Experience With Preparing ISUZU NPS Camper: Body

[IcedVolvo]

This is just a simple list of issues which have cropped up in this chassis for any serious off road work. I have discussed suspension in another thread and I will add to this thread as issues come up but so far:

1: super single conversions, several groups do a single 19.5 rim

2: wading depth is pretty poor at 300mm.

DPD exhaust should not be submerged
wiring insertion points in gearbox etc
fuse box needs to be relocated
brakes take a long long LONG time to start working again after submersion
​

3: Standard fuel tank is way too low

4: Need a protective screen to cover gap between inter-cooler and radiator

5: Dust sealing is atrocious

6: front steps need to be modified higher

7: transfer case is lower than chassis rail and really needs a "bash plate" to protect it.

8: rear shock absorbers are in front of the axle and get annihilated by stones, need a protective shield of some sort.

9: front sway bar is way too low, needs to be moved or removed altogether (potentially dangerous.....)

10: need to fit screens between engine bay and wheel wells, these are available commercially as are wheel arch flares etc.

More to come......

 

[haven]

For readers in North America, the NPS series is the 4x4 version of Isuzu's medium cab forward truck. In NA, Isuzu only imports the NPR rear wheel drive model.

 

[1Engine]

What is the year model of your unit.
Mine is a 2002 & I have modified the air cleaner by replacing it with a donaldson with a snorkel & mounting it on the original air cleaner mounting bracket but turned upside down.
I have extended the breathers on the diff, gbox, fuel tank etc & have been though water a number of over 1300mm during the last wet season. I have a trayback, so I don't have a floating issue that the units that have bus bodies on have.

 

[IcedVolvo]

Hi 1Engine, mine is a 2009 Euro IV

You are absolutely correct in both points. I was going to try and relocate the standard system but there is a air mass or flo sensor in just before the turbo which makes it tricky. Where did you get the "plumbing" for the Donaldson from, I have been searching for someone who deals in this sort of stuff in Oz?

The updated list is as follows:

1: super single conversions, several groups do a single 19.5 rim

2: wading depth is pretty poor at 300mm (ISUZUs recommended maximum).

• DPD exhaust should not be submerged
• wiring insertion points in gearbox etc
• fuse box needs to be relocated
• brakes take a long long LONG time to start working again after submersion

3: Standard fuel tank is way too low

4: Need a protective screen to cover gap between inter-cooler and radiator (getting grass etc in here will kill your $8000 turbo!)

5: Dust sealing is atrocious

6: front steps need to be modified higher

7: transfer case is lower than chassis rail and really needs a "bash plate" to protect it.

8: rear shock absorbers are in front of the axle and get annihilated by stones, need a protective shield of some sort.

9: front sway bar is way too low, needs to be moved or removed altogether (potentially dangerous.....)

10: need to fit screens between engine bay and wheel wells, these are available commercially as are wheel arch flares etc.

11: fit extended breathers to 4 (yes four) points:

• front diff, careful to avoid connector hitting sump
• rear diff
• gearbox
• transfer case (this is really hard to find, go to a dealers and have a look at a bare chassis to see it.

12: Air filter absolutely needs replacing!! It is a paper element and is fitted straight from the standard road going N series , it even has water drain at the bottom. It is a VERY real risk for water entry as it is so low.

 

[1Engine]

I just used 100mm Stainless Exhaust tube.
It was a bit over $100 / m
It is easy to work with, just when you cut, do it slowly so it does not blue

 

[PKDreamers]

Where did you get the "plumbing" for the Donaldson from, I have been searching for someone who deals in this sort stuff.

Hi Try Kevin at Tranzmile Truck and Trailer they do all Donaldson parts 07-33444156 he is very heplful.

 

[IcedVolvo]

Where did you get the "plumbing" for the Donaldson from, I have been searching for someone who deals in this sort stuff.

Hi Try Kevin at Tranzmile Truck and Trailer they do all Donaldson parts 07-33444156 he is very heplful.

Thanks PK, I will look them up. Perhaps we should have a "sticky" thread with like a Yellow Pages of people who do certain types of work on trucks.; I have had the devil of a time finding anyone to do air intake plumbing.

 

[whatcharterboat]

Where did you get the "plumbing" for the Donaldson from, I have been searching for someone who deals in this sort of stuff in Oz?

Hi Jon.

Most truck shops carry it. I only deal with our 2 local ones here on the Sunny Coast but both these shops sell to the public and have a wide range of both rubber and high grade silicone bends and elbows, reducers, joiners, bellows, etc (and proper turbo hose clamps to hold it all together) and of course Donaldson and my preference >> Fleetgaurd aircleaners. Be careful....A lot of the turbo hose bits you buy at Supercheap Auto or on the net is rubbish. Reputable truck shops will only sell quality stuff. Performance car shops also carry this gear too.

BTW ...your model NPS has a Donaldson aircleaner as standard fitment.

I have never done an aircleaner relocation on your model but have done plenty of 649 FG's . Easy enough on those as long as you think about it carefully and cut the aircleaner/turbo pipe in the right spot so that you can introduce some stainless pipe (of a common size so that you can buy the rubber/silicone bends and the stainless easily) into the airtract.

Only ever use stainless in the airtract of a turbo engine and always go for a plastic aircleaner too. Had a bad experience with a rusty flake completely destroying the vanes of the turbo in my old work truck once. It was a OEM setup too.

Jon. Email me if you need a phone number.

John.

 

[CliftonSmith]

4: Need a protective screen to cover gap between inter-cooler and radiator (getting grass etc in here will kill your $8000 turbo!)

hi there IcedVolvo! I'm just confused what do you call this protective screen to cover the gap between the inter-cooler and rad? and where can we find one? thanks!

 

[IcedVolvo]

Hi, sorry for the delay in replying.

At the front of the engine there are two radiator like devices. The front one is the intercooler for the turbo and the rear one is the actual radiator. There is a small gap between them ~2cm the two radiators. If you get a plastic bag or something between them then you can do damage to both the turbo and the engine which is NOT covered by warranty. Older versions had a screen between the radiators to stop this but the new versions do not so you have to make your own screen.

post if you have trouble

iced

 

[IcedVolvo]

Hi People,

Just a small addition to my body stuff; I wanted to take a motorbike on the back so I made myself a carrier.



Note with the bike on this version is technically illegal by ~60mm because it exceeds the 60% of wheelbase rule but I have a solution for that in the works which will allow me to put the bike up there and then slide it back towards the truck body.

I mentioned above about the rear shocks being in front of the axle and here is my solution with 3" stainless exhaust pipe cut and strapped onto the shock body to protect both it and the adjustment air valve/hose.




If anyone is interested we have also done a complete rewire of the electrics so we can charge both the 12V house and 24V truck from one or more of solar / 240V (50A) / engine simultaneously. Apart from building our own 240V -> 20V 50A DC power supply it was all "off the shelf" components. If you want details then email me at icedvolvo(put the "at" symbol in here)hotmail.com

 

[IcedVolvo]

Just thought I would post a quick piccy of the final electrics. As our vehicle was a prototype we never had a fully integrated charging system and no 240V at all. I have been through many iterations and the final system is as follows:

The system basically uses a REDARC BCDC 40A charger. In 240V mode I supply bulk power either through a 24V/20A bulk unregulated supply (toroid/bridge/cap) and/or solar to charge the 12V house batteries via the REDARC in "solar" mode. In this mode a cheap 24V 3.5A charger maintains the truck batteries if 240V is available.

When the IGN is on the REDARC is switched into "automotive" mode and input comes from the 24V truck system via the DPDT relay (its probably unnecessary but better safe than sorry!).

A small 12V cooling fan is on whenever there is input to the REDARC charger (from any system). You will ntice that the two bits which get hot: the bridge and the REDARC are adjacent to the fan input/output vents.

This is a very simple and effective fully automatic 40A charging system for under $900 and is easy to access and takes up very little space! All the parts are obtainable from any decent electrical store i.e. Jaycar

This is bare circuit on a board which is on hinges attached to floor


This is board folded into upright position


and from the outside with 240V switches (pp, water heater and chargers), fan intake.exhausts and REDARC LED fault indicator

 

[gait]

have you considered providing a by-pass switch for the Redarc so that alternator and solar can supply house batteries in parallel? Output current from alternator is probably much higher than Redarc will carry. Alternator volts may not be sufficiently high for effective charging directly but with a little solar at higher set voltage will be consumed first and charging voltage will rise to that of the solar. Direct connection of vehicle and house batteries may also be useful for starting some day.

 

[IcedVolvo]

Also please note this item is ans ABSOLUTE MUST:
They are not fitted to ISUZUs as standard and a fuel pump is ~$10,000 to repair.

If you don't have one (the fuel pre filter and water trap not the power point!!) get one fitted NOW!!!

 

[IcedVolvo]

have you considered providing a by-pass switch for the Redarc so that alternator and solar can supply house batteries in parallel? Output current from alternator is probably much higher than Redarc will carry. Alternator volts may not be sufficiently high for effective charging directly but with a little solar at higher set voltage will be consumed first and charging voltage will rise to that of the solar. Direct connection of vehicle and house batteries may also be useful for starting some day.

Truck is 24V and house is 12V so you need to convert down. Can either use a 13.8V converter (dumb charging and the biggest I have seen is 40A) or the REDARC (smart charging with 40A). I am not aware of any other solutions. As to Solar we don't have enough roof space to get 40A of charging so cannot exceed the REDARC anyway. We do have a second 30A solar regulator which we could parallel (the two spare yellow tipped leads in the box). But to be honest solar is a pain as I generally do not want to park in the sun!!! We can only charge at max 60A anyway (we have 200Ah capacity => charge at C/3 ~ 60A).

When driving batteries charge in a few hours from night before (TV and fridge main users). If not driving small 2kW generator can heat water and charge batteries in less than an hour (240V output => bulk (40A) + 13.8V output => solar (10A) = ~ 50A).