Custom build - 2020 Westfalia Club Joker 4Motion - Offroad build thread

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

I also did another mod I will take a photo of tomorrow and share. I had my mechanic modify my air suspension to add another air hose with shutoff valve and a quick connect for an air hose under the bonnet. I can now quickly attach my ARB air hose and tire guage and quickly adjust pressure easily using the compressor I already have onboard. It has a large air tank with 15 bar of pressure so inflating is crazy quick! Bonus is I can also attach an air pistol and blow off/clean dirt debris and water after washing. Super stoked he made that happen! Parts were fairly cheap and it took him about an hour to do.


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[Californication69]

This to be exact. Prices are in CHf.



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Found them on Elite Wheels website.

£123 x 4 £492
Minus 5% discount.
£467.
Good price !
Will add only 6mm height compared to my 225/65r17 ! Nice

 

[wildslammer22]

It was t easy for me to dump the BFG’s. They are durable and tough and look the part! I played a lot with different air pressures and found 3.5 to 3.6 bar cold was the best for ride and comfort. I drive 40% city, 40-50% highway and 10-20 % off-road, gravel, etc. nothing too hardcore though. The problem for me was mostly as they aged, and also during large temperature changes with heat waves, cold snaps or just autumn and spring. When temps vary by 20C or more during a day the air pressure in tires changes more dramatically than during stable seasonal periods. With the BFG’s it started to make me nuts in the city driving 40-60 Kmh. And constantly adjusting air pressure to maintain noise was not convenient. A recent long sprint from Switzerland to the North East coast of Italy during a heat wave with cold nights did me in and I decided to make the swap. And it wasn’t the first time as I had tried already swapping to Pirelli Scorpion AT Plus’s but found those to be noisy as well but with a different tone/pitch.

The Wildpeaks were being tested by my mechanic on his rental Cali “Explorer” series. He had tried Coopers, General Grabbers, Pirreli’s, Yokohama Geolanders, and others. He knew what I was searching for and offered to let me take the van for a longer test drive to check out these tires. I was sold! Super quiet, planted and firm (the have an interesting sidewall with 4 ply near the bead and 2 ply mid sidewall for stability and comfort), etc.

The BFG’s would heat up and pressure would increase from 3.5 to 4.1 bar quite easily and this would also make them noisier for me unless I maintained pressures. The Wildpeaks tend to go from 3.5 to 3.8 bar and I don’t hear any difference in noise.

I love the look of the BFG’s and the extra confidence they would give if going hardcore off-road, but for my use case of 80-90% on road and 10-20% mild off-road, rain and snow the Wildpeaks win hands down. Oddly enough they look very similar to the Pirelli Scorpion AT Plus so I was concerned they might have a similar sound profile. But I was pleasantly surprised. I finally found my ideal tire after 3 swaps in 14 months.

Sorry for the wall of text!


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Thanks for the detailed response, really helpful. I reckon I’ll be looking at the Wildpeakd next.

I didn’t mention I’m on 18” rims which probably doesn’t help the harsh edge to the ride. They look great though!


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Thanks for the detailed response, really helpful. I reckon I’ll be looking at the Wildpeakd next.

I didn’t mention I’m on 18” rims which probably doesn’t help the harsh edge to the ride. They look great though!


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I originally had 18’s with BFG’s when I started this build too.


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[wildslammer22]

I also did another mod I will take a photo of tomorrow and share. I had my mechanic modify my air suspension to add another air hose with shutoff valve and a quick connect for an air hose under the bonnet. I can now quickly attach my ARB air hose and tire guage and quickly adjust pressure easily using the compressor I already have onboard. It has a large air tank with 15 bar of pressure so inflating is crazy quick! Bonus is I can also attach an air pistol and blow off/clean dirt debris and water after washing. Super stoked he made that happen! Parts were fairly cheap and it took him about an hour to do.


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I like the sound of that. Another reason for me to look at air suspension! I’ve been very happy with my Bilstein suspension set up but like to be able to change ride height and self level the van. VB is the only real option here though but it runs a similar size air tank to your set up I think.


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

I like the sound of that. Another reason for me to look at air suspension! I’ve been very happy with my Bilstein suspension set up but like to be able to change ride height and self level the van. VB is the only real option here though but it runs a similar size air tank to your set up I think.


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Mod can definitely be done with VB too. One of my favorite things is pushing the auto level and I’m setup for sleep in less than a minute. Also more important in my case with a shower to ensure the van is level and the water goes down the drain instead of a slight slope and having it flow into the cabin!


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

I also made a custom setting for when I dump my water tanks. The front drops low and the rear goes high. Dumps the tanks much quicker with gravity helping.


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Nice chat tonight fellas. I know I don’t have a Cali and this is a Cali forum so I’m often hesitant to post. But the Westfalia Club Joker forum is 99.9% German and I speak English and French. I’ve learned a lot here and love the forum and hope my journey also helps others with a very similar base to build on! Cheers


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[Californication69]

Nice chat tonight fellas. I know I don’t have a Cali and this is a Cali forum so I’m often hesitant to post. But the Westfalia Club Joker forum is 99.9% German and I speak English and French. I’ve learned a lot here and love the forum and hope my journey also helps others with a very similar base to build on! Cheers


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That’s why love this forum, so much information and support, ideas, places to go, etc.
Never hesitate to post man, it’s the same underpinnings.
I’d love to go air too, but I’m waiting for the warranty to finish in 4.3 years time !
Then I might go to a local lad who’s designed his own system.
I want a big tank, that does it quickly.
And be able to play with the various heights etc.
getting some nice solar from the midday sun today !

 

[Californication69]

Weather in the UK is ridiculous today !

 

[CaliBaba]

Nice chat tonight fellas. I know I don’t have a Cali and this is a Cali forum so I’m often hesitant to post. But the Westfalia Club Joker forum is 99.9% German and I speak English and French. I’ve learned a lot here and love the forum and hope my journey also helps others with a very similar base to build on! Cheers


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Loving your posts - Keep them coming!!

 

[wildslammer22]

Nice chat tonight fellas. I know I don’t have a Cali and this is a Cali forum so I’m often hesitant to post. But the Westfalia Club Joker forum is 99.9% German and I speak English and French. I’ve learned a lot here and love the forum and hope my journey also helps others with a very similar base to build on! Cheers


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I enjoy following what you have done to your van. You have built quite an adventure wagon which is how I like to use my Cali whenever possible.


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[DevillBelgium]

Some photos offroading and camping above the Furka Pass in Alpine farming land:

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Looks like a Beast if you look at the photo's. I like it

 

[Defender90]

Sounds familiar to my story !
I’ll be searching for some wildpeaks..

I’ve found these size for my 17”
But again only 102 Load rating …

Falken Wildpeak AT3WA All Terrain​

225/65R17 102H​

Can I also say I am well impressed no difference in noise compared with the standard tyres the cali came with also I have the steel spare fitted with the wildpeak atr 3 in the original under carrier just let a bit of air out no mods cutting etc

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Can I also say I am well impressed no difference in noise compared with the standard tyres the cali came with also I have the steel spare fitted with the wildpeak atr 3 in the original under carrier just let a bit of air out no mods cutting etc

I need to swap out my BFG spare. I checked with my mechanic and he told me the same. The 235/65 R17 will fit with less air (2 bar or so) and spray a little silicon so it slides in. I’ve ordered the tire and will do it next week. Couldn’t be happier! Went mild off-road today with a small river crossing and they handled it perfectly. Then drive home in silence.


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

It's been awhile since I've posted but thought I'd share my recent upgrades to the van:

- Installed a Victron CerboGX and integrated all my other Victron MPPT's and Inverter for remote monitoring.
- Setup Ruuvi tags to monitor temp, humidity in strategic locations throughout the van (especially for Winter and the hoses/water tanks)
- Rewired the existing Westfalia charger to use AC from the inverter so that I can charge the starter battery if desired without shore hookup with an on/off switch.

Super stoked to have this part of the project completed! I've been wanting to do this for some time now.

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Great addition to your, already amazing, van.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Looking forward to tomorrow. I will be installing a new BougeRV CIGS Solar Panel on the front of the roof. These new CIGS panels are almost indestructible and do amazing in heavy shaded and low light situations like Winter. Has 48 bypass diodes! See here for a review:

I can’t imagine ever considering mono crystalline panels ever again!


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[The Merle]

Looking forward to tomorrow. I will be installing a new BougeRV CIGS Solar Panel on the front of the roof. These new CIGS panels are almost indestructible and do amazing in heavy shaded and low light situations like Winter. Has 48 bypass diodes! See here for a review:

I can’t imagine ever considering mono crystalline panels ever again!


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Did your old roof stuck on ones fail

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Did your old roof stuck on ones fail

No, but in winter they sucked. Only getting 5-20w out of them due to shading issues.


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[wildslammer22]

No, but in winter they sucked. Only getting 5-20w out of them due to shading issues.


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What do you expect to see from the CIGS panel?


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

What do you expect to see from the CIGS panel?


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Almost finished with the install. We’ll see! Hoping for 50% in winter.


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[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

The weather has been quite bad since I installed the first CIGS panel. Our initial idea of adding 1 CIGS panel to the front didn't work out (while keeping the 2 original panels on the roof) as the curved roof flexes in 2 directions. Firstly the slope toward the front of the roof but unfortunately there is too much curve left to right so the panel won't lay flat even though it can flex 360 degrees. That was a bit of a bummer but you only learn by testing ideas right?

The next plan was to replace the rear monocrystaline flex panel with the new CIGS panel and test it for a few weeks. The rear panel lays completely flat on the roof between 2 roof hatches so inevitably always ends up with some shading issues. If the 2 panels are in series this is amplified and can kill output to both roof panels. We initially had switched to parallel to solve that problem as the front most panel is the one often facing the sun when parked up and doesn't have shading issues. This helped a bit but Winter is always a challenge too.

Today is completely cloudy and raining and the CIGS panel (again flat mounted between 2 roof hatches) is pulling in some wattage while the monocrystaline panel is unable to pull wattage however volts are seen. Both panels are on their own separate MPPT controllers and not in parallel. Interesting results in horrible weather with the Winter sun at a low angle to the panel. With 48 bypass diodes in these panels the results are inspiring! Now I need to test with some partial cloud cover and direct sun. My goal is if I can solve Winter with Solar then Summer is easy-peasy.

I've ordered a second CIGS panel from BougeRV to replace the front panel as well and hope to tackle that in a week or so. My current thinking is the second panel will give me enough to keep topped up and in heavier usage and I break out the EcoFlow 400 watt external panel if required. And if we have days and days of snow/rain I can resort to using EV chargers with my adapter to top up or the BuckBoost while driving.

 

[Webbah_in_Switzerland]

Time to mount the BougeRV CIGS panel #2. Happy day!

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[Corradobrit]

Time to mount the BougeRV CIGS panel #2. Happy day!

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Interesting tow bar hitch design. Whats the purpose for the articulation?