C5500 TopKick 4x4 Crew Cab Build

[NeverEnough]

Hi NeverEnough

I just read through all 65 pages in one go, it's 3AM, but I couldn't let go!
I stumpled on your thread looking for builds using PP honeycomb, and got SO much more!!!

First off, what dedication! You chose a path and kept on it all the way regarding this build, and obviously also regarding your family, while we might not all be able to invest so much in a vehicle, we should strive for doing it in our families.

Best Regards from Denmark.

Thanks, Christian. I'll never regret my efforts with my family. There's really no point to any of this without them. And PM me if you have any questions about PPE honeycomb. Not the easiest stuff to fabricate with, but it performs very well.

 

[SixSpeed]

How are you liking the 395/85/20 XZL's? How many miles do you have on them. I have a 4x4 international as well looking for tire opinions!

 

[NeverEnough]

How are you liking the 395/85/20 XZL's? How many miles do you have on them. I have a 4x4 international as well looking for tire opinions!

So far, so good, with about 3500 miles on them. They're quieter than I thought they'd be on the pavement, and they've been great off-road. Mine are on Hutchinson wheels, which required some minor machining and spacers for the rear to deal with the offset issue.

 

[gringoinloscabos]

Headed south with the family this past week. Late departure, all lit up before rolling out:

We camped in the Grand Staircase, off Cottonwood Road that connects UT12 to Big Water/Kanab on 89. First stop was Grosvenor Arch.

Unhooking the trailer in order to pull forward for slide out deployment. In usual fashion, we setup a central basecamp, then buzzed around on the dirt bikes for day trips. Amazingly warm and dry- too dry. We were walking down slot canyons that are normally flowing this time of year without getting our feet wet.

I continue to be impressed with the off-road capabilities of the 7400. My only complaint so far is wind noise from the forward doors at highway speeds. We drove home in a stiff headwind and it's became obvious that I've got adjust the hinges on the forward doors to get a better seal. Unfortunately, I'm clueless about how to go about it, so unless someone on the forum has some experience with these doors, it'll probably be a trial and error ordeal.

Your rig is SICK. My first build (which was recent) is this: http://www.hautgroup.com/landroamer/

My second build will be a ground up build like yours. Well done.

Derrick

 

[DiscoChicken]

Extremely impressive build. Thank you for all the incredible information you've shared throughout your build. I've been sitting here reading and taking notes as if studying for a college exam. I have been leaning towards a honeycomb based wall similar to your design. My design differs slightly with an aluminum exo frame and slightly different insulation and interior paneling. I was looking at Nida-Core prior to seeing what you have used. I believe your core thickness was 1.75". Is that correct? Did you have that thickness custom made? I do not see it on their site?
If you have time, I have a few more questions for you.
How high is your "basement" from frame to floor?
What is the interior height of you overcab when not deployed?
I'm unclear how you spliced two panels together? Did you hollow one out, remove face material from another and insert?
With the overcab area, how is this supported or reenforced to hang over the cab and support weight?
Thanks.

 

[NeverEnough]

Extremely impressive build. Thank you for all the incredible information you've shared throughout your build. I've been sitting here reading and taking notes as if studying for a college exam. I have been leaning towards a honeycomb based wall similar to your design. My design differs slightly with an aluminum exo frame and slightly different insulation and interior paneling. I was looking at Nida-Core prior to seeing what you have used. I believe your core thickness was 1.75". Is that correct? Did you have that thickness custom made? I do not see it on their site?
If you have time, I have a few more questions for you.
How high is your "basement" from frame to floor?
What is the interior height of you overcab when not deployed?
I'm unclear how you spliced two panels together? Did you hollow one out, remove face material from another and insert?
With the overcab area, how is this supported or reenforced to hang over the cab and support weight?
Thanks.

Thanks. Good questions.

My panels were made to my specifications, including the skins, and I sourced mine from Plascore. They are very good at what they do. I took a while to get the skin material manufactured from their supplier, however. The primary walls are 1.75", but I purchased a lot of 1", .75", and .5" material for interior components, doors, and cabinets. I also ordered "spline" panels of 1.65", because the skins are .05".

The most difficult part of fabricating was joining the panels, which required a creating a special routing jig to remove core material very precisely to a depth of 3". It was slow, messy work. 6" spline pieces were inserted using SABA Sealtack PP adhesive to join the panels together. While it worked structurally, the joints are quite visible, at least to me. At the time of my build, 50" was the maximum width available from any supplier. That might have changed, and there are several players in Europe and China that can fuse 108" wide panels.

The basement has 23" of interior height, 25" from frame to underside of floor (1.75" panel, .25" pultrusions wrapped on corners). The basement wraps the chassis rails, with 8" of pass through in the rear and 10" forward. There are seven "pass through" sections, with 3 housing fresh water tanks, one for black water, and one for grey.

The exterior height dimension of the cabover if 44". The cabover was assembled as a separate component, including panel sections that extend 5' into the main body to support the cantilever. The assembly was inserted into the main body, then bonded and mechanically fastened into place. It cost me 4.5" of interior width forward of the galley, but it's not missed. I'm very pleased with the results. It's been bomber and can support 1000lbs of people/cargo without measurable deflection.

 

[kchristian]

I just wanted to say thanks for the thread. Its like reading a good book.

With my two oldest out of the house for a few years, my wife tramping around Peru for a few weeks, and boy #3 at Lake Powell with friends for a week, my youngest and I set out on a photo safari for 5 days. And while we were at it, I decided to keep the rig off the pavement as much as possible. The result was over 400 miles of dirt roads on a 700 mile loop.

This is what its all about, huh? Your kids are always going to have these memories. Very cool. BTW, where were the oldest ones called?

 

[Ford Prefect]

If I recall you had a family member with a shop that aided in building the box. Have they given any thought to building boxes for others after the success of your build?

 

[NeverEnough]

I just wanted to say thanks for the thread. Its like reading a good book.



This is what its all about, huh? Your kids are always going to have these memories. Very cool. BTW, where were the oldest ones called?

Absolutely. Oldest just got back from Lima three weeks ago (great to have him home!), second son gets back from Ecuador in September, my old stomping grounds.

 

[NeverEnough]

If I recall you had a family member with a shop that aided in building the box. Have they given any thought to building boxes for others after the success of your build?

Depends on how you define "success". I continue to be very pleased at the performance of the "boxes". During the build, like most on this board that venture into less tried-and-true designs and construction, we wondered if there any commercial opportunity. And the end of the day, there are easier ways to make money. That doesn't mean he'd turn down a request to do the fabrication, however. Just depends on what his schedule looks like. Hope Colorado is treating you well!

 

[kchristian]

Absolutely. Oldest just got back from Lima three weeks ago (great to have him home!), second son gets back from Ecuador in September, my old stomping grounds.

Sounds like a Panamerican Highway/Mission tour is in order.

That's neat that you and your son both went to the same place. It'll be interesting to swap stories and see how much things have changed. My dad and brother both served in Mexico. I was Houston, spanish speaking. It wasn't Mexico but it was close!

 

[guidolyons]

Wow. I doubt I could add any significant superlatives that have not already been said. It was cool with the Topkick, but is totally bad *** with the International 7400 and the Hutchinson/Michelin XZLs combo.

I'd leave it as is, black and tan no graphics.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Thanks, and yes, Colorado has been very nice so far.

I think your box was fairly complex with your slides etc. I should think a more simple box might be a bit less stress. I do not know though.


Did you have to do anything to support cabinets etch. I have been pondering building a box out of sandwich panels, but I wonder how well they would hold up, and how one would mount to it without having to punch all the way through to the outside to get support.

 

[NeverEnough]

My panels used a composite, random strand skin with a thermally-fused polyester veil. The veil allowed us to use fiberglass lay-up for butt joints, which is how all of the cabinet shells and internal walls were made. The joints are very strong and almost invisible. Laminate was then glued over the skins. They've withstood enough road testing at this point to validate the technique. There are a few situations where a mechanical fastener was required, such as adjustable shelve within cabinets, or the marine catches for the cabinets. In those cases, we glued 1/16" aluminum strips to the skin, which was enough for a screw to get a good bite, and it works with the aluminum trim and highlights used throughout the interior.

 

[Victorian]

Just found this thread... Amazing work! Well done.