While on a long awaited cross country trip (8500 miles) I encountered some challenges. with my 2018 Tab 400.
The first challenge was my Ultimate trailer jack failed and the gears stripped and wouldn't go up or down. I was able to hitch to our Tab after lowering the air bags on my TV and I was on to Tucson area from Las Cruces NM. On the road I called Tom Camperland RV in Tucson and they said the had an electric jack. Upon Arriving at Tom's, they were unsure the jack would fit but they just removed a jack off a new camper and sold it to me for $10, they saved the day. Very thankful.
Next challenge was battery failure which took a bit longer to diagnose but after reading a post by
@JeffroNC my issue was clear. The battery would take a charge but would lose voltage overnight to the point it was reporting low voltage alert even though the SOC should have been 90%. The 2-way refrigerator was cycling frequently and just off a bit. Long story short, I had reservations every 2-3 days and 300 miles between stops and my challenge was getting new batteries while moving. I contacted Battleborn and they were able to ship two heated 100 Ah batteries to a RV park I had reservations within the next week. The RV park agreed to receive and hold the batteries for me. Everything came together and I removed the two AGM batteries and installed one 100 Ah Lithium to allow us to complete our trip.
We arrived home and I just completed the battery installation with a new converter, fabricated a new battery enclosure and mounted a switch for the internal battery heater.
The support and kindness I received during my challenges was truly heartwarming and allowed us to continue on our trip without interruption. NuCamp was there when I needed them, Creed, Raphael and Elsie were at the top of their game. Tom's Camperland came through at a crucial time and I didn't miss a beat. BattleBorn was flexible and could not have been more supportive for ordering, timely shipping and installation support.
We met our goal of visiting the rest of the lower 48 states on this trip and visited some amazing National Parks on our way. I love my Tab and after almost 4 years my appreciation only has increased.
Comments
Jeff & Amy
2013 Tundra TRD 5.7L
Massachusetts
BB says storage to -10F is spec, charging is auto cutoff below 24F and can be used down to -4F.
With that in mind with a 400 with batteries in heated space not sure the heated version is needed? If you are storing below -10F sure, but then the battery likely won't do that for long without being dead, so seems external heat or power is required or removing them to a heated space for storage anyway below -10F.
2013 Tundra TRD 5.7L
Massachusetts
This area is also,has additional floor support under the battery area to Cary the weight of the batteries, and the Lithium batteries will weigh less anyway, but still has a good lbs per square foot load, that requires the extra bracing under the false floor of the storage area.
The heated BB 100 Ah batteries are 30 lbs. a piece as opposed to the AGMs at 68 lbs.each.
2013 Tundra TRD 5.7L
Massachusetts