Rocky Mountain Overland Rally and Solar-Battery Upgrade

The Rally included a Four Wheel Camper area.
The white arrow is pointing to our rig.  

Rocky Mountain Four Wheel Camper (RMFWC) and Juniper Overland invited us to attend the inaugural Rocky Mountain Overland Rally in Gunnison, Colorado at the I Bar Ranch. We had never been to a rally before and were curious. The rally offered nightly campfire raffles, happy hours, an on-site technical course, instruction, classes and vendor demos. They delivered! If you ever get a chance to go to a concert at the I Bar Ranch or to attend an Overland Rally - jump at the opportunity. You will not be disappointed.  Huge thanks to Chris and Josh for the invite!

When we bought our Four Wheel Camper, we didn't have a solar system installed because we knew we wanted to get an upgraded battery and solar set up that would work for us. Greg wired our van himself and we used a portable solar panel to charge up the house battery which worked really well. But, we wanted something that would be more permanent and where we could solar up even when on a hike.

Greg and I both use cpap machines. We made sure we got the lowest energy usage cpaps, but they are still energy hogs. Additionally, our Four Wheel Camper frig is a two way, meaning it operates using battery or shore power.

Matt of Off-Grid Engineering's
rig at Overland Rally

One goal we had for attending the Rocky Mountain Overland Rally was to see other folks solar/battery setup and to possibly meet vendors who could help us plan the right battery/solar build. On the last day of the rally, we walked around to all the vendors booths. We met Matt of Off-Grid Engineering and we could tell he was the one. Greg and Matt hit it off right ways. I tried to keep up with the battery geek talk between the two of them, but didn't succeed. Matt got what we were looking for and had great suggestions. I also appreciate that he was able to come down to my level to explain the build in plain terms for a novice like me. Greg has been researching components for awhile. We had already purchased some parts including the flexible solar panels. Matt supplied the missing pieces, the labor and the expertise! Greg dropped off the camper on Thursday morning and by Friday at 11 a.m. our dream setup was done. We are very, very pleased so far! More on this later in this post.

Trail Ride coming and going

We love going to Gunnison and nearby Crested Butte. The first day of the rally, we signed up for a trail ride from the rally site to Crested Butte past Gothic to Emerald Lake. We were a little nervous as this was our first time on a rough 4x4 road with the camper on the Taco or travelling with a group. It was fun although we all had to turn around before we made it to the lake because of a landslide. We were both really happy with how the Taco Shell performed and how comfortable we felt. We drove back on our own and stopped for a hike and to enjoy the beautiful wildflowers.

The flowers were amazing even
though we missed the peak

Even though it was in the 80's the hike to the waterfall overlook was spectacular. We never get tired of the awesome views from the Gothic area.

Back at the rally, we watched folks navigate the technical course and marveled at their skills. We hope to feel confident enough to do the course at a future rally. We spent quite a bit of time watching a really big rig get stuck on the course and an even bigger rig come and pull it out. Excellent "demo" of recovery gear.

To the rescue 

The nightly campfires and prize drawings was a lot of fun. We also enjoyed just sitting by our camper and chatting with other Four Wheel Camper owners. A great group of folks.

Very impressive campfire at the I Bar Ranch

Back to our build.  I am going to quote Matt from Off-Grid Engineering with the technical specs of what he did for us. His description is below in blue and the following five photos are by Off-Grid Engineering of our rig's solar setup. We are VERY happy with Matt's customer service, vision and execution! Check out his website at https://www.offgrid4x4.com/

@sockmonkeytrekkers are planning to get some serious use out of their new Tacoma/FWC combo... but first they needed a bit of an electrical upgrade. 

We started by removing the factory dual purpose 79 amp hour battery and isolator. Then we upgraded the size of the charging wire from 10 AWG wire to 4 AWG welding cable front to back, added a @redarc electronics 40 amp DC to DC charger, 200 watts of solar, a Victron Energy solar charge controller (with Bluetooth), and two 6 volt AGM batteries for a total of 250 amp hours! 

The batteries are Centennial CB6-250 6 volts (sealed VRLA AGM deep cycle). 

The before set up

Matt installed our two flexible solar panels on the roof

New batteries fit perfectly
although a tight squeeze

Greg previously bought this Victron Energy controller.
It has a bluetooth function so we
can monitor from our phone! 

REDARC  DC to DC Charger

Greg will do a blog down the road with his full review of our new solar-battery system when we have been able to test it out more. But, he reports that the first night was great and he enjoyed being able to check the battery levels from his phone and the fact that the roof panels are constantly recharging the system. We are very happy campers!   

Stopped for lunch at Little Molas Lake on the way home
from the Rocky Mountain Overland Rally

Check out Rocky Mountain Four Wheel Camper at http://rockymountainfourwheelcampers.com/

Check out Juniper Overland at https://juniperoverland.com/

For more info on the Rocky Mountain Overland Rally visit https://rockymountainoverlandrally.com/

Update: Taco Shell

Goodbye Humphrey - you served us well! 

We are still active on Instagram and on a personal level on Facebook, but we have neglected our blog over the past year.  Life doesn't always align with adventure. I lived a large part of my childhood with my Aunt and Uncle. Four out of our six parents have had serious health problems involving multiple surgeries, ongoing chemo, home treatments and in one instance hospice. The philosophy of do your adventures now while you are still healthy enough smacks into the reality of what life throws at people you love.  So, we have been focusing on what is most important to us - which is spending time with our family. My parents live in Southern California, my aunt and uncle in Northern California and Greg's folks are here in Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Don't get me wrong, we have still squeezed in plenty of quick adventures, but not as many as we normally would. But, being home bound has also allowed us to focus on a VERY exciting project. I will retire in twenty-four months! As with many full-timers, we have gone back and forth and back again deciding what type of rv/truck camper/van to live in post-retirement.

Since 2011, we've loved adventuring in our Nissan NV van. Greg built out the van and it was perfect with one exception. The Nissan isn't four wheel drive. Since we primarily boondock down rough roads, four wheel drive would be very nice. We also considered a 4x4 conversion for the van. The price tag is decent, but the size of our van would still be an issue. What to do????

After much debate, research and many hours of youtube watching, we came to a decision. Greg's Mom was intrigued by the Aliner pop-up aframe trailer (Thanks Slim Potatohead) and wanted to buy one since they had to sell their C-Class RV due to health reasons. Our plan was for her to buy an Aliner and for us to get a Toyota Tacoma and pop a Four Wheel Camper Fleet model on it. Once we made the decision it all fell into place quickly. In March, Greg's folks got the Aliner and we purchased a new Toyota Tacoma TRD. A few weeks later we ordered a Four Wheel Camper Fleet model from Rocky Mountain Four Wheel Camper/Juniper Overland (RMFWC).  Chris Janeway at RMFWC (Arvada, Colorado) was extremely patient with our multitude of questions and numerous phone calls. We had been to the Overland Expo back in 2016 and toured both Four Wheel Campers and Hallmark Campers. We were impressed by both manufacturers. But, it came down to fit and weight. Having already done a build with our van, we decided to go for the side dinette, fleet model with flush sink and stove and the 2 way frig.  We passed on a water heater, but did get the furnace.

Our new Toyota Tacoma at the
Great Sand Dunes National Park

Toyota Tacoma with Greg's folks' Aliner Titanium
at Bandelier National Monument

The Toyota is perfect for towing the Aliner.

Greg and his Mom boondocking in the
Jemez Mountains inside the Aliner

We placed our order with Chris at RMFWC in late March and took delivery in late June. But, it was so worth the wait. Also, with all the family obligations, the wait went by very quickly. We worked with Chris of Rocky Mountain Four Wheel Camper and Josh Abram of Juniper Overland to plan a small lift to help the Toyota handle the weight of the camper while towing a trailer. When they installed the camper, they installed Dobinson suspension, upper control arms, struts, shocks and airbags since the driver side is carrying so much more weight than the passenger.   

Greg checking out sitting in the camper with the top down. 

I LOVE the flush sink and stove top! 

The bed is queen size and really comfortable.
We are able to sleep without any mattress topper. 

We boondocked near Gunnison, Colorado
during 4th of July week. 

View from the bed of our cozy, comfy camper. 

It took a few head bumps to learn the right way to climb into the camper through the smaller back door. But, once you get the hang of it - piece of cake. Once you are inside, the camper is VERY comfy and surprisingly roomy.  We don't have the smallest model, but we do have a small model, but I have to say it is the perfect size for the two of us. Colorado is full of mosquitoes this summer due to all the rain and late snows. Besides 4 wheel drive, the best thing about the camper to me is the ability to cook and eat indoors and SCREENS on all the windows and doors. A big improvement over our van.

The table is the perfect size for the
two of us and our sporks

Our taco shell in its happy place! 

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