Just a quick camp out...

[dstreight]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Dan my search for VHB tape has come up with many variants. The 3M 4622 acrylic foam tape claims to be heavy duty, "suitable as a replacement for bolts", sticks to metal and glass. Is that the one you used?

I used VHB 4959 120mil to bond anodized aluminum 8020 extrusions to the Escape gel coat. The 120mil thickness was used due to not having a perfectly flat and true surface on the Escape roof. Generally you want to utilize the thinest VHB that is practical/viable.

I tried to link the 3M webpage for the 100+ page PDF "3m Adhesive and Tape Solutions Design Guide", however the 3M site appears to be down right now...but try to find the document for detailed application overview of their tapes and adhesives including all things VHB.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by dstreight

I tried to link the 3M webpage for the 100+ page PDF "3m Adhesive and Tape Solutions Design Guide", however the 3M site appears to be down right now...but try to find the document for detailed application overview of their tapes and adhesives including all things VHB.

FYI HappyCampers retired from 3M after 38 years. He has some great insight and I bet he would help if asked a technical question regarding VHB application.
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post251402

[hotfishtacos]

Very nice solar job and plenty of battery capacity! My wife and I are primarily boondockers and also fish the Eastern Sierras, primarily creeks and rivers, not often enough.

[dstreight]

Camped out the last few days apart of throwing flies for Lahontan Cutthroats and the new slide out solar panels are kicking it!

[salmo7000]

While I’m loving the pictures and mods to your 15A, I’m even more impressed with the beautiful Lahontan cutthroat trout on your profile picture. Wonderful fish!!

[dstreight]

^ thanks and catching bright silver/white/chromies right now...Pilot Peak variants. Friend next to me yesterday caught a 16lb hog...

One more of the 15A from this morning. Big weather system came in overnight...and had me wishing I had dropped the stabilizers down

[Greg A]

Where is that location ur at, Dan?

[dstreight]

Pyramid Lake. You might be able to tell...its blustery and slow bite this morning

[Greg A]

Originally Posted by dstreight

Pyramid Lake. You might be able to tell...its blustery and slow bite this morning

Ah, Paiute Reservation. Very nice spot.

[dstreight]

Another fly fishing & camping weekend in NorCal. Fishing was terrible but I'm super happy the newly configured solar panels mounted atop our little 15A are kicking...butt! And its only end of March!

[dstreight]

Finally got the shock mounts figured out after running leafs sans shocks for the past 8-months (which wasn't bad at all...but shocks always make a suspension better).

Sidebar story: After the Torflex axle went kaput (6-months out of warranty period...argh) last September, it accelerated my longer term timeline to swap in a leaf spring suspension. Leafs get a bad rap, but with OME Dakar spring package ala 60-Series LandCruiser spec, they roll over stuff like butta.

Have a short trip planned for the upcoming long weekend to test the shocks out. But bigger off and on-road trip coming next month that will be a much better test of the new suspension's performance.

[dstreight]

We did an explore and camp in the Middle of Nowhere Nevada a couple weeks ago. We kinda take "boon docking" to an extreme and this trip was no exception; earned new pin striping on both the '07 Silverado DuraMax and our 15A. The new long-leaf & shock suspension on the 15A proved worthy...and valuable over a couple hundred miles of dirt, gravel, washboard, ruts, etc.

But the payback was getting to see, hike and camp in very remote places devoid of people outside of a couple established USFS campgrounds.

A few pics from the trip...

[dstreight]

And a little bit of the country we immersed ourselves within...

[dstreight]

And...

[gbaglo]

That's what I like to see.

[hotfishtacos]

dstreight, your solar capacity is awesome and I like the design! What are you running for batteries? You could easily do a 12 volt compressor refer if you ever need to.

[hotfishtacos]

dstreight, your solar capacity is awesome and I like the design! What are you running for batteries? You could easily do a 12 volt compressor refer if you ever need to.

[dstreight]

The battery is a LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) based upon Fortune 100A aluminum encased cells I put together in series and parallel to get to 6500w/400Ah with a Victron 50/100 solar controller between the 4-200w panels and the battery. A Xantrex 3000w sine wave inverter takes care of all 120v needs and serves as the transfer switch for the rare, for us, rv camp with plug-in.

During high sun this summer I've seen 46amps generated which is super nice. For shoulder months (we typically don't travel much during low angle sun winter months) its fine but would be even better with 1200w since we're all electric (water heater, induction stove, microwave, refrigerator).

The original refrigerator was not well suited to the rough & tumble world which we typically travel so I sold it and installed a smaller 12v compressor type marine type drawer refrigerator & freezer. Both pull vehicles have compressor refrigerator/freezers in them to augment as needed (Snomaster 60l and a Waeco 50l).

[HABBERDABBER]

106 F is hot, hot, but the surface temp is likely even hotter, which doesn't increase adhesion.


I trust mechanical fasteners more than adhesives. Both work, but a fastener is a more positive attachment. I understand that is a problem with a flexible panel.

[Mike G]

Excellent scenery. Nothing like some peace and quiet with lovely vistas.