Unimog Camper under construction

[63tlf8]

I'll continue on to do a bit more research - if the price is right, then I'll go with the plastic tanks, but if I'm up for an arm and two legs pricing, I'll have a look at the DIY stainless a bit more.

Iain,

Check Atlas Tanks, local to you. Got my tanks from them, great product and service. Mention off road and ask for the thicker walls, 10mm I think, no extra. They cast or weld, depending on requirements.

Tony

[Iain_U1250]

Thanks Tony - I'll give them a try as well.

[whatcharterboat]

Not so good in "high stress" area like the mounts - they may snap off over time if they are not designed properly.

Morning Iain. How wet is it?

Anyway, plastic tanks must be either strapped up or sit in a cradle (best). Forget tabs or mounts on the tank itself.

Can become brittle over time with exposure to chemicals like chlorine

Also we have some (of that type I mentioned in the PM ) in the field now for close to 10 years with no signs of trouble. I believe that plastic is extremely chemical resistant. UV is the thing that can kill most plastic and that should never be a problem under you truck anyway.

Hey Iain, you should check out this MAN we are doing a suspension upgrade on tomorrow. I'll send you some pics. It's from Switzerland. Another Round-The-World truck. Physically about the size of yours , I guess although it's only a 10 ton GVM chassis. All composite body. Has some very neat ideas though. Very different body mounting too > closer to our system than anything else I've seen on a big Euro truck before.

See ya mate.

[Hilmar]

Iain,

Independent from the material your tanks will be build:
Have you thought about the advantages and disadvantages of one big water tank compared to several smaller ones?

Depends on the regions you intend to travel and the available provisioning possibilities. Although I have a water purification equipment, I I prefer several smaller tanks/canisters. As a result, it's possible to keep some hygienic clean and fill up your water supplies nonetheless.

Hilmar

[Iain_U1250]

Hi Hilmar - My thoughts exactly. I'm planning on two "raw water" tanks, each around 130lt each, a 25lt hot water tank, all of which go through the primary pre-filters . Then a 50lt drinking water tank which will go through the whole filtration system.

[Iain_U1250]

Time for an update on the Mog progress. I have borrowed a cab tilter from a a forum member - I have it until early in January, so I need to get everything done that needs the cab tilted. I will also take a few measurements on the lifting cylinder at various extensions to see how long to make a single ram cylinder.

There is plenty of clearance for the turbo - I'll tilt the cab again and fit the heat shields and a bit more sound insulation. I will also fit up the accelerator pedal and the hand throttle linkages.

I also re-fitted the inner fenders - both refurbished with new home made rubber seals. I also fitted up the power steering reservoir and the steel lines. I have a new hose for the lower return line, but I need to get another two hoses for the upper return line, and the upper supply line. Then that should last for another 25 years.

It looks like there should be plenty of space for the inter cooler - there is 400mm of clear space between the turbo and the power steering reservoir, or if I put it up higher, I have around 700mm to the inlet manifold - I'm sure I can make something work there.

The air tanks also fit quite nicely - glad this time I managed to get all the measurement right. I have charged up the air system, and everything works. I also discovered a design error with the way I plumbed in the wet tank. When the tanks get to max pressure, the divertor valve opens and the compressor goes into free-wheel mode - which means that the wet tank would fully discharge out of the divertor valve - which is not a good idea as when the tanks get discharged, before the compressor would be recharging the main tanks, it would have to first have to charge up the wet tank. I found this out the hard way - when I adjusted my shop compressor to go about 8.3 bar ( I have two of them rigged up in parallel to speed up the process) when the divertor valve opened - it shot the little silencer off the bottom of the valve, and discharged the entire contents of both 50lt compressor tanks, the wet and and the purge tanks - made on hell of a racket doing so. Anyway, at least I know the divertor valve works.

I have returned to fabricating the camper box again. First the battery box and the box for the diesel heater. I have fitted them both below the floor, and will have two hatches to access them. Another forum member will be making the composite floor - made from 2mm aluminium, 6mm of foam and 4mm of ply, all vacuum bagged together to make a strong composite floor. I have to make a template out of plywood for each section of the floor - being a civil engineer, tolerances of a centimetre or so are normally pretty good, but here I need to get with a few millimetres. The panels will be quite complicated, as I have to fit around all the bracing and have the joints all hidden. The final wall on part of the floor will most likely be teak.

The main fabrication work this weekend was the two rear seats. It took a fair bit of fitting and engineering, but eventually I figured out how to make it all work. The back part of the seat still reclines using the original electric motors, and the lumbar support still works as well. The seat base is fixed to the frame, and that took a fair bit figuring out. It has to be fairly strong to be able to hold the seat belts.

The space behind the seat back is quite large - should be useful for storing some softer item that don't get used that often. The only way to access the storage will be to wind the seat back right forward. I'll test it out once I get everything sorted. I'll work on it over the next few evenings.

I finished the first seat, but ran out of steel for the second one. Since I've figured out the way to do it, the second one should take less time. Trish has tested the seat, and reckons it will work well - she could see out of the front window and the passenger side window quite easily, and the height was just right for her. I found that the angle in the first seat was a not right for me, I would get a sore neck, but the second seat works a lot better. Anyway, I would not be the one using those seats whilst driving - my seat is the one behind the steering wheel.

[Iain_U1250]

I have hired a mobile truck weighing station and weighed my camper, and as it stands on the weigh pads today, the whole truck weights in at:

Front Axle - 2.74 tons
Rear Axle - 1.96 tons
Total - 4.70 tons.

I have quite loaded up most of the bits I have taken off, doors, bumper, seats, rear windows, radiator, battery, winch, AT-Vos sound insulation kit and anything else I have lying around.

I am on track to come in on target with:
Truck - 4700kg

Parts to go:

Front Winch - 50kg
Sprung Mattress - 50kg
Windows and glass - 50kg
Floor - 75kg
Spare wheel - 100kg
Furniture & Lining - 100kg
Fridges - 50kg
Solar Panels - 40kg
Toilet - 35kg
Stove, Calorifier, water pump etc, 50kg
Roof Rack & Bull Bar - 100kg
Insulation - 100kg
Batteries & Chargers - 250kg

Other stuff:

Fuel - 400lt
Water - 300lt
Food etc - 500kg
People - 4 x 75 = 300kg

Total 7250kg.

That gives me only 250kg up my sleeve, which is not that much but should just be enough.

If I can still keep it on a diet, then everything should be fine. Thanks to everyone who warned about keeping the weight down - you were right - things add up quickly.

The truck was previously registered as 8 ton - so I will try for that again, but the plate on the side says 7500kg. We will see what the authorities say when I go to register it.

[Hilmar]

Hi Iain,

Food etc - 500kg ?
Seems pretty much to me, but I have no idea what etc will be.
Spare parts and tools will add a lot yet.

The magical 7500 kg limit is related to old driver license regulations in some European countries. With an old B license for passenger cars you were allowed to drive vehicles up to 7500 kg. I have such an old license and do not need a category C license. Since years the regulations changed but based on earlier rights I do not have to care.
It will not be a problem to get a Mercedes certificate to increase the max. total weight to 8000kg.

Hilmar

[charlieaarons]

Food and clothing will be <200kg. But spare parts and tools could easily exceed 500, even 1000kg if you count recovery gear.

Charlie

[Iain_U1250]

Hi Charlie - how is the cold in Alaska? It is a bit wet down here Are you still coming over this month?

What recovery gear to you take along. I was only thinking of a couple of long spades, bow saw, axe, a long strap, tree saver strap, snatch block and few shackles. What I have at the moment would not be over 100kg's. If I have the spare capacity, I may add some PAP sand ladders each side.