Converting to LiFePO4 batteries and Sailor Man's LiFePO4 Build

[sailor man]

I bought the Jensen radio that fits perfectly into the original radio slot for $289.18 free ship. It is a slide out, has bluetooth, heads free phone call & receive, weathering, SiriusXM ready, etc. It provides all of the current car radio options we have come to expect on new cars and it works in the GMC Motorhome.

 

[sailor man]

Sorry, it is s Jensen RV Stereo - JHD1635BTB

 

[sailor man]

I have added a Front Spoiler Air Dam from Applied GMC MH, Painted to match the body. It should increase cooling air flow to the engine compartment while reducing air drag.
Over 25 mph, air drag is almost the only load that the 455 needs to overcome and dictates my effort to minimize air drag.
According the the GMC specification, the GMC Motorhome had an air drag ratio of 0.31 which is slightly lower than the air drag of 0.32 for my Ford Taurus SHO.
When GM tested the air drag, the subject motorhome, likely had no roof ac, storage boxes, antennas, vents, rails or ladders. Therefore I am working to het the drag of my motorhome as close to the one that was tested.
I mention the Ford Taurus SHO because it was the next great front wheel drive car after the Oldsmobile Tornado.
The Tornado got 14 mpg and the SHO 26 mpg.

 

[sailor man]

I had some thoughts about re-powering the coach and I have look the diesel conversions and Jim Bounds motor. I had even considered a full electric conversion.
My favorite solution was to purchase a running 1989 Ford Taurus SHO with a 5-speed manual transmission and modify the GMC Motorhome’s chassis to accept it.
The main issues revolved around the added structural loads, gearing and the increased tire size.
To solve the increased track width, I would have lengthened the axle on the passenger side only.
I’m sure the disk breaks would require upgrading.
What would I be getting.
24ohv V6 fuel injected, electronic ignition, 240hp high reving motor with torque peaks @ 2,700 rpm and 4,500 rpm. A custom Ford designed transaxle with the Yamaha mot mounted side to side.
A much smaller and lighter drivetrain mounted athwartship that would also allow space of increased sound deadening.
Disk brakes, independent suspension, McPherson struts, torsion bar - the works.
Also included a tilting, telescoping impact adsorbing steering wheel.
I had owned a 1989 Ford Taurus SHO with a 5 speed transmission. I drove it very hard for nearly 20 years and 220,000 miles. I only needed the replace a flywheel and a clutch once. I only paid $20,000 new.
WIth all the other things I am doing, the reposer just seemed like a bridge to far.

I think it can be done for less money than having Jim Bound put it his rebuilt Olds 455 motor.

 

[sailor man]

View attachment 6673
I had some thoughts about re-powering the coach and I have look the diesel conversions and Jim Bounds motor. I had even considered a full electric conversion.
My favorite solution was to purchase a running 1989 Ford Taurus SHO with a 5-speed manual transmission and modify the GMC Motorhome’s chassis to accept it.
The main issues revolved around the added structural loads, gearing and the increased tire size.
To solve the increased track width, I would have lengthened the axle on the passenger side only.
I’m sure the disk breaks would require upgrading.
What would I be getting.
24ohv V6 fuel injected, electronic ignition, 240hp high reving motor with torque peaks @ 2,700 rpm and 4,500 rpm. A custom Ford designed transaxle with the Yamaha mot mounted side to side.
A much smaller and lighter drivetrain mounted athwartship that would also allow space of increased sound deadening.
Disk brakes, independent suspension, McPherson struts, torsion bar - the works.
Also included a tilting, telescoping impact adsorbing steering wheel.
I had owned a 1989 Ford Taurus SHO with a 5 speed transmission. I drove it very hard for nearly 20 years and 220,000 miles. I only needed the replace a flywheel and a clutch once. I only paid $20,000 new.
WIth all the other things I am doing, the reposer just seemed like a bridge to far.

I think it can be done for less money than having Jim Bound put it his rebuilt Olds 455 motor.

New carpet is going inland to the right, the custom starboard support for the YMGI mini-split is ready to be installed.
Custom Surveillance System:
I do not have a right eye and when I sit in the driver's seat, I can only see to the windshield central mullion. Therefore, I am installing 6 monitors and 8 cameras to see 360* around the coach while looking straight ahead.
Replacing the standard visor with (2) visor monitors provides 4 monitors.
The two monitors on the top of the dash each have a monitor that can provide a 2 image split screen.
One camera is facing forward to provide the image that I would have had a right eye.
Oh, lost the right eye braking up a double play at second base in 1955.
I even have a camera facing the passenger seat and the space between the seats so I can see my wife and my dog without turning my head.
There are sound and red signal alerts covering the blind spots.
In Florida, drivers often pass a very high speeds to right and cut infant of you with zero warning. WIth my limited 120* range of vision, I would never see them until it is way to late. I am hoping that this arrangement will put me on a more equal status with drivers with two eyes.

 

[sailor man]

The iPad on the folding table will be providing the GPS directions and it will be bluetooth with the radio.

 

[Slw]

You mention cameras aimed between seats and right front. Where are you placing the others? Also, how are they interfacing with your monitors.

 

[sailor man]

View attachment 6665
This is the redesign. I have eliminated one of the Battle Born BBGC2 and substituted a Lithionics 12V130AH G31 battery. It will be charged solely from the Battle Born 12v House Bank using a Sterling 12v to 12v battery to battery charger. The Lithionics Never Die feature will mean that there will never be a "dead battery" problem.

Thank you again for the heads up.

After discussion with a Lithionics distributer, I have caved in. He said, ""Even though you can use this Lithionics battery as a starting battery, it is really not a good idea." So, I have headed his advise and I am going to use the DieHard Gold 78FT-2. It is a maintenance free, 12v, 110ah, 800 CCA battery and one has been on the motorhome when I bought it. Even though it has not been driven on the road for more than 20 months and occasionally plugged in to shore power, it immediately turn over the 455 and starts.
This "starting battery" will be charged exclusively by a Sterling 12v battery to battery charger.

 

[sailor man]

You mention cameras aimed between seats and right front. Where are you placing the others? Also, how are they interfacing with your monitors.

I bought all of these systems from Tadi Brothers. It was not cheap. I will go through each system briefly and you can follow through on the Tadi website.

This monitor will be mounted on top of the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. This only has lidar sensors and is not attached to any cameras.

This is the Parking System and this will be mounted below the two camera monitors on top of the dashboard, in front and to the right of the steering wheel.
There are no cameras related to this system. There are (4) sensor on the rear bumper and (4) sensors on the front bumper.
The rear sensors can be switched off to prevent them alarming when I am dragging the toad.

The Blind Spot System has (2) sensors, (1) each attached to the side mirrors on the driver and passenger side.

 

[sailor man]

I have (2) of these monitors located on the top of the dashboard. I will probably only use 1 or at the most two images on these monitors. You can see them on one of the most recent photos of the cockpit area. They are designed to snip on to a standard rear view mirror, but we made a custom bracket to mount them on the dashboard.
I like their shape as they seem to be compatible with the shape of the original dashboard.

These visors come in driver and passenger versions. I bought both. As you can see in the cockpit photograph, when joined together on the driver's side, they are about as long as the standard visor.

 

[sailor man]

You mention cameras aimed between seats and right front. Where are you placing the others? Also, how are they interfacing with your monitors.

As for the cameras:
One under the driver's side Rampo mirror facing rear.
One under the passenger side Rampo mirror facing rear.
A Bird's Eye camera on the top the coach above the rear window facing rear.

A front facing tiny camera in front of the passenger seat on top of the dashboard at the bottom of the windshield, facing forward.
A camera loaded under the standard rear view mirror facing the the passenger set and the space between the captain's and passenger seat.
Finally, the is a wireless camera with a magnetic mount be temporarily mounted facing the hitch. This allows the hitch to be viewed when underway and the image can be seen on the monitors, iPhone or iPad.

As for determining which image will be on witch screen, that will have to be determined after all the systems have been installed and tested. At least the systems are flexible enough that it can be adjusted over time to get the best combination.
Sorry that this has been such a very long answer to your question.

 

[sailor man]

I thought that you might like to see some progress on the mini split installation.View attachment 6648
The bedroom mini split is mounted and I am piping and wiring it.

Just imagine what will happen when the roof mounted air conditioning unit is gone. There will be a very ugly hole in the overhead with an unpleasant looking rim material to deal with.

I intend to fit a 2’” old flat screen 12v dc in the hole that drops down when we are viewing in bed. When it is still up, it will be covered by a custom Cypress panel matching the cabinetry.

At least I am making progress getting rid of alternating current.I thought that you might like to see some progress on the mini split installation.

Moving on to the issue of the terrible dash air conditioning system. Cliff figured out what was wrong with the GMC upgrade installation and fixed it. It now blows very hard. When we tried it with the engine powered air conditioning compressor, the cold air was amazing.
Then I decided to change to a 12vdc air condition compressor. It takes that ac load off the engine and I can have a functioning dash air conditioner when the engine is not running.

This is the new 12v dc air conditioning compressor mounted on a Ragusa aluminum drivers side battery pan. A year ago, it was very hard to find this kind of compressor, so I found it on eBay. There ws not a lot of information available but today I scored.
It is the compressor for a ProAir 12v Air Condition System and you can find it at UndermountAC.com. It has two speed settings, medium and high. It will produce 19,918 BTU/h on high and 16,128BTU/h on medium with a draw of 78amps @14volts. WIth the (10) BattleBorn 100ah batteries wired in parallel, the power draw is not a problem.
The (2) mini splits provide 12,000 BTU/h each. So there is a total air conditioning capacity of almost 44,000 BTU/h, almost 4.5 tons.
Without the engine running and no rooftop ac noise, the system will be very quiet.
I can't wait to get it all operating!

 

[Slw]

As for the cameras:
One under the driver's side Rampo mirror facing rear.
One under the passenger side Rampo mirror facing rear.
A Bird's Eye camera on the top the coach above the rear window facing rear.
View attachment 6695
A front facing tiny camera in front of the passenger seat on top of the dashboard at the bottom of the windshield, facing forward.
A camera loaded under the standard rear view mirror facing the the passenger set and the space between the captain's and passenger seat.
Finally, the is a wireless camera with a magnetic mount be temporarily mounted facing the hitch. This allows the hitch to be viewed when underway and the image can be seen on the monitors, iPhone or iPad.
View attachment 6696
As for determining which image will be on witch screen, that will have to be determined after all the systems have been installed and tested. At least the systems are flexible enough that it can be adjusted over time to get the best combination.
Sorry that this has been such a very long answer to your question.

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. Found it very informative and helpful.

 

[sailor man]

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. Found it very informative and helpful.

I am glad to see that there are people reading this thread and it is helping.
I must apologize for forgetting about one camera, but it is not connected to
any monitor. This is a stay awake camera from Tadi. It is located in front of the driver with the camera pointed at the driver’s eye or eyes. If you fall asleep and close your eyes, it yells at you, “LOOK STRAIGHT AHEAD’.
If you turn your head too much, it yells at you. If you look down or up, it yells at you.
It can be a real pain in the ass!
However, there is no crush zone or air bags in the GMC Motorhome. We are toast if we run into another vehicle or abutment. At least the new seats with three point belts, helps

 

[Kendra]

> I am glad to see that there are people reading this thread and it is helping

I've been reading ALL of this. Although I'm going a different route on some areas it's great to see things to consider. Very helpful.

 

[sailor man]

This was my original C-Max toad. My coach is at Cliff Golby’s shop and I have to travel 2 hours each way to work on it and discuss stuff with Cliff. On the way home from one of these visits, I rear ended a suv at about 30mph on Interstate 75.
We were slowing down for yet another jam up when I hit. I was knocked out and don’t remember exactly what happened. I spent 2 days in the hospital. The suv drove away with no injuries.
My best guess at what had happened was that either I dozed off or was was concentrated looking at the passenger side mirror to change into the right lane. I any event, I was not looking forward.
It was 2 months before I would drive a car again because of my fear.
Most of my physical damage was from the air bag.
The C-Max was totaled.
I have sleep apnea (under control) and only a functional left eye with 140° visual range.
In the Motorhome there is no engine in front of us to protect nor are there any air bags or crushable zones.

It is important to take measures to avoid, at all cost, striking another vehicle or road hazard with the front of a GMC.

 

[sailor man]

View attachment 6667
I bought the Jensen radio that fits perfectly into the original radio slot for $289.18 free ship. It is a slide out, has bluetooth, heads free phone call & receive, weathering, SiriusXM ready, etc. It provides all of the current car radio options we have come to expect on new cars and it works in the GMC Motorhome.

This is the replacement speaker for the the (2) speakers in the sleeping area of the coach. It has a pair of tweaters and a much more robust construction. I think that it will sound much better as well. It is 4 ohms instead of the original 10 ohms.
The new radio has the options of powering the front speaker, the rear speakers or all the speakers.
It fits perfectly but I have to lop off the tabs at the end to fit flush. It is a bit deeper.

 

[sailor man]

The view from the side.

 

[Russell]

Hi Sailor Man,
Regarding your 12 volt DC air conditioning compressor system; are you using electric fans on the condenser if you want AC with the engine off? and, are you upgrading the alternator for the hi-amp draw of the compressor?

Interesting ideas. I like your creativity.

Russell

 

[sailor man]

We are mocking up the March Racing serpentine belt installation on Cliff Golby's Olds 455 block. We have had to make some adjustments to my design due to the location of the cooling water hose.
The red Balmar alternator is a 12v 170 amp alternator that powers the 1,000 ah Battle Born house battery bank that powers the new 12v dashboard compressor.
The grey alternator below it is a Balmar 48v 60 amp alternator.
This system also includes a new water pump (in the center) and a new power steering pump (upper right).
There is a new double crankshaft pulley.
There is a separate air conditioning condenser with (2) electric fans.