CSC Monthly Phoenix Meeting
August 18, 2017 @ 7:30 PM
Sonic on Broadway, Tempe, AZ
I. First Time Guests
II. New Members
IV. New Business
August 18, 2017 @ 7:30 PM
Sonic on Broadway, Tempe, AZ
I. First Time Guests
a. Alice and Garen
i. Alice and Garen own a 2004 dark silver UZJ100 and a silver 2006 LX470. Garen’s first vehicle was an FJ40 and somehow, through destiny, Alice also owned an FJ40 as her first vehicle! So these two have been longtime Cruiser fans and are obviously soulmates.
b. Edgar @Garrissey i. Edgar came up all the way from Tucson for this meeting and found out about CSC through @Cruddz. He owns a 1983 FJ60 that he bought a couple of months ago. He and @Cruddz have been working nonstop on the 60; so far they’ve had to rebuild the head, the carburetor, and do a lot of other work to get “Peaches” up and running. She’s doing good but there’s still a lot to do. His build thread is El Escobar aka El Chivo aka 83-FJ60
II. New Members
a. Randy @doc_random
III. Run of the Monthi. Randy used to be in AZ Land Cruiser Association. He bought a used 4Runner recently, and also owns an LX450 with factory lockers, etc.; he used to have an FJ40
b. Ben @D_Web i. Ben drove all the way up from Tucson for this meeting! He owns a 2006 UZJ100 (blue), with 182k miles, which he bought from @wtmtnterror. He originally hails from Queensland, AU, and used to own a HZJ105 and a HDJ80. He recently attended the 7th Annual Hundreds in the Hills event where he met up with other CSCers. He’s interested in making a trip back to the San Juan mountains in Colorado, so maybe we will try to put together a CSC trip up to that area sometime soon, if there’s enough interest.
a. July
i. @floggerdogger led July ROTM - Diamond Rock (Black River) and this was attended by @Fuge and @Stepmurr. Nobody from the run was at the meeting but according to the thread the trip was a success (backup plan to original Mt. Graham run which had to be canceled due to the Frye Fire 
)
b. August)i. @ftbshop will be leading a group to August ROTM: Smiley Rock 8/26/17 Some people may be camping on this trip, and it is probably not recommended for stock trucks (tight rocky sections).
c. Septemberi. @yjeff is leading Sept 23, 2017 ROTM to Sheeps Bridge - Baywatch Edition (Beach day) depending on the temperatures, most likely people will be camping. Sheep’s Bridge is always a good time, especially enjoyed by the kids.
d. Octoberi. October ROTM - Casner Trail & Camping being led by @brices123; there are only 10 trucks by permit allowed on the trail and all the spots are reserved right now (check thread to see if there are any drop-outs), but if there’s enough interest maybe some side trails could be run, if anyone wants to organize and lead. The Casner trip is always a big hit and lots of people come out for the camping and potluck; the camp spot is especially beautiful on the Sedona North Rim area. Tree colors should be excellent at this time of year as well.
e. Novemberi. There was discussion we could possibly organize a North Rim run for this month going in through Buffalo Ranch area. May try to organize the November ROTM to be held somewhere between Phoenix and Tucson to encourage more of the Tucson folks to come out and join. More discussion and details TBD.
IV. New Business
a. Suggestion re: members who make a long trip to attend meetings
V. Power Management Clinic provided by @LandCruiserPhili. @LandCruiserPhil suggested perhaps making the decision that if people are making the effort to drive all the way from Tucson or Flagstaff to attend the Phoenix meeting, maybe CSC should buy them dinner as a way of saying thank you for participating! (nothing fancy, maybe just Sonic!)
b. October run to Rocky Pointi. @yjeff is organizing a trip to Mexico Rocky Point Invitation - Oct 7-15, 2017 and is inviting anyone who wants to go along. The trip is only about an hour of driving in Mexico once you cross the border, and there’s lot of options as far as either camping, renting a house, etc., depending on what the group wants to do. @LandCruiserPhil goes down there all the time and highly recommends it.
c. New Appointmenti. @Abigail is the new CSC Secretary, taking over from @Otter, who has become too busy with more important responsibilities (something about being a father??) Thank you @Otter for all of your tireless note-taking over the years!
d. Considerations for PHX Meeting Locationsi. There was discussion about occasionally holding CSC meetings at other areas around the valley, and it was suggested that members should feel free to post up if they know of a good place to hold a meeting or hang out as a group (i.e. a park, restaurant, bar, @brices123's office…). This was successful for the July meeting when we met on the West Side and many members showed up who normally don’t come to meetings due to the distance.
e. Recent CSC Tucson Chapter Meetingi. CSC Tucson August Meeting 8.5.2017 A Tucson meeting happened a couple of weeks ago and it was a huge success, it’s great to see some activity from the Tucson folks!. A lot of PHX members went down there and overall it was a great turnout (thanks to @Wilma83 for organizing!). The club met at Tap & Bottle, and they they are organizing an October meeting as well (location TBD). Also, the 40 relay baton handoff happened in the Tucson meeting, it was pretty cool! (FJ40 Cross-Country Expedition: Will YOU join us???)
a. Batteries
i. Parallel batteries make more sense than having typical dual battery setup because when it comes to cycling a battery, the more you have to deep cycle it, the shorter the lifespan of the battery. For this reason, a parallel battery setup can be a good option because neither battery hardly ever drops since they’re always connected to each other. It’s a good idea to always carry a “jump box” as backup; there are a lot of brands out there that work, such as Antigravity. The biggest problem with a typical dual battery setup is that it’s complicated and people don’t understand the elaborate setup and then the whole system ends up backfiring on them because it’s not setup correctly. If your batteries are sitting next to each other, you probably do not a need for a fuse, but if they’re separated (i.e. one in the back of the vehicle and one in the front) it can be helpful to have a fuse in between. Additionally, one of the biggest things people miss on dual battery setups is the grounding: the big huge ground wire goes to the block, the only thing that grounds to your body is that #8 wire that goes to your fender side; if you tie your grounds together and lose one, the electricity will try to go to that tiny wire and fry it (and then all your electronics), so you should ground from the battery to the frame as well as between both batteries in case you lose that main ground.
ii. Battery brands: Optima batteries, although they may have reputation for not being as good as they once were, have always performed well for Phil.
iii. Always buy the battery warranty; also, if you purchase a battery on the internet, you have to send the battery “back to the internet” in order to take advantage of the warranty, so may be a better idea to buy from an actual brick and mortar store like Batteries Plus.
iv. It does not matter if the batteries you have in a parallel setup are the same brand or even the same size.
v. Whatever battery system you choose, no matter how “good” it is, make sure that you understand it, otherwise it will let you down in the end.
vi. Any time you drop below 12v you drop below 50% juice in your battery and you don’t want to drop below that level.
vii. Solar is another option for recharging your battery (or batteries), but often due to the time of day traveling vs. stopped, you hardly have the chance to take advantage of the sun.
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