814 DA on the road in South America

NigelEvans

New member
Some random thoughts on avoidable conversion issues after 3 months on the road in South America.
Screws: Loctite is your friend. The wood screws have been fine but I should think around 40 engineering screws have fallen out of various control panels, appliances and fittings.
Tyres: I’m sure I’ve got the front tyres way overinflated. The problem is I’ve never been able to get a straight answer from Toyo as to how low I can run them without causing sidewall damage. This exacerbates tracking on worn roads (found plenty of them!)and makes the front over- hard on gravel.
Gravel Roads: After around 700 miles of gravel roads ranging from good to near impassable I can confirm that I absolutely hate them! The truck is truly awful on gravel roads. The springs are too hard and there is not enough suspension travel. These are characteristics it shares with other heavy vehicles, such as buses and lorries. The difference is their wheels are larger and they can run at lower pressures.
Plumbing: My main problem here was my system was fitted without an expansion tank. Notwithstanding the error I would avoid flexible hose and jubilee clips on any pressurised part of the system. My sink tap was plastic, the connections failed after about a week, again I’d avoid if you’re going off-road.
Seitz windows: They really aren’t good enough, they leak dust like a sieve, they leak water and the mozzies just walk through them. Having said that the alternatives are just so expensive there isn’t a choice. We’ve fitted fine mozzie proof netting on Velcro strips to the windows this has the added benefit of catching most of the dust.
Dust: This has been a major inconvenience. It gets in through door seals, fans, vent holes, open windows, closed windows. I don’t think it can be entirely prevented but in the future I’ll be using 3M release tape every morning in dusty areas (especially gravel roads). 10 minutes taping up will save an hour of cleaning.
Fans: We have a couple of marine quality fans which have proved an absolute must (thanks to Stephen Stewart). One fitted over the bed and one in the front. In a larger van I’d have more.
Windscreen repair kit: Carry one, I’ve used it twice so far and it seems to work.
Rubber hose repair tape: Carry one, it works!
Water filling hose: Get the longest one you can carry, next time I’ll get a flat one. The taller your van the longer the hose, It’ll save you dragging down electrical cables and trees trying to get close enough to a tap.
Door Catches and Locks: This a Vario/Mercedes specific problem. The door locks and catches do not like heat, cold or dust. They even seem susceptible to altitude! Make sure you know how to repair them they’re going to let you down at some point!
Eberspächer: Temperamental little things! Mine won’t run it the voltage falls below 24.2v. It stopped working at 8000 feet (just when we needed it). They’re great when they work but you need an alternative.
Gas: Not used anywhere near as much as I thought, still on the original 15Kg cylinder.
Fuel: You can never have too much! Couldn’t buy any for a week in Bolivia (that’s another story). An auxiliary tank or cans are a must in some parts of the world.
Altitude: Got to just under 18,000 feet, truck performed fine, pulled like a train all day. Me I got so disorientated I couldn’t even spell my own name at the border.
 

julius0377

Adventurer
Eberspächer: Temperamental little things! Mine won’t run it the voltage falls below 24.2v. It stopped working at 8000 feet (just when we needed it). They’re great when they work but you need an alternative.

You need a high altitude kit for the heater (but I don't know if Eberspächer provides one). You usually switch it on somewhere between 1200 and 1500 meters above sea level, and a different fuel line/nozzle or something like it is used. Most diesel heaters need this.
 

andylod

Tea Drinker :-)
Hi Nigel

I presume you are back safe and sound ! Sounds like you had enough niggles to keep you busy whilst you were away, hope it didn't spoil the overall trip for you. :sombrero:

We had similar hard tyre problems / gravel roads issues whilst we were away and found that 40 psi worked really for us but keeping the speed done to 50 kmh maximum. I monitored the heat generated in the side wall and the tyres got considerably hotter whilst travelling on roads at 70 psi. Not very scientific i know but it seemed to work.

We also had similar dust issues and i think copious amounts of flexible sealer around all cable and pipe entry points would also help.

Looking forward to seeing some pics of the trip !!!!

Andy
 

NigelEvans

New member
Not home yet. On the Rambla in Montevideo and it's freezing!

Take the point regarding modifying the heater. I still think I'd want an alternative just in case. In our case our genny will run a fan heater.

Wish I'd had the nerve to try lowering the pressure down to that level. On the other hand if I'd wrecked the tyres there was no possibility of a local replacement.

I can't complain about a few niggles, overall the truck has performed better than I could have expected (or deserved given my lack of preparation). Reason for my post was to highlight some potential problems for other conversions.

Another problem I hadn't anticipated was the interest we generate with the locals just being on the road. Several times we've been waived down (me thinking the moto was falling off the back!) only to be invited for dinner. Great fun.
 

Alastair D(Aus)

aging but active
Nigel,
Plugging the dust entry points is obviously the key but one approach I have used in the past is to install a fan that sucks air in from outside through a filter and hence presurises the inside. This dramatically reduces the dust ingress provided you position the intake where the filter does not get blocked quickly. Easy to find by driving on a dusty road and stopping to see what parts have stayed clean.
 

NigelEvans

New member
Great suggestion Alastair. I'm going to give it a go when I get the van back from South America. Given that I normally drive with the front windows open I think it unlikely that I can create a positive pressure but a suitably sized fan should at least balance the negative pressure. The air movement may also help to reduce heat build-up in the back.

If anyone is interested in our trip my wife Joyce has written a blog which now we're home she has made public. http://plodblogsa.wordpress.com/

Now I've finished my 'trip of a lifetime' I need another! Now, how can I get to India without being shot or spending a fortune on shipping? :)
 

Gretar

New member
Nigel
I followed your conversion and thought you were doing very well, so it is disappointing that the truck did not live up to expectations. I have a MB 814 4x4 myself and my main headache is to decide on tires. Top of the list at the moment is Michelin XZL 275/80R20. A number of MB 814 or 815 in Iceland are fitted with 37x13.50R17 e.g. Toyo Open Country M/T. These tires give a soft ride on a rough road with lowered tire pressure. Currently I am using Continental LDR 10R17.5 and lower the pressure to 45-50 psi on rough roads.
Gretar
 

Alastair D(Aus)

aging but active
Rethink on fan

Nigel,
When I read you response it made me rethink the fan suggestion.

Do you have a link/pass through from the cab to camper? If so then you will need to change your habits. I too like to drive with the window open but found in our troopy that that actually creates a negative pressure in the rear which sucks dirt in. I realised this when I could see the sleeve on a light weight slicker chucked on the bed in the back, flapping towards the front. Now when on dusty roads I close the window and put the air intake fan on at least medium. Now I get very little dirt in.

On our Isuzu truck I will have no pass through and so hope to have a fully sealed box when travelling. Nonetheless I plan to put in a pressure fan like I have done in previous vehicles.

Best of luck with the rest of your trip.
Cheers
 

NigelEvans

New member
Getar – Good luck with your tyre choice. Given the benefit of hindsight I think I got way too caught up in the single wheel conversion debate. Maybe I should have kept the twin wheel and just fitted larger tyres? Anyway the truck looks great (IMO) and it drives just fine on tarmac. I can't say the truck didn't live up to expectations. We had a fantastic time, went everywhere we wanted, did some extreme bad road sections and the truck was way more comfortable that loads of the hotels we stayed in!
Alastair – I take your point although I don't know if I could stand driving with the windows shut. When we got up to the Amazon the temperature in the van was over 50 degrees and 90% humidity and that was with the windows open!
 

Alastair D(Aus)

aging but active
Nigel,
I understand the temperature issue. Here in Aus it is common to get very hot days in summer but except in the tropical north, it tends to be dry heat.
Our Isuzu NPS300 has a hatch in the centre of the cab roof which can be opened with the lid tipped up at the front, producing a good draft blasting in or by winding the handle the other way, opened with the lid tilted the other way creating a suction effect. It may be that you could get something similar. Generally the air above the cab roof is clean and would certainly create positive pressure. The only downside is a bit of noise but that is the same as the side windows.
Cheers
 

NigelEvans

New member
Alastair,
After reading your post I've been playing around with bits of plywood fitted to our hatch which is in the middle of the vehicle. I think turning the hatch around so that it scoops air is going to work!
Thanks for taking the time to post.
 

pier1234

New member
Nigel,

You said:
"I would avoid flexible hose and jubilee clips on any pressurised part of the system."

This is what I was thinking to use converting my Unimog.

Can you explain why?

What alternative do you suggest?

Thanks

Pierre
 

NigelEvans

New member
Pierre,
I had no end of problems with hose/jubilee joints coming apart, I put this down to the lack of an expansion tank. Having discussed this with Sure Cal technical department they recommend plastic pipe with push fit connections as the pressures in a engine fed calorifier system can exceed 4 bar even with an expansion tank.
I'd also steer clear of the standard taps supplied with Smev sinks, mine failed after a couple of weeks on the road.
I think the problem is a lot of the systems and equipment available for conversions was designed for caravans. Typically they are subjected to lower temperature, pressure and vibration. Even simple things like push cabinet catches which no doubt last for years on a caravan disintegrated after a few hours on a gravel road.
 

ianc

Adventurer Wannabe
I would even avoid the push-fit joints as they don't like vibration either and particularly if there is a long pipe run to them which can resonate. I've gone with 1/2" or 15mm Brass compression fittings, PEX type plastic pipe and copper inserts.

Unfortunately I do have a lot of those push cabinet latches Nigel mmentioned:-(
 

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