Host F550 4X4 Motorhome Quad Slide 330
- Thread starter Wildman
- Start date
uum, just found this thread: We bought a Thor Magnitude XG32, back in Sept. of last year. F550 superduty 6.7L turbo 4x4 We live full time in it. I put 1500 watts of solar on the roof, a Victron MultiPlus II 12/3000/120 inverter, with a 150/30 MPPT charge controller, and Cerbo 12v/12v Dc to Dc charge controller when driving.
We have been all over Arizona. And most of the west, EXCEPT CALIFORNIA, we "probably" will never going there. We mostly boondock, BLM land, or use Harvest Host to camp. We prefer the wilderness areas. The C.O.E, ( Corp. of army engineers ) aslo has millions of acres to camp on for free or a nominal fee.
Right now we are in Toledo, Oh. the MIL has some medical issues so the CO ( Commanding Officer ~~~or ~~~Capt'n Obvious, depending on the circumstances) wanted to make a bee-line here to make sure her mom was ok, and she is. we left the Jeep at a friends house in New Yorkistan, so we are headed back there next week, so I can get it running again ( wiring harness caught fire)
But honestly, we have been having the time of our lives. we have been down south, out west, through central America, and around the Northeast. we only have 11,000 on the "Escape Pod". We get, on average 11mpg. Sometimes I can hit 12.5 mpg, sometimes 8.5mpg, depending on what mountain we have to go over, and out west there are some impressive mountains, as you can imagine.
We have been all over Arizona. And most of the west, EXCEPT CALIFORNIA, we "probably" will never going there. We mostly boondock, BLM land, or use Harvest Host to camp. We prefer the wilderness areas. The C.O.E, ( Corp. of army engineers ) aslo has millions of acres to camp on for free or a nominal fee.
Right now we are in Toledo, Oh. the MIL has some medical issues so the CO ( Commanding Officer ~~~or ~~~Capt'n Obvious, depending on the circumstances) wanted to make a bee-line here to make sure her mom was ok, and she is. we left the Jeep at a friends house in New Yorkistan, so we are headed back there next week, so I can get it running again ( wiring harness caught fire)
But honestly, we have been having the time of our lives. we have been down south, out west, through central America, and around the Northeast. we only have 11,000 on the "Escape Pod". We get, on average 11mpg. Sometimes I can hit 12.5 mpg, sometimes 8.5mpg, depending on what mountain we have to go over, and out west there are some impressive mountains, as you can imagine.
OP
You're living my dream right now. Hopefully will be traveling by this winter. Your solar system is about what I see me needing/doing to mine once the new roof has been installed. The more I think about it the less I am going to have them put the satellite dish back on as it takes up a lot of room.
You have a great looking couch. Start a build thread on it and share what you've done to it.
OP
I guess I should have said conventional lead acid batteries.....
Yep, I use to rave about how great Optima was and I had a red top battery that was great but I've gone thru 5 yellow top since I built the Jeep in 2006 which is crazy.
Odyssey is at the top of my list.
OP
I've got a old high school buddy in AR that I've got to visit too so I'll be in the area. Last time I was in Little Rock was around 2001.
OP
Sitting waiting for the truck to arrive with my theater seating. Only took a month.
OP
Well SHIT I've got the center console and the left hand recliner but NO right hand recliner and no word yet when I'll receive it either. Contacted Bass Pro whom I'd bought the seating from and they are looking into this and hopefully I'll hear something soon.
Not sure if I want to remove the couch now and start installing things with the HOPE the other recliner arrives soon.
This seems to be the norm in life after Covid. At least we can console ourselves by how well we controlled the spread....oh....wait. Nevermind
OP
Yes it does seem to have become the norm. I could deal with the length of time it takes to receive things but damn at least communicate with me to let me know when it might arrive. And again I don't mind paying upfront for things (which I did) but as stated I'd like an idea of when I might receive things.
It's like the issue with places that state they have something in stock but once you order it it's no longer available or backordered until???
I'd ordered from Bass Pro for two reasons,
1) They had the best price with free shipping
2) Their website claimed they had everything in stock
They shipped 4 items to me but everything else has been drop shipped from the manufacturer with no tracking available. In today's world who can't supply you with tracking information?
we get that a lot. I have done some stuff to the Escape Pod. Like I said, we Boondock and stay at Harvest host.
Harvest Host can be anything from a farm, to a distillery, a winery or brewery. You can camp at these places, generally for one night for free, but you can go in and sample some amazing beer/Rum/wine ( Im not big into wine ) take a tour of the place, you're not obligated to purchase any of their <whatever> but the general unwritten rule is to spend $20.
One of the things I have done is removed the flush toilet, and install a "Airhead Composting toilet" By doing that, we don't need to find a dump station, we can just throw the compost away or dump it in the woods. Instead of breaking camp every 5 to 7 days, we can stay in the woods for a month or more. But some women don't like it, its different, there are tons of youtube videos about these things
I fixed a bunch of warranty stuff, because a dealer can take months (literally) to fix a minor problem. And I have 4 friends that are diesel mechanics, so
and ammo, even though it weighs a ton, I got what I need. except 45-70, I could use another couple of boxes of that
OP
we get that a lot. I have done some stuff to the Escape Pod. Like I said, we Boondock and stay at Harvest host.
Harvest Host can be anything from a farm, to a distillery, a winery or brewery. You can camp at these places, generally for one night for free, but you can go in and sample some amazing beer/Rum/wine ( Im not big into wine ) take a tour of the place, you're not obligated to purchase any of their <whatever> but the general unwritten rule is to spend $20.
One of the things I have done is removed the flush toilet, and install a "Airhead Composting toilet" By doing that, we don't need to find a dump station, we can just throw the compost away or dump it in the woods. Instead of breaking camp every 5 to 7 days, we can stay in the woods for a month or more. But some women don't like it, its different, there are tons of youtube videos about these things
I fixed a bunch of warranty stuff, because a dealer can take months (literally) to fix a minor problem. And I have 4 friends that are diesel mechanics, soIfwhen something bad happens, all have to do is make a few phone calls. And I have people all around the country, that if I get in a jam, I can go park in there driveway and fix whatever needs fixing. I have a bunch of tools, impact drivers, drills and drilldrivers and hardware, nuts bolts screws.
and ammo, even though it weighs a ton, I got what I need. except 45-70, I could use another couple of boxes of that
I've been reading about the Harvest Host. This is all still new to me so I'm sure I'll have a learning curve.
I'm alone right now but I've been thinking about doing a composting toilet over the stock black tank. One of the things that kept me from buying a newer or new rig was all the horror stories I'd been reading about the warranty issues. There are some scary posts on forums or Facebook about the issues people are having. Granted I'm still fixin things on mine too.
This thing is coming along nicely! You'll be out Glamping in no time!
OP
I'm hoping. Plan to go use it soon even before the Jeep is done. Once the Jeep is finished then all bets are off.
OP
A little more battery information.
When compared with Odyssey 65-PC1750T battery, NorthStar NSB-AGM65 is somewhat heavier (55 vs 54 lbs), it features shorter Reserve Capacity (135 vs 145 minutes), smaller CCA value (930 vs 950 Amps), and smaller 20h capacity (69 vs 74 Ah). Also, their MCA/CA values are exactly the same - 1070 Amps, and that is a lot of current.
As deep cycle battery NorthStar NSB-AGM65 is designed to withstand 900 cycles down to 50% of DoD (Depth of Discharge), while Odyssey 65-PC1750T tolerates up to 400 cycles down to 80% of DoD.
So, which one is beter, NorthStar NSB-AGM65 or Odyssey 65-PC1750T? Since they feature very similar price, we would say that Odyssey 65-PC1750T is better battery than NorthStar NSB-AGM65.
But, those numbers are 'just' numbers - both batteries are excellent group 65 batteries and if the Odyssey 65-PC1750T is not available, feel free to get NorthStar NSB-AGM65.
NorthStar NSB-AGM65 vs. Odyssey 65-PC1750T
Once again, we have NorthStar vs Odyssey battery comparison and once again, they are close, but not as close as in some other battery group sizes (for example, group 31 batteries NorthStar NSB-AGM31(M) and Odyssey 31M-PC2150 are so close that we still can't say which one is better battery - and yes, author(s) of these articles are generally biased regarding Odyssey batteries due to the real-life situations at very low temperatures...).When compared with Odyssey 65-PC1750T battery, NorthStar NSB-AGM65 is somewhat heavier (55 vs 54 lbs), it features shorter Reserve Capacity (135 vs 145 minutes), smaller CCA value (930 vs 950 Amps), and smaller 20h capacity (69 vs 74 Ah). Also, their MCA/CA values are exactly the same - 1070 Amps, and that is a lot of current.
As deep cycle battery NorthStar NSB-AGM65 is designed to withstand 900 cycles down to 50% of DoD (Depth of Discharge), while Odyssey 65-PC1750T tolerates up to 400 cycles down to 80% of DoD.
So, which one is beter, NorthStar NSB-AGM65 or Odyssey 65-PC1750T? Since they feature very similar price, we would say that Odyssey 65-PC1750T is better battery than NorthStar NSB-AGM65.
But, those numbers are 'just' numbers - both batteries are excellent group 65 batteries and if the Odyssey 65-PC1750T is not available, feel free to get NorthStar NSB-AGM65.
I bet that it'll be fun to see it in HD and color now!
"Usually" the heavier the battery (the more lead) the better but 1 pound is negligible. My guess is those are numbers that each respective manufacturer has given and not real world tests for verification.
It's really hard to compare the 2 since they are very close numbers wise. Which one has the better warranty?
This part is deceiving, It's basically just a difference in marketing between the 2 companies.
"As deep cycle battery NorthStar NSB-AGM65 is designed to withstand 900 cycles down to 50% of DoD (Depth of Discharge), while Odyssey 65-PC1750T tolerates up to 400 cycles down to 80% of DoD."
I would be willing to wager that if you compared them apples to apples on the DoD they would probably both hit the same number of cycles. The deeper you cycle them the quicker they expire. That's an unavoidable fact of chemistry.
OP
Seems that Northstar has been discontinued.
https://www.battsys.com/northstar-nsb-agm-65-group-65-battery?___store=battsys
BatteryPlus in Yakima has both the X2 & Odyssey and they are $20 difference in price.
https://www.batteriesplus.com/batte...-super-duty-pickup/2008/v8-6.4l-750cca-diesel
might want to look into Lithium ion, a 100Ah weighs about 35 pounds, as opposed to a lead acid, or AGM, but they are expensive, and they do have some temperature constraints
OP
Lithium would be great but for a starting batteries I think I'll stick with AGM for now.