and I can worry about pretty later once the theory is proved out.

IMG_2393.JPG
IMG_2395.JPG

I did some counter-bore work and ran them under my orbital sander for style points.
IMG_2399.JPG

This picture shows my block installed right next to the crappy little factory cross bar mounting point that Yakima uses for the Landing Pad system. One M6 shoulder bolt!
IMG_2406.JPG

I chose to leave the factory tie down points in place under my adapter blocks because I like having those there.

IMG_2403.JPG

With the bike rack installed outboard of the attachment points....nice to reach.
IMG_2407.JPG

Cargo basket and the bike rack.
IMG_2411.JPG

It is rock solid, way better than the factory bars, a very "permanent" attachment and really not a big deal to remove. You can reach the lower mounting bolts without having to dismantle the upper bits, so the whole thing can come off as a unit with 8 hex head bolts. It's nice and low, I could actually shave another 1/2" off the bottom of the blocks but I don't see the point and I think a little bit of clearance is a good thing.

This prototype worked so well that I'm already thinking about a V2.0 that would be milled out of a single aluminum block...
Something like this....which is what Yakima should be selling us in my opinion.
Capture.JPG
 
Last edited:

FlagRS

Gone to the dogs.
I'm going to add some info on a little update project I undertook over the last week or so that Mr FlagRS will recognize....

This picture shows my block installed right next to the crappy little factory cross bar mounting point that Yakima uses for the Landing Pad system. One M6 shoulder bolt!
View attachment 378611

I chose to leave the factory tie down points in place under my adapter blocks because I like having those there.

View attachment 378612

With the bike rack installed outboard of the attachment points....nice to reach.
View attachment 378613



It is rock solid, way better than the factory bars, a very "permanent" attachment and really not a big deal to remove. You can reach the lower mounting bolts without having to dismantle the upper bits, so the whole thing can come off as a unit with 8 hex head bolts. It's nice and low, I could actually shave another 1/2" off the bottom of the blocks but I don't see the point and I think a little bit of clearance is a good thing.

This prototype worked so well that I'm already thinking about a V2.0 that would be milled out of a single aluminum block...
Something like this....which is what Yakima should be selling us in my opinion.
View attachment 378622

Well done... that is so clean and simple. You must be a ME? You're right Yakima, Thule and or Rino Racks needs to pay you for your design.
 

midlifecrisis

Observer
Nope, just an old finish carpenter with half a college education and a wandering mind.
I love to dig in and figure things out and I am a bit of a perfectionist I suppose....I find that I enjoy the journey on these projects as much as the destination. :)
 

DanCooper

Adventurer
Very, very nice, MLC. An elegant solution. Do I understand correctly that you fabbed up the spacer blocks yourself?

Earlier you were having issues with the DC service on the reefer, but it seems that is sorted now. How did that "sorting" occur? I have a similar issue om my Gen-3 OB that is, frankly, making me nuts.

Once again, an elegant solution, sir.
 

midlifecrisis

Observer
Very, very nice, MLC. An elegant solution. Do I understand correctly that you fabbed up the spacer blocks yourself?

Earlier you were having issues with the DC service on the reefer, but it seems that is sorted now. How did that "sorting" occur? I have a similar issue om my Gen-3 OB that is, frankly, making me nuts.

Once again, an elegant solution, sir.

Yes sir, I fabbed up the blocks in the garage.
I ordered the aluminum blanks in the LxW size I needed and had them cut to length because I'm lazy. The rest of the machining I did here at the house with my chop saw and drill press, so nothing exotic. I'd like to say I have a fancy milling machine and all of that jazz, but I do not, so I try to design around my limitations. Does me no good to draw up something I can't build. :)

Now that V1.0 is a success, I've been working on V2.0 and I think I have it worked out as you can see from the SketchUp screen shots below. The backside cutaway shot is pretty cool!
I'm thinking I'll mill in some decorative something or other on the sides with a router bit to pretty it up just a little, maybe make it seem a little less blockhead.

I'm deciding whether to dive right in or relax for awhile and let things simmer to see if I want to make any adjustments.

Block 1.JPG

Block 2.JPG

To your question on the fridge, I have to say that "issue" simply worked itself out through the process somehow. I hate that as much as the next guy...I really need to see a broken wire or something....but it is what it is. I've used it many times since then and not had a single problem. Sorry I can't be more help with that.
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
I run old school yakima rail grabs clamped to the stowed oem rails. I run two bar lengths pending my load. 54 and 66. Haven't had any issues over 83,000 miles. Plenty of harsh winds at highway speeds vs boats, bikes and other junk strapped up there.

In a perfect world, just give me some yakima flat track and 4 rack brackets.
 

midlifecrisis

Observer
Motosport has these Easton clamps on close out marked all of the way down to $0.77 per pair (no, not a typo, I did mean less than a dollar per pair) if anyone is interested. Really worth grabbing for no particular reason other than they mount easily to round bars...the hardware you get is worth more than the cost even with the $7 shipping.
 

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