Featured 100: paflytyer

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Great build thread! Funny I remember reading your first post @paflytyer when you joined the 100 forum. Your feedback on the Icon suspension is great and likely what I will be replacing some of my stuff with as well. I have SPC UCA's and I've been happy with them. Do think the new JD UCA's provide additional benefits over the SPC's in the same Icon setup?

Keep up the good work on the build thread! Hopefully I will get around to doing one someday... I always thought I would write one when I "finish" the build but we all know that never really happens...
 
Thanks @jgray

I chose the NITRO arms because I got to see firsthand the increase in travel they provided with the ICON shocks. They'll work with any extended shock though (I believe). I liked the idea of a replaceable ball joint that could be purchased at a Toyota dealer, or any auto parts store too.

The ICON lower links for the rear are maybe my favorite part of the new setup. They have a replaceable nylon coating on the bottom edge that allows them to slide over any rocks that you hit. I've already drug them across some rocks in Moab, it's not a gimmick.
 
paflytyer said:
Good to know. As I look back at that, it's the reason I didn't like the IBS system. It will not charge the aux battery until it senses the main is full. My system is one big battery until I chose to separate them. That's why I did it like that.

Gotta fix that post.
Click to expand...
That is not correct. The IBS system has a voltage sense. As soon as it sees a threshold voltage it connects the solenoid together. So in essence it waits until the alternator starts putting out a charge and then connect the batteries together.

There is no mechanism involved that senses only the first battery and keeps the second battery out of the loop as soon as the alternator starts charging.
 
sleeoffroad said:
That is not correct. The IBS system has a voltage sense. As soon as it sees a threshold voltage it connects the solenoid together. So in essence it waits until the alternator starts putting out a charge and then connect the batteries together.

There is no mechanism involved that senses only the first battery and keeps the second battery out of the loop as soon as the alternator starts charging.
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From our old Rising Sun thread, which you were involved in....from a guy who lives and breathes this stuff.

"It looks like to me that the main battery is always being charged and the second battery only gets switched in once the main is sensed to be full. When it does, the regulated voltage will get some combination of sense of the the two and the main battery will supply current to charge the second one. This is not an optimal setup (I'd prefer to prevent main-to-secondary flow) but it works as long as the second battery is not allowed to remain in the circuit with the engine off. "

Are you saying this isn't correct? I don't want to make this a dual battery thread. My system has worked flawless for years. Never one issue. Just like back then, I'm not saying the IBS doesn't do what it's supposed to do, I just have a way less expensive system.
 
There is a sense wire connected to the main battery. Once this sense wire sees 13.1v it connects the solenoid. So the only time when the 2nd battery will not get charge immediately when the alternator starts putting out current is if the alternator can not maintain 13.1v for some reason or another. Once of those could be that if the main battery was so low that the alternator could not maintain the voltage.

Another case is when the 2nd battery is so low and the solenoid combines the batteries and then can's maintain the voltage. However the IBS system has timing circuits that helps that it does not drop out immediately. This is one issue with ACR systems that does not have timing circuits.

It is true that some charging would happen from the charged battery to the discharged battery, but it does not really matter how you connect two batteries that have different charge, that would always happen.
 
^^ That just makes me more satisfied with my simple system. I'm a simple guy. Smart boxes and sensing wires are above my head.

Isn't this designed to work with the type of system I built?
Part: SOF1280 Slee Dual Battery LED Indicator
 
The dual LED shows voltage for each battery, but when connected it will show the same. It is helpful in that it can be installed on a modern dash in a really small spot. What it does help with is when the batteries are not connected (either manually or auto) is to show the voltage of each battery. And in an auto system if you don't see the same color in both, you know that your auto system did not connect. For a manual system it could also serve as a good reminder when you start driving that you did not flick the switch.
 
Awesome write up, Stan.
I'm happy to say that the failure of my front diff out on Slaughterhouse Gulch was preparation for the inevitable fate of your own front diff.
Are you planning to install a rear locker?
I have one to install, but there are few times I've actually needed it.

-Art
 
sleeoffroad said:
The dual LED shows voltage for each battery, but when connected it will show the same. It is helpful in that it can be installed on a modern dash in a really small spot. What it does help with is when the batteries are not connected (either manually or auto) is to show the voltage of each battery. And in an auto system if you don't see the same color in both, you know that your auto system did not connect. For a manual system it could also serve as a good reminder when you start driving that you did not flick the switch.
Click to expand...

The 100 has a dummy gauge that shows the main voltage and my HAM radio gives me a voltage reading as soon as I turn it on. As long as I have the aux battery separated, I get a true aux battery voltage reading. I carry a voltmeter too. Covers all bases.
 
artwerks said:
Awesome write up, Stan.
I'm happy to say that the failure of my front diff out on Slaughterhouse Gulch was preparation for the inevitable fate of your own front diff.
Are you planning to install a rear locker?
I have one to install, but there are few times I've actually needed it.

-Art
Click to expand...

Yours was the first one I did on the trail! 3 more followed soon after, and then my own.

After all this time and all these miles, I'm finally adding a rear locker and NITRO 4.88 gears. I'm going to a slightly bigger tire as well, so the 4.88's should help me get to Ouray a little easier this year. That write-up is coming soon.
 
...UOTE="paflytyer, post: 9734351, member: 68906"]Thanks @jgray

The ICON lower links for the rear are maybe my favorite part of the new setup. They have a replaceable nylon coating on the bottom edge that allows them to slide over any rocks that you hit. I've already drug them across some rocks in Moab, it's not a gimmick.[/QUOTE]

Hum. I didn't know they produced these. I went with metaltech, and am happy with them. I did note that metaltech doesn't have LC stuff list on their website. [edit....the website must have been partially down, the LC stuff is back up, whew]

You'll really like the Icon shocks. I gotta say the bumpstop feature (progressive damping of the last bit of travel) absorbs that last bit of travel nicely right when you think you are going to bottom on the whoop you took too fast...
 
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Nice write-up Stan

I have the IBS system and Christo is right as soon as you start the vehicle they are both charging. You can always combine them full time by pressing a button. A few weeks ago when my truck sat for a day the IBS system would start beeping but it would start find. Pressing the battery voltage monitor showed me it was low so I used a battery charger. Same thing happened a few days later and took the Sears Platinum in at 3 years 10 months and they replaced it free, said it tested low. If it wasn't for the IBS system, I wouldn't had known I had a battery problem till it failed or at least got much worse

Stan is a great guy and a fun guy to go wheeling with. Always eager to pitch in a help someone in trouble or who just needs a hand
 
Romer said:
Nice write-up Stan

I have the IBS system and Christo is right as soon as you start the vehicle they are both charging. You can always combine them full time by pressing a button. A few weeks ago when my truck sat for a day the IBS system would start beeping but it would start find. Pressing the battery voltage monitor showed me it was low so I used a battery charger. Same thing happened a few days later and took the Sears Platinum in at 3 years 10 months and they replaced it free, said it tested low. If it wasn't for the IBS system, I wouldn't had known I had a battery problem till it failed or at least got much worse

Stan is a great guy and a fun guy to go wheeling with. Always eager to pitch in a help someone in trouble or who just needs a hand
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Thanks Romer!

@Romer was actually the first person I met who drove a built 100 Series (he lives just down the road from me) He was also the person who gave me the "Before you spend a bunch of money, just drive your 100 on the trail and see what modifications you really need" advice. It's advice that I still follow. I built this truck one mod at a time. That gave me the ability to really see how each mod I did changed the way the truck drove, reacted and handled in each situation. From gas mileage to braking to handling.

On the IBS one more time.... wouldn't any inexpensive dual battery monitor tell you if one battery is not charging? Batteries don't just spontaneously fail very often. The chances of two of them failing simultaneously are about as likely as springing a leak in your main fuel tank and the fuel cans on your bumper at the same time. You don't need to spend $379 plus another $80 for the RBM (that should come standard) But, people are conditioned to buy whatever they're told is necessary to be an "overlander". There's nothing wrong with that. I support all of our Land Cruiser vendors and appreciate what they design, build and sell. The IBS system works as designed. It's just not for me and my setup. I need something that is easy to read and easy to fix.

Again, I'm not saying the IBS system does anything wrong. I'm just saying there is absolutely no need for it to run a fully functioning dual battery system. Dual battery systems didn't just become popular when IBS started their business, they've been around forever.

My system is mechanically fail-proof. The only way something goes wrong is if I forget to disconnect batteries in camp. Otherwise, it's just a battery connected to another battery with a cable and a cutoff switch. If something goes haywire with the IBS, there are a bunch of wires to check, a solenoid to fail, a boost module to fail, a relay to fail...... I have seen it firsthand 2 years ago on the Kokopelli Trail. The electronic solenoid was clicking, but not staying closed. One battery was dying on the trail. I used a voltmeter to find the fault. I believe something got wet and the system would not link both batteries together.
 
Kofoed said:
Hum. I didn't know they produced these. I went with metaltech, and am happy with them. I did note that metaltech doesn't have LC stuff list on their website.

You'll really like the Icon shocks. I gotta say the bumpstop feature (progressive damping of the last bit of travel) absorbs that last bit of travel nicely right when you think you are going to bottom on the whoop you took too fast...
Click to expand...

@Kofoed I'm showing Metal Tech having all kinds of stuff listed for the Land Cruiser on their site. Metal Tech 100 Series

And I totally agree on the ICON's. I probably have 500 miles on them with a lot of that being off-highway miles. I installed them just a few weeks ago and did a local shakedown run immediately. Then I drove to Fruita, CO and spent the next 3 days and 150 miles on the Kokopelli Trail followed by 3 more days in Moab. I'm able to stay in the throttle over stuff that would have thumped the OME suspension. It actually takes some getting used to. It also makes me want to drive an ICON equipped Raptor through the SoCal desert ;)

Anyone coming to 100s in the Hills is more than welcome to drive my truck on the bumpy dirt roads behind camp to see what the ICON/NITRO setup feels like. HIH is all about showcasing 100 Series products, connecting old friends, making new friends and bringing vendors and consumers together on the trail.
 
So is this 100 going to be at Rubithon?

On the dual battery thing, a simple system is laudable. But thoughtless systems are good too. If you always have 2 separated fully charged batteries at the end of the day, it works.
 
Cruiserdrew said:
So is this 100 going to be at Rubithon?

On the dual battery thing, a simple system is laudable. But thoughtless systems are good too. If you always have 2 separated fully charged batteries at the end of the day, it works.
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Totally agree. Whatever works to ensure the truck starts, the beer stays cold and the food in the fridge doesn't spoil.

I'll be driving a built 80 on 37's during Rubithon. I have a pencil ready to check that box on my lifetime bucket list. I'm beyond excited for it.
 
Cool. Well hopefully you'll come back every year to Rubithon, but please find me there and introduce yourself. I'll be connected to the wagon run in some way and in a smurf blue spring over FJ60.
 
paflytyer said:
On the IBS one more time.... wouldn't any inexpensive dual battery monitor tell you if one battery is not charging? Batteries don't just spontaneously fail very often. The chances of two of them failing simultaneously are about as likely as springing a leak in your main fuel tank and the fuel cans on your bumper at the same time. You don't need to spend $379 plus another $80 for the RBM (that should come standard) But, people are conditioned to buy whatever they're told is necessary to be an "overlander". There's nothing wrong with that. I support all of our Land Cruiser vendors and appreciate what they design, build and sell. The IBS system works as designed. It's just not for me and my setup. I need something that is easy to read and easy to fix.
Click to expand...

The Hellroaring setup in my 80 didn't. I had to switch the two batteries together to start when a battery died. The thing I liked about the IBS setup and the National Luna is similar is its smart enough to know a battery is not performing as it should well before it fails. My 100 started every time, everything worked great. Just when it sat for a bot, the IBS warning signal would come on and the battery would still start. I like things that tell you well ahead of something failing when it starts to show signs that the human behind the wheel couldn't detect.

The Marine witch in my Kimberley certainly couldn't, I found out a battery was bad after it failed and the fridge shut off.

You will love the Rubicon. It was a bucket trip for me in my 80 on 35's. If you are going in the wagon run, be prepared for some gourmet food with the Norcal guys
 
Like you say, this isn't a dual battery thread, but, if you want to know how your batteries are doing, install dual voltmeters and keep track. I'm doing that in my FJ60. Most dual battery systems are so reliable this isn't needed but it's still fun to monitor.

With a switch only, there is nothing to go wrong, except forgetting to use the switch after a hard day.
 
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