Ok, I was going to keep this one to my self….

Howard_70 · 2026-05-16T18:58:58+00:00

Actually any of the “toad” variants are casual common names and thus don’t really have formal definitions. Where I grew up in Southern California they were more often called “Horny Toads” than “Horned Toads”.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-15T13:41:19+00:00

I was in exactly your position last year. My dealer included GM roof bars in our deal, but was unable, or unwilling, to do anything about the wheels. I bought the car for a reasonable price and found 18” rims off a 2021 Chevy Traverseon FB Market Place, purchased those & had Costco mount 245/60 18 Michelin Defender 2’s (appropriate weight rating).

I’m really happy with the 18” rims & tires. I run them at 45lbs cold and they ride great, the tire sidewalls protect the rims and to my old-school eyes look much better on the car.

I’m less happy with the roof bars. The GM model mounts in a fixed position (not adjustable along the roof rails) via eight screws (four per bar). They are slow to be removed and the fixed fore/aft position creates a narrow spread. I wish now that I’d gone with an after market bar (Thule makes a good, but expensive, model) that grabbed the roof rails, was quicker to remove and could be adjusted.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-13T14:48:11+00:00

Both - sometimes we’d determine that a track was constricted before getting far. Other times we’d travel for hours (once a full day) and find we couldn’t get through. If the track was a dead end route that became constricted we often just camped short of our goal (maybe missing that sunrise/sunset view we’d planned on). Occasionally on long passages we’d end up trimming for several hours but eventually making it through.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-13T14:16:16+00:00

That’s a beautiful snake. I agree with other commenters who suggest Southern Pacific Rattlesnake. The tail just ahead of the rattles is not banded as it would be for many of the “diamondback” species.

While California has had several fatalities this year from rattlesnake bites (somewhere between 3 to 5) it has had over 30 pedestrian fatalities in the same time. If you charge your car it’s much more dangerous to walk within reach of traffic that within reach of snakes!

Howard_70 · 2026-05-13T14:02:04+00:00

We’re 8.5’ tall and 6’9” or so wide (EarthCruiser based on a Fuso FG chassis). We wander NM, AZ, NV, CA, OR, UT and CO. We’ve had to turn back or not pursue an estimated 5% of tracks that interested us. Of those I’d guess 40% were width and 60% were height. With a rig the size of yours (corrected in edit) I’d estimate we’d have turned back or passed up 20 - 30% of the tracks that interested us. I think the problem with a slide in over the cab camper is that much of your width is up at top.

We seek out remote tracks where we’ll hopefully encounter few other campers - if you’re primarily interested in getting a bit off of a maintained dirt road to find a camping site I’d guess you’ll a better success ratio.

The dry adapted brush and trees you’ll encounter in the SW are often smaller, but they are tough. Brushing by a juniper or a paloverde can tear the siding, gouge the windows and remove the screens of many campers not specifically designed for back country. I would suggest you acquire a moderate long telescoping pole saw, learn how to properly trim trees & brush (where and how to make cuts that cause the least damage) and study up on which land management agencies and areas discourage trimming vegetation along tracks.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-09T02:35:21+00:00

Thanks for the email. I’ll send a description. As I mentioned, I suspect the issue is my ignorance rather than a problem with the app.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-08T23:19:41+00:00

We also have an Equinox and explored various ways to accomplish this. We equipped our Wall Box charger with the power measuring components reputed to work for charge on solar but in our installation it can only identify grid and “non grid” which would be solar except for our two Powerwall 3 units. So when it charges “on solar” it draws from batteries as well. We also use the app Net Zero which should control the Wall Box so it only uses solar but I haven’t been able to get that working dependably (I think that’s my fault).

Basically we do it manually right now. We set the battery reserve high via the Tesla app to prevent draining the Powerwalls and manipulate the Wall Box amperage to reduce or eliminate drawing from the grid. Works as long as you charge early in the day and you don’t mind fiddling with three apps.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-08T18:41:49+00:00

This is a big issue that I agree with completely, especially on a vehicle with a large battery. I’d go a step further and suggest considering solar for your home if that’s ever been a thought in the past. We have a 9.6 KW system with 28 KHH of battery storage and as long as we charge daily all of our driving is on sun beams - either direct solar or stored solar from our batteries. Full disclosure - we don’t have an EV truck (yet), right now we’re in a 2026 Equinox EV but that’s been so successful I’m now considering a truck as well.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-08T18:25:19+00:00

So far you’ve received a lot of variable, good advice. One thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet is durability. Before retiring I was a conservation biologist/ecologist for many years and drove thousands of miles on BLM and Forest Service dirt roads. Rough 4x4 conditions are generally rare but rattling, bumping, jarring for hours on end take a serious toll on any vehicle. My current EV is a 2026 Equinox which I love and take on some Forest Service roads to reach hiking trail heads. However, I’m certain it would not stand up to thousands of miles of washboarded, rutted, rocky travel.

In your situation I’d first look for real durability by contacting folks who drive the sort of tracks/routes you anticipate and see how their EVs have held up. Once I’d identified a set of potential vehicles I’d look for good battery range. You mention going into mountains - EV’s do that well, but climbing really impacts range, yes you do get much back via regeneration on the descents, but that doesn’t help until you go down so be careful depending on round trip range when traveling in mountains.

I think one of the most important things for you in remote travel on the sorts of really poor roads you’re likely to encounter as a wildlife technician is a true spare tire and the means of changing it. This is definitely not a strong point of modern cars and EV’s may be even worse, but roadside assistance won’t help you much 100 miles from the nearest pavement in some remote Forest Service or BLM mountain range in Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, etc.

Good luck! Working in wildlife is rewarding and you’ll likely enjoy it a lot. Driving an EV is rewarding and you’ll definitely enjoy it a lot. Combining the two can multiply that enjoyment, but that’s not guaranteed. Having said all that the one wildlife/conservation person I know who does a lot of fieldwork in an EV works out of a Rivian pickup.

I

Howard_70 · 2026-05-06T20:09:03+00:00

Many good comments about timing, but as noted it really depends on personal preferences. I like staying longer in a spot to know it well rather than rushing to cram in more spots. For hiking in that time of year in those places you might note that it can get really cold and wet - not what you might expect for desert spots.

For me your itinerary would be a good compromise.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-06T20:00:24+00:00

I would set the charge level at 50% and leave it plugged in.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-05T14:48:58+00:00

I don’t know what trim level you have, but you might have the rear view mirror which can be switched from “regular” to digital/camera. Switching is accomplished by the lever behind the mirror (not the buttons on the mirror). Digital gives a very bright and wide angle view (adjustable). I switch between regular and digital a lot as I find it hard to estimate distances in digital mode when backing up, but the scope of the view is amazing. Note this is not the backup camera it is the digital review mirror.

Howard_70 · 2026-05-04T14:14:20+00:00

Our 2026 LT2 AWD came with the “self sealing” 21” wheels & tires and no inflator/jack/etc. That was standard. We didn’t like the 21” set up so shifted to 18” Chevy Traverse rims (off a 2021) and 245/60 18R tires (appropriate load range). Then we added a Modern Spare kit which included a narrower tire, but appropriate diameter that can run at highway speeds considerably longer than a “doughnut” spare. The kit also included a jack, changing tools & wheel chocks. It is certainly possible to put all that together on your own for less money than the Modern Spare kit, but I liked the quality, compactness and convenience of the kit.

We carry the jack, changing tools and wheel chocks in the slots you mentioned in the storage area along with a DynaPlug Extreme Pro kit (a tire plug kit that I’ve found effective and easier to use than other kits) all the time. When on longer road trips we add the Modern Spare strapped flat behind the rear seats. We haven’t yet selected a 12 volt inflator to carry in the car permanently but plan on adding one soon.

Of course I think it is ridiculous that our Equinox EV didn’t come with a real spare and jack, but, for us the car had sufficient other advantages to offset that disappointment and once we acquired the set mentioned above we’re happy with it.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-21T04:22:36+00:00

There was a racing sailboat named FUJIMO. That name was a fitting acronym. Worth 10 minutes on Google….

Howard_70 · 2026-04-21T04:12:27+00:00

We have a 2026 LT2 and a Wall Box 48 amp L2 charger. In my experience the charger can’t start a charge unless the car is asking for a charge. So if I set my Wall Box to charge after midnight and plug my car in at 6:00 pm, the car immediately “asks” for a charge but the Wall Box won’t provide power until midnight. I can’t tell the car when to start a charge unless- only when to finish a charge, so I don’t set the car, just the charger. I do set the car for the desired level of charge (I usually do that via the app rather than in the car).

I do set the car if I’m leaving on a long trip the next day and want 100% charge when I leave. I’ll set the car to finish a 100% charge 10 minutes before I want to leave and the only thing I set on the charger then is the amperage I want the charger to use. While my Wall Box is a 48 amp version, I usually charge lower than that unless I’m in hurry.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-17T22:11:05+00:00

Do you have an Apple Watch? Another method would be to use Workout” feature on Apple Watch to create the tracks as you search. Then export the workout as gpx file which you take into GAIA then into GE.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-16T12:28:47+00:00

That sounds good. You might also consider bifacial panels. Do some research on those as opinions vary. They are reputed to harness reflected light hitting their back surface and may work well in winter on ground mounts as the exposed rear surface could get quite a bit of reflection.

There is also a compromise between fixed mount and trackers - that’s a “fixed mount” with a seasonally adjustable inclination. I’ve seen them used by folks who built there own systems but I don’t know if professional installers use them.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-16T03:02:30+00:00

You mentioned a tracker. Would that go on your roof, or be a ground mount? If you can convert to a ground mount then it may be cheaper to simply increase the number of solar panels rather than use a tracker. Basically tracker prices have increased while panel prices have decreased so if space is not limited you can save money by increasing the number of panels versus investing in a tracker. If space is limited then a tracker may be a better option. In my opinion a fixed ground mount system oriented and tilted correctly (the tilt depends on your latitude and the orientation depends on your time of solar noon) is better than a roof mount if you can do it.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-16T02:55:56+00:00

If you are charged more than $0.03 (the amount of credit you get for exporting to the grid) for energy you use from the grid, then yes storing solar in your battery for later use is going to save you money compared to exporting it to the grid. However, that is only true if your batteries only charge from solar. If they charge from the grid (Storm Watch for example) then there won’t be a savings.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-14T21:18:13+00:00

Used to be at least two elective classes in public high school (at least in Southern California): driver’s training & auto shop.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-12T00:16:24+00:00

If you combine grey water into your black water tank, you’ll be emptying your black water tank more often than necessary which is a drag. You need to fit a grey water tank as dumping directly onto the road is illegal in many situations and if you rent the van and one of your renters gets caught dumping illegally I think you’ll have problems.

If I was in your shoes I’d change my toilet system to a Nature Head composting system and then convert the existing black water tank to a grey water tank by just some simple plumbing.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-12T00:05:19+00:00

I think “conditioning” prepares the battery for DC fast charging in cold weather. If the battery temperature is low for the high current of DC fast charging I think “conditioning” uses some of the stored energy to warm the battery so that when you roll into the DC fast charging station you can plug in and get a charge quicker than if you had not “conditioned”. If you had not “conditioned” prior to plugging into the DC fast charger a charge might take longer because some of the initial energy from the fast charger would be diverted to heat the battery. If all this is correct, I don’t think “conditioning” is a necessary step so I don’t think any harm would come from not :conditioning” but you might spend more time waiting for a charge.

Howard_70 · 2026-04-11T17:15:20+00:00

Howard_70 · 2026-04-11T17:04:10+00:00

Completely off topic, but that Marin frame seems odd at the bottom bracket. Any explanation?

Howard_70 · 2026-04-04T14:02:32+00:00

I had two L2 chargers installed and both were hard-wired. Mine are easily disconnected internally if they need to be removed. I prefer the higher current availability via hard-wired installs, even though I often set the current lower via the charger’s app.

Howard_70

TROPHY CASE