Builds The Guzzler - 2009 LX570

[grinchy]

They are more than sturdy, just the same side.
the pairing is mirror design so you can lift up (or push down) on the lock at both sides, rather than lift on one side and push down on the other.
here s the photo from the add showing how the lock pin would be ‘down’ if they were oriented to face each other, and the lock bar would pull up.

 

[radman]

ah, yea. that sucks. I was wrong, the locking ones i got have L/R for the same reason you mentioned.

https://www.ovisonline.com/Assets/PdfS/Fulterer/Fulterer-FR5400L-Specifications.pdf

Have a link for the ones you got?

 

[grinchy]

Amazon product ASIN B08BPCM68N
Seller is sending a new set.

 

[radman]

Dang. That’s Half the price of the Ovis ones I ordered

 

[grinchy]

And they are brand name too. Not a brand anyone has heard of though. The metal is thick, all the balls accounted for, look to be fine for rolling the fridge in and out. I have a small 30qt fridge though, 22" sliders, so not a very demanding application.

 

[grinchy]

I don't drive too much solo with the whole CoronaV thing and no work commute.

A couple years ago the Mark Levinson amplifier failed, and I flailed around homebrewing a solution to replace the 12 channels of dsp and amplification (documented earlier in this build thread). Ended up with 7 channels on discrete micro amps (Front bass, front mid/tweet, rear bass, center) around 75W each channel, 4 channels on the small dsp amp (rear mid/tweet, rear hatch) and 200wrms on a micro amp into an updated 10" subwoofer. Aside from the subwoofer these are all stock speakers. It all runs thru a 12 channel DSP. I recently put in a couple hours fiddling with the tune to flatten out the response and cool down the subwoofer a bit. I haven't really spent any time listening to it at volume, as I am typically road-tripping with the family.

I had an in-town errand to run (20 min each way) and thought I might as well run a bit of volume while at it.
For background, a typical freeway, kids in car, reasonable level is 22 or 24. 60 is the max.

I cranked it on up to 45 and tooled on out.



Clearly I need to spend more time driving aimlessly around . . .

Clear, perfectly imaged sound with no distortion anywhere. Sounded better than I could have dreamed. Mirror shaking amplitude but no listening fatigue. Hard to describe, but so loud you don't want it any louder, full spectrum sound and feel (low bass extension) but all in the right place and volume balance.

I know it's not a common mod in the 200, but improving the sound system is worth it folks.

 

[04UZJ100]

I don't drive too much solo with the whole CoronaV thing and no work commute.

A couple years ago the Mark Levinson amplifier failed, and I flailed around homebrewing a solution to replace the 12 channels of dsp and amplification (documented earlier in this build thread). Ended up with 7 channels on discrete micro amps (Front bass, front mid/tweet, rear bass, center) around 75W each channel, 4 channels on the small dsp amp (rear mid/tweet, rear hatch) and 200wrms on a micro amp into an updated 10" subwoofer. Aside from the subwoofer these are all stock speakers. It all runs thru a 12 channel DSP. I recently put in a couple hours fiddling with the tune to flatten out the response and cool down the subwoofer a bit. I haven't really spent any time listening to it at volume, as I am typically road-tripping with the family.

I had an in-town errand to run (20 min each way) and thought I might as well run a bit of volume while at it.
For background, a typical freeway, kids in car, reasonable level is 22 or 24. 60 is the max.

I cranked it on up to 45 and tooled on out.



Clearly I need to spend more time driving aimlessly around . . .

Clear, perfectly imaged sound with no distortion anywhere. Sounded better than I could have dreamed. Mirror shaking amplitude but no listening fatigue. Hard to describe, but so loud you don't want it any louder, full spectrum sound and feel (low bass extension) but all in the right place and volume balance.

I know it's not a common mod in the 200, but improving the sound system is worth it folks.

I hope you do an in-detail write up on it!

 

[grinchy]

I hope you do an in-detail write up on it!

Alpine PXE-850s - no dvdaudio codec. Speaker mapping for 12 channels requires planning. Weak internal amp. Otherwise the bomb. Under left side front seat.
Two Soundstream ST4-1000D used 4x, 2x, 1x bridged. Under left side front seat
One Soundstream ST4-1000D used 1x. 1x both bridged into sub (what I had, and dedicated sub micro amp would be better. Suggest sundown) behind right rear qtr panel near the jack
One JBL club WS1000 (lots of better options here too see the subwoofer thread)

Tuned using an old school radio shack spl meter and phone based freq generator. Alpine software for the dsp on computer or phone.

 

[supercarrera]

I don't drive too much solo with the whole CoronaV thing and no work commute.

A couple years ago the Mark Levinson amplifier failed, and I flailed around homebrewing a solution to replace the 12 channels of dsp and amplification (documented earlier in this build thread). Ended up with 7 channels on discrete micro amps (Front bass, front mid/tweet, rear bass, center) around 75W each channel, 4 channels on the small dsp amp (rear mid/tweet, rear hatch) and 200wrms on a micro amp into an updated 10" subwoofer. Aside from the subwoofer these are all stock speakers. It all runs thru a 12 channel DSP. I recently put in a couple hours fiddling with the tune to flatten out the response and cool down the subwoofer a bit. I haven't really spent any time listening to it at volume, as I am typically road-tripping with the family.

I had an in-town errand to run (20 min each way) and thought I might as well run a bit of volume while at it.
For background, a typical freeway, kids in car, reasonable level is 22 or 24. 60 is the max.

I cranked it on up to 45 and tooled on out.



Clearly I need to spend more time driving aimlessly around . . .

Clear, perfectly imaged sound with no distortion anywhere. Sounded better than I could have dreamed. Mirror shaking amplitude but no listening fatigue. Hard to describe, but so loud you don't want it any louder, full spectrum sound and feel (low bass extension) but all in the right place and volume balance.

I know it's not a common mod in the 200, but improving the sound system is worth it folks.

It must sound pretty good because I think the ML sound system is great already in stock form.

 

[grinchy]

It must sound pretty good because I think the ML sound system is great already in stock form.

Imagine the ML system with real low end and no high volume distortion

 

[grinchy]

I’ve been working on some extendable rotating brackets for the new en-suite.
The idea is to extend out about 13” from the rack rail to clear the fenders and sliders, and rotate back so that the rear door can be opened.
I have the stock tlc rack.
Used aluminum angle and little 8mm bearings.
The concept seems good, but v1 execution is lacking!
I need to find a way to ‘hook’ the end of the rail pivot so it can’t tip down. As soon as it does, the whole assembly, which is actually quite stiff, is tilted. I do have some rollerblade bearings, so may try one of those at the tail, it has a lot more face surface.
Otherwise the goals on clearance are met, and the en-suite seems pretty cool.

 

[grinchy]

Regatta today

 

[grinchy]

Tried a en-suite bracket with the Rollerblade bearings. better , but will still need some sort of positive lock at the rail.

guess I’ll just mount it up fixed for the nonce.

 

[grinchy]

Finally all the parts for the tall 4080 brackets for the awning arrived.
It was drill murder to increase one of the holes on the stock rhino bracket from 6mm to 8mm. Killed my used and then a new 5/16 and 11/32 and a step drill too. Rhino invested in the real steel. Anyhow have to wait overnight for the paint to dry, but put the 4080 brackets on.

 

[grinchy]

Rhino rack batwing happily back on the rig. Was able to adjust it an inch further back with the new height, and now it clears the spoiler on the hatch when deployed.
Perfect.
This bracket set was about $50 in parts, most of that in the foot of 4080. I have enough 4080 and bolts etc to make another pair.
Put the en-suite back on. The stock brackets are just ok. Will probably look to replace them with some angle aluminum soon. It does work but snuggles up to the side of the rig pretty good

 

[CharlieS]

We’ve had great luck with the rhino batwing on our small camper, but read a lot of complaints about the plastic joint between the legs and the ribs of the awning. Apparently they are designed to be sacrificial and fail instead of damaging the awning. Some people claim that they are overly brittle and break too easily. Who knows? I plan to pick up some extras to have, since this could be a hassle to deal with while camping.

 

[lx200inAR]

Amazon categorizes it under Cell Phones & Accessories › Cases, Holsters & Sleeves › Basic Cases, so I wonder if it's an empty battery box and doesn't actually contain the cells? It'll be interesting to see what arrives, if anything...

Well my order finally got cancelled. The seller has no feedback, maybe someone new to the eBiz trying to make millions and not doing a good job.

Also, of course i've been stalking your build thread. I'm very interested in adapting your awning solution (factory rack + batwing). Nice work. I was considering trying to attach some sort of flip bracket (like for a mounted flip-up table that locks at 90 degress). That way the awning could lay on top of the rack when traveling and then be flipped into a higher position to clear the rear hatch and spoiler. Might be overkill, looks like your solution doesn't put the awning to high and clears perfectly.

 

[grinchy]

We’ve had great luck with the rhino batwing on our small camper, but read a lot of complaints about the plastic joint between the legs and the ribs of the awning. Apparently they are designed to be sacrificial and fail instead of damaging the awning. Some people claim that they are overly brittle and break too easily. Who knows? I plan to pick up some extras to have, since this could be a hassle to deal with while camping.

Rhino included an additional hinge part in the storage bag with the stakes. I haven't needed it yet, but don't mind the inconvenience of replacing a $15 hinge instead of having to buy a new awning when it goes upside down umbrella. The penalty for the legless versions is weight and cost, neither one of which I really wanted to take on.

Love the idea of them though.

 

[grinchy]

Well my order finally got cancelled. The seller has no feedback, maybe someone new to the eBiz trying to make millions and not doing a good job.

Also, of course i've been stalking your build thread. I'm very interested in adapting your awning solution (factory rack + batwing). Nice work. I was considering trying to attach some sort of flip bracket (like for a mounted flip-up table that locks at 90 degress). That way the awning could lay on top of the rack when traveling and then be flipped into a higher position to clear the rear hatch and spoiler. Might be overkill, looks like your solution doesn't put the awning to high and clears perfectly.

Yeah, mine was cancelled as anticipated a week ago or so. Kind of a bummer, I wouldn't mind using this technology, saving 30 lbs on the front corner is a real deal - that would offset the additional weight as a Dissent front bumper (no winch)

The rhino supports are stacked, so the last support is also the highest one, so only 40 mm of lift was required. 60mm one could clear with the awning a bit more forward. I moved it back 20mm from the previous position, this put it over the door arc where the door was at a slightly lower point. That, combined with the 40mm height did the trick. It just kisses the spoiler now.

Go ahead and build those pivoting brackets! I tried some prototype stuff with a door hinge for lights, but would like to see what you come up with @lx200inAR

 

[linuxgod]

A bit more expensive but I’ve been eyeing a 100aH LiFePO4 Group 31 from alibaba/Aliexpress for my camper. They can be had for under $300 including delivery and all customs duties. Not sure the quality but pretty sure they’ll actually be delivered.
Shipping seems to be $90-100 no matter the battery size, so it kinda pays to go big.