Sandwich panel body

[Victorian]

I'm currently doing some market research and trying to find out if there would be a big enough market for this type of product in North America.

The product:

Insulated, glued-not screwed, lightweight, durable universal fitting fiberglass sandwich body for Unimogs or other Semi truck style expedition vehicles.

The box would be delivered either:

Flat in a container for self assembly
OR
Ready to be mounted on the chassis with holes for windows and doors already cut
OR
Ready to be mounted on the chassis with already installed, doors, windows and hatches

All boxes would be empty and would have to be mounted on the chassis by the owner.

For a box as shown in the attached picture I'm currently counting on around $20-30.000 including windows and doors.

Please let me know what you think.

Cheers.

 

[Ford Prefect]

It will be a long time before I am ready to buy, but I would personally say that this looks like a great idea (if people will buy it.) Compare that to a unicat, just the box, and you are less than 1/4th the price, so, it certainly seems like people should be interested in it.

Good luck!

 

[Victorian]

Thank you for your feedback!

I should mention that the box shown in the pictures was a custom order with double doors in the rear. For a expedition vehicle I would recommend placing the door at the passenger side.

As for the price, I think so too. If someone is willing to put in some time to outfit it them self, then yes, it's a smoking deal!


Cheers,
Andreas

 

[IrishRover]

How about smaller sizes or at least the components so someone could fabricate there own box for say a Defender 90, like a Trojan box?

 

[mhiscox]

This is a fine idea, and certainly would fill a market not well covered in the hemisphere. The only problem might come in the difficulty that propsective buyers would have in engineering and constructing appropriate subframes for the cabin mounting. That seems to be an area where there's no "standard operating procedure" and if done wrong, there can be problems with the integrity of even the best cabin.

 

[skysix]

Have you looked at offering assembled but stripped out cabins to customers specs?

Seems that might be one way to go - the customer supplies dimensions of subframe / doors / windows and shape etc then you import all the hardware etc and assemble leaving it for the customer to mount on the frame and install the interior...

With the Unicat background you'd be a long way ahead of the rest of us in trying to assemble a cabin from components sourced off the net...

 

[Victorian]

Thank you all for the feedback!

We are currently trying to get all the info together regards customs and other import regulations...

Anyhow, please keep replying to this topic as it will make it easier for us to find out about the products people want/need.

Thanks!

Andreas

 

[1x1_Speed_Craig]

For a box as shown in the attached picture I'm currently counting on around $20-30.000 including windows and doors.

Please let me know what you think.

Cheers.

$20-30...indeed, that is a bargain! :elkgrin:

 

[Jeep]

If you made something available you might standardize a platform for rigs to be built on. It's generally not viable to build something specific for everybody, the lack of volume makes feasible production runs difficult and lengthly and tend to lack in profit. If I could buy a box for my 700 I would, problem is I don't think you'd want to touch the job for $30K due to my specific needs. If you did a box that fits not only Mogs Mitsu's but American built medium duty trucks all the way down to the F-550 or Dodge 5500 chassis I think you could definitely establish a market.

 

[Jeep]

If you made something available you might standardize a platform for rigs to be built on. It's generally not viable to build something specific for everybody, the lack of volume makes feasible production runs difficult and lengthly and tend to lack in profit. If I could buy a box for my 700 I would, problem is I don't think you'd want to touch the job for $30K due to my specific needs. If you did a box that fits not only Mogs Mitsu's but American built medium duty trucks all the way down to the F-550 or Dodge 5500 chassis I think you could definitely establish a market.