MAN LE180C double cab for a long family trip

[Itinerrant]

Dear all,

I have long been a silent reader of this forum and the first thing I want to do is to thank you because many of you have been sources of inspiration for our project. So...

Who are we? We are a young family with three little girls (3, 5, 6) living in a small country: Belgium (Europe). Oh and... yes, we love to travel.

What is our project? We plan to leave some day in the (not so) *near* future for a family trip of around three years to some cool destinations. We have this project in mind since quite some time now. First task : find a suitable vehicle. We spent a lot of time to find the perfect one, but now it's done! Here is our newly acquired truck:

Isn't this nice? :wings:

Second task : design and build the living space. The construction of the cell will begin in March 2011, but I'll post here the plans we've designed and specifications that we have written for you most experienced members to review (if you feel like to, - your advice would be most welcome !). If all goes well, construction work should be finished in July 2011, so we will be able to test the vehicle during the summer vacation (perhaps in Iceland ? that would be great!). The grand tour departure is planned for July 2012, so we will have a whole year to check everything.

In the meantime, people interested can already see more photos of our truck and its specifications (and one of our previous trips, in South Africa with a rented camper) on our blog (in French, unfortunately, which is our native language). I will post on our blog and also via Twitter whenever our project progresses (itinerary, paperwork, construction of the cell, schooling for the kids, etc..).

Thank you again, hope to hear from you soon!

 

[mhiscox]

Isn't this nice? :wings:

Very nice, indeed. Welcome to the forum, and thank you for sharing information about your travels and plans.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Welcome to ExPo!

Looks like a great project! Keep us posted.

 

[sherwood]

Great truck.

I assume that you have seen the Unicat MANs

 

[Itinerrant]

Hello,

Great truck.

Thank you !

I assume that you have seen the Unicat MANs

Yes, of course. Unicat trucks are a dream for many travellers I guess, but they are way out of my budget...

 

[LukeH]

Cool rig, great project.
Gotta get you talking to MYatollah, my supreme authority who has gone all scared of other countries since our girls were born.
Est-ce que t'es passé voir chez BMH story, il y a un super forum et de bonnes idees.
http://forum.bernard.debucquoi.com

Where you going to register it? (the french authorities are legendary for making camper conversions extremely difficult).

 

[Itinerrant]

Floorplan and 3D views

Hello everybody,

Thank you for the welcome.

Here is the floor plan we have thought of so far :

​

A few words of explanation :

• front of the truck is on the left
• cell outer size is 5200 mm length x 2420 mm width x 2400 mm height
• wall thickness is 60 mm (floor 90 mm)
• shower serves as passage through cabin
• shower and toilets/sink spaces can be used independently (sliding doors)
• double bed will stand above the dinettes and may be lowered / raised as needed
• children beds are sized 2000 mm length x 800 mm width, but as the children are still little, the beds will be reduced to 1600 mm length x 700 mm ; the extra space will be used for storage

Here are some 3D views :

​

Any comment/suggestion/question/advice welcome (if you want, you can also check the related page on our blog) !

 

[Itinerrant]

Hello,

Cool rig, great project.

Thank you !

Gotta get you talking to MYatollah, my supreme authority who has gone all scared of other countries since our girls were born.

Well, until now, the world (as far as we have seen it, which is not quite really extended) has been quite a safe place for us. Fingers crossed...

Est-ce que t'es passé voir chez BMH story, il y a un super forum et de bonnes idees.

Yes, great site. We spent (and still are spending) so much time browsing the web looking for vehicles, ideas, other people's travel... A nice way to already feel travelling ourselves, waiting for our turn...

Where you going to register it? (the french authorities are legendary for making camper conversions extremely difficult).

It will be registered in Belgium. I don't know whether it will be easier than in France, but the people from the company that will build it seem to know what to do. At least I hope so !

 

[sherwood]

I am liking the floor plan, walk through the shower is very clever.

Here is the floor plan we have thought of so far :

How are you planning to raise and lower the bed?

 

[Ford Prefect]

Looks like a great idea so far!

Love the choice of truck, REALLY wish we could get those in the USA... sigh.

A thought or two.

First will you not have any light into the children's bed areas? The lack may be good for feeling secure, but they are going to want to have light in there. It helps to not feel so claustrophobic. Also you will want to be able to be certain air flow can go through there. We had bunk beds when I was growing up, and they got HOT if you did not open the windows in them.

Second. The beds, you are thinking about shortening the mattress for the girls because they are not tall yet. You plan to put in storage. I would caution you that once the girls get bigger you are going to have a very hard time removing that storage. You will, rather suddenly (in my humble opinion) have a LOT of stuff that no longer has a place in your camper. That is hard when girls get older they will want more space, not less.

Lastly, If you take the bathroom area and encroach upon the current shower by about 15-20cm or so I think you will find that you have enough room to simply put the shower in there with everything in the bathroom. Then the current shower space can become a lot more storage for you.

Just a thought.

I really love your plans, and your floor plans look very wise. What is the large object at the very front of the cabin, near the dinette? Is that a large seating area? Perhaps something that folds down into a pare bed? Personally I would want a pass through to the cabin, you could do one like the Unicats that has the "back rest" section of the seat being removable (in both the couch and the inside rear seat) and thus allow for that pass-through easy enough.

THANKS for sharing! Really cool ideas, looking forward to this one!

Brian

 

[Itinerrant]

I am liking the floor plan, walk through the shower is very clever.

Thank you !

How are you planning to raise and lower the bed?

Well this point is still to be decided. There are several alternatives : belts, chains, wires, rails, winch, jacks, etc. There is also this product. I will discuss this with the builder to find the best solution. If someone has any thoughts / advice, it would be welcome !

 

[Lynn]

Well this point is still to be decided. There are several alternatives : belts, chains, wires, rails, winch, jacks, etc. There is also this product. I will discuss this with the builder to find the best solution. If someone has any thoughts / advice, it would be welcome !

I have no experience with the Happijac lifter, but have read that they get jammed pretty easily. Especially if the camper isn't level.

Personally, I'd look at SarConcepts' mayline concept, described about two-thirds of the way down his blog. He used light cables to keep hydraulic cylinders equal, but the basic cable concept could be used for your bed elevator without hydraulics.

 

[sherwood]

I am sure you could arrange a pull down bed on gas struts.



Here is a hydraulic solution;

 

[Itinerrant]

Hello,

Thank you so much for taking the time to give your insight !

Love the choice of truck, REALLY wish we could get those in the USA... sigh.

Well I guess you have some pretty nice trucks out there too !

First will you not have any light into the children's bed areas? The lack may be good for feeling secure, but they are going to want to have light in there. It helps to not feel so claustrophobic. Also you will want to be able to be certain air flow can go through there. We had bunk beds when I was growing up, and they got HOT if you did not open the windows in them.

I still hesitate to put windows along the children's beds. Of course they will have light out of LED lamps but it's not the same as sunlight and I think you're probably right about getting claustrophobic. I'll think about it. Maybe we won't put the windows at first and then check during our first year of short trips whether it is ok or not. I think it wouldn't be impossible to put the windows after (even if it would surely be harder).

Regarding the air flow, you're probably right too and it's another point in favor of windows. But we are also thinking of air conditioning the truck, so this could balance the lack of windows in this area.

Second. The beds, you are thinking about shortening the mattress for the girls because they are not tall yet. You plan to put in storage. I would caution you that once the girls get bigger you are going to have a very hard time removing that storage. You will, rather suddenly (in my humble opinion) have a LOT of stuff that no longer has a place in your camper. That is hard when girls get older they will want more space, not less.

Yes, you're right. However, we've taken these points into account :

1. Our girls are currently 0.95 (3yo), 1.05 (5yo) and 1.15 (6yo) meters tall, and they sleep in 0.7 x 1.60 meters beds. So in the truck they will have the same space.
2. They are growing up, of course, but we plan to complete our big trip in the next 4-5 years, and this is when we will need more space (I probably shouldn't say this, but as my wife is *not* very tall (indeed she would fit onto one of the girl's bed ), there is a chance we can complete the big trip without changing the girls beds configuration !).
3. Thereafter, we will still use the truck to travel, but probably for shorter trips, then perhaps we won't need that much storage space.
4. We already traveled (not to such an extent though) in far less roamy vehicles without too much problems. But I guess the more room you have, the more stuff you want to fill...

Lastly, If you take the bathroom area and encroach upon the current shower by about 15-20cm or so I think you will find that you have enough room to simply put the shower in there with everything in the bathroom. Then the current shower space can become a lot more storage for you.

That could be possible (if I understand well). However :

1. The shower also serves as a passage towards the walk-through the driver's cabin, so it can't be narrowed too much (I think 60cm would be the minimum) and has to be more or less in the middle.
2. We wanted to be able to use the shower and the toilet/sink spaces independently.

Just a thought.

You're most welcome !

I really love your plans, and your floor plans look very wise. What is the large object at the very front of the cabin, near the dinette? Is that a large seating area? Perhaps something that folds down into a pare bed? Personally I would want a pass through to the cabin, you could do one like the Unicats that has the "back rest" section of the seat being removable (in both the couch and the inside rear seat) and thus allow for that pass-through easy enough.

Hmmm... maybe I wasn't too clear about this (or maybe I understand wrongly), but on the floorplan's picture, the front of the truck is on the left, and it is the shower that serves as a passage towards the driver's cabin. So we have the dinettes at the rear of the truck and I think the large object you are referring to is the rear bench that stretches across the whole width against the rear wall of the cell. Upon this is the double bed that can be lowered and raised. As you can see on the 3D views, there is also a double floor under the tables and the rear-facing benches. Tables can be lowered and then, with the benches, can serve as an additional three persons sleeping space (for when we have guests !).

THANKS for sharing! Really cool ideas, looking forward to this one!

Many thanks to you for giving your suggestions ! We still are in the phase of challenging the design, so it is very interesting to have other people's view.

 

[Itinerrant]

Hello,

I have no experience with the Happijac lifter, but have read that they get jammed pretty easily. Especially if the camper isn't level.

Thank you for the warning. Indeed it is important that the system works well as it will be used every day and probably some times on rough surfaces too.

Personally, I'd look at SarConcepts' mayline concept, described about two-thirds of the way down his blog. He used light cables to keep hydraulic cylinders equal, but the basic cable concept could be used for your bed elevator without hydraulics.

This seems very clever. Thank you for pointing me to it. I will discuss it with the builder.