Truck topper pop-top/canopy camper

[Wrongside]

I’ve experimented a little with the Bluetti Elite 200 V2 running a LF Bros heater. But only on the AC/inverter side. Bluetti claims 3900 Watts ‘surge’ power for this unit, but I’m not sure if that’s inverter side only? It starts and runs the LF no problem on AC. The heater doesn't draw much once it gets thru the startup cycle.

Since it’s suppose to be more efficient, I plan to try it on the 12v DC side to see if it’ll start the heater once I get the proper wiring setup.

So far- time will definitely tell- the 200 V2 is an impressive little unit. Great power and feature set for the size. The LF Bros Plateau got off to a rocky start- I had to completely disassemble it to find a bad connection at the fuel pump. Once that was fixed tho, it’s a great heater so far. Quiet and powerful. It’ll have to be well below freezing to run it on high. It produces a lot of heat.

We leave tomorrow for a 10-day northern AB moose hunt. That’ll also be the dry run for the camper & heater setup.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Why are super pacific so much more expensive?

I did notice on YouTube they support hunters, which really shocked me being hipster looking dudes from Portland.


I also came across this loan peak overland which the owner is a hunter. So that would be nice to support.

I haven’t done a bunch of research, but all the ones that have a pop out tent section seems like they mite not do good in bad weather.

I like how simple super pacific is.

But I also like the looks of the ovrland it’s straight wall more like a project M

I’m a total cheap ass. But I sleep in my regular canopy all the time.

And not that I have a 5.5 bed tundra there just isn’t enough room.

I have to do something different for 26 season

I’m just not sure what. Maybe even just a roof top tent.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Pop-Up Truck Bed Campers and Wedge Campers

We craft custom made-to-order truck bed campers to fuel your adventures.

www.lonepeakoverland.com

 

[sndmn11]

I did notice on YouTube they support hunters, which really shocked me being hipster looking dudes from Portland.


I also came across this loan peak overland which the owner is a hunter. So that would be nice to support.

Of the brands I have mentioned here, Topo Toppers are aspiring hunters and are very excited about us getting a Rincon. Super Pacific, Lone Peak, Soaring Eagle, Harker, all are hunters and outdoorsmen. Four Wheel Campers has supported hunters for a long time, but are not hunters. Oru and Hiatus didn't seem to thinkmuch of hunting either way.

The big difference in our eyes when we looked at the Lone Peak was that it is bolted together extrusion and they are new to the market.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Of the brands I have mentioned here, Topo Toppers are aspiring hunters and are very excited about us getting a Rincon. Super Pacific, Lone Peak, Soaring Eagle, Harker, all are hunters and outdoorsmen. Four Wheel Campers has supported hunters for a long time, but are not hunters. Oru and Hiatus didn't seem to thinkmuch of hunting either way.

The big difference in our eyes when we looked at the Lone Peak was that it is bolted together extrusion and they are new to the market.

Soooo many options, it’s hard to keep track of all the bullet points.

I wish more offered a barn door, remove the tailgate option

I think that would be much easier then climbing over the tailgate option.

I’m keep toying with the idea.

But being a real cheap skate prevents it.

I passed on a used gfc because it was the wrong color and wish I had snagged it.

 

[406flyfish]

Initial start up with the glow plugs will be heavy, but once it’s up and going, I would saw 30-40watts. So you could do two nights, maybe 3 with 12 hours of heat each night on a 1k battery. I think by far the biggest selling point is the self heating batteries. I just wish they offered in the 1500 watt system. Based on their current price. I might just buy another 1000 and connect them or purchase a 48V 50ah.

 

[sndmn11]

I slept in the Twilight last weekend since there was multiple nights in the cards. The awnings are still a best buy.


We are two weeks from the Topo Toppers Rincon install.

LF Bros diesel heater has arrived
Pecron 1000 self heating power station ordered
Renogy off road kit ordered

If things go as planned, we should be ready for 2nd and 3rd season

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

So.....
Who knows about battery power stations that can educate us? I am seeing a lot of "prime days" sales from Eco flow, renogy, bluetti, pecron, etc. and want to capitalize on them.

1) what is lost going with a station like above versus a separate components "wall"?
2) would that do what we need for diesel heater, fridge, camper lights, charging devices, running laptop, potentially starlink, receive input from alternator and solar?

Shit I didn't notice this sooner.

1) The all in one systems are plug and play but if something bricks it might take out the whole thing. Where as stand alone batteries and associated chargers, inverters, power distribution are easier to trouble shoot and run in a partial format. Also with a large capacity system they are cheaper. Also in glancing at the specs of what you listed DC charging rate is a downside vs stand alone components. They limit DC charging from a car to 100w, where as a stand alone lithium battery with a DC-DC charger you could charge substantially faster. Which if mobile on a hunt means you have a full battery most of the time.

On the good side that Pecron 1000 isn't super expensive and will definitely work in the meantime while you get a feel for your usage needs better.

2)
Diesel heater - not sure off hand the draw, 30-40watts was mentioned above ~3ah so as mentioned 2-3nights at 12hr but factory in other usage.

DC Fridge - in winter less of a draw but in summer those often pull 30-50ah a day so you're going to need to be staying on top of charging in those use cases. This will likely be your control case sizing basis.

Camper lights - assuming all LED they pull little

Charging devices - watt for watt minus some inefficiency.

Running laptop - same as charging stuff, watt for watt minus some inefficiency.

Solar, they likely have a connector you can just wire in the panel leads to.

DC charging - dunno what connection they provide but it lists 12-18v input but limited to 100w so that is less than 10amps, so not a huge draw/voltage drop. Run some 10-12ga wire (conservative) from your vehicle to the portable one. Use an relay or such so its ignition hot feed so you don't drain out the vehicle battery. One a standa alone battery you would use a DC-DC charger which would sense when the vehicle is running to control this aspect as well as boost the voltage to drive amps into the battery.

Heating - you can just slap DC heat pads on other batteries to self heat them, that's what I have done. There is a min temp for charging (around freezing) and min temp for discharge (sub zero). So you only need to self heat to maintain above 0 for discharge and above freezing when you want to charge.

Expansion - based on your battery bank taking 12-18v input I wonder if you could just plug in a regular 12V LiFePO4 into it when you want to charge it up, they'll provide 12v pretty deep into their state of charge. All the good ones have bluetooth BMS on the battery to connect to an app so you can see how charged they are, etc.

 

[sndmn11]

Shit I didn't notice this sooner.

1) The all in one systems are plug and play but if something bricks it might take out the whole thing. Where as stand alone batteries and associated chargers, inverters, power distribution are easier to trouble shoot and run in a partial format. Also with a large capacity system they are cheaper. Also in glancing at the specs of what you listed DC charging rate is a downside vs stand alone components. They limit DC charging from a car to 100w, where as a stand alone lithium battery with a DC-DC charger you could charge substantially faster. Which if mobile on a hunt means you have a full battery most of the time.

On the good side that Pecron 1000 isn't super expensive and will definitely work in the meantime while you get a feel for your usage needs better.

2)
Diesel heater - not sure off hand the draw, 30-40watts was mentioned above ~3ah so as mentioned 2-3nights at 12hr but factory in other usage.

DC Fridge - in winter less of a draw but in summer those often pull 30-50ah a day so you're going to need to be staying on top of charging in those use cases. This will likely be your control case sizing basis.

Camper lights - assuming all LED they pull little

Charging devices - watt for watt minus some inefficiency.

Running laptop - same as charging stuff, watt for watt minus some inefficiency.

Solar, they likely have a connector you can just wire in the panel leads to.

DC charging - dunno what connection they provide but it lists 12-18v input but limited to 100w so that is less than 10amps, so not a huge draw/voltage drop. Run some 10-12ga wire (conservative) from your vehicle to the portable one. Use an relay or such so its ignition hot feed so you don't drain out the vehicle battery. One a standa alone battery you would use a DC-DC charger which would sense when the vehicle is running to control this aspect as well as boost the voltage to drive amps into the battery.

Heating - you can just slap DC heat pads on other batteries to self heat them, that's what I have done. There is a min temp for charging (around freezing) and min temp for discharge (sub zero). So you only need to self heat to maintain above 0 for discharge and above freezing when you want to charge.

Expansion - based on your battery bank taking 12-18v input I wonder if you could just plug in a regular 12V LiFePO4 into it when you want to charge it up, they'll provide 12v pretty deep into their state of charge. All the good ones have bluetooth BMS on the battery to connect to an app so you can see how charged they are, etc.

I ordered this kit, "explorer" version. https://www.renogy.com/products/4x4-solution?variant=43178656399475

I also ordered the Pecron so I could use it potentially as dedicated to the heater, or in a tent, or summer sports running the fridge, or a handful of other uses. I should be able to use the above solar panel to charge it with an adapter plug.

I also remembered at that overland expo Ohio gave me a Lifepo 12v/30ah "sample" battery.

The big unknown now is if I'll be able to wire it all up myself without boo-boos.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I ordered this kit, "explorer" version. https://www.renogy.com/products/4x4-solution?variant=43178656399475

I also ordered the Pecron so I could use it potentially as dedicated to the heater, or in a tent, or summer sports running the fridge, or a handful of other uses. I should be able to use the above solar panel to charge it with an adapter plug.

I also remembered at that overland expo Ohio gave me a Lifepo 12v/30ah "sample" battery.

The big unknown now is if I'll be able to wire it all up myself without boo-boos.

Roger that. Should have plenty of power and that dc-dc charger will be the ticket in that setup.

Not the component selections I'd personally use but you had a deadline and it has instructions so those are both important!

 

[sndmn11]

Roger that. Should have plenty of power and that dc-dc charger will be the ticket in that setup.

Not the component selections I'd personally use but you had a deadline and it has instructions so those are both important!

Make your list and the whys of it so people can read/learn!

 

[sndmn11]

A few more days until this gets installed.

The kid and I pulled the rail caps, cleaned everything up, and put some butyl tape underneath.


Some electrical parts started showing up as well.

 

[Wrongside]

Been back from moose hunting for awhile, just been getting caught up with work and life. We were unsuccessful, so used all of our 10-day allotment. Some quick post trip thoughts on the camper cap and heater combo-

Pretty happy with the cap, for the price. I’m sure a SP, LP, YuccaPac, etc are nicer, but we could swing this now, and it works well. Super quick to set up- 30 secondsish- and only 5 mins to pack up. We will definitely be upgrading the mattress. Hopefully everything holds up long-term.

The LF Bros was awesome. Mainly ran it for 2-3 hours each evening and morning. Burnt roughly 7.5 L of diesel. Set it to medium for the most of the trip, only turned it to high the last morning when we had -10C temps. Once it settled into burning on medium, it drew around 70-80 watts.

The BLUETTI worked really well. With 35% remaining. We only used it for some phone charging and running the heater as described. I think I’ll add solar to the roof, or a solar array that we setup in camp. Depending on the trip, I may also bring a small Yamaha genset to quickly top it up.

We had overnight lows below freezing most nights, -3C or so. With our last evening in camp going down to -10C. I didn’t bring the zip-in insulation package for the AllTerraTech, but the heater had no problem cooking us out in short order. We had a few sleety, rainy evenings. Between interior condensation and the exterior ice from freezing rain, I think tents of this type could be really challenging to stow without the heater to thaw/dry things out. The diesel heater will be standard equipment for any trips later than August for us.

 

[sndmn11]

@Wrongside which bluetti model?

 

[Wrongside]

@Wrongside which bluetti model?

BLUETTI Elite 200 V2

 

[Wrongside]

I’d really like to add solar and a 270° awning. But the options and price points are all over the place.

I see you went with Renogy. They’re a good balance of performance, quality and cost?

What brand of awning do you have on your Subaru? Do you have any experience with 270° awnings?

 

[sndmn11]

I’d really like to add solar and a 270° awning. But the options and price points are all over the place.

I see you went with Renogy. They’re a good balance of performance, quality and cost?

What brand of awning do you have on your Subaru? Do you have any experience with 270° awnings?

One of my friends has a solar well and pump business and fuels his installs with Renogy products. I trust him and he said they would be a good choice knowing full well if something gets wonky on me he will have to fix it. He also said that despite there being dozens of these electric companies like Renogy, EcoFlow, Bluetti, etc., that they are all coming from a much smaller group of manufacturers and more or less the same quality. So, we will see.

I believe that with the batteries I have between the Renogy self heater and sample size OhhM and with connecting with the alternator via a dc/dc charger, we should have plenty of electricity and the capability to recover it in a few hours of driving. The Renogy kit I ordered was a discount even if the solar panels weren't included, so they are kind of icing on the cake. My expectations are low, and if I can figure out a way to rig them up to that Pecron power station I also ordered, in addition to the truck setup, that would be rad. My hope is I can get adapters for both to just unplug the panels from one and plug intop the other.

The awning I have are an OpenRoad 180 and an Ironman 90.
https://openroad4wd.com/collections/openroad-sale/products/openroad-270-degree-freestanding-awning
https://www.ironman4x4.com/products/delta-wing-270-awning-iawn270

I got the OpenRoad most recently with some stacked codes on top of a sale and it was 75% that way. The Ironman was a christmas gift around 50% off. I think they are cool, but I am unsure if these things are $1k cool.

I thik Taruca makes good stuff https://tarucausa.com/collections/awnings/products/taruca-rogue-270-s-awning-rhs

If I were looking at 270 awning, I would pay attention to how far forward the coverage goes on the side, and probably mor important for tailgate access, what she coverage is on the back. I have noticed some awnings are squared off to cover the tailgae well, and others seem like they might leave some tailgate exposed. The bottom picture is a Freespirit with good tailgate coverage, but doesn't really extend forward.




The coolest awning soemthing that I have found this year however, is these RacksBrax quick relese things.
https://racksbraxusa.com/hd-racksbrax/hd-awning-quick-release-hitch/
https://racksbraxusa.com/xd-racksbrax/xd-awning-quick-release-hitch/

These let us take the awnings off the Subaru in a legit 30 seconds, AND will allow us to swap back and forth with the Silverado. Before these, if I wanted to have the awning off for daily driving, it was a 30min project with @KickinNDishin bitching at each other trying to align nuts and bolts while holding up the awning.