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Hello from Brussels

I am starting to build up the gear for the summer trip.
I saw a promotion for a Suaoki 400Wh/120,000mAh camping battery pack from 425 euro to 270, and I bought it, I am waiting for the delivery and I will come back with a report on it.
Mainly will be used to power a fridge overnight when the engine is off. It can be recharged via a 12v plug, solar or AC .
Looks pretty compact and had good reviews.
I now regret very much I did not buy a engel 40 l fridge I saw as refurnished on Amazon at 400 Euro..with the full 3 year guarantee, back in October last year. I no longer find anything a while now, but I will keep my eyes open. I will need to buy something, I plan an off-road tour of Portugal the last 2 weeks of April. If no opportunity arises I saw a marine engel a bit cheaper at around 600 euro.

The tent I will buy towards march.
 
So the Suaoki 400Wh got delivered and it seems ok. It is very light and compact, only 6 kg.
Very easy to use. The cables that came with it are a bit short, I will have to extend them or buy longer ones.
I think it beats a normal 100Ah battery since you can only use about half of that, but the downside is that it takes a long time to charge full. The manual says about 10h from a normal car plug. I will probablly need some solar as well to keep it topped up ?
I am thinking to go for a solar blanket, I know they supply less power than a mono crystalline but they pack easier .
 
I was keeping my eyes opened still for a fridge, and found a Snomaster on sale on a french site, so I bought a Snomaster 35L new for around 440 euro. The plastic version, but it seems to be solid build and they say it has the same compressor as the top of the line. Seems to be pretty heavy, if it is full with drinks it will probably take 2 people to carry it

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I filled it with wine, set it to 5 C to do a test to see how much will run off the suaoki battery pack I have .
In my apartment is not that hot, about 22 C, but it will give me an idea what to expect.
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The test with fridge went well, it run more than 48 h . So the setup should be good enough
it is a bit noisy but I don't really care, the fridge will stay in the car, so it should not be an issue.

SoI went to the next step of my trip preparation, installing some off road lights.

I bought a LED kit that I liked, wiring loom, etc. and I started the work, outside 1 degree.C
After 1 h , the wire loom installation looked ok, managed to traverse a wire inside the cabin for the switch, found a place for the relay, found a way to run the rest of the wires nice an clean.. but than I realized that there is not enough room on the bumper with the hood closed. .
... :rage: stupid me did not even considered that I might not have enough room when I ordered the parts, the bumper on the prado 120 looks so wide with the hood up..
I went back inside fumming, than found this number plate holders with brackets to install additinal lights, an aluminium one about 19 euro..
I am waiting now delivery to complete the install..
I should have known better.. always mesure first.. but..
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The number plate support arrived, and I mounted the lights.
I left them running for about 30 min and I had no electrical fire so I declare victory :)
At the moment I have a crappy round on-off switch, but I am waiting for one that fits in the OEM panel, I have a place for 1 there, so when that comes, it will be complete.

I am not very confident on the support tough, it is on only 2 bolts, I need to find a way to put 2 more.
 
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I went a bought an Autohome Columbus tent. I also ordered some m6 anti theft bolts, the tent will be a permanent fixture on the car. I found a storage place big enough but the work to get it up and down from the car without some kind of winch system is a very big PITA . I hope wont be a huge issue on the long run, it is soposed to be a marine grade fiberglass so it should withstand the weather and exposure to sunlight ( this is not an issue in Belgium tough, 200 days of rain/ year.. :) )
and I noticed only a 0.5l / 100km extra in the fuel consumption, so it is ok.
It is the largest version, 2.15 x 1.65 m the 2 adults + kid version, about 70 kg ( Optimistic tough I think it is heavier )
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looks nice, but I don't have a garage yet.
I am hoping one will become free soon on my street, but I am still waiting..
 
So I started the trip in Portugal a week ago. Beautiful country, camper friendly.
I love the RTT, it is the first long trip with it, had 4 degrees in the morning, 60 km /h wind in an evening, one rainy day, no problem .
The fridge performed very well too
Got in to a difficult track with mudd, but it was ok in the end, even stock as it is, the landcruiser rules :)IMG-20190415-WA0009.jpg IMG-20190415-WA0015.jpeg IMG-20190415-WA0000.jpeg IMG-20190415-WA0009.jpg IMG-20190415-WA0015.jpeg IMG-20190415-WA0000.jpeg
 
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