Everlanders Build - F550 Composite Overlander

[amccunn]

How tall is the total truck? I.e. what size garage door could it fit through?

How tall is the top of the cab with the 41" shoes on it?

 

[Everlanders]

Whoops... Sorry for the late replies everyone...

Wow! You would think they would want the opposite!.

No, they normally deal with large commercial customers, the hassles of dealing with tire kicking consumers wasn't what they wanted.

How do you mount cabinets to the composite walls .

The same way, Sikaflex 207 and then 252 an Aluminum plate/bar to the wall, with machined holes to fasten the aluminum cabinet frames to. In some places, I just bonded the Aluminum cabinet frame right to the panel.

What CAD program do you use?

Solidworks, Autocad, Fusion, Sketchup...

How did you get the file form Ford?

Shhhh...

Would be cool to see a video on the air conditioner. Real world usage/draw on battery bank would be helpful as I know AC is a big issue for alot of folks.
Also how is the unit holding up being located outside and uncovered? Also how's it taking the abuse from off-road/bumpy road conditions.

Yeah, I should make a video on the AC unit here soon... But the short answer is that it's working great, no problems and we're halfway through Mexico already...

Was specifically interested in sleeping area height, curious as to what's acceptable to some?
Think they have 5" foam and a froli system. He's a big guy.

The Floor to Ceiling is 6'6"... As tall as me in shoes.
The Bed Area was originally ~24" from the top of the mattress to the Ceiling (the width of my shoulders when standing). But since then we've added the Froli and a memory foam topper, so currently:

The bed platform to the ceiling is 28"
The Froli Star is about 1.7"
The Orignal Foam Mattress we had made is 5"
and the new Memory Foam Topper is 3"

Which leaves 18" for my 24" self, thankfully everything compresses as you lay on it and nobody sleeps like a ridged toy soldier on their side. I feel I always have 10" or more between me and the ceiling.

It would have cost me an extra $5 to make the cabin 4 inches higher, and that would make all the tours that much easier. But as we're now traveling through Mexico and seeing the very low gates to the city/town, the low powerlines and decorative arches that we're squeezing under, I wouldn't want to be an inch taller.

 

[Everlanders]

Jayson, did you use the 207 primes ? And was it the 100ml size and how far did it go ?

Yes, the 207 primer goes a long way, It seems as thin as water and black as night - Make a felt pad brush and it's 110% good enough in one pass. I probably went through 3 or 4 of the small 100ml bottles, but half of that was likely due to evaporation/waste.

How tall is the total truck? I.e. what size garage door could it fit through?
How tall is the top of the cab with the 41" shoes on it?

Our Ceiling Fan lid is the highest point at 10"7"

The Truck Cab is 7'1" in the sand I'm currently parked in...

 

[Ninelitetrip]

Did you get enough interest in doing the report on the Super Single conversion? How does the whole driveline seem to be holding up?

 

[Art4med]

Your water system: are your tanks hoselined in series and pressurized from the end-most, or from a central rail? I just received my kegs and looking to parallel your setup (tho I want to stack the kegs, and use my 2.5gal as a holding tank for filtered water under the sink).
What air compressors are your primary and backup? 110VAC; why not PTO?

 

[Andrew_S]

Awesome build. The wife and I have been watching your youtube series for awhile now. Love the quality and innovation.

 

[straypoet]

Could you comment on how well the adhesive is holding up now that you have a few years on it?
Also, have you seen any aluminum fatigue or welds cracking?
As I get nearer to the camper shell on my build, I am heading more and more towards your aluminum exoskeleton design.
Anything you would do differently with the structure?

Thank you.

 

[Everlanders]

Could you comment on how well the adhesive is holding up now that you have a few years on it?
Also, have you seen any aluminum fatigue or welds cracking?
As I get nearer to the camper shell on my build, I am heading more and more towards your aluminum exoskeleton design.
Anything you would do differently with the structure?

Thank you.

The adhesive has held up perfectly, much like windshield adhesive, if you use the correct product for the job, it will last a lifetime.

I'm glad I made the frame and aluminum exoskeleton, we commonly use it to push brush and thigh sized limbs out of our way as we crawl through narrow wooded areas.

In the last couple of years we've crossed through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, And I would say that our box is nearly the maximum size you would want to bring to these regions. At 10'7 we commonly leave power lines swinging, although we've never had to lift one yet...

I probably wouldn't change very much on the overall design and construction, I would not leave so much room between the box and the cab, it can be tightened up a little bit more... and of course use the best composite panels you can, foam impregnated honeycomb if possible.

Jason

 

[bueller13]

This was about the time I started CADing up the design.

View attachment 432282
The aluminum subframe of the box is isolated from the steel truck frame with UHMW chain guides, trimmed to clear cross members and drilled to make room for the rivets.

The Aluminum subframe is held to the truck using an original yet unorthodox 3 point mounting system. There are 2 mounts at the front, one on each side, each with two polyurethane bushings, these hold the front of the box fairly ridged at the front. The rear has a single pivot that also utilizes an Air Hold Down system. This allows me to have the box clamped down hard to the chassis when we are on pavement, but when off road/articulating, I can air down the clamps at the rear and the frame can twist independently from the box. It works great!

@Everlanders I have ordered a F550 chassis for my build and am finalizing the torsion sub-frame. All in SW currently analyzing with FEA. Do you use the air units for variable load clamping or just on/off? I think your dual-mode (pavement / off-road) approach is excellent. Are you happy with the UHMW on the rails or would rubber isolators be beneficial for some vibration reduction? I like your setup more than the typical springs along the rails that ultimately add load to the habitat during frame separation. Would you do the same again? Thanks in advance for your help. We enjoy all of your videos!