Eco-Roamer - F650 based Expedition Vehicle

[RPhil]

...I didn't add that because it doesn't matter. Unless it is properly engineered and documented, it doesn't add to squat. Backyard engineering doesn't cut it

I was under the impression that Jay was having professionals do the work to his vehicle. I surely hope that they are competent enough to perform the necessary calculations in order to properly increase performance/reliability/strength.

That being said, I do agree with most of what you said. The video does obviously show some kind of flaw. Hopefully Jay will soon chime in and give us some actuality on the matter, as opposed to us discussing it without having first hand experience on his rig.

 

[kjp1969]

I don't fully know the scope of work, true engineering and documentation that went into this particular truck.

Enough said.

 

[GeoScum]

Most of this type of work is done to increase the duty cycle, rigidity and other factors of commercial trucks. Being commercial trucks, they are susceptible to weight laws and inspections, and most of this work is done keeping the vehicle within it manufactured weight class. We tried to increase the GVW of several sub CDL trucks, and found it was cheaper to buy a new truck. KW and others can make your heavier truck heavier, as can those that install drop axles.

But because so much of this work is non GVWR rated, there still is a degree of seat of the pants engineering involved in many applications. The weldors are certainly very good

 

[GeoScum]

Enough said.

But when a truck falls apart, you can say "not enough".

 

[Terrainist]

What I mean by "overloaded" is too much weight for anything, be it the cabin to frame mounting, tires, leaf springs, frame, something or everything - it's weight that is causing that instability and the inability of the components to keep it stable leading to major handling problems.

You have got to feel for the guy. I mean something like this is supposed to add to your life, not take years from it. You can almost picture the grey hairs sprouting from his chin and head as he white knuckles that thing down the road in borderline terror with mom saying "Quiet kids! Dad has to drive" and dad saying "Turn down the radio!". Then the silence as dad has to try and get that sloshy behemoth another mile down the road with that vein pounding in his neck.

 

[dwh]

A few thoughts...


When I first saw that vid from the road, I thought to myself, "Jay ought not to text while driving in front of rednecks on a twisty road". My second thought was, "Just his luck to spill coffee in his lap while someone with a vid camera is right behind him".

I don't know about anyone else here, but I've personally swayed all over the road and crossed the double yellow a few times myself. And I didn't even need a big beast of a truck to do it.

No harm, no foul guys, get over it. (Or, in the terms of our God-fearing brethren; "Let he who is without sin...")



As for the flogging and bashing my opinion is this: Jay set the terms. He chose to apply the label "open source" to the project. I don't know if anyone here besides me has been involved with open source software projects, but I got into that game back in '93. Flogging, bashing, flame wars and unassailable belief in one's own rectitude have always been a part of that whole scene.

If Jay wants to use the name, then he's gotta play the game - and that means taking the heat when there's a bug in the code (or someone just THINKS there's a bug in the code). Of course, if something breaks then the heat really pours on. That's the nature of the open source arena, and Jay -chose- to play by those rules.

It's handy if you have the ability to sort the wheat from the chaff; because you'll have to deflect attacks from left, right and center - half from people who are clueless, and half from people that know more than you do.



And finally...

there is enough ammo on the net for any attorney in both justice and civil courts to keep him tied up for a decade

Not if he deletes the thread.

(Sorry, I just had to throw that out there. )

 

[shovelbill]

What is making it rock back and forth?

The storage water sloshing in the tanks?

You can see it swaying in this slow speed parking lot drive, even more amplified in the offroad testing.

YouTube - Eco Roamer visits Recycling Alternative for Biodiesel


YouTube - Overland Training with EcoRoamer

uh.........i hope he show's these videos to whomever is "repairing" the rig. no further comment.

 

[Ford Prefect]

Bashing. Then bashing the bashers. Then bashing the bashers for bashing the bashers. Then bashing the bashers for bashing the bashers that bashed the bashers. It was all conversation to me, so bash you all. This thread is bashed.

You may have seen it as conversation, but the way you wrote sure sounded like you were acting with great vitriol, pride, and arrogance. Perhaps that was not the intent, but that is how it read to me. Just my $.02

As for the truck, I spoke with Jay about it at the Expo, and it was very interesting what he had to say. He used facts, not currently listed on the portal, and explained very clearly what was going on. The facts that he pointed out would not only account for, but very easily explain what was going on in his truck. Perhaps people should just ask him about it rather than put out their own conjecture. He is also the only person on this thread who answers every question asked of him (if he sees it).

I for one am looking forward to seeing much more of this rig in the coming months and years. :coffeedrink:

 

[Allroader]

Hi,

I will be soon be Home in Florida and would love to meet jay and his Family. So if you are in the area, just stop by. We (wife, 2 Kids (4 & 1)) would love to meet you.
Yes of course we have room to park the little one. :elkgrin:

Mike

 

[SChandler]

Jay,

What has been done to the suspension/chassis/camper, etc. to fix the sway/overloaded/suspension issues after the failure of the rear suspension? I know that you've mentioned revising the shocks, was there anything else involved?

Thanks,

Sam

 

[Terrainist]

This is what a truck looks like while being driven when it has too much weight on it. Why? Because the truck has too much weight on it. Very simple concept to understand when you can grasp the obvious. The sky is blue, a spade is a spade, and some component or an accumulation of the components on this truck are unable to handle the weight on it.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXI2j_sKDmo&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - UnsafeCamper.MPG[/ame]

If I was doing contract work for the county on that road, and during my drive home with some coworkers had come across a random truck being driven and handling like this, had called the county sheriff and highway patrol and blocked him in when he pulled over so that he could no longer continue and showed the LEO's the video evidence, the LEO's would have said I was right for calling them and not letting the vehicle continue and there would be three pages of "good on you" for doing so from members of these boards in a thread I had started about it.

But let the driver and owner of the truck be someone like this and merely state the fact that the truck has too much weight on it, that it's overloaded, and state some of the ramifications and what happens? A person is declared to be full of themselves, vitriol, pride, arrogance, and ignorance. Declared to be wildly speculating and to be someone who likes to come on these boards and talk about something they clearly know nothing about.

I'm done arguing with hypocrites about something that is obvious.

 

[GeoScum]

The video taken in the bio-diesel parking lot is particularly good at showing a overloaded and wallowing truck

 

[GeoScum]

I have now told you three times, there is a perfectly good explanation, if you would but ask, you might learn

Let's hear it then. You keep dancing around the fact like it's some big secret

For that matter I am also surprised at the moderators willingness to allow it to continue in such a way

The moderators here do a fine job. I have not read anything on this thread which would warrant any banning, moderating, censoring, warning or shutting-down. These forums are by there very definitions "discussion forums". When people discuss things, different opinions get voiced, and concerns aired. If you don't want your choice of clothing talked about, don't hang your dirty laundry in the front yard. It's as simple as that

 

[bobDog]

Come on folks its so simple...put the spare tires on the bottom and the bikes on top.......:sombrero::victory: And I'm not even an engineer.:coffeedrink:

 

[McZippie]

Super Singles vs Duallies

best part of the video:
"he should have duallys on the back 'a that thing"

On post # 454 quoted below, is what Jay wrote about the switch from duallys to super singles:

"They "stray" - quite a bit. The first time I drove across Texas (west to east) with the duallies, you could pretty much set the cruise control, use a bungy cord to tie off the steering wheel and go in the back for an hour to have a cup of tea.

On the way back across Texas (east to west) with the XZL's the experience requires constant concentration and several white knuckle moments. You are constantly adjusting the steering wheel slightly, back and forth to keep in your lane. If you look away for a while you can easily find yourself in the next lane, which hopefully does not contain a Honda".