Escaping the Nor-Wet gloom.................

[mr. cob]

20 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

Dave, I know you're looking to get me banging my drum again, so here goes. Mount the winch on the car, not the truck. It will give a lot more flexibility, for the same price. That is all.

Howdy Darryl,

I remember about a year ago when I first started talking about doing this and you suggested installing the winch on the car rather then the truck.  Doing so makes sense if the only use for the winch is to load the car and I was seriously headed in that direction. 

However two things caused me to mount the winch on the truck, #1 mounting the winch on the car would mean a LOT of wiring on the car itself and depending on that tiny battery to power the winch, #2 I want to be able to use the winch for things other then loading the car, for example loading my motorcycles especially the ones with a sidecar on them, now that I'll be doing more boondocking having the winch and its controls mounted on the truck will make it easier to load fresh water bladders and other things that I may want to get up on to the deck of the truck.

So after careful consideration of all things I wil and may want to use the winch for I opted to mount it on the truck.  Thanks for your suggestion.

Dave

[mr. cob]

3 hours ago, alan0043 said:

Hi Dave,

I am interested in knowing more about how you and Chad are going to wire up your winch. The reason that I made that statement is because I need to add a winch to my truck also. I will start a new thread about adding a winch to my truck. I hope you can make some comments in the new thread. Maybe Chad can make some comments.

Al

Howdy Al,

When you start your thread, I'll add commentary and photos of how I built the winch mounts and how Chad has done the wiring, there is definitely more then one way to skin a cat or mount and wire a winch, it's good to have options.

Dave

[Alie&Jim's Carrilite]

Hurry on south!  While it is a little cool here in southern AZ this am, 38*, it is sunny, and no clouds! 

We're not in Quartsite, but are 30 miles south of Phoenix near Casa Grand.

 

[alan0043]

1 hour ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy Al,

When you start your thread, I'll add commentary and photos of how I built the winch mounts and how Chad has done the wiring, there is definitely more then one way to skin a cat or mount and wire a winch, it's good to have options.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thank you for getting back to me. I have started the new thread. The new thread title is " Adding a Winch to the Truck". I can't wait to see what you and Chad come up with.

Al

Edited January 12, 2020 by alan0043

[Chad Heiser]

8 hours ago, alan0043 said:

Hi Dave,

Thank you for getting back to me. I have started the new thread. The new thread title is " Adding a Winch to the Truck". I can't wait to see what you and Chad come up with.

Al

I gave an explanation of the wiring in your other topic.

[alan0043]

10 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

I gave an explanation of the wiring in your other topic.

Thanks Chad.

[geodog]

Dave,

 

Now that you have some miles on your new seats what is your HONEST opinion?

 

ShortyO

[mr. cob]

1 hour ago, geodog said:

Dave,

 

Now that you have some miles on your new seats what is your HONEST opinion?

 

ShortyO

Howdy ShortyO,

 I really like these seats so many adjustments and with the heat they are in my honest opinion a great deal for the money.  
 

I contacted the folks who sell the seats and provided them with details of the work and modification I had to do to the supplied low seat mounts in order to actually mount the seats.  I asked to be compensated for this work and the frustration of having to figure out how to accomplish the task, after some spirited email exchanges they gave me a refund of $500.00 so that was icing on the cake making the deal even better.

 I advised them to change the way the seat mounts are built before saying that the seats will bolt into a 379 Peterbilt without ANY modifications or they will run into the same problem with future 379 Peterbilt customers.

Bottm line, I recommend these seats but be aware depending on what truck you install them in, you may have to be able to modify the mounts, IF YOU WANT TO USE THE LOW MOUNT, the standard mount and it’s use is not a problem.

Dave

[alan0043]

Hi Dave,

I was curious to know how the winch for the Smart car worked out. I am still in the planning stage of adding a winch to my truck. It would also be great when you have the time to post a picture or two of your electrical box that you and Chad installed on your truck that holds the winch solenoid. 

Thank for any help,
Al

Edited February 8, 2020 by alan0043

[mr. cob]

3 hours ago, alan0043 said:

Hi Dave,

I was curious to know how the winch for the Smart car worked out. I am still in the planning stage of adding a winch to my truck. It would also be great when you have the time to post a picture or two of your electrical box that you and Chad installed on your truck that holds the winch solenoid. 

Thank for any help,
Al

Howdy Alan,

Where we are camped we have extremely slow service I can’t post photos can barely reply to or read the forum.

Within a week or so we will be moving from Quartzsite to the Yuma area and I have been told the cell service is much better there.  As soon as I am able I will try to post photos of the wiring Chad did and of how I mounted the winch.

 I still need to find some sort of roller I can mount on the passenger side of the bed to prevent the cable from rubbing on the side of the bed as the car is being winched up into place, I am thinking something off of a boat trailer might be just what I need.

Dave

[rpsinc]

32 minutes ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy Alan,

Where we are camped we have extremely slow service I can’t post photos can barely reply to or read the forum.

Within a week or so we will be moving from Quartzsite to the Yuma area and I have been told the cell service is much better there.  As soon as I am able I will try to post photos of the wiring Chad did and of how I mounted the winch.

 I still need to find some sort of roller I can mount on the passenger side of the bed to prevent the cable from rubbing on the side of the bed as the car is being winched up into place, I am thinking something off of a boat trailer might be just what I need.

Dave

You may also consider a conveyor roller, might be able to find at a surplus place in Yuma.  Or use a small v-groove caster wheel.  Likely available at Tractor Supply or even home centers.

[alan0043]

29 minutes ago, mr. cob said:

Howdy Alan,

Where we are camped we have extremely slow service I can’t post photos can barely reply to or read the forum.

Within a week or so we will be moving from Quartzsite to the Yuma area and I have been told the cell service is much better there.  As soon as I am able I will try to post photos of the wiring Chad did and of how I mounted the winch.

 I still need to find some sort of roller I can mount on the passenger side of the bed to prevent the cable from rubbing on the side of the bed as the car is being winched up into place, I am thinking something off of a boat trailer might be just what I need.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your help. I am in no hurry. I am reworking the bed on the truck. Right now I am taking a little lunch break. After lunch I will be going out in the barn and start cutting some steel. It's about 32* F with about 1 inch of snow on the ground. I hope you have some warm weather.

Thank you again for your help. Take your time on the info and pictures.
Al

[mr. cob]

11 minutes ago, rpsinc said:

You may also consider a conveyor roller, might be able to find at a surplus place in Yuma.  Or use a small v-groove caster wheel.  Likely available at Tractor Supply or even home centers.

Howdy rpsinc,

Thanks for the suggestions on parts and where to get them.

Dave

[mr. cob]

11 minutes ago, alan0043 said:

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your help. I am in no hurry. I am reworking the bed on the truck. Right now I am taking a little lunch break. After lunch I will be going out in the barn and start cutting some steel. It's about 32* F with about 1 inch of snow on the ground. I hope you have some warm weather.

Thank you again for your help. Take your time on the info and pictures.
Al

Howdy Al,

Well if it makes you feel any better it’s 70 degrees and bright sunshine here today, supposed to rain a couple days from now and then get nice again.

 I’ll post photos and information when I can.

Dave

[RickS]

Dave,
Something like this may work as it is called an edge roller and could be recessed or hinged to pop up when needed.

[mr. cob]

2 hours ago, RickS said:

Dave,
Something like this may work as it is called an edge roller and could be recessed or hinged to pop up when needed.

Howdy Rick,

That would work, it’s kinda like what I have in mind only more complex then what I’d like, that looks like a costly piece of kit.  Thanks for the information.

Dave

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

Thought I would update this thread, we left from Arizona a couple of days ago and arrived back home in Washington today.

First I want to THANK all the folks who made this trip so enjoyable, Chad who did our solar install it worked GREAT Donna loved having power all the time whenever we needed it with out being plugged in, next Jim, Aaron and John, our main slide was not working but with the help of our above camping friends we muscled that darn slide in and out when needed.

We had a wonderful time some days just doing nothing but soaking up the sun and the warmth, other days disturbing the environment with the SxS, others working on my truck or trailer, helping my campmates when I could.

However all good things must come to an end and so it was that after nearly three months away from the gloom of the NorWet it came time to return to the land of WET, gloom and now this Coronavirus crude.  The trip home was an adventure first driving through torrential rain, sleet and then SNOW, this was to happen in Utah, Idaho and while crossing the Blue Mountains in Oregon, some misty rain in Washington and very light snow when crossing Snoqulmie Pass our last high mountain pass just a 100 miles from home.  Oh, I almost forgot the rear passenger side rearmost spring mount on the trailer broke allowing the rear axle on the trailer to move forward about 4 inches.  Luckily this happened 8 miles from a small rural welding shop, I used a bunji cord to hold a piece of 4x4 on top of the spring and then used a large ratchet strap to pull the axle back into position, this allowed me to drive slowly to the shop where a good repair job was done to not only the side that broke but also the other side which upon inspection was cracked, both sides were reinforced.  Small shop run by good people total cost 125 bucks a darn good deal that I was happy to pay.

And so we are home, it’s cold, gloomy and wet, sometimes a person just has to do things they would rather not, it’s called life.

Dave, Donna, Newt and Willy 

[justRich]

Glad you made it okay.  Due to emergency health issues I had to make the northbound route decision - California 5 vs Nevada 93 vs Utah.
I went with Cal I5 to avoid potential weather delays.  California, especially southern California highways, are a rig-beater.  But the roads were clear and traffic was light.  
I covered 1510 miles in three days towing the Jeep.
Only the roadside rest areas were open - lots of truckers and noisy at night.  Next time I'll wear my Bose noise cancellation headphones to bed.