One of the issues with putting a large cab-to-cabin pass-through on an off-road camper truck is that the seal has to be very large to accommodate the extreme of cab-to-cabin misalignment during severe articulation. If the seal is too short it will tear when the cab goes north and the cabin goes south. I remember reading an account somewhere where the truck designer didn’t plan well enough, and the seal tore in the early days of a multi-week trip.
Some domestic door weather-stripping has a strip magnet embedded. When the door is closed the magnet grabs the door making a good seal. When you open the door, it pulls away from the magnet. So that got me wondering…
Has anyone put any thought into making a smaller seal that would be sealed during 98.2%* of the time, but would separate (without damage
) during the few times that the truck was under severe articulation? Maybe using magnets as above, or Velcro, or some such?
I know that Murphy says that the twistiest road ever encountered would have to be crossed in the worst thunderstorm on record, but it seems that the vast majority of time a break-away seal would be fine. And common sense stipulates that the worst roads should be avoided in the worst weather. But if Murphy did show up, performing some interior cleanup once the seal was re-engaged might be acceptable.
Even if the seal required a level of ‘user interaction’ to reseat after it separated, it seems to me that might be acceptable on the rare occasion that you encounter severe articulation.
Of course, there is also the issue of dust, but I wouldn’t expect to encounter really twisty roads with lots of dust. Seems to me really twisty roads would require low speed, minimizing dust. And in the case of dust storms and such, again, it is probably best to park and wait it out.
So, what does the Expo Mind Collective have to say?
Especially those of you that have driven large rigs for multi-week trips on bad roads. How often should I expect to encounter the twistiest roads in the worstest weather?
And, of course, coming up with a really weather-tight seal that is also separate-able, could be a challenge.
*76.8% of statistics are made up, on-the-spot.
Some domestic door weather-stripping has a strip magnet embedded. When the door is closed the magnet grabs the door making a good seal. When you open the door, it pulls away from the magnet. So that got me wondering…
Has anyone put any thought into making a smaller seal that would be sealed during 98.2%* of the time, but would separate (without damage
) during the few times that the truck was under severe articulation? Maybe using magnets as above, or Velcro, or some such?I know that Murphy says that the twistiest road ever encountered would have to be crossed in the worst thunderstorm on record, but it seems that the vast majority of time a break-away seal would be fine. And common sense stipulates that the worst roads should be avoided in the worst weather. But if Murphy did show up, performing some interior cleanup once the seal was re-engaged might be acceptable.
Even if the seal required a level of ‘user interaction’ to reseat after it separated, it seems to me that might be acceptable on the rare occasion that you encounter severe articulation.
Of course, there is also the issue of dust, but I wouldn’t expect to encounter really twisty roads with lots of dust. Seems to me really twisty roads would require low speed, minimizing dust. And in the case of dust storms and such, again, it is probably best to park and wait it out.
So, what does the Expo Mind Collective have to say?
Especially those of you that have driven large rigs for multi-week trips on bad roads. How often should I expect to encounter the twistiest roads in the worstest weather?
And, of course, coming up with a really weather-tight seal that is also separate-able, could be a challenge.
*76.8% of statistics are made up, on-the-spot.
