Skills to build my own expedition vehicle??

[Atmadeep1993]

Hi everyone,

My first post, and excited to be here! Camped a lot, travelled a lot more so overlanding is something I definitely want to experience. I am 28 with a good job, so ideally my plan is to get a UXV or Unicat but if I have to build one, what are the skills required??

1) Those who have built your own rigs, what skills did you have? Metal fabrication, CAD, woodworking?
2) What skills you wish you had?

I have an mechanical engineering degree with fairly good idea about powertrain systems, RV electrical & HVAC, basic plumbing but zero woodworking or metal working skills. Eager to learn and get my hands dirty, so that in a decade I can give Unicat a run for their money!! Thanks!!

 

[MTVR]

I suspect that you'll do just fine. Go for it!

 

[Atmadeep1993]

I suspect that you'll do just fine. Go for it!

Thank you for your vote of confidence! I plan on enrolling in metal fabrication/welding course at my local community college, and start woodworking cabinet building and proceed from their. Any other tips is greatly appreciated.

 

[charlieaarons]

Strongly suggest you buy and read “Motorhome self build and optimisation” by Ulrich Dolde. Cover to cover, at least twice. It specifically is about expedition vehicles. Read it before spending money on the build.
It’s reviewed somewhere on this forum.
Even though I have a Unicat, I bought it and have read it with considerable interest.
Equaling Unicat is a high bar.

 

[Atmadeep1993]

Strongly suggest you buy and read “Motorhome self build and optimisation” by Ulrich Dolde. Cover to cover, at least twice. It specifically is about expedition vehicles. Read it before spending money on the build.
It’s reviewed somewhere on this forum.
Even though I have a Unicat, I bought it and have read it with considerable interest.
Equaling Unicat is a high bar.

Thank you so much! Yes, indeed equaling Unicat is a high bar and I would be really grateful if I can come close to it. Ordered a hard copy on Amazon, and looking CAD courses in the Pacific Northwest area.
Any other tips, books, resources and anything is really appreciated.

 

[Joe917]

Welcome, confidence is great. Charlie is right on.
Unicat builds million dollar + Expo trucks. They have fabricators, carpenters, electricians, mechanics, engineers, etc. with decades of experience.
You need to read all you can. Your best bet for a quality build is a good professionally designed composite box or kit and an engineered mounting system. Then do the fit out yourself.
A college welding fabrication course is great for emergency repairs but would you trust a frame welded by someone with no experience?

 

[RAFoutdoors]

I think it’s great to have all those (these) skills.
My skills include signing contracts and writing checks.
I wish I had skills.
Good luck. I am looking forward to following your project.

 

[Herbie]

Most important (maybe even the only important) skill is the ability to move forward with a small amount of uncertainty and learn as you go. Trying to get all the skills you need *before* you start means that you will probably never really start.

My rig is probably about as self-built as one can be, unless you're currently professionally employed in the vehicle business. I did my own pop-top swap, built my own cabinetry, my own steel articulated bed frame, AWD->4x4 conversion, house battery and wiring upgrades, etc. Hell, I've even sewn my own upholstery and custom-fit luggage at this point.

Literally the only jobs I've farmed out thus far are: 1) re-gearing axles (the parts swapping I could have handled, but not the shimming/set-up), and 2) auto-trans rebuild. Oh, and I did pay for a new brake caliper to be installed mid-trip when one of the pistons developed a leak. At home I could have managed that one, but I was on vacation so I much preferred eating dim-sum while the guys at Brake Masters got dirty!

Here's the real take away though: Mostly all of the above was because I'm cheap and at various times during the life of the project had more important things to invest resources in (newborn baby, etc.). In retrospect, there are more than a few projects where I ultimately wished I'd payed to have the jobs done for me. Not because of the money or quality of the work, but because my time is increasingly valuable - too many weekends of my daughter's life were spent wrenching on the rig instead of out enjoying it. I have pride of accomplishment and more money in the bank for having done damn near everything myself, but nowadays I'd rather have those weekends back.

 

[IdaSHO]

Coming from a person that has all the skills and ability to do it all....
And one that literally hires out nothing...

Do not underestimate the time needed to do it, let alone do it correctly or satisfactory.

 

[C p weinberger]

Don’t ignore marine technology/ forums for answers/ ideas. A true off grid expedition vehicle is basically a ship with wheels.

 

[Atmadeep1993]

To everybody who took their valuable time to reply, thank you very very much! The point about equaling UNICAT was made in zest; their product is the best in-class and I would be really happy to come close. My initial plan is as follows but as I am novice please point out anything wrong!!

1) Initially, start with a van build. My dad runs a business requiring sprinter vans, and I managed to coax him into selling me one for cheap (ergo free). 2017 EWB High Roof Sprinter 4x4 with 88k miles. Start by feeling around the van, suspension, lift kit, wheels, front and rear bumper, winch, general maintenance etc.

2) Throw in a mattress, some camping gear, and take weekend trips to figure out what I need. See how my girl responds!

3) By this time, maybe I will have little wood and metal working experience so if all goes well do the exterior like windows, awning, shades, rear rack with tire carrier and ladder.

4) At this point, dependent on my comfort level and CAD skill mock up the interior and go from there.

However, I have to say these are my dreams so we will see how this goes!!! It will probably take years! To all the good folks here, what is out-the-door price of a fully-specified 6x6 UNICAT or GXV?? I do not have faintest clue so any idea would be helpful. Thanks everyone, if I can do this maybe one day I will share my dream build here. (Hint: It involves an 8x8 that I think I can acquire)

Thanks a lot! I am blessed to be here.

 

[tanuki.himself]

Don't forget old school techniques. Whilst i actually studied as an engineer and used CAD in my working role, i still make models and dummy versions of things from cardboard, wood, paper and fabric - i built a mock up of our interior space that i could actually sit on planks across crates and really judge how the space worked. And my wife is terrible at visualising things in 3D so it helped her hugely to understand where work surfaces and storage spaces would be. Particular case in point - she thought the steps to the sleeping area should be higher, but once i set up a mattress on a table and made her try out some boxes where she thought the steps should be she quickly changed her mind - easier to get off a mattress on a raised base than off a mattress on the floor

i've dummied up a number of mechanisms and mountings in cardboard before making them in fibreglass or metal, and even then i often make a prototype in the proper material, test it, and then remake it for production - takes a little time but worth it for something you may be living with for many years to come

CAD can lure you into thinking you have to have every aspect of your design finalised before you start manufacturing, which can be misleading. I didnt choose my window sizes and exact placement until i had built the seating and kitchen cupboards and ended up with slightly shallower windows to allow a bit more clearance between things - if i had decided on window cutouts when ordering the panels i would have been stuck. It may work for professions with thousands of hours of building similar things to think of everything in advance, but for a personal build its almost impossible to pre-plan every exact detail and stick to it.

and aim high - as a self builder you can choose to make things to designs and quality that commercial operations will not do because they are not cost effective.....when you are paying a craftsman's hourly rate it focusses the mind, compared to what you may potter with for hours as a hobby

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Nanocad is a pretty good free CAD program.

I mainly use it for wiring diagrams and to draw parts for my local fab shop to burn for me on their laser table. Side bonus, I can print them 1:1 and I have a perfect prototype to play with before I email them off.

 

[jgaz]

CAD......Cardboard Aided Design

 

[NatersXJ6]

Don't forget old school techniques. Whilst i actually studied as an engineer and used CAD in my working role, i still make models and dummy versions of things from cardboard, wood, paper and fabric - i built a mock up of our interior space that i could actually sit on planks across crates and really judge how the space worked. And my wife is terrible at visualising things in 3D so it helped her hugely to understand where work surfaces and storage spaces would be. Particular case in point - she thought the steps to the sleeping area should be higher, but once i set up a mattress on a table and made her try out some boxes where she thought the steps should be she quickly changed her mind - easier to get off a mattress on a raised base than off a mattress on the floor

i've dummied up a number of mechanisms and mountings in cardboard before making them in fibreglass or metal, and even then i often make a prototype in the proper material, test it, and then remake it for production - takes a little time but worth it for something you may be living with for many years to come

CAD can lure you into thinking you have to have every aspect of your design finalised before you start manufacturing, which can be misleading. I didnt choose my window sizes and exact placement until i had built the seating and kitchen cupboards and ended up with slightly shallower windows to allow a bit more clearance between things - if i had decided on window cutouts when ordering the panels i would have been stuck. It may work for professions with thousands of hours of building similar things to think of everything in advance, but for a personal build its almost impossible to pre-plan every exact detail and stick to it.

and aim high - as a self builder you can choose to make things to designs and quality that commercial operations will not do because they are not cost effective.....when you are paying a craftsman's hourly rate it focusses the mind, compared to what you may potter with for hours as a hobby

This is especially true for low skilled and low tooled DIY builds. In a world of automated cutting and semi robotic welding and manufacturing we are often tricked into thinking cheap and precise are achievable quickly in our own garages. The reality is that precise is almost never cheap on small quantities and something like a CAD drawing can quickly cause cascading failures in your build.

I have a guy at work that likes to dimension his part drawings to 4 decimal places tolerance and refer to things like radius center points that can’t be defined by reference measurements on known straight edges. I’ve seen the look in the fabricators’ eyes when they get a drawing from him. Then the reasonability arguments and complaints start.

I will always remember this from my heavy construction and mining days:

Draw with CAD
Measure with tape
Mark with chalk
Cut with torch
Weld with stick

You have to build in reasonable tolerance and allowance in the process. CAD can be a powerful friend, or a devastating enemy.