What have you done to your FMTV or LMTV today

[MatthewWBailey]

Too me, that pretty much proves it's locking on pavement around turns. I have lwb too. I have to 3 point to get out of my driveway.

After everything I've read and now looking at the DL in hand, isn't the point of the springs to 'control' the lock/unlock? So for dual axles, doesn't a lighter spring set in the front DL make for easier differentiating of that set of wheels? Seems like it could be tuned.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Brcyce has I believe a non Asian country making them for him.. you honestly cant do better last time I got one from him.

If him, MME, and WCR are all selling them - then the manufacturer will sell to anyone. And the price is likely to be significantly lower. Wouldn't surprise me if they were ~$450 per unit if bought in quantity.

 

[MatthewWBailey]

GPS speedometer experiment begun. 3-3/8"
https://motormeterracing.com/speedometer/

 

[ckouba]

120? Planning on some high speed runs?

 

[MatthewWBailey]

120? Planning on some high speed runs?

I'm going to test it downhill. Makes the truck seem faster when the gauge goes to 120. Although I unexpectedly hit 85 on flat thru Utah last month after the eco install. Sleepy foot.

So MotorMeterRacing doesn't make a 100mph or 80mph version, But this is only $55. Auto-meter makes a 100mph (see pic) that's $300-350 depending on where you can buy it and then an even fancier $450 version. I'm not spending that. Plus I like this 3 line display more. If I don't like the operation of the gps, I only spent $55 and it can get swapped into the gator lol. I need COG when hauling yard trash. IssPro said they're coming out with a gps version but will prob be >$250 knowing their prices. The gps antenna was included with mine, but AutoMeter makes you buy one for ~$65 extra.

 

[MatthewWBailey]

Speedom works. Very stable. I got used to the wavy one that was stock lol. The 12v and 6v levels from the dimmer module wire 1908 operate this unit's "backlighting" perfectly. I think they're just activating the backlighting directly as I used a 24v ignition feed to power it, wire 1925. The Taiwanese instructions didn't detail that very well imo. I stole 24v from the unused "options panel" connector. Took a 18mile test drive. Also the first test drive with the new alt and batt wiring. 28v and 14v dead on. My ground strap relocation must've kicked off a few cobwebs as now my Water temp gauge is working perfectly ha! It was doa before. @GeneralDisorder right again!

 

[coachgeo]

GPS speedometer experiment begun. 3-3/8"
....

or if your cheap like me. A usb cord an old used cell phone with a free speedo GPS app

PS- this is just an example pic. no clue if this one is free or any good

 

[j_boucher]

or if your cheap like me. A usb cord an old used cell phone with a free speedo GPS app

PS- this is just an example pic. no clue if this one is free or any good

Funny that's what I do as well I just open the app on my phone, but I like the idea of the GPS speedo

 

[MatthewWBailey]

Funny that's what I do as well I just open the app on my phone, but I like the idea of the GPS speedo

my only thing to add would be that the installed Speedom has the Odometer feature that can be set to the existing mileage, plus the COG which I like.

 

[coachgeo]

my only thing to add would be that the installed Speedom has the Odometer feature that can be set to the existing mileage, plus the COG which I like.

hmmm..... collect cheap used phones or tablets to make your own dashboard lol.. Actually Ive considered that though. Remove speedo and put a tablet there (or place atop it) for this purpose.

 

[MatthewWBailey]

hmmm..... collect cheap used phones or tablets to make your own dashboard lol.. Actually Ive considered that though. Remove speedo and put a tablet there (or place atop it) for this purpose.

It would look pretty cool for sure.

 

[MatthewWBailey]

Is this thread dying or out of fashion?

I added my 24v dedicated charger to the barn. Got the nato cables awhile ago. Everything is surplus except the plug which is nos. Charger is an Astron Ham radio supply, 35a peak set to 28.1v. Nice to find with the gauges. Also tested my 24hr digital clock which was an unused $20 eBay score. MotorMeter racing brand. (The seller sells cloths and must've acquired this randomly)

 

[coachgeo]

is the charger auto shut off? Suggest you put a battery balancer in your mix of batts. Since he 12v use side always goes low.... charging with 24v only the charger will end up cooking battery(s) due to imbalance even if that charger has an auto shut off.

 

[Ronmar]

What Geo said. It is really only appropriate to charge with 24 when that is all that is typically being drawn from the batts(discharged equally)… a small balancer really should be used on these trucks when charging with straight 24…

 

[wandering neurons]

I put a double-pole battery disconnect in the connections between my two (not four) batteries. It splits the wiring between the batteries and isolates them from each other. So I now have a 12v dual-output charger, one output to each battery, to keep them charged as if they are two independent batteries. No, I don't have wiring diagram handy, am at work in vault...

 

[j_boucher]

Is this thread dying or out of fashion?

I added my 24v dedicated charger to the barn. Got the nato cables awhile ago. Everything is surplus except the plug which is nos. Charger is an Astron Ham radio supply, 35a peak set to 28.1v. Nice to find with the gauges. Also tested my 24hr digital clock which was an unused $20 eBay score. MotorMeter racing brand. (The seller sells cloths and must've acquired this randomly)

View attachment 921368View attachment 921369View attachment 921367View attachment 921366View attachment 921372View attachment 921370

I used to use that same Astron as a Power supply for our aircraft camera on the test stand when in the sandbox

 

[MatthewWBailey]

is the charger auto shut off? Suggest you put a battery balancer in your mix of batts. Since he 12v use side always goes low.... charging with 24v only the charger will end up cooking battery(s) due to imbalance even if that charger has an auto shut off.

I don't have a 12v load connection so those batteries are straight 24 only, same as any commercial 24v setup. Alt is only 24v. The charger power is on one of those Kasa IP network switches so I can put a schedule of on/off times.

What Geo said. It is really only appropriate to charge with 24 when that is all that is typically being drawn from the batts(discharged equally)… a small balancer really should be used on these trucks when charging with straight 24…

Again, no 12v on mine. That comes from the victrons.
But I use those Pulsetech maintainers, one on each battery and plug those in if the truck sits awhile. The leads can be bolted to the batteries with the terminals provided. Those are only maintainers so I added the bulk charger. I'll probably set it to 2-3hrs a day? No different than if I drove it that much.

but you guys bring up another question of mine, will 1 battery goto imbalance over time even in a straight 24 arrangement?

 

[MatthewWBailey]

I used to use that same Astron as a Power supply for our aircraft camera on the test stand when in the sandbox

Reliable in your experience? I see lots of them around. I also have the smaller 14volt version. This one seems robust, 1500va transformer inside and very large smoothing capacitors.

 

[coachgeo]

I don't have a 12v load connection so those batteries are straight 24 only, same as any commercial 24v setup. Alt is only 24v. The charger power is on one of those Kasa IP network switches so I can put a schedule of on/off times.


Again, no 12v on mine. That comes from the victrons.
But I use those Pulsetech maintainers, one on each battery and plug those in if the truck sits awhile. The leads can be bolted to the batteries with the terminals provided. Those are only maintainers so I added the bulk charger. I'll probably set it to 2-3hrs a day? No different than if I drove it that much.

but you guys bring up another question of mine, will 1 battery goto imbalance over time even in a straight 24 arrangement?

Nice set up. Don't think you would get imbalance with your set up..... beyond nothings perfect. A tiny balancer, nothing super special would likely be enough insurance though likely not "needed". Folk more expert than I will wade in.

Wonder if you could run your 28v charger thru a "surplus/used solar/wind controller with a generator/power grid kick on feature. that may give you ability to use your charger just as a source (its the generator/grid connection). Controller would give you real nice proper charge steps and a shut down feature. Though might be more expensive than a nice two battery modern charger.

 

[MatthewWBailey]

Nice set up. Don't think you would get imbalance with your set up..... beyond nothings perfect. A tiny balancer, nothing super special would likely be enough insurance though likely not "needed". Folk more expert than I will wade in.

Wonder if you could run your 28v charger thru a "surplus/used solar/wind controller with a generator/power grid kick on feature. that may give you ability to use your charger just as a source (its the generator/grid connection). Controller would give you real nice proper charge steps and a shut down feature. Though might be more expensive than a nice two battery modern charger.

I was realizing that whatever imbalance I introduce via the battery choice, then the 24v charger would just promote that imbalance. i.e. if I use 2 different size batteries or 2 different types, the internal R and C would "maintain" their own imbalance. But, outside of that, if I'm using 2 identical type/size batteries of the same age/vintage, then there should be very little imbalance aside from manufacturer's quality level. It's just interesting since the center of the 2 batteries is floating and can move up or down if one of the batteries starts to go bad. I study this a bit in AC transformers so it's just an interesting tech item, albeit not really a big deal in the real world.

I guess I kinda follow what you're suggesting on the solar/wind controller. But the dedicated device would probably be cheaper yes. Genasun makes some nice single panel MPPT controllers that are meant to be charge controllers. See pic of the 48v version on my golf cart. You have to buy the one particular to the battery chemistry you're using as well as the nominal voltage. I have a 350W Rec panel dedicated to putting on this truck that will pump into one of these Genasun controllers (24v version). So as long as I'm parked outside, I'd have up to ~8A of battery maintenance with the sophistication of CPU charging. The panel is yet to be mounted to the top of the roof rack but that was my plan.