Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
Ok, makes sense then.
building the Bullet XV
- Thread starter sarconcepts
- Start date
Ok, makes sense then.
VanIsle_Greg
I think I need a bigger truck!
I just picked up this same charger after reading some favorable reviews. Have not yet hooked it up, but will be ASAP. Really well made, a quality product.
This...is good to hear!
sarconcepts
Adventurer
Time for another upgrade
All of the Bullet's drawer glides are made for RV's, have a closing mechanism, & hold them closed with 13 lbs of force, for most trips, this works fine, but the sort of off roading Bethany & I sometimes do exceed that. As you know one of the favorite places we go involves miles of A rocky un-manicured dirt road, the prize at the end is our own valley with our own private hot springs & the most amazing view of the stars at night. I drive slowly down this road, as there's about A 300' cliff to one side, but the roughness of the road required Bethany to climb into the back, sit on the floor, & use both her feet & hands to keep all the drawers from slamming open. As amusing as this was to watch, I found a better solution,
After searching the web relentlessly, I found Rutherford Controls Electric Cabinet Lock 3513
http://www.rutherfordcontrols.com/en/products/electric-locks/3513/#specifications-tab
What made me choose this one was it's 12 or 24 volt,
can be set to either fail locked (locked when powers off) or fail safe (unlocked when power's off)
it's not made in china
low power usage, it uses 184 mA
is relatively small (1-1/8"D x 1-3/16"W x 2-7/8"L)
hold the drawers with 440 lbs of force
side or top mounted
cast metal construction (no plastic at all)
The hardest part of it all, as you can all imagine, was installing the units to within 1/16" of exact placement in back of the drawers, with the counter on. To do this, I had to use a series of templates & remove & install the drawer multiple times, scribe screw locations in both the horizontal & vertical axises then fit myself into the cabinets so I could mount these as accurately as possible
Overall, it was great to work on the bullet again, & all the hardware is now mounted & tested. In the next week or two I'll do the final wiring, what I did is mount these fail safe (unlocked when power is off), then I will wire them to A keyed circuit so when the vehicle's running, all the drawers are locked, of course there will be a bypass switch in the camper so we can still access snacks while driving.
the catch on the drawer
(simple enough to install accurately)
ALOT harder to install accurately with the drawers in place
Overall I installed 8 of these this past weekend & have 1 more to install if I can figure out how to fit it in
(I didn't leave much room around the drawers)
All of the Bullet's drawer glides are made for RV's, have a closing mechanism, & hold them closed with 13 lbs of force, for most trips, this works fine, but the sort of off roading Bethany & I sometimes do exceed that. As you know one of the favorite places we go involves miles of A rocky un-manicured dirt road, the prize at the end is our own valley with our own private hot springs & the most amazing view of the stars at night. I drive slowly down this road, as there's about A 300' cliff to one side, but the roughness of the road required Bethany to climb into the back, sit on the floor, & use both her feet & hands to keep all the drawers from slamming open. As amusing as this was to watch, I found a better solution,
After searching the web relentlessly, I found Rutherford Controls Electric Cabinet Lock 3513
http://www.rutherfordcontrols.com/en/products/electric-locks/3513/#specifications-tab
What made me choose this one was it's 12 or 24 volt,
can be set to either fail locked (locked when powers off) or fail safe (unlocked when power's off)
it's not made in china
low power usage, it uses 184 mA
is relatively small (1-1/8"D x 1-3/16"W x 2-7/8"L)
hold the drawers with 440 lbs of force
side or top mounted
cast metal construction (no plastic at all)
The hardest part of it all, as you can all imagine, was installing the units to within 1/16" of exact placement in back of the drawers, with the counter on. To do this, I had to use a series of templates & remove & install the drawer multiple times, scribe screw locations in both the horizontal & vertical axises then fit myself into the cabinets so I could mount these as accurately as possible
Overall, it was great to work on the bullet again, & all the hardware is now mounted & tested. In the next week or two I'll do the final wiring, what I did is mount these fail safe (unlocked when power is off), then I will wire them to A keyed circuit so when the vehicle's running, all the drawers are locked, of course there will be a bypass switch in the camper so we can still access snacks while driving.
the catch on the drawer
(simple enough to install accurately)
ALOT harder to install accurately with the drawers in place
Overall I installed 8 of these this past weekend & have 1 more to install if I can figure out how to fit it in
(I didn't leave much room around the drawers)
westyss
Explorer
Interesting way of securing the drawers, I am still using a combination of clear hockey tape and clamps to hold my drawers closed! I have been looking into what to use and there are really not a whole pile of good options, a slam shut latch seems like a good candidate but the cheapest I have seen was around $11 each, 18 drawers and three doors would come to just under $300 delivered. keep us posted if you like them or not, no prices on the web site either,can you send me a pmail with what they cost you?
AeroNautiCal
Explorer
Very neat locking mechanism!
Should be good to have them all lock when the camper is unattended too.
Should be good to have them all lock when the camper is unattended too.
sarconcepts
Adventurer
As you may have seen in Mike's EarthRoamer XV-JP "Northwest Edition" thread,
or Yves' out with the old in with the new thread, I was somehow able to convince these two great rigs (& their owners) to get together for a trip up several sections of the WABDR -Washington Area Backroads Discovery Route, (Yves actually suggested the route)
I suspect throwing the Bullet XV into the kitty lessened a bit, the fear of me just being a stalker, now I was stalker with a cool truck, and that was acceptable!
We all met near the bridge of the gods in Cascade Locks Oregon, then proceeded into the wild.
Not knowing anything at all about our new camping comrads, bethany & I were both amazed at how well we all got along right from the start, now we plan to do it every weekend, RIGHT GUYS.. ..EVERY WEEKEND .. ...RIGHT!
I'll shut up now
pretty good fire power
all of us trying dam hard to block the XV-JP from steeling the shot
heading up the WABDR
Yves & I had to keep Mike pinned between us, he kept on pulling ahead, peeling out, doing cookies, honking his horn & waving at the ladies!
A clean shot of Yves & Leslie's camper (minus the shadows)
this was actually our first campsite, this was where we had some time to enjoy a cocktail
& get to see each others rigs up close
We must've looked a bit ominous pulling in all together, someone from another site asked me if we were from the apocalypse!
Mike.. after the first night, frantically looking for the quickest way home!
At this point, my extremely honed navigation skills kicked in, to find a 'short cut' to the nearest paved road so Mike could head back (he had prior commitments), .. let's just say the pretty lines on the map aren't totally indicative of the road's true conditions! we ended up driving these three beasts down a winding, gutted, overgrown dirt road not really adequate for motorcycle travel. Needles to say, these 4-7 ton vehicles made it through fine, with the added benefit of having this memory permanently on the sides of our rigs, (until we chose to repaint)
The sides of the Bullet look like a trail map of the pacific northwest now! which.. ..Yves, wouldn't be a bad graphic to sport on your walls
A sexy shot of the JP before he left us
more to come
or Yves' out with the old in with the new thread, I was somehow able to convince these two great rigs (& their owners) to get together for a trip up several sections of the WABDR -Washington Area Backroads Discovery Route, (Yves actually suggested the route)
I suspect throwing the Bullet XV into the kitty lessened a bit, the fear of me just being a stalker, now I was stalker with a cool truck, and that was acceptable!
We all met near the bridge of the gods in Cascade Locks Oregon, then proceeded into the wild.
Not knowing anything at all about our new camping comrads, bethany & I were both amazed at how well we all got along right from the start, now we plan to do it every weekend, RIGHT GUYS.. ..EVERY WEEKEND .. ...RIGHT!
I'll shut up now
pretty good fire power
all of us trying dam hard to block the XV-JP from steeling the shot
heading up the WABDR
Yves & I had to keep Mike pinned between us, he kept on pulling ahead, peeling out, doing cookies, honking his horn & waving at the ladies!
A clean shot of Yves & Leslie's camper (minus the shadows)
this was actually our first campsite, this was where we had some time to enjoy a cocktail
& get to see each others rigs up close
We must've looked a bit ominous pulling in all together, someone from another site asked me if we were from the apocalypse!
Mike.. after the first night, frantically looking for the quickest way home!
At this point, my extremely honed navigation skills kicked in, to find a 'short cut' to the nearest paved road so Mike could head back (he had prior commitments), .. let's just say the pretty lines on the map aren't totally indicative of the road's true conditions! we ended up driving these three beasts down a winding, gutted, overgrown dirt road not really adequate for motorcycle travel. Needles to say, these 4-7 ton vehicles made it through fine, with the added benefit of having this memory permanently on the sides of our rigs, (until we chose to repaint)
The sides of the Bullet look like a trail map of the pacific northwest now! which.. ..Yves, wouldn't be a bad graphic to sport on your walls
A sexy shot of the JP before he left us
more to come
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sarconcepts
Adventurer
Now that Mike ditched us, Yves, Leslie, Bethany & I had a hard time relating to each other.. ..
UNTIL THE BOOZE CAME OUT!
Now, I don't want to re-enforce any stereotypes here, but they are from Canada!
The four of us camped another 3 nights or so.. ..hard to remember anything clearly!, but I can say we all got along greatly, continued up the WABDR some more, then headed west toward water, & had an all around fine time.
Bethany & I finally split off & headed east into the Washington scablands to hunt caves & weird geological things, & just plain sober up! passing through Joseph, Oregon (they have a cool distillery there) doing some hiking then slowly finding our way home.
our last campsite together
camping out on a peninsula on Banks lake
after leaving Yves & Leslie, Bethany & I swore off alcohol for the rest of the trip, but those Canadians have a way of growing on you!
heading east into the dry lands
belly's skinny legs crossing a waterfall
another cool shot of belly
This trip also gave me the opportunity to do the Bullet's first on-road repair, as my automatic steps got possessed & kept on extending, then retracting, then extending. all the while, Yves on the radio "there out, no, in again, no, out again!"
After sleeping on it, I woke up with a pretty good idea of what it could be, then Yves & I, within about 10 minutes had the wires figured out, & even had a simple temporary way to operate them until I got home & got a new door switch (the washboard on the WABDR shook the bejesus out of the switch, locking it in the 'extend' position.
UNTIL THE BOOZE CAME OUT!
Now, I don't want to re-enforce any stereotypes here, but they are from Canada!
The four of us camped another 3 nights or so.. ..hard to remember anything clearly!, but I can say we all got along greatly, continued up the WABDR some more, then headed west toward water, & had an all around fine time.
Bethany & I finally split off & headed east into the Washington scablands to hunt caves & weird geological things, & just plain sober up! passing through Joseph, Oregon (they have a cool distillery there) doing some hiking then slowly finding our way home.
our last campsite together
camping out on a peninsula on Banks lake
after leaving Yves & Leslie, Bethany & I swore off alcohol for the rest of the trip, but those Canadians have a way of growing on you!
heading east into the dry lands
belly's skinny legs crossing a waterfall
another cool shot of belly
This trip also gave me the opportunity to do the Bullet's first on-road repair, as my automatic steps got possessed & kept on extending, then retracting, then extending. all the while, Yves on the radio "there out, no, in again, no, out again!"
After sleeping on it, I woke up with a pretty good idea of what it could be, then Yves & I, within about 10 minutes had the wires figured out, & even had a simple temporary way to operate them until I got home & got a new door switch (the washboard on the WABDR shook the bejesus out of the switch, locking it in the 'extend' position.
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murryconst
Observer
Look like you had a good trip!!!
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
I'd be too excited just being in the presence of all those drool worthy trucks to enjoy the scenery. Looks like an amazing trip
matthewp
Combat Truck Monkey
Yep! I'm about the same. That IS some gorgeous machinery there!
VanIsle_Greg
I think I need a bigger truck!
Very kool trip for all involved... some nice looking rigs there. I have followed both your build as well as Yves, that JK...time to stalk that build thread out (if there is one)? How much of the WABDR did you do and what sections? Was planning on a trip there this month but had to put it off until next year.
Nice work all!
Nice work all!
sarconcepts
Adventurer
oh yes there is..
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/51254-EarthRoamer-XV-JP-quot-Northwest-Edition-quot
for anybody who hasn't read Mike's thread before, get a drink, put on an adult diaper, & well see you in a week!
mhiscox
Expedition Leader
You might get the impression looking at some of Steve's photos that there actually was room on the WABDR for these trucks. Ummm . . . not so much:
And this isn't close to the narrowness of the non-WABDR hiking trail Steve referred to above that they bravely went down when escorting me back to pavement, a road I shall ever remember as El Camino de Muchos Arañazosas.
As reported above, a splendid time was had by all. We really enjoyed ourselves and it was great to have the three big trucks out in the wild making the effort.
And this isn't close to the narrowness of the non-WABDR hiking trail Steve referred to above that they bravely went down when escorting me back to pavement, a road I shall ever remember as El Camino de Muchos Arañazosas.
As reported above, a splendid time was had by all. We really enjoyed ourselves and it was great to have the three big trucks out in the wild making the effort.