Boomer the Quadravan 4x4 Camper

[spencyg]

Not much to elaborate on really. Ripping them out requires really dismantling the whole door and getting them out in pieces. Back in is pretty simple with just a series of snaps that engage the door sheetmetal. I ran into to trouble with mine because one of the snaps built into the seal was incorrectly placed from the factory. I don't suspect you'd run into the same issue. I don't have any pics other than what were posted since it really was a quick job. Did both sides in an evening including complete disassembly and reinstallation.

Not much else to report on. Life has been busy this winter and spring and I haven't had any time to dedicate to Boomer. We also aren't going to be doing nearly the traveling we did last year due to other life commitments, so motivation is admittedly lacking. I am hoping to do some rust work and maybe the roof rack over the summer, but at this point even time for those items may be hard to come by.

SG

 

[spencyg]

I was able to get new winch motor installed in the old Warn 5687 yesterday. The new motor was a Prestolite 46-3650 which remains single direction (power in) only. I decided not to complicate the installation process with the need to install a second solenoid for power out, especially since it would then remove the automatic drag brake and require the need to put some sort of electric or pneumatic actuator on the band brake. I thought it was going to be an easy bolt-in affair but the new motor had a strange bearing assembly which required some machining to correctly mate up with the drag brake assembly. Luckily 5 minutes with the lathe was all that was needed and the motor now sounds great. I've learned my lesson with entering "hostile territory" without a reliable winch....it won't happen again.

It is time for some rust repair, so in the next couple weeks be looking for some updates.

SG

 

[350outrage]

Hey, +1 on that Spency G, and a Winch is next on VanZilla's plate also. See UJOINT build site for whole story, but I could have winched myself out in a few minutes, as opposed to having VanZilla flooded.

 

[Mwilliamshs]

...in the next couple weeks be looking for some updates. SG

:wings:

 

[spencyg]

Well, this stuff showed up....1"x1"x 0.120 wall 6061 tubing.



And then I started drawing this...



We're headed for the seasonal maiden voyage to VT this weekend and I'm pretty confident that we'll make it there and back again. The kids are bouncing off the walls at the prospect of living out of Boomer for a couple days, and admittedly, we are too. The roof rack will be a fast and dirty endeavour due to some timing implications with MOTL in a few weeks. The rack will go together relatively quickly and the mounting plan is to use some 3M 5200 Adhesive/Sealant to bond some large aluminum bolting plates to the fiberglass topper. I'm planning on 6 mounting plates at this point, each approx 6x10. The 5200 stuff is basically an unbreakable bond, so once those plates are on, the only way to get them off is to cut them out along with the fiberglass they're bonded to.

Gruesome thought.

So getting it right the first time will be key. There are a bunch of details I won't actually work out until I'm faced with them, so stay tuned.

SG

 

[spencyg]

Well, that rack isn't getting done...or even started...until later this summer. Between work and other commitments I seem to be having a hard time doing even the most basic of chores on the poor old girl.

That being said, I did get the rear tank fill hose replaced yesterday. It was leaking when the tank was topped off due to just being too old. I was able to get the task checked off the list without dropping the whole tank which greatly simplified the chore.

I then moved on to the front differential cover which got bashed in during the DRAM2 adventure last year. After poking around at the various "heavy duty" options, most of which were biased toward the Dana 44 Jeep crowd, I decided to buy a stock replacement unit and then add meat where I felt it necessary. The stocker came from Spicer as a NOS unpainted 3/16" steel piece. Pretty beefy actually, but it needed more. I found some scrap 1/4" plate and scabbed on some bits to prevent another bash-in event.



I had a weld-on skull kicking around the welding bench, so I put that on for fun once the real work was done.

I sprayed it last night with rattle can stuff, but it ended up not being primer. I'll have to sandblast the whole thing tonight and try again. Oy Vey.

With MOTL just a week and a half away, I've got some small maintenance items to address (leaking faucet, broken electrical switch), and I've also got to figure out how to temporarily mount 2 pairs of TRED traction mats. I'm currently eyeballing the rear ladder as a potential spot.

I've also got 2 new antennas to mount. A Browning BR-140 for the CB, and a Browning BR-180 for the HAM. I need to devise a new side-body bracket to house both antennas. I've picked up the light gauge steel plate to do it...now I just need to...do it.

I've also realized this spring that during the DRAM2 event last fall I completely cleaned out my range hood roof vent cover. Unfortunately I didn't find it until after a winters worth of snow, but the stars happened to be aligned in my favor and no damage was done to either the range hood or interior as a result of a 3" diameter open hole in the roof all winter. The hole is temporarily plugged and weather tight, but I'd like to come up with a new vent cover before next week since I have a feeling the duct tape and plastic won't handle being assaulted with tree limbs very well.

More to come.

SG

 

[Stumpalump]

Oy Vey. I have not heard that in a while. Grand parents came from Germany. I used to here that and when I'd make a mess it would be "Slop Hans." Oh deer God in heaven was somthing like "ouch do believa a guts." My favorite was my granny's ample use of the thumb to the nose. She could do it descretly enough that if you didn't know what it ment you would not catch it. I don't even know what it means but it's not good. I like your old school cover mod as well. The first heavy aftermarket ones were thick cast Aluminum ones so doing it your way was the best. The front aluminum ones would hit tie rods so doing it like you was the only way. It's still a good way and I like seeing home modified anything better than store bought.

 

[spencyg]

Wee bit more done last night. I roughed out the antenna array mount which will be positioned behind the driver door up by the gutter. There is still a removable panel on the front face to fabricate, then general cleanup and painting. Hoping to have it done tomorrow night.





The rear reverse curve in the geometry follows the profile of the window frame, and all the connections and wire pass-thru for the HAM and CB antennas will be enclosed behind the removable cover. Once it is cleaned up and painted I think it will look pretty sweet.

SG

 

[Arctic Travelller]

Nice antenna mount, but do you worry about having the two antennas so close together and it's effect on SWR?

 

[spencyg]

I read up on it a little and it seems half the people say don't do it, but have no experience suggesting it is really a problem to be close. The other half say no problem as long as both antennas aren't transmitting at the same time, and many of those folks have actual application examples.

I'm prepared to relocate one of the antennas if they are a problem, but I'm going to try it as-is. I'll be sure to report back.

SG

 

[java]

I have my CB and Ham close. Its not the best..... they wag back and forth and every time they touch, even not transmitting, the CB lets out static.

 

[Arctic Travelller]

With an SWR meter or Bird watt meter it's easy to determine the effect on SWR. Just remove one antenna, check the meter and then check again with it re-installed. On my boat, I have so many antennas (8 to 10 at times) that it's impossibe to isolate them far enough from each other. The result is some antennas are installed within inches of others. I kept the VHF antennas as far from the high power HF antenna as possible, with the recieve only antennas closer together. So far it's been fine, but I don't have a good feel for how range or sensitivity is reduced. No doubt your install will work, but you might get better performance with them seperated more. It's also possible the higher powered ham transmitter might cause damage to the CB by overloading the front end. Then again, hopefully it will be just fine. Let us know...........

 

[spencyg]

I have my CB and Ham close. Its not the best..... they wag back and forth and every time they touch, even not transmitting, the CB lets out static.

I have something up my sleeve for this very situation. I'm installing it tonight and will post up some pics.

SG

 

[java]

I have something up my sleeve for this very situation. I'm installing it tonight and will post up some pics.

SG

Awesome, I've been thinking of shrink tubing, just haven't done it yet

 

[spencyg]

OK...so the antennas are in and everything seems to be working well. I'll throw the SWR meter on the CB this weekend to see about tuning a bit, but overall I think the pair of antennas will be ok for my needs. The mount came out pretty well for a rush job and mounted up nicely this afternoon.





I can access the back side of the connections as well as the wiring pass-thru when I remove the front panel. Lots of room in there for possibly...something?



So, the interesting part about this install is the little gadget I came up with to both keep the antennas from bonking into one another, as well as bonking into the top corner of the roof. I busted out my mad 3D Printing skills to make a few ABS parts. The antenna spacer grabs hold of both antennas with a bungee. There are upper and lower stop collars to prevent the spacer from slipping down. The mount on the roof is screwed into some wood blocking behind the fiberglass. The snubber between the antennas and the roof is just a piece of rubber bungee. It is stiff enough to keep the antennas away from the top, but loose enough that they can still bop around as a pair. There IS a possibility of catching this thing on a limb, and the rubber snubber (hey...rhyme!) can pull away from hte cabin top mount without something tearing up too bad.





All the wires are hooked back up inside the cab. I wasn't able to hail anybody this evening since its late but I get no feedback from either the HAM or CB when the other is transmitting. I easily hit all my local repeaters with the 2M so I know the HT is working right. As I double bonus, the BNC connector on the HAM antenna also fits my scanner, and I was able to listen in to 10x more air and emergency traffic hooked to the new antenna than I've ever picked up before. Too cool.

Further back up on the roof I was forced to throw together a ghetto storage solution for my new TRED 1100 traction mats. I have a trip coming up next week and I really needed a way to carry the damn things. A piece of the upcoming roof rack was temporarily redirected with a few U bolts to give me a cradle which contains the 4-up stack of TREDs. A few ratchet straps and some foam to protect the roof, and we're good to go for now.





Then down in the dirt to swap out the new front diff cover.





I've got some loose ends to finish up before next Wednesday so there will likely be at least one more update before then...stay tuned.

SG