mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
What about Andreas("Victorian" here on ExPo) at Total Composites in Vancouver, BC Canada?
U1300L Camper
- Thread starter CragMog
- Start date
What about Andreas("Victorian" here on ExPo) at Total Composites in Vancouver, BC Canada?
MickDG
New member
That is a bit of a drive mate
I was taking about Queensland, Australia I am closer to Sydney, and although Sydney is pretty big, the biggest RV builders seem to be in South East Queensland (Australia)
mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
That is a bit of a drive mate
I am closer to Sydney, and although Sydney is pretty big, the biggest RV builders seem to be in South East Queensland (Australia)
I know you were, but I didn't realize you're in AUS.
Keep in mind for us in the USA, some of the best in the world are far away in Germany, so be lucky you have a few within your own country.
Victorian
Approved Vendor : Total Composites
We got several thousand of our commercial truck bodies on the road in Australia. Check out skully in Sidney. Meaning we can easily get you a camper body too. Just let me know. CheersThat is a bit of a drive mate
I am closer to Sydney, and although Sydney is pretty big, the biggest RV builders seem to be in South East Queensland (Australia)
charlieaarons
Explorer
Hate to tell you this but after 162000km in a very electronic 2005 U500 nothing electronic has broken.
I carry spare computers ECU etc but haven’t needed anything.
The problem with modern vehicles isn’t the electronics but the diesel emissions which my 2005 is free from, the EGR is gone.
Last edited:
Sitec
Adventurer
Think its a luck of the draw... We have some machines that are continually give problems and others that are like your Mog and have not faulted. We have a V6 Amarok that faulted at 2500kms in 2018, then again soon after and then again at 10000kms... I had the problem items in the ECU written out soon after and removed them as it was untrustable on outback trips. We are now at 100000kms and its been faultless since. Would I buy another? Yes. Would I take it on a round the world trip... No. Old school mechanical injection etc still wins my vote for remote travel, but the modern electronic diesel wins on efficency all day long.
On the topic of camper builds, there are endless options and I investigated many of them. Importing big, empty boxes into Australia is always going to be pricey mostly due to transport costs. Me doing my own assembly was out of the question. I have neither the engineering skills nor the ability to wield hand tools without causing personal injury. Why are they in QLD? I suspect our last remaining manufacturing frontier exists in QLD. The rest of the place is too expensive. In my case Urs is a Mog owner, a very good fabricator, a glass fibre specialist, a friend and someone I can trust with my wallet. It was an easy choice.
It was a custom build and Urs involved me in every step of the way. To repeat my earlier posts, I wanted high insulation, low'ish roof and bash proof. I recently clobbered a tree trunk with the leading edge and proved the third point. The roof isn't as low as I'd have liked, but the compromise was keeping the height of the gullwing door such that I didn't need to fold double getting in and out. The insulation, including the double layered canvas, is excellent.
Urs is designing the windows along the insulation and bash-proof principles. If that doesn't work out I'll go Outbound. We are also looking for a rear mount, opening to the LHS, batwing awning that doesn't stick out the side, if anyone has any suggestions. It may also end up being a custom build.
We'll continue with the shake down runs doing one each month and then dropping it back at Urs's workshop for tweaks or new ideas. Sometime in the May to July time-frame (our winter) we'll do a month long outback trip and introduce it to some real corrugations. No international adventures planned as yet.......the day job still needs my attention.
It was a custom build and Urs involved me in every step of the way. To repeat my earlier posts, I wanted high insulation, low'ish roof and bash proof. I recently clobbered a tree trunk with the leading edge and proved the third point. The roof isn't as low as I'd have liked, but the compromise was keeping the height of the gullwing door such that I didn't need to fold double getting in and out. The insulation, including the double layered canvas, is excellent.
Urs is designing the windows along the insulation and bash-proof principles. If that doesn't work out I'll go Outbound. We are also looking for a rear mount, opening to the LHS, batwing awning that doesn't stick out the side, if anyone has any suggestions. It may also end up being a custom build.
We'll continue with the shake down runs doing one each month and then dropping it back at Urs's workshop for tweaks or new ideas. Sometime in the May to July time-frame (our winter) we'll do a month long outback trip and introduce it to some real corrugations. No international adventures planned as yet.......the day job still needs my attention.
MickDG
New member
Thanks mate! Good to have a few options!
Finally back in Sydney having been holed up in a rainforest for 9 weeks during the Covid lockdown. There are worse places to be stuck in the camper. My wife and I managed to live in this shoebox for 9 weeks without any difficulty. Each day I would go to work in the front cabin with laptop balanced on the steering wheel, my wife in the back on the dinette table. I cooked all bar one meal outside using the lid of the side or rear hatch as my work surface. Everything about the camper works really well. The focus on insulation paid off as it was hot by day and quite cold, in Australian terms, by night. First thing in the morning I'd switch on the Eberspacher for a short while just to warm the camper back up again and then our own body heat kept it going. A canvas pop top, even with the canvas double layered and quilted with basalt insulation, does lose far more heat than the walls. The walls never showed the impact of heat or cold. No condensation at all. Perhaps when it's colder it will be a better test.
I'd upgraded my portals using the new AV faster portal gears and FGS Composites added an intercooler and electric fan. The difference in drive experience is considerable. The portals, along with the Claas, put my revs at just under 2,200 at 100kmph (62mph) and the truck ran along comfortably at this speed for many hundreds of kms at a stretch. The increased torque due to the IC allowed me to comfortably hold this speed although there were a few bigger hills where she dropped back to 50kmph. Frustrating. The IC blocks the radiator and we installed a 16" SPAL fan as that's all we could source in 24v. On long big climbs the temperature comes up a little so I may install the AV larger radiator and try to find a 20" fan that's not as noisy. The lower profile of the pop top would have to help reduce rock&roll plus wind resistance. Overall she is much more comfortable to drive long distances. Per the picture, parking her at home is no less tricky.
What would I add or change? Definitely add an awning over the working/cooking area. The last 9 weeks were in a rainforest, which means both things. The weather was mild, but cooking in the rain doesn't work for me. I'll most likely go with a full length awning down the LHS side that is captured within the roof when lowered. I'll replace the 12.5mm (1/2") hot water pipes with thinner pipes so that the hot water gets to the tap with less waste. We were on shore-power and the Elgena hot water system worked very well. I modified the Eberspacher installation to remove the 90 degree bends, but the thing that made it work properly was to add a combustion intake pipe that runs through the floor to a much colder, external air source. The piping was causing code 12 errors, the combustion intake, code 13. Now she ticks along at idle without a hitch. We are still not convinced about putting windows into the hard wall. The canvas windows provide lots of air and some view, not having windows in the wall makes it very private. If anything I'd have made the canvas windows bigger.
Now to test her on a Mogworthy trip to the Outback......soon.
I'd upgraded my portals using the new AV faster portal gears and FGS Composites added an intercooler and electric fan. The difference in drive experience is considerable. The portals, along with the Claas, put my revs at just under 2,200 at 100kmph (62mph) and the truck ran along comfortably at this speed for many hundreds of kms at a stretch. The increased torque due to the IC allowed me to comfortably hold this speed although there were a few bigger hills where she dropped back to 50kmph. Frustrating. The IC blocks the radiator and we installed a 16" SPAL fan as that's all we could source in 24v. On long big climbs the temperature comes up a little so I may install the AV larger radiator and try to find a 20" fan that's not as noisy. The lower profile of the pop top would have to help reduce rock&roll plus wind resistance. Overall she is much more comfortable to drive long distances. Per the picture, parking her at home is no less tricky.
What would I add or change? Definitely add an awning over the working/cooking area. The last 9 weeks were in a rainforest, which means both things. The weather was mild, but cooking in the rain doesn't work for me. I'll most likely go with a full length awning down the LHS side that is captured within the roof when lowered. I'll replace the 12.5mm (1/2") hot water pipes with thinner pipes so that the hot water gets to the tap with less waste. We were on shore-power and the Elgena hot water system worked very well. I modified the Eberspacher installation to remove the 90 degree bends, but the thing that made it work properly was to add a combustion intake pipe that runs through the floor to a much colder, external air source. The piping was causing code 12 errors, the combustion intake, code 13. Now she ticks along at idle without a hitch. We are still not convinced about putting windows into the hard wall. The canvas windows provide lots of air and some view, not having windows in the wall makes it very private. If anything I'd have made the canvas windows bigger.
Now to test her on a Mogworthy trip to the Outback......soon.
