ATW Global Warrior .... Official Pics

[Sagestone]

Regarding the one spare vs 2 issue:
on my 1st North america trip after shipping from Germany to Jacksonville and then driving to Palo Alto to store for the winter, we went to Baja. An aftermarket Koni shock froze up, broke in half and one half ate the inside sidewall of a very heavy duty 395/85R20 Michelin XZL. I had only one spare, which kind of psychologically crimped the rest of the Baja trip. In Tucson I found a "gov't take-off" XML, but it spontaneously blew out a sidewall in Saline Valley, Calif. So again no spare until Edmonton, Alberta where I bought 2 slightly used (>95%) XZLs. For my recent Australia adventure, I carried 2 unmounted spares on the roof plus one mounted on the back. I wouldn't have less.

Charlie

Hi all, away for a bit at AA (Aussiespeak Anonymous). I read the forum a few years before joining and have found that Charlie's contributions are always well thought out, very detailed and, most importantly, based upon experience. "Let experience be your best teacher and you shall succeed". So with much thought about the 2 vs. 1 spares issue, I think that I am coming down on the side of 2, because of Charlie's tale but also due to the underlying logic of...'it is better to have them and not need them, then to need them and not have them'. Especially since we plan to defy the stereotypical U.S. rv'er's travel plan and actually and actively seek out asphalt -free trails. BLM lands, Forest Service, Army Corp of Engineers, etc. Besides, that ATW GW rear rack design is growing on me and it's incorporation still leaves plenty of options. Regards, Dean

 

[Overland Hadley]

...'it is better to have them and not need them, then to need them and not have them'. Especially since we plan to defy the stereotypical U.S. rv'er's travel plan and actually and actively seek out asphalt -free trails. BLM lands, Forest Service, Army Corp of Engineers, etc. Besides, that ATW GW rear rack design is growing on me and it's incorporation still leaves plenty of options. Regards, Dean

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the need to carry two spare tires for traveling the remote areas of North America, and I think that if it is possible it is a good thing to do. There is always the small chance you will run over the same thing with both the front and rear tire, resulting in two simultaneous flat tires. But more important than that, is with only one spare if you destroy one tire and you use your single spare then you need to start looking for a new tire. In remote areas this can mean traveling a day (or more) out of your way to get a tire. Not life threatening like in some parts of the world, but can put a crimp on your plans.

My dream (heavy duty) rig will have dual spares. With my current setup (midsize pickup) I have to compromise with a single spare and a good repair kit.

 

[Sagestone]

I have spent a lot of time thinking about the need to carry two spare tires for traveling the remote areas of North America, and I think that if it is possible it is a good thing to do. There is always the small chance you will run over the same thing with both the front and rear tire, resulting in two simultaneous flat tires. But more important than that, is with only one spare if you destroy one tire and you use your single spare then you need to start looking for a new tire. In remote areas this can mean traveling a day (or more) out of your way to get a tire. Not life threatening like in some parts of the world, but can put a crimp on your plans.

My dream (heavy duty) rig will have dual spares. With my current setup (midsize pickup) I have to compromise with a single spare and a good repair kit.

Yes, great point about the inconvenience of hunting down a tire/repair facility immediately when you are nowhere. Does your tire repair kit (or ones on the mkt) go beyond the usual radial plugs for clean tread punctures and get into sidewall patching at all? or is that just not possible. Also, good point on getting simultaneous damage. I was also thinking about the possiblity of getting damage on the way in on a trail and then on the way out...say , in a particularly sharp jagged rock region. Had a lot of experience in the Borrego Springs desert state park area with my Trooper (Jackaroo to me mates) where you could lose chunks of tire if not placed properly. Regards, Dean

 

[Overland Hadley]

Yes, great point about the inconvenience of hunting down a tire/repair facility immediately when you are nowhere. Does your tire repair kit (or ones on the mkt) go beyond the usual radial plugs for clean tread punctures and get into sidewall patching at all? or is that just not possible. Also, good point on getting simultaneous damage. I was also thinking about the possiblity of getting damage on the way in on a trail and then on the way out...say , in a particularly sharp jagged rock region. Had a lot of experience in the Borrego Springs desert state park area with my Trooper (Jackaroo to me mates) where you could lose chunks of tire if not placed properly. Regards, Dean

When I am traveling to photograph, moving from a remote location can be more than an inconvenience, as I have worked hard to be in a location at a specific time. If you are roaming around North America for fun, spending time searching out a replacement tire can be part of the adventure.

Another thing to consider is the availability of the tire size/kind that an ATW vehicle would take. Not your regular passenger tire thats available at the corner gas station.

You can possibly patch a side wall enough to limp out, but that is about all. A damaged sidewall is terminal for a tire.

If you drive over a large item that punctures a front tire, the rear tire will be going over it as well, so there is a chance of dual flat tires. Although it is unlikely that both tires would have sidewall damage at the same time. Thus my current compromise of a full size spare and a repair kit, but dual spares would be much better.

 

[jk6661]

this might be a stupid/impossible idea, but...

I'm really not sold on the Global Warrior as currently configured because of the non-enclosed (except for a curtain) bathroom. If I were contemplating a months- or years-long trip with someone--even my spouse--that would be a deal-breaker. I don't think I need to explain why.

That said, would it be possible to have a fully enclosed bathroom with real walls, the top part of which are attached to and telescope up and down with the roof? I'd pay thousands extra for that if necessary. But I'm also a newbie, as you can see by my join date, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and the curtained-in bathroom isn't that big a deal.

 

[ATW]

I'm really not sold on the Global Warrior as currently configured because of the non-enclosed (except for a curtain) bathroom. If I were contemplating a months- or years-long trip with someone--even my spouse--that would be a deal-breaker. I don't think I need to explain why.

That said, would it be possible to have a fully enclosed bathroom with real walls, the top part of which are attached to and telescope up and down with the roof? I'd pay thousands extra for that if necessary. But I'm also a newbie, as you can see by my join date, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and the curtained-in bathroom isn't that big a deal.

Yeah gidday. Welcome to ExPo . Good point and obviously we need to express why we went that route.

In the original design, we had a sliding hatch/roof over the toilet and shower. The planned hatch would lock in place over the shower or slide back to its normal resting place over the toilet (with 1400mm head room) or slide further back so that you could walk into the toilet before you sat down and slid the hatch over. That concept proved too complicated although it looked simple enough on CAD. The other downside was that headroom in the shower was down to about 1750mm ....enough for most to stand but made it awkward for the shower head.





So we looked at alternatives like hinging lids down but in the end simplicity won out........there were several reasons we did not telescope the walls down as we have always done on our earlier pop top designs. One of the biggest benefits of this design (which photos do not portray) is how open and airy the interior is with the roof up and window flaps rolled down . By having toilet and shower curtains that can be tied back, there is a basically a 360% panoramic view if you were sit up in bed and look around or while standing at the galley bench preparing a meal for example. Solid telescoping walls would change that completely.

So "simplicity" won out.......and IMHO "complicated" and serious offroad travel don't mix.

The Ripstop vinyl toilet curtain can also clip and seal to the toilet walls to direct any smell to venting out the toilet window.

There are a few problems with telescoping walls too.....the tolerances can't be tight as the roof needs some free travel as it goes up and down and also that type of setup makes anything but a curtain door almost impossible.

Kind regards,
John

 

[Tonkatuff]

I thought that you were just assuming that any relationship able to survive for long periods in remote areas in a confined space would be at the "open toilet door" stage of the relation ship.

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[ATW]

I thought that you were just assuming that any relationship able to survive for long periods in remote areas in a confined space would be at the "open toilet door" stage of the relation ship.

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Hahaha....Shannon but what about a couple of mates on a fishing trip....you could always give your mate a shovel and point into the distance I guess.

Regards
john

 

[Tonkatuff]

I'm not going there.

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[jk6661]

I understand the visibility issue, which is why I would have suggested using clear Plexiglass or something for the upper half of the shower walls. It's also true that simple is generally better than complicated, but of course that would suggest not getting a vehicle with a lifting roof in the first place. How many people have had these things break on them in the middle of Siberia? Also, I'm a little concerned about heat loss, given that a solid wall stuffed with insulation is obviously better than vinyl in that regard.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I understand the visibility issue, which is why I would have suggested using clear Plexiglass or something for the upper half of the shower walls. It's also true that simple is generally better than complicated, but of course that would suggest not getting a vehicle with a lifting roof in the first place. How many people have had these things break on them in the middle of Siberia? Also, I'm a little concerned about heat loss, given that a solid wall stuffed with insulation is obviously better than vinyl in that regard.

Sounds like you are a good candidate for the hard walled version of the Global Warrior that is coming in the future.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I thought that you were just assuming that any relationship able to survive for long periods in remote areas in a confined space would be at the "open toilet door" stage of the relation ship.

Uh, no.

 

[ATW]

I understand the visibility issue, which is why I would have suggested using clear Plexiglass or something for the upper half of the shower walls.

Nah....

It's also true that simple is generally better than complicated, but of course that would suggest not getting a vehicle with a lifting roof in the first place. How many people have had these things break on them in the middle of Siberia?

We are very confident in the reliability of this design and the Linak actuators (which have been made especially for us) are arguably the best in the world. The last hundred plus vehicles that have gone out our factory gates have had at least one of these type of actuators fitted and to my knowledge we have not had an actuator failure .....we even had one vehicle stuck in sand on a surf beach below the high tide mark for a week and the Linak ram was still perfect!!! ........also.note that this design has no complicated scissor bracing that also tended to fail in really dusty conditions if not cleaned and greased regularly.

Also, I'm a little concerned about heat loss, given that a solid wall stuffed with insulation is obviously better than vinyl in that regard.

Another thing not obvious in the pics is that these soft sides are double skins with foam insulation sandwiched in between.....sure a hard sided roof will have better insulation but the flip side is that a hardsided design will not offer the same ventilation and almost certainly require Airconditioning.... well it would travelling around here anyway......And a hardsided design will be more prone to tree damage in tight bush tacks. Most bush tracks here in Oz only see Landcruiser size vehicles so trucks with high profile need to be more careful.

The last point that should be made here is that you can still sleep in the truck with the roof down......so in a storm or blizzard I guess you have that option. The decreased air volume and improved insulation then would be extremely effective in that emergency.

So as you may not have realised, we will be offering a hard sided version of this vehicle once we get production a little msore streamlined and have the LHD version all sorted. The hardsided version will also have solid walls over the toilet and shower. This would be an estimate, but less than 5% of enquires that I have recieved here in Oz regarding our campers would request a hardsided option. I am sure North America is a different scenario.

Jk661, I suppose the main thing I am trying to point out here is that while there are pros and cons or both soft and hard sides, this pop top is not what most people imagine.....and many here have bad memories and experience with old pop top caravans and poptop VW buses which are primitive by comparison.

 

[blackduck]

Living in an RV - scuba diving and childbirth
the three things in life where its better to just throw modesty out the window

like I say to people who query the privacy issue of living in an RV
"if you see me getting out of the shower - close your eyes",
you don't want that image burnt in the back of your brain

 

[Tonkatuff]

I would have thought a fishing trip model would eliminate the need for a shower and indoor loo. This space could be used for more beer storage. Come to think of it a "his" model would do away with a lot of stuff.

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