Mercedes Sprinter 4x4 CrewCab Expedition Build in Canada

[Wyuna]

Thats got to hurt, emotionally and $$ wise.

I am surprised that there isn't a government approved/owned steam cleaning yard close to the dock for these events.

Common sense should have prevailed, i'm all for bio security, but a chemical or steam clean, would have fixed the issue, instead of sending it back.

 

[Victorian]

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[SootyCamper]

Really liking your work dude. Curious about the choice of the fiberglass "caps"/extrusions/frame. Why not aluminium so you can add a roof rack or whatever later. There's probably some engineering aspect I'm missing. But i'd like to be able to have a exo-skeleton type frame around my camper similar to what Xpeditioncamper is doing with his Thunder watch camper. You know for strapping crap onto whilst on the trail and such.

 

[dlh62c]

The entry door looks narrow is it 28" or 30"?

Should would hate to have to disassemble and reassemble anything that has to go though the door.

 

[Victorian]

The entry door looks narrow is it 28" or 30"?

Should would hate to have to disassemble and reassemble anything that has to go though the door.

View attachment 386593

The door is 24" wide a standard RV size. In RV mass production, they build the cabinets first and then install the walls... I will assemble the cabinets inside after the box is assembled.

 

[Haf-E]

They have both aluminum and fiberglass extrusions available on their website. The fiberglass would reduce thermal bridging at the corners. Probably could mix them if you wanted - they seem to be the same dimensions?

 

[Victorian]

Really liking your work dude. Curious about the choice of the fiberglass "caps"/extrusions/frame. Why not aluminium so you can add a roof rack or whatever later. There's probably some engineering aspect I'm missing. But i'd like to be able to have a exo-skeleton type frame around my camper similar to what Xpeditioncamper is doing with his Thunder watch camper. You know for strapping crap onto whilst on the trail and such. View attachment 386553

There are many different approaches on how to build an "expedition" camper. This industry is fairly new to North America and we see a lot of new ideas coming out. Our factory, engineer and myself have been in the European Expo truck industry since 1980. I would say that almost no manufacturer over there is even considering using anything else other than composite foam core panels. Most camper panels are butt joined and then finished off with some type of L shaped cap. It's certainly a strong connection but takes for ever to assemble. We took it a step further and developed our own fiberglass extrusions that cut down the assembly time by days or even weeks! The focus is in user friendlyness and to give manufacturers the chance to cut down on labour cost/ shop time and therefore improve the bottom line. At the same time we are maintaining the cold bridge free design. With our camper, I only have a couple of hours a day to work on it, therefore it's a bit slow going. But if I would have two other guys at my disposal and could work on it 8 hours a day, the camper would have been assembled within a day or two!
In your case, you could certainly build an exterior frame and adhere the panels from the inside. This would give you a strong and cold bridge free construction.
Cheers,

 

[Victorian]

They have both aluminum and fiberglass extrusions available on their website. The fiberglass would reduce thermal bridging at the corners. Probably could mix them if you wanted - they seem to be the same dimensions?

We only recomment the FRP extrusions for a camper build. Although they are strong, our aluminum extrusions are designed for dry cargo truck bodies and do not offer a cold bridge free construction.

 

[SGNellett]

Not sure if it would exactly solve your issues, but a member on here, JScherf (I think, not sure) was building some pretty cool stuff using curved fiberglass panels for various angle joinery of panels...

http://forum.expeditionportal.com/t...ot-modular-trailer-topper-building-components

Check out this thread.

 

[Victorian]

Brought the empty shell home. Still tons of work to be done. Commissioned aluminum end caps for the radius corners at the rear. Should see them in a couple weeks.
Meeting with a cabinet shop tomorrow to get the cabinets cut out on the CNC.

 

[Victorian]

Started with the Interior. I was a furniture maker for 25 years and not having a shop anymore is killing me! But I'm finding my way around without and having tons of fun getting everything dry fitted

 

[loonwheeler]

Hi Andreas, looking great and thanks for posting the progress.

Those window shades, are they a Total Composites product or another manufacturer? They look familiar so just curious. If they are manufactured, do you sell them separately?

 

[Victorian]

Hi Andreas, looking great and thanks for posting the progress.

Those window shades, are they a Total Composites product or another manufacturer? They look familiar so just curious. If they are manufactured, do you sell them separately?

PM send

 

[Victorian]

Roof hatch is in! Took some guts to cut into a perfectly good roof...

 

[Victorian]

Not much to report.... Only that we just got majorly screwed by the shipper of our truck. After arriving in Canada, the truck was denied entry because of soil contamination. The shipper was supposed to clean the Sprinter, but didn't, they needed to take the front bumper off to make it fit into a container. Behind the bumper was TONS of sand and earth. (got pictures of it) They saw it but send it off anyway. It was force shipped back to Holland. It's now sitting there in a warehouse with the shipper giving a rats *** about us. For anyone wondering, that's the reason we are not at the Overland Expo this year. No truck= nothing to show.