Rocksea - EarthCruiser CORE Total Composites Build

[awheeler]

The Forest Air / Rollicool is interesting, price is right, I just wonder how easy it would be to separate the two units and run the coolant line, also the line is 10 feet, much more than needed.

I like the Cruise N Comfort but the $5,000 + entry price is steep.

A lot of those mini splits come pre-charged with coolant. They ship with the lines empty and disconnected so it's really just a matter of cutting a hole and threading the lines through. Then once connected you release the pre-charged and pressurized coolant that then fills the lines. Or at least it's something similar to that.

For the price of the Cruise N Comfort you could buy 5 of the others. Not sure how the mini-splits would do with off road vibrations but the price sure is right. And those things are incredibly quiet and many also work as heat pumps which would be a nice backup to the gas heater.

 

[awheeler]

Just pulled the trigger on the Rixen heating system. We will be sourcing our own products for the engine heat and the recirc shower.

Now on to getting a couple winches ordered. Leaning towards the 17k Sherpa with with 150' of synthetic for $1600. I like the long line but the other option is a 25K winch with 100' feet for $2,000. Not stressing over the price but just can't decide if I would prefer the extra line length or the horsepower.

These are both Sherpa winches and I'm not against Warn but for the price these are hard to beat. I can buy two of these for the price of a Warn and if one broke I could always just move the other to front/rear as needed.

'The Steed' - 17,000Lb Winch

'The Steed' - 17,000Lb 4wd, 4x4 winch. Comes in 12 or 24V, Steel or Cable. Free Shipping Australia Wide. ARB, TJM, Dominator, Runva, Warn. High quality, heavy duty, 4WD & 4x4 winch. Perfect for all off road adventures. 5 Year Warranty.

www.sherpa4x4.com.au

I think a 17k winch on a 12K rig with a good snatch block should get me out of trouble. We have an 8k Warn winch on our 10K van right now and I've definitely maxed it out more than ounce so that has me a little concerned.

What do you all think?

 

[Victorian]

Just pulled the trigger on the Rixen heating system. We will be sourcing our own products for the engine heat and the recirc shower.

Now on to getting a couple winches ordered. Leaning towards the 17k Sherpa with with 150' of synthetic for $1600. I like the long line but the other option is a 25K winch with 100' feet for $2,000. Not stressing over the price but just can't decide if I would prefer the extra line length or the horsepower.

These are both Sherpa winches and I'm not against Warn but for the price these are hard to beat. I can buy two of these for the price of a Warn and if one broke I could always just move the other to front/rear as needed.

'The Steed' - 17,000Lb Winch

'The Steed' - 17,000Lb 4wd, 4x4 winch. Comes in 12 or 24V, Steel or Cable. Free Shipping Australia Wide. ARB, TJM, Dominator, Runva, Warn. High quality, heavy duty, 4WD & 4x4 winch. Perfect for all off road adventures. 5 Year Warranty.

www.sherpa4x4.com.au

I think a 17k winch on a 12K rig with a good snatch block should get me out of trouble. We have an 8k Warn winch on our 10K van right now and I've definitely maxed it out more than ounce so that has me a little concerned.

What do you all think?

I was just watching something about recirculating showers... Seams like the newest hype out there. Apparently, the filters, UV lights, tanks etc you need for this is very expensive as you need to change the filters quite often. It also ads complexity and needs valuable space. I think I would rather install bigger tanks.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I was just watching something about recirculating showers... Seams like the newest hype out there. Apparently, the filters, UV lights, tanks etc you need for this is very expensive as you need to change the filters quite often. It also ads complexity and needs valuable space. I think I would rather install bigger tanks.

I agree with every word of this. A lot of complexity/space used up for a single use (shower) feature. Larger water tank would be multi use.

My .02

 

[awheeler]

A few progress pics...nothing too exciting but at least things are moving along.

The axles are Fusion with e-lockers and the transfer case is an Atlas.

 

[DzlToy]

When you did your research on Mastervolt and CZone, how did you determine whether or not you could go with a custom Lithium bank? Mastervolt batteries are incredibly expensive, but I'm worried the other Mastervolt components won't play nicely with non-mastervolt batteries. Being able to go with another brand of battery would be huge as Mastervolt lithium batteries are about 3/4X the going rate.

Victron and MasterVolt use Winston Lithium Iron Phosphate cells in a shiny wrapper.

Used Tesla 18650 battery packs can be had for well under $1,000. So, the OP could have had 16kW of made in Japan batteries and avoided consuming more Chinesium.

C-Zone is ubiquitous in the marine industry and over the last few years, has gained popularity in the RV world. It is a dumbed down version of high end commercial automation systems, such as those offered by Crestron, Lutron, AMX and Control4. In a space measuring 6' x 12', there isn't much need for a commercial system, IMO.

An 8,000 - 10,000 pound winch is more than adequate for a large vehicle that isn't being used in difficult off road conditions. They are lighter and take up less space and you can now "afford" to buy a top-quality winch, instead of a budget winch rated at 16k - 20k. Carry UHMWPE winch rope extensions, soft shackles, tree saver straps and a RED recovery ring to replace a heavy snatch block and you will be in good shape. The maximum pulling power of a winch is only accessible on the final layer. So, if you pull out 40 feet of rope on your 16k winch, you aren't getting anywhere near that pulling power. If you need a bump over a rock or a log, this is not an issue, and a 8k winch works just fine for this. If that is not enough, you need to pull a longer line anyway. This gives you plenty of room to find a good solid anchor, have a nice straight pull and to attach one or more pulleys or snatch blocks to create 2:1 or even 4:1 leverage. Your 10k winch will now pull 20k - 40k.

 

[awheeler]

Victron and MasterVolt use Winston Lithium Iron Phosphate cells in a shiny wrapper.

Used Tesla 18650 battery packs can be had for well under $1,000. So, the OP could have had 16kW of made in Japan batteries and avoided consuming more Chinesium.

C-Zone is ubiquitous in the marine industry and over the last few years, has gained popularity in the RV world. It is a dumbed down version of high end commercial automation systems, such as those offered by Crestron, Lutron, AMX and Control4. In a space measuring 6' x 12', there isn't much need for a commercial system, IMO.

An 8,000 - 10,000 pound winch is more than adequate for a large vehicle that isn't being used in difficult off road conditions. They are lighter and take up less space and you can now "afford" to buy a top-quality winch, instead of a budget winch rated at 16k - 20k. Carry UHMWPE winch rope extensions, soft shackles, tree saver straps and a RED recovery ring to replace a heavy snatch block and you will be in good shape. The maximum pulling power of a winch is only accessible on the final layer. So, if you pull out 40 feet of rope on your 16k winch, you aren't getting anywhere near that pulling power. If you need a bump over a rock or a log, this is not an issue, and a 8k winch works just fine for this. If that is not enough, you need to pull a longer line anyway. This gives you plenty of room to find a good solid anchor, have a nice straight pull and to attach one or more pulleys or snatch blocks to create 2:1 or even 4:1 leverage. Your 10k winch will now pull 20k - 40k.

I wish I would have looked into Tesla stuff more I agree that would have been a good way to go.

That’s good advice on the winch except that the max pulling power is on the first layer of the drum and they typically loose around 15% per layer.

On our current van with an 8k Warn winch trying to pull through a bumper high snow drift I’ve definitely stalled out the winch but that was with a very short amount of line out thus probably only 4K of pulling power. With a 2:1 setup it pulled right out no problem.


My thought with the budget winches is that I can get two of them for the price of one Warn. If one of the winches failed I could always swap with the other winch if needed. Assuming of course that I go with both a front and rear winch.

Agreed on the soft shackles and ditching the heavy snatch blocks. What was the brand you referenced for the soft shackles and extension lines?

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DzlToy]

Final layer meaning base or bottom layer, i.e. the more rope you pull out, the more pulling power you have.

RED is a brand of winch, made in the UK. They offer what is essentially a machined aluminum 'pulley' designed to be used with soft shackles, so the old 'snatch block' goes to the recycle bin.

For soft shackles, you want to make certain that you have one tied in a button knot, like this, not just tied in a knot and burned on the ends. You also want to ensure that the soft shackles are 'rated', appropriate for vehicle recovery and made using quality materials, not cheap knock-off crap to save a buck. Kevlar chaffing sleeves are a bonus, as UHMPE rope is basically plastic and does not have the durability of wire rope if it is used in a rocky or dirty/muddy environment. Bonus, toss them in the washer or rinse them out in the sink. Try that with your wire rope.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

I wish I would have looked into Tesla stuff more I agree that would have been a good way to go.

Same here. If I do a second iteration of my power system, I’ll be going the Tesla route for sure

 

[Steve_382]

Final layer meaning base or bottom layer, i.e. the more rope you pull out, the more pulling power you have.

Thank you for clarifying that. My pea brain was having a hard time wrapping itself around the power per wrap question.

 

[DzlToy]

Illustrative example: Try taking a lug nut off your car or truck with a 3/8" drive socket wrench that is 6 or 8 inches long. Now try taking that same lug nut off using a 24" socket wrench or cheater bar. It's much easier, right? The opposite is also true. Hold the end of a 24" cheater bar and imagine trying to turn the socket or the lug nut with your hand. The leverage at the end of the cheater bar makes that impossible. Shorten that arm and there is less leverage at the end. Thus. smaller winch drums, i.e. fewer wraps of rope on the drum, offer more pulling power than a large diameter drum or one loaded up with lots of rope.

So, to maximise the pulling power of your winch, pull out LOTS of rope, use pulleys or snatch blocks and make long, straight pulls, not steep or angled pulls to the nearest tree because you were in a hurry or are lazy.

Back on track: What other recovery gear have you decided on other than winches? Have those winches been purchased? If not, I would encourage you to buy once/cry once instead of buying a pair of lesser winches. JMHO.

 

[awheeler]

Illustrative example: Try taking a lug nut off your car or truck with a 3/8" drive socket wrench that is 6 or 8 inches long. Now try taking that same lug nut off using a 24" socket wrench or cheater bar. It's much easier, right? The opposite is also true. Hold the end of a 24" cheater bar and imagine trying to turn the socket or the lug nut with your hand. The leverage at the end of the cheater bar makes that impossible. Shorten that arm and there is less leverage at the end. Thus. smaller winch drums, i.e. fewer wraps of rope on the drum, offer more pulling power than a large diameter drum or one loaded up with lots of rope.

So, to maximise the pulling power of your winch, pull out LOTS of rope, use pulleys or snatch blocks and make long, straight pulls, not steep or angled pulls to the nearest tree because you were in a hurry or are lazy.

Back on track: What other recovery gear have you decided on other than winches? Have those winches been purchased? If not, I would encourage you to buy once/cry once instead of buying a pair of lesser winches. JMHO.

The other recover gear I have are these recovery tracks, 40k 1" kinetic recovery rope, tree saver, and a couple pulleys along with soft shackles.

I have no problem buying a WARN winch but let's not kid ourselves and think those are 100% American made. The M8 Warn winch i got for the van had made in china prominently displayed on several parts. I do believe they are assembled in the US which has far better quality control than anything overseas. I'll probably end up going with the Warn 16.5.

 

[DzlToy]

Made in Oregon: https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/warn-10k-pound-8274-winch/

Add a soft shackle and a pulley and you have a 20k winch that will last a lifetime. It is rebuildable, serviceable and can even be modified by adding Albright solenoids or dual motors for increased pulling power or line speed. I am not a "fan" of Warn, per se, but I have had experience with "Powa-Masta" or "WinchPRO" type winches and they WILL fail when you need them most. If you are in a place where you or someone else needs a winch, something else has already gone wrong.

If you want a truly bulletproof winch, check out RED or Gigglepin.

 

[Blowby]

awheeler any updates on your build?
Hopefully you are either counting the days or in possession of your Core and box.

 

[awheeler]

Great news! We just got back home yesterday with the new rig. I'll get an update up as soon as I can. Here's a video of a quick walk around we did.


More in a bit....