Saurer 2dm 1968 Expeditionmobile build

[-joz-]

Hi Grenadiers

I do the same! Have change all the oils and fluids on the truck

We do a little test drive to france and spain and the saurer do his job great!

Now its a few little things to finish the project

Next Spring we ship our truck to halifax and start our roadtrip from alaska to argentina ushuaia

Baja is on our bucketlist

Nice folding boat! We meet a couple in france they have the same folding boat as you! they go fishing with this thing they are very happy with it

 

[-joz-]

Hello !

next step was we need a passage from the shelter to the truck cabin
first i have tested how much get over the cabin to the shelter and it was little ... a half inch maximum

my idee was to build two frames and conectet with a firehose

 

[shortbus4x4]

Nice truck. I love an old truck with a narrow nose and big fenders. If you find yourself in north Idaho USA look me up, especially if you need some maintenance as I'm a mechanic.

 

[-joz-]

Thank you shortbus4x4! I love the nothwest from usa! And we will definitive viste idaho ! Do you know good offroad trails for camping ect? Or is in the www any good sites for searching cool offroad routes in the states?

We have one ore two years to travel in the usa and canada before we go down to south america

Greetings from switzerland

Jonas

 

[-joz-]

Hello
here is a little update from beginning build up the interior

in the rear i build the bedroom with 2x 50 gallons watertanks under the bed






in the front on the left side i build 2 benches for sitting with a table on the right side is the place from the wood stove
the sittig area can be converted to a sleeping area by doing lower the table to the seats









Most of the wood i have burned with a welding torch and then i removed the coal with a brush
the result is a very cool structured surface ! a few of the interior funrnitur we coloring with different colors

 

[-joz-]

Hello ! I have news about my truck

the kitchen is done and here are few pictures from the build

the best thing on my truck is the location of the cooler : its accesible from in and outside
you dont need to go in the truck to take a beer

first i made the countertop of pinewood but i did not like it ...
now the countertop is made of pearwood : Plained and oiled with linseed oil

i can use the machines of the joinery from my father to produce my furniture

 

[ExpoMike]

Wow, that interior is coming out very nice. Well done!

 

[-joz-]

hi everybody

i have another little update for you

i have install the rear batteries underneath the floor

it's total 4 batteries with 240 Ah each two in the rear and two in the front

on the roof are 2 pices of 300 watt solarpannels

i put the whole electric under the bench
a mppt solar charger , a 24v to 12v inverter and a 2500watt 24v to 230v singelwave inverter
i love my inverter ! i can use my induction hub with this inverter and my welding machine to !

i build a little controll pannel behind the rear seat
with one switch on this pannel you can shut shut down the whole light in the truck becaus when you leave the truck you can turn off with only one switch and all the lights are off
and every light has a own switch
i have another switch for the waterpump, one for the water boiler and one for the inverter
it has also a gauge from the batterie monitor to see what happen with the batteries and to controll pannels from the webasto heaters

the truck is a 4x4 and i will drive offroad with it and i have to build all the things bulletproofed because of the vibrations and shackings in the car during the drive
here are the drawer for all the kitchen stuff that we need

 

[-joz-]

After the first long test drive i notice a big problem
in the rear are biiiiig leafsprings with addition leafsprings on the top of it ... and no shockabsorbers in the rear ....
over every bump on the street the rear axles bounce very much and sometimes the wheels didnt touch the ground :-D
the mattress in the rear was flying trough the air
this truck was build for the swiss army for heavy load and driving comfort was not important

i took the addition leafsprings out because i have not enough wight for this much leafsprings and i put new shockabsorbers in it
the brackets for the shockabsorber i build by myself
it was a good time to test my welding machine over the inverter from the truck and it worked very well !

 

[Grenadiers]

Mein Gott, you do good work!

 

[-joz-]

thank you ! I will give my best ! its alot of work and we will leave in aprill next year

are you in baja now ?

 

[Grenadiers]

thank you ! I will give my best ! its alot of work and we will leave in aprill next year

are you in baja now ?

Yes we are. Having some electrical issues, Waeco fridge is short-cycling, could be low on refrigerant, but blinking LED code says electrical. Coincidentally, water pump and water level gauge are malfunctioning. Could be related to fridge. In Loreto RV park for a bit. Have Dometic CFX-65 as backup beer cooler, er, food cooler~!

Edit: I 'fixed' it. Pressed the wrong button on our Steca PR3030 charge controller, disabling the load, so no fridge, water pump.

 

[b dkw1]

Hooking the shocks to the camper may not be the best idea. A frame mounted top mount would be a better option.

 

[-joz-]

why is this not a good idea ? the camper is placed on the original bridge from the truck and this bridge is a very strong and solid construction


i have made now 4000 miles with this shocks and it worket very well

 

[b dkw1]

Looking at more pics I see the camper is solid mounted also. With all the flexing the frame does, either the mounts take up the flex or pass it on to the camper. Since everything is solid mounted it may not make a difference.