Same here… same gen set most likely…I do the same thing…other than what they may have tested at the factory… no gas in it since I got it…
Predator or Champion?
- Thread starter 12VoltInstalls
- Start date
hwy17
Anti-Solar Enthusiast
It powered my shop vac the other day, which I used to vacuum the loose dirt out of an augured post hole. I felt like a genius.
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
My ‘87 is still rectangular ?
Hmm. I just went by what the seller told me.
It matched up perfectly with the 86 fenders… and the fenders bolted to the YJ with no mods. Maybe the hood is newer? From what you say it would be 72+
those are actually the blinkers, no fogs
The grill bolted up to the CJ7 fenders with the factory hardware as well.
The hood/fenders are ~2-1/2” less distance front-to-rear than a YJ.
I also custom made the motor mounts and fabricated a tube transmission crossmember to raise them ~3” for more off-road clearance so nothing - not even exhaust- is below the frame. This included moving the motor/trans back due to the shorter engine bay of the CJ parts. I also cut the power steering lines and welded them at 90* to avoid needing to cut out the CJ grill a lot for line clearance
(I also moved the front axle and steering box forward 1” for better climbing approach angle)
I used ‘stock’ springs but modified things which yielded almost 4” higher than oem measured at the rockers. Raised the shock mounts so stock shocks worked. So it’s not very high but has A LOT of trail clearance underneath for a low jeep. There’s a Ford 8.8 in back and that is bigger than oem so it drags sometimes. Locker up front.
I felt fairly confident with my unique approach to getting clearance but honestly? I was not just pleased but shocked at how well it worked. I fully expected to have to rework something but nothing was problematic, everything worked right the first time. There’s plenty of higher performing jeeps with more clearance and expensive tires, but none locally so stock-appearing that does what this thing will. I didn’t have the extra $7-$12k needed to do like everyone else does anyways.
Yes, it is.
Thanks for sharing. This was a nice little departure?
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
I have a 1200W pure sine Giandel for that. Just barely but it will also run my cheapo bang-around portable table saw if I don’t bog it. Not the stationary delta though.
I think the champion will cover my bases.
I cannot imagine anyone not liking the champion you’re considering for that price… I cannot speak for all champions but I have seen this one ( 3500 electric start dual) do an excellent job running my whole camper for almost a month with A/C and the other stuff… day and nite .Never had a single issue.
unless you just get a bad one, it’s a wonderful gen set for about a grand or so ..
would I rather have a Honda 3200… ? absolutely , but not at 3 grand…
I would rather have three 3500’s and as they wear out pull out the next one .. or paralell two to get 6000 watts …and still have a spare ….
J.
Didn't say it was Jurassic park painted. The YJ is well known as the "Jurassic park heep".
So what you are saying is that you agree with me about quality. This just proves my point.
You are willing to spend a premium price for parts for your jeep, but you think a quality generator isn't worth it. Illogical.
1/3 the lifespan and double the price. Honda's have a long, and well known history of very long life. What is the documented history of champion generator reliability. How long have they even been in the market?
If you have never broken down, then you can't possibly have much experience. even professional off-roaders have breakdowns. I call 100% bull on this. That's just a silly statement.
I didn't say someone stole your generator? Huh? people don't steal champions anyway. Not worth stealing. And the cops don't usually come to remote, hard to reach areas unless it's something really big. lol
What I actually said was this:
"But, if you are as much of a DIY wizard as you say, you will have no issues whatsoever fixing your cheap generator when it breaks down in the middle of nowhere."
My brother and I own a large off grid property and over the years we have had a slew of generators. Many of them suck donkey dong. for example a neighbor could not get his Ryobi 2300W to start so he added it to our collection. In March I cleaned the carb from ethanol poisoning and it ran great. We power the lighting in our 50’x80’ barn with solar and LFP. However if the sun is not shining we fire up a gEmmy when the batts get down to about 10% SoCand use the battery chargers. Last weekend I looked over and the display on the charger was off and the Ryobi was still running, but putting out nothing. I brought it home trouble shoot it only to find out the entire inverter moudule is dead..It has very few hours and is two months out of warranty.. I can buy another cheap 2300W inverter for less Than the failed part.I bought it cuz coupon was expiring- wasn’t done shopping in my head though. It’s returnable if I don’t run it.
What gave me pause was their 2-year protection plan was $299 but they were closing so I figured just buy it and solve it tomorrow. And it’s tomorrow right now
The predator is supposed to be Honda clones. Dunno
Generators we own /owned
-Kubota Diesel - Amazing, reliable and sips fuel. Lives in its own building fed by a 275 gallon diesel tank. That we also use to fill tractors & such. Zero issues. Currently feeds Farmhouse
-Honda EU 2000 about 21years old & still starts 1/4 pull every time. Well over 3k hours. Quietest by far though the EU6500 is about the same.
-Honda EU6500 ran the Farm house for years probably over 4K hours quiet and a fuel sipper. zero issues Powers the Barn these days for stuff the DC inverter can’t start. When that Honda runs it is a sound of pure quality as only the Japanese can do .A real thing of beauty, and I still lust over the new EU7000, but I digress…..
-Generac open frame 10,000W Used it 6 times to power a Miller welder snapped a valve spring and destroyed itself. 6 months out of warranty. Generac Support absolutely sucked. I will never own another.
- Predator 2000 we found it in my dads barn when he passed. We used it for one of our rental cabins, ran great then one day I just died on the renters. I did not have the time to tear it apart so I dropped it at our local small engine shop. Got a call 20 minutes later come get your generator. I said “wow that was fast Steve.” He said; ”we are a Honda dealer and our contract does not allow us to work on Chondas plus, we can’t even get parts for Predators.
-Generac 2000W Inherited it from my father-in law. we used it to power another rental cabin. we have dicked around with it for three years and even had a Generac dealer look at it. He could not fix it Either. Would not work in eco mode at all and stalled the second a load called. Gave it away on Craig’s list.
-Champion 3400 Dual Fuel: Next door neighbor at home got a large Koehler natural gas back up Gen installed and he asked if I wanted it. We replaced the 2k Generac with it and plumbed it into the LPG tank for the Cabins Rinnai heater. Excellent so far other than being on the noisy side for an inverter/Gen. Champion support has been excellent. I don’t think it’s worth the 1K they get for them but for my $150 it is.
-Westinghouse Dual-Fuel 4500W: We needed a gen for another rental cabin and I grabbed it at Sam’s Club for like $700.00. It has wireless remote start and renters can start it from inside the cabin. Honestly I thought this thing was going to suck but it has been excellent. It is amazingly quiet, second quietest to the Honda’s. Eco mode is very smooth, smoother than the Champion. I can’t commen’t on fuel consumption as it is plumbed into the cabins LPG tank. We have this in a small pine dog house 80 yards from the cabinbehind a clump of spruce. You cannot hear it! I called Westinghouse to order a spare muffler as we fed the exhaust outside the dog house with an extension. Westinghouse support was a real human in Canada, who sent me a link to the online parts catalog where I found and ordered the spare muffler for short $$.
If you want quality & quiet go Honda
If you want cheap Champion or Westinghouse
If you want diesel that’s not too loud Kubota
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12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
I decided what to do - returned the predator bought the champion inverter 6250 or 6500 or whatever it is for ~575 brand new on a ‘special’ or coupon or something from Amazon a month ago. Three year protection plan included. It started second pull. Haven’t tried the TiG on it yet but it doesn’t even notice my ancient makita compound miter saw starting up, and eco mode it starts fine too, as does my compressor.
Somehow I think it is going to be a great decision to have made in a five-year vision, and that’s half the cost of predatory freight generator with a three year plan so that part was already a good decision.
Thanks for the input
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I think you will be happy with it...
Nice discussion. I really like the Dual Fuel option and this is why I've favored the Champion models over the Predator gas only models, but I just saw Predator 5000 dual fuel model (see below). Any thoughts on this model?
I'm also looking at Champion 4500 dual fuel as similar cost and features. However, the Champion 4500 model says it can run 21 hours on 20lb propane versus Predator 5000 at 14.6 hours on 20lb propane. Not sure why Champion runs so much longer on propane???
Here is the review I just saw:
I'm also looking at Champion 4500 dual fuel as similar cost and features. However, the Champion 4500 model says it can run 21 hours on 20lb propane versus Predator 5000 at 14.6 hours on 20lb propane. Not sure why Champion runs so much longer on propane???
Here is the review I just saw:
12VoltInstalls
life passes by too quickly to not live in freedom
Harbor freight has a short warranty period, but you can buy an extension warranty. The issues are that their warranty is expensive- more expensive than champion- and they don’t have as low of price as champion while predator doesn’t seem to carry forward the precision and good production quality of the Hondas they supposedly cloned
Yes, that Champion warranty is fantastic.
Technically, I just need something to run 18A Solar charger if lost grid power (use grid assist for off grid system) to charge my 30KWH batteries with at least 2200Watts continuous power on PROPANE. Looks like the best deal in Champion line is Champion Dual Fuel 4250W #200914 which provides 3150 continuous watts (on propane) for only $454 (Amazon). Its a little louder than want at 64dba, but the price is outstanding. It lacks wheels and electric start, but not sure the extra cost to buy Champion 4500W inverter generator for $1200 is worth it (61dba, wheels, electric start).
The other goal I have is that it fits in the $580 Amazon Mission Darkness Generator Faraday bag (Interior dims: 30"L x 24"W x 22”H) which both dual fuel Champions mentioned fit.
Technically, I just need something to run 18A Solar charger if lost grid power (use grid assist for off grid system) to charge my 30KWH batteries with at least 2200Watts continuous power on PROPANE. Looks like the best deal in Champion line is Champion Dual Fuel 4250W #200914 which provides 3150 continuous watts (on propane) for only $454 (Amazon). Its a little louder than want at 64dba, but the price is outstanding. It lacks wheels and electric start, but not sure the extra cost to buy Champion 4500W inverter generator for $1200 is worth it (61dba, wheels, electric start).
The other goal I have is that it fits in the $580 Amazon Mission Darkness Generator Faraday bag (Interior dims: 30"L x 24"W x 22”H) which both dual fuel Champions mentioned fit.
