out with the old in with the new

[westyss]

Kind of an off the wall questions.

Comparing your Westy to the FG, do you miss the walk through and "openess" of the westy interior vs. a seperate cab and camper box?

I love my Syncro, but constantly wish it was a little bigger and had a "real" 4x drivetrain. I have been toying with the idea of building sort of a big westy out of an FG or the like. Not really willing to give up the walk through or the forward control.

I have heard many times people saying that a pass through was mandatory, me included, I had all along planned to have a pass through, but just never got to it and now I am not sure that I ever will. In my westy the cab was a main part of the living space, so that is a plus, but for this rig I think it would create a new set of problems, one being an energy efficient camper, I go to all the effort of having my camper made with R14 walls, dual pane windows and then go make a big hole to a cab that has no R value and single pane glass?? So then a door or plug needs to be made and stored, winter and summer to insulate the camper from the cab. Sure is a good point of discussion, many pro's and con's for both, in the end its what "you" really want or must have. If we lived in an area where cold isnt a problem it might be a different story.
I like how you said "I have been toying with the idea of building sort of a big westy out of an FG or the like. " Cause that is what I did, and if you look at a picture of my rig and squint so that everything is a little fuzzy it looks like my old westy!! I did love that thing but like you have stated, it was just too small for us. Okay for a week or two. Now with this rig we have so much more space than the westy and that means way more openess feeling, we were always cramped and hunched over in the westy.
Oh,, and yeah, a pass through with a hard sided lifting top camper gets a little complex!!

 

[sarconcepts]

Kinda lame interior build next to yours and the work Paul is doing! Oh well!

Not at all, I had to look up what a calorifier was,
I thought it was something for spraying sugar onto doughnuts!

 

[pods8]

A bulb seal would work well, but bulb seals dont bend around object well, so if possible use one bulb seal at the top of the inside wall, only thing with a bulb seal is while the roof goes up bugs can get in until the bulb makes contact, With only the brush on mine noise transfer was never controlled, the high density foam made it much quieter, it was kept inplace with an aluminum angle that was taped in position so was a temporary test, now with the interior getting finished I will make it a bit more eye pleasing and permanant. The brushes will bend around everything in its way so is a good option, just not good enough!
Keep in mind if using a rubber strip, the strip will want to flip so that it is always trailing, so when you reverse the direction of the roof it will bind while flipping. The strip will need to be not too tight up against the wall and that will make installing it harder, with the brush its no biggy.

The interior of my windows are in my top half that is why I'd put the bulb seal at the bottom of the top half, so it didn't drag across the windows trim rings (just the one in the back of my lower half but the exterior trim ring is smoother). It'd be the opposite for yours which would be the top of the inside walls. Why would bugs get in, the seal should be in contact the entire time, its just sandwiched between the walls and dragging along?

I'm talking something like this:

 

[dwh]

Stephen Stewart made a crawl-through when he built the mog he drove all over the world. Somewhere on his site, he says that if he had to do it again, he probably wouldn't bother with the crawl-though...since he never used it.

 

[westyss]

The interior of my windows are in my top half that is why I'd put the bulb seal at the bottom of the top half, so it didn't drag across the windows trim rings (just the one in the back of my lower half but the exterior trim ring is smoother). It'd be the opposite for yours which would be the top of the inside walls. Why would bugs get in, the seal should be in contact the entire time, its just sandwiched between the walls and dragging along?

I'm talking something like this:
View attachment 91427

Pod8, I see what you are doing there, my understanding of bulb seals are that they are for compression, not as a slide seal, they aren't designed to drag along on a surface, they are made to sit and have a surface lay ontop and compress to seal. If you can get the surface perfectly flat, smooth and even they could work, but I doubt they would last. I see that your windows are opposite, so when the roof is down the windows are still exposed, right?

 

[westyss]

Stephen Stewart made a crawl-through when he built the mog he drove all over the world. Somewhere on his site, he says that if he had to do it again, he probably wouldn't bother with the crawl-though...since he never used it.

I have heard that from several people, and I was one of those that said it was absolutely needed, and thought that its crazy not to have a pass through, would be interesting to hear what some travellers think about it. The only time I can think where it would be good to have would be in a situation where going outside when camped couldn't be done, like there's a bear circling the truck looking for a human snack, or a mob of crazy Mexican drug lords looking to off a tourist, or even in heavy rain.

Pros: 1- Ready access to cab or camper without going outside.
2- See what is crashing around back in the camper on rough roads.
3- Dog friendly enviroment.
4- Passenger could go to the back and get a snack for hard working driver.
5- Would be nice.
6- Heat or A/C could be shared with the box.
7-





Cons: 1- Can be difficult and complex to install.
2- Would require some kind of door, plug to prevent temperature transfer, and easier access to thieves during shipping.
3- Another opening in the shell that would need maintenance and a possible area for leaks.
4- Cost.
5- Takes away valuable space on a large wall.
6- Cutting into the truck cab (butchery).
7- Another one for temperature, our bed is at the front of the box and that is where my wife sleeps and she is always cold, so definately would need to have an airtight plug.
8- And while I am doubling up some of the cons, here's another , for me a very complex install, the pass through would have to be integrated into the rising top, and that has been one of the main reasons for not having it done already.


I'm sure more can be added on.

 

[pods8]

Pod8, I see what you are doing there, my understanding of bulb seals are that they are for compression, not as a slide seal, they aren't designed to drag along on a surface, they are made to sit and have a surface lay ontop and compress to seal. If you can get the surface perfectly flat, smooth and even they could work, but I doubt they would last. I see that your windows are opposite, so when the roof is down the windows are still exposed, right?

Yeah windows are exposed with the top down still since the top of my lower half is 49" tall, I didn't want all the windows so low while in the camper.

Other than the windows I intend for the surface to be generally smooth, for the most part I'd have a 1/2" bulb seal in a 1/2" gap so there wouldn't be heavy drag/compression but this would provide the initial barrier to block the majority of wind/rain/dirt from trying to work up between the walls, then the top lip seal would be there to take care of the rest. I realize it will be a wear item over time but assuming it lasts a year or two that would generally be fine with me, for servicing it I'd just put some short extensions on my lifts to lift the top clear of the bottom which would expose this seal for maintenance. Rip off the worn one, clean off the old adhesive and stick down a new one.

That's the plan rattling around in my head...

 

[FJCRUZR]

Subscribed!

Awesome build...:Wow1:

 

[westyss]

I have heard that from several people, and I was one of those that said it was absolutely needed, and thought that its crazy not to have a pass through, would be interesting to hear what some travellers think about it. The only time I can think where it would be good to have would be in a situation where going outside when camped couldn't be done, like there's a bear circling the truck looking for a human snack, or a mob of crazy Mexican drug lords looking to off a tourist, or even in heavy rain.

Pros: 1- Ready access to cab or camper without going outside.
2- See what is crashing around back in the camper on rough roads.
3- Dog friendly enviroment.
4- Passenger could go to the back and get a snack for hard working driver.
5- Would be nice.
6- Heat or A/C could be shared with the box.
7-





Cons: 1- Can be difficult and complex to install.
2- Would require some kind of door, plug to prevent temperature transfer, and easier access to thieves during shipping.
3- Another opening in the shell that would need maintenance and a possible area for leaks.
4- Cost.
5- Takes away valuable space on a large wall.
6- Cutting into the truck cab (butchery).
7- Another one for temperature, our bed is at the front of the box and that is where my wife sleeps and she is always cold, so definately would need to have an airtight plug.
8- And while I am doubling up some of the cons, here's another , for me a very complex install, the pass through would have to be integrated into the rising top, and that has been one of the main reasons for not having it done already.


I'm sure more can be added on.

Here's a question that I posed to a fellow owner of an FG with a pass through.


"I see you have a pass through between cab and camper, do you use it and could you live without it? What are the good and bad about it? "


Here is the answer he sent back:

"Yes, we use the pass through, personally I think it important to be able to drive away without having to exit the vehicle, specially if your in a unknown area/country and hooligan types are milling about. It is also for that reason it has been suggested to not put a ladder to the roof. Also nice to be able to start and warm up the engine on cold mornings while finishing breakfast. If it is cold, wet and dark it saves going outside to get into the camper, for those and multiple other reasons, I think it is a critical feature. But that been said, there are others that say they it is not necessary. I can see that it would add considerably to the time and cost to install one, especially given the whole cab lifts up for engine access. "

Interesting!

 

[westyss]

Subscribed!

Awesome build...:Wow1:

Thanks

 

[Ford Prefect]

Thanks Westyss for the thoughts on the pass through.

One other concern that I personally have about a pass through is the layout of the cabin. IE if you want a pass through you know you can not put anything where the pass through is going to be other than, perhaps, the shower. For me this is limiting.

I was thinking about possibly putting a U shaped dinette there, so it might not be a big deal, but still it becomes a consideration if you choose to do it.

You could consider this option, however...

This is a Unicat that is, as of the time of this posting, still listed as for sale on the second hand page of the UNICAT euro page.

http://www.unicat.net/img/MD52h-UnimogU40006x6.v08-560.jpg/img]

[img]http://www.unicat.net/img/MD52h-UnimogU40006x6.v10-560.jpg

If you were willing to make the rear removable like that, it would certainly make it a lot easier to get in and out of the truck when it is in a shipping container! Besides a lot of people like the removable concept so that you can use the truck for hauling heavy stuff if it is ever needed.

Anyhow, that is the best support for a passthrough that I have ever seen. Besides, being able to park inside a shipping container is like gold to a lot of people I have spoken with if you are going to ship international.

 

[westyss]

water tank chronicles

Last year I installed what I thought at the time would be my water tanks, two poly tanks, 14 gallons each for a total of 28 gals, not allot, and the inefficient use of space was starting to get to me, I knew that if I didn't do something it would always bug me.

Then one day while sitting in the camper looking at how to fit stuff in there, I had an idea.
Build an integrated water tank.

Made a frame work out of ply and some aluminum angle, glued, screwed together.

Before setting the framework in place I did what I have been doing all along and saturated the area that makes contact with the interior walls in West epoxy.

Set it in place, and filleted the corners before laying up some matt.

All the corners have two layers of matt, and one on the flats. With several additional coats of epoxy all over.

Next up was the lid, the lid will be the floor of the dinette and will also have the table mounted onto to it so a little beefing up is in order.

Mysterious holes all gooped up.

Glued and screwed the beef up unit, the table mount will be go on the flip side. All this to get coated with matt and epoxy.

 

[westyss]

Ford Prefect, I think I saw that rig on here somewhere, that is some serious complexity going on there, looks doable for me if I undo a few things and mount some jacks
the pass through does take some space for sure, for me it would be next to the bed, so would need to be closed most of the time for heat or cold transfer, one of those not so good reasons.

 

[westyss]

steps

On a different note,, here are a few images of a step extension used on a Coleman tent camper, the step when up protects the door, and with a simple mechanism extend down to a platform that is solid and spacious..I took these several years ago thinking I would do something similar. I would have it mounted on the side of my steps instead of below them, interesting...

 

[dwh]

Neat trick. With a lock it would provide extra security for your door as well.

Another way might be the way Tennmogger's bed sides drop (I'm totally in love with the drop sides on his truck):