My new overland project

[Bob]

Delighted that you are back on the build. Very excited for you to see the box finally come together properly. Watching closely!

 

[AndyCook]

Good to see it’s on track again
Did the dodgy company also do the cab and chassis work ? Hope that’s all Ok

 

[Olazz]

Nope, cab and chassis work was done by different company, as was the torsion frame and engineering work.

'Twas only the living box that they tackled and tried to build.

 

[SteveJB]

Did you manage to get any of the kit you supplied back from previous shower and plumbing lash up company and reckon if you start using Nivia for men you should be able to make 25 summers plus

 

[Olazz]

6 new Continental HCS tyres fitted. These tyres were originally developed for the KAMAZ Dakar trucks and have been available for general use since 2012. They are speed rated to 110kph whereas the Michelin XZL's are still only 90kph. The Kamaz trucks run these tyres, so if they're good enough for Mr Nicolaev & co...
Many calls and discussion went thus!

ME: Hi I'm looking for Continental 14r20 HCS tyres, can you supply?
THEM: Who? What are they? How big?.. We'll call back..... Yes sir we can supply £800 inc VAT.
ME: Great, what manufacture date are they?
THEM: Dunno, will call back.... Hi mate they are DOT 12.
ME: But they are 7 years old, can you supply new tyres, DOT 19?
THEM: Not for that price mate no. They are special order only tyres for the Military mate...etc etc etc

I gave up in the end and went direct to Continental and ordered them. Let's hope they are good enough for LOTS of km, because I don't want to have to buy more too soon!

Tread pattern is not as aggressive as ZXL's but have much higher speed rating, and as most of our trips have been 60/40 road/dirt, ( I'm guessing in a big truck that will change somewhat) the higher speed rating was more sensible.

 

[Chris]

Tasty.

 

[stumog]

Very nice what issues should you be aware of when building a box? My mate is just about start building and would be good for some LFE

 

[Olazz]

Very nice what issues should you be aware of when building a box? My mate is just about start building and would be good for some LFE

What's LFE?

Where do you want me to start? 2 years finding a good base vehicle, below 7.5t or above. Preparing the chassis, then torsion frame design and build, then cabin design, choice of panel material, weight considerations, adhesives and bonding agents, windows/doors/hatches/storage, insulation and condensation issues. Then the electronics, batteries, solar, cooking, gas. Wheel and tyre choice.... Overall truck dimensions.

Notwithstanding my issues, I was told it would be a min 2 year project from design to build completion.

I started looking for a truck in 2015, found in October 2017 and will be finished (I hope) Oct 2019. Could have been done 6 months earlier were it not for the poor initial choice of body builders .

 

[guruvetim]

What's LFE?

Where do you want me to start? 2 years finding a good base vehicle, below 7.5t or above. Preparing the chassis, then torsion frame design and build, then cabin design, choice of panel material, weight considerations, adhesives and bonding agents, windows/doors/hatches/storage, insulation and condensation issues. Then the electronics, batteries, solar, cooking, gas. Wheel and tyre choice.... Overall truck dimensions.

Notwithstanding my issues, I was told it would be a min 2 year project from design to build completion.

I started looking for a truck in 2015, found in October 2017 and will be finished (I hope) Oct 2019. Could have been done 6 months earlier were it not for the poor initial choice of body builders .

Glad to see the build is progressing again. I saw a beast of a truck on the M25 last week and wondered if it was you..

 

[stumog]

Lessons from experience

It's the body I was asking about really why did you change it?

 

[Olazz]

Lessons from experience

It's the body I was asking about really why did you change it?

Stu, best read the blog for details.

 

[StarCruiser]

Have you got a linkee for that Lazz as I’ve not been able to find it now this thread has grown?

 

[Olazz]

www.derfstravels.com... it's in my signature

 

[StarCruiser]

So it is! No wonder I couldn’t find it. On a smartphone, signatures only appear when the phone is on it's side.

 

[stumog]

Sounds like it's a nightmare building one of these.

Having ran a hgv body shop the costs time and parts really escalate beyond what you expect.

O have toyed with the idea of building a lorry of some sort but don't feel that my wallet or time will allow.

Can't wait to see this in person. I know I will love the madness of the thing

 

[Olazz]

The first test of the bike and spare wheel lift. The bike will slide into the rear garage, with the 2 spares on the outside which will lower to the ground with the bike. The system is hydraulic.

Very pleased with the design.

 

[Chris]

Nicely made but I'd like to do a test with a load on. As the FLT is taking all the weight, the actual weight of the lift is outside the equation. I appreciate that it needs the hydraulics in etc. It's not a criticism; just an observation that once you get a load on there well be a reversal of all of the 'float' in the mechanism. Wouldn't want it to catch anywhere. Ian is hugely experienced so I know he knows what he's doing.

Lovely bit of fabbing.

 

[Olazz]

Yep agreed. The dry run is for function to see if it actually works as designed. The design specs and hydraulics should support up to 1t. The weight of the frame- 500kg + the bike- 150kg + 2 tyres- 200kg.

The down side to this is that it has pushed my calculated truck weight up to over the 10.5 t I'd planned
GVM 18t.
So if fully loaded:
Bare truck and chassis 6900kg
Torsion frame 350kg
Hab box 2000kg (max inc batteries)
Hydraulic lift 50okg(max)
Bike 150kg
Spare tyres 200kg
Full water 480kg
Full fuel 650kg
Misc stuff 250kg
Total 11.5t
Thats still only 63% of GVM, so I won't have a weight issue... other than getting stuck more often!
It's unlikely that I will run with full water and full fuel all the time, so I guess the more realistic travel weight will be closer to 11t

Will get a good idea once it's loaded and on the weighbridge.

 

[Chris]

Wine. You missed wine Lazz. That's got to be another 1000kg+

 

[Olazz]

Why d'ya think I went for an 18tonner?