EXD 350 - EarthCruiser on flat bed

[lanceatm]

That time again.
Firstly thank you all for the record setting (yes record setting) response to the EXD-350. We are leaving it a few more days before we publish on other forums.

We have had a few people ask how the bed/dinette works, this (bit clunky in solid works as a video file) link I hope better demonstrates what the go is.
EXD-350 Bed to Dinette solid works video
The crew have been playing with this in MDF for a few months, we promised it would not be off the shelf. To convert takes seconds and is at the push of a button.

In the last few days -

Four walls and floor are bonded inside and out. This way we are not relying on just one substrate or surface.
If the shell did not have windows or entry door it would float, no ply wood glued together for the EXD.

We spend much time and effort on the laminate schedule ( what goes where and when in the lay up process) . These are proprietary processes to the manufacture of our products. We know what needs reinforcing, how much and with what. Different glass mat weights and weaves through out the body unit. There is no metal or timber frame of any kind inside any EarthCruiser product.

With the EXD one sleeps beside windows, not fabric.


We are going to use the Solbian solar panels. No problem driving under trees with the EXD or walking or star gazing on the roof.

Production and quality instructions are the priority at the moment.

Have a great week

Lance

 

[Steve_382]

The video link says I don't have permission to view. Looks like you are doing a great job on the rest of it though.

 

[martinf]

Nice, can't wait for pictures of the finished product

 

[dmwhiteman]

View attachment 464726
We are going to use the Solbian solar panels. No problem driving under trees with the EXD or walking or star gazing on the roof.

Clarification. You will be able to walk on the roof? How much weight will it hold, raised and closed?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[lanceatm]

The video link says I don't have permission to view. Looks like you are doing a great job on the rest of it though.

Hmm bugger
lets try that again - EXD-350 Bed/dinette

 

[lanceatm]

Clarification. You will be able to walk on the roof? How much weight will it hold, raised and closed?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

No issue walking on the roof open or closed. The roof is made to raise and lower with 24 inches of snow, the four electric worm drive actuators can easily do this at push of a button. They are in sync, can be stoped at any position and they have a manual over ride.

 

[martinf]

I looked at the specs and pricing online. A bit more expensive than a Tiger but the introductory price has an interesting rebate.

@lanceatm is there any possibility that we could see a fix roof version in the future or is it too soon to say?

 

[jgatliff]

A bit more expensive than a Tiger...

Unfortunately It’s a lot more expensive than a Tiger since the $100,000 base price does not include a vehicle. But knowing the build quality of Earth Cruiser I think this will be a much more durable camper, not to mention you have the added option of being able to move this camper to a new vehicle when/if you upgrade (provided you don’t choose the pass through option).

Edit, I just saw that Tiger is changing their pricing model and no longer includes vehicle in their base price either, so there is only a difference of $11,000 with the intro offer.

 

[adam88]

Is the price quoted ($100k) the introductory price or is there a "rebate" on top of that? I am confused by the posts above.

 

[lanceatm]

G`day All
It`s that time.

This might better help explain the floor plan.

Following up from where we left off on the internal paint - Corners glassed and painted. No will ever see this when the campers are finished, but we will know.

All sealed up, and good for a life time of chairs / fire wood/ BBQs and goodness only knows what else of being chucked in the locker boxes. If your up for it , so should your EXD.

There is also a clear coat across all painted surfaces. Makes it much easier to clean ( I am lazy ) no nooks or crannies for crap (such as Labrador hair) to get stuck in. Quick blow out with the on board air compressor, damp rage and your done.


Sub frame pre fit to the body- it has already been pre fitted to the Ford chassis with the Kinetic mount.
Sub frame and kinetic mounting are two different systems.
It is planned the Flat bed (tray) will share the same sub frame with the "Expedition pack" that includes the EarthCruiser kinetic mounting to the truck chassis.
We will not be offering Kinetic mounts for flat beds, to many variables for us to get our head around.
Our thinking is at some point should one wish to mount to a chassis with out the flat bed they easily can, just get the rest of the mounting system.


Everything fitted up well. Stair mounts are in the middle of the door way, thats a good thing.
It does not always work out like that, I could tell you some stories.......


Under side is sealed up as well. There are no through floor penetrations except for sub frame mounting plates and .....

The mount points for the tool boxes ( Expedition model only gets the tool boxes, all models have the mount points) Hard points in the lay up of the floor ( meaning no foam in that section) the with straps on the top side. All the weight is loaded above the floor, no chance of driving down the track and finding that your tool boxes stayed behind "somewhere" back there with your favorite tool kit.


Really looking forward to build the truck up -
Bull looks way better powder coated, agree?


Thats it for me for a while. Michelle and I are of to Rajasthan India to do a reccy for a EarthCruiser owners trip.
The crew have promised to keep me updated as much as possible. I have asked Brent to keep us all up to date on the forum, again thank you for all of your support.

Lance.

 

[lanceatm]

I looked at the specs and pricing online. A bit more expensive than a Tiger but the introductory price has an interesting rebate.

@lanceatm is there any possibility that we could see a fix roof version in the future or is it too soon to say?

No worries building a fixed roof model.

 

[erstwild]

Air con is going in the first unit. We split the system up to take up less space and better control heat and noise. Works great on lithium batts.

What air con system are you using if you don't mind? Just curious about how close we are getting to reasonable 12 volts AC + lithium batteries + solar these days

 

[Michelle@EarthCruiser]

Is the price quoted ($100k) the introductory price or is there a "rebate" on top of that? I am confused by the posts above.

It's not really a 'rebate'. The pricing is 'introductory' so the base price will go up ($7K) as will the price of the Expedition Package ($10K).

 

[BoundarylessTraveler]

What air con system are you using if you don't mind? Just curious about how close we are getting to reasonable 12 volts AC + lithium batteries + solar these days

The air con system we use is the same in the EXP and FX trucks. It is an Artic Breeze which we've found to be the best for our vehicles. It is critical that the entire system is designed for efficiency as well, and our engineers have developed a great program that we test everything to ensure system dependability in all conditions. As Lance likes to say, "it take a lot of work to make something so simple." It's harder to develop a system to be efficient than to throw a ton of solar panels and batteries at it. We think the weight and cost savings are worth it though. Below is the program set up to run tests on our systems in the GZL pop-up camper.

 

[BoundarylessTraveler]

Hey everyone. Brent here with your weekly update on the EXD. Lance put a lot of pressure on me before he left for India to make sure I kept everyone in the loop as the EXD build progresses. It's a really fun project, so I hope I do the weekly update justice.

Construction of the interior is moving along, and things are starting to take shape.

The interior panels and bed structure is made from engineered composite panels. These honeycomb panels are much lighter than solid wood or fiber panels, and strong enough to withstand years of abuse without showing wear.


Because we are using a water-less toilet system, there is no need for access to a cassette toilet black water tank. This area makes a perfect place for pass-through storage, allowing you to access some items easily from inside and outside the camper.


The EXD will have two fresh water tanks and one grey water tank. For the best weight distribution each tank is located over or just in front of the rear axle keeping a good balance from front to rear. The larger fresh water tanks are found on the driver and passenger side, which allows the truck to be balanced from side to side as well.


The electrical system will be controlled from a touchscreen, that is custom programmed to be very user friendly. It is also bluetooth compatible with your phone, and comes with a key fob that gives you quick shortcuts like turning your outside lights on with one push of a button.

Our engineers and production crew have their hands full this week, so expect some big changes during next weeks update.
Brent