dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Yes, this. I was wondering when I first saw the pics why there was no washer on the end of that big bolt. As has been mentioned, limiting straps would be easy to do.
Hello Russia! Welcome!
Is this a Unimog failure or a GXV failure? (Pic included)
- Thread starter Marv800
- Start date
Yes, this. I was wondering when I first saw the pics why there was no washer on the end of that big bolt. As has been mentioned, limiting straps would be easy to do.
Hello Russia! Welcome!
wild mechanic
New member
Around the world are building roads for the car .. In Russia, the build machines for the road. We speak Russian-called road is the place where they want to travel. Therefore, the way we have, everywhere, even in places where they do not -))), Vladimir, good health to you!
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Words for overlands to live by! Хорошо сказал! Спасибо! (Two can play the Google game.)
rblackwell
Adventurer
Meeting in Ulanbaatar - Upgrades to the camper mounts
If you have been reading our journal (or regular posts) you know that on Tuesday 4th June Mike Van Pelt, the owner of Global Expedition Vehicles, arrived in Ulanbaatar Mongolia to do some upgrades to the camper mounting system on our vehicle.
Following the problem we experienced with the camper mounts on the road to Yakutsk and it's subsequent fix (which I have commented on in the post Response to expeditionportal thread) Mike and I had an email exchange around the question of the strength of the camper mounting system. Arising from this discussion, and to my astonishment, Mike's decided (without any pushng from me) to fly to Ulanbaatar, Mongolia with upgraded upper mounting plates and install them in on our camper.
What Mike said to me about his decision was that he wanted to make sure the mounts were "as strong as they could be" while we were in UB rather than risk having another problem in some (even more) remote place.
So on June 4th, not only did Mike appear at our guest house in UB, but he arrived with newly fabricated upper mounts and associated parts and adhesives, and more over had arranged a repair facility that turned out to be very professional. Two days later the new upper mounts were installed and we were set to continue our travels.
I cannot overstate how impressed (blown away would be a better word) I am with this latest example of great support from GXV. That Mike was able to arrange repair facilities and people here in Ulanbaatar from the US boggles my mind.
Personally I put Mike's actions down to two things. Firstly he is an experienced overlander and understands very clearly what it means to have a vehicle problem "in the middle of nowhere". Secondly he is totally committed to his goal of building a world class expedition vehicle.
When we had our problem near Yakutsk, Mike said to me "we [GXV] will do whatever it takes to get you going" - he has lived up to that statement beyond all my expectations and hopes.
All I can say is - Mike, thank you.
PS - examining our existing upper mounts in the workshop after removing them Mike and both concluded they would have been fine. But we both felt happy to be safe rather than sorry.
If you have been reading our journal (or regular posts) you know that on Tuesday 4th June Mike Van Pelt, the owner of Global Expedition Vehicles, arrived in Ulanbaatar Mongolia to do some upgrades to the camper mounting system on our vehicle.
Following the problem we experienced with the camper mounts on the road to Yakutsk and it's subsequent fix (which I have commented on in the post Response to expeditionportal thread) Mike and I had an email exchange around the question of the strength of the camper mounting system. Arising from this discussion, and to my astonishment, Mike's decided (without any pushng from me) to fly to Ulanbaatar, Mongolia with upgraded upper mounting plates and install them in on our camper.
What Mike said to me about his decision was that he wanted to make sure the mounts were "as strong as they could be" while we were in UB rather than risk having another problem in some (even more) remote place.
So on June 4th, not only did Mike appear at our guest house in UB, but he arrived with newly fabricated upper mounts and associated parts and adhesives, and more over had arranged a repair facility that turned out to be very professional. Two days later the new upper mounts were installed and we were set to continue our travels.
I cannot overstate how impressed (blown away would be a better word) I am with this latest example of great support from GXV. That Mike was able to arrange repair facilities and people here in Ulanbaatar from the US boggles my mind.
Personally I put Mike's actions down to two things. Firstly he is an experienced overlander and understands very clearly what it means to have a vehicle problem "in the middle of nowhere". Secondly he is totally committed to his goal of building a world class expedition vehicle.
When we had our problem near Yakutsk, Mike said to me "we [GXV] will do whatever it takes to get you going" - he has lived up to that statement beyond all my expectations and hopes.
All I can say is - Mike, thank you.
PS - examining our existing upper mounts in the workshop after removing them Mike and both concluded they would have been fine. But we both felt happy to be safe rather than sorry.
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wild mechanic
New member
Роб,доброго времени суток! Очень рад узнать, что у Вас с Ниной всё хорошо. Если не трудно, дай посмотреть фото того, что получилось после ремонта?
Rob, Good day! Very glad to know that you are all well and Nina. If not difficult, let me see pictures of what happened after the repair?
Rob, Good day! Very glad to know that you are all well and Nina. If not difficult, let me see pictures of what happened after the repair?
dwh
Tail-End Charlie
Overland Hadley
on a journey
Very glad to hear that things are well and you are happy with the outcome of the service and repairs. 
In my mind, what makes an outfit professional is not that mistakes or problems do not happen, but how they are handled and dealt with. It sounds like GXV has been very professional to work with.
In my mind, what makes an outfit professional is not that mistakes or problems do not happen, but how they are handled and dealt with. It sounds like GXV has been very professional to work with.
rblackwell
Adventurer
Iain_U1250
Explorer
This has been a very interesting read - I wish more people would be honest about what has gone wrong in their vehicles as it helps all the people who are building their own. I take on board all comments about my design choices on my thread, whilst sometime it is difficult to admit making a mistake, it is a lot better than finding out I was wrong in the middle of the desert or Siberia
I've tried on mine to ensure everything will survive a round the world trip, and although many of the things I have done can be described as overkill, I hope the won't break down and leave us stranded in Siberia as we won't have the benefit of getting the great customer service that GXV have shown. I will only be able to blame myself
Some very good tips about labels and wiring - I know that I did not label all the wires on my build properly. I thought that writing the circuit name on the wire would be good enough - but then after fitting the wires I found I have cut the names off. Luckily I have not finished everything and it only took a few hours to trace each wire back to the control panel and put some more labels on them. It is surprising how you forget what each wire you installed was for after a year. After reading this thread and looking at the wiring I decided to get some proper labels and label everything, and also make a decent wiring diagram and have it laminated and stuck into the back of the main switch board.
There have been some great lessons learnt on various threads. After reading about plumbing failure I went back and fitted the proper inserts in each pipe at each connection, and also fitted the locking clips to all of my hot and cold water piping - easy to do since I also decided to make all my plumbing is fully accessible - none of it is mounted behind glued in cabinets. I have seen plumbing failure numerous times on various camper threads. The total cost was around $50, and about two evenings work to undo and redo each connection.
The other common failure is water tanks - loads of people have built in water tanks, often stainless steel and after a year or two have to rip up floors or remove camper off the chassis to fix a leaking tank. After seeing that happen so often, I made sure my water tanks are independent, and can be removed from the truck fairly easily.
The other thing is a proper vermin proof floor - last thing I need is a mouse plague in the lining of my truck. Hopefully mice won't chew through 2mm of aluminium.
I probably have a lot to learn about really cold weather - kind of difficult to find the right stuff here in Australia, but I think I've done enough insulation wise.
Last thing is weight - so many camper trucks as massively heavy and that leads to failures. I have tried as best I can to minimise the weight, and all going well I should have a fair bit of carrying capacity left. I plan to weight the Unimog next month as it will almost be finished as far as gear installation is concerned, and I will also check the weight of my Land Rover before heading off on our next adventure.
I've tried on mine to ensure everything will survive a round the world trip, and although many of the things I have done can be described as overkill, I hope the won't break down and leave us stranded in Siberia as we won't have the benefit of getting the great customer service that GXV have shown. I will only be able to blame myself
Some very good tips about labels and wiring - I know that I did not label all the wires on my build properly. I thought that writing the circuit name on the wire would be good enough - but then after fitting the wires I found I have cut the names off. Luckily I have not finished everything and it only took a few hours to trace each wire back to the control panel and put some more labels on them. It is surprising how you forget what each wire you installed was for after a year. After reading this thread and looking at the wiring I decided to get some proper labels and label everything, and also make a decent wiring diagram and have it laminated and stuck into the back of the main switch board.
There have been some great lessons learnt on various threads. After reading about plumbing failure I went back and fitted the proper inserts in each pipe at each connection, and also fitted the locking clips to all of my hot and cold water piping - easy to do since I also decided to make all my plumbing is fully accessible - none of it is mounted behind glued in cabinets. I have seen plumbing failure numerous times on various camper threads. The total cost was around $50, and about two evenings work to undo and redo each connection.
The other common failure is water tanks - loads of people have built in water tanks, often stainless steel and after a year or two have to rip up floors or remove camper off the chassis to fix a leaking tank. After seeing that happen so often, I made sure my water tanks are independent, and can be removed from the truck fairly easily.
The other thing is a proper vermin proof floor - last thing I need is a mouse plague in the lining of my truck. Hopefully mice won't chew through 2mm of aluminium.
I probably have a lot to learn about really cold weather - kind of difficult to find the right stuff here in Australia, but I think I've done enough insulation wise.
Last thing is weight - so many camper trucks as massively heavy and that leads to failures. I have tried as best I can to minimise the weight, and all going well I should have a fair bit of carrying capacity left. I plan to weight the Unimog next month as it will almost be finished as far as gear installation is concerned, and I will also check the weight of my Land Rover before heading off on our next adventure.
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rblackwell
Adventurer
This has been a very interesting read - I wish more people would be honest about what has gone wrong in their vehicles as it helps all the people who are building their own. I take on board all comments about my design choices on my thread, whilst sometime it is difficult to admit making a mistake, it is a lot better than finding out I was wrong in the middle of the desert or Siberia
I've tried on mine to ensure everything will survive a round the world trip, and although many of the things I have done can be described as overkill, I hope the won't break down and leave us stranded in Siberia as we won't have the benefit of getting the great customer service that GXV have shown. I will only be able to blame myself
Some very good tips about labels and wiring - I know that I did not label all the wires on my build properly. I thought that writing the circuit name on the wire would be good enough - but then after fitting the wires I found I have cut the names off. Luckily I have not finished everything and it only took a few hours to trace each wire back to the control panel and put some more labels on them. It is surprising how you forget what each wire you installed was for after a year. After reading this thread and looking at the wiring I decided to get some proper labels and label everything, and also make a decent wiring diagram and have it laminated and stuck into the back of the main switch board.
There have been some great lessons learnt on various threads. After reading about plumbing failure I went back and fitted the proper inserts in each pipe at each connection, and also fitted the locking clips to all of my hot and cold water piping - easy to do since I also decided to make all my plumbing is fully accessible - none of it is mounted behind glued in cabinets. I have seen plumbing failure numerous times on various camper threads. The total cost was around $50, and about two evenings work to undo and redo each connection.
The other common failure is water tanks - loads of people have built in water tanks, often stainless steel and after a year or two have to rip up floors or remove camper off the chassis to fix a leaking tank. After seeing that happen so often, I made sure my water tanks are independent, and can be removed from the truck fairly easily.
The other thing is a proper vermin proof floor - last thing I need is a mouse plague in the lining of my truck. Hopefully mice won't chew through 2mm of aluminium.
I probably have a lot to learn about really cold weather - kind of difficult to find the right stuff here in Australia, but I think I've done enough insulation wise.
Last thing is weight - so many camper trucks as massively heavy and that leads to failures. I have tried as best I can to minimise the weight, and all going well I should have a fair bit of carrying capacity left. I plan to weight the Unimog next month as it will almost be finished as far as gear installation is concerned, and I will also check the weight of my Land Rover before heading off on our next adventure.
Iain
Some good comments.
A couple of the ongoing conversations I am having with Mike and GXV (and I am confident they are taking the comments on board) are:
access - on a tip like ours (as many people have pointed out) things break. All major systems and connections must be accessible and must be accessible without needing to destroy walls/cabinets. Back in the US if I have to break a cabinet to access a faulty system (such as say the diesel cooktop) thats not a big deal as I can get the cabinet rebuilt by GXV or the local carpenter. But here in Olgii in the far west of Mongolia that is not possible. So as every component is installed someone should ask - so how would I access that if I had to fix it.
screws - it is common practice for US manufacturers of (even off-road) motorhomes to use screws extensively in the construction of their products. They get used on cabinet door hinges, to hold down microwave ovens and other appliances, to hold a refrigerator in place, and many other places.
Our experience is that after traveling for extended periods on rough roads screws eventually fall out. Vibration causes a screw to work and enlarge the hole it is in and after enough of this the screw simply falls out. This is even true where the screws are into a robust material like fiberglass panels or aluminum.
I have discussed this with a couple of European camper owners (one of whom built his own camper). And I got the following two opinions.
One guy said "never use screws" but instead "put thread inserts in and use bolts". he admitted that this is expensive.
The other fellow (who built his own) said that he used screws in his camper but - only where a screw could be put into metal - screws into wood - NEVER.
We have found issues in our camper related to both of these topics, and of course it is too late (generally speaking) to go back and rebuild our camper to comply with these two "principles". The only consolation I can take is that future GXV customers will benefit from our experience.
Cold weather - In our Provan Tiger we camped in temperatures down to -30C (-32F). We found the secret was have the water tank inside the camper envelope, used pipe and connectors that will survive being frozen (PEX with brass connectors). The head of the water pump (that contains the pressure shutoff valve) was the most temperature sensitive part of the fresh water system. We placed a single 12 volt light bulb on top of the water pump head to stop it freezing.
Our GXV camper uses a Webasto hydronic system to heat the engine and camper (also the engine heats water and keeps the camper warm while the engine is running).
A great system that we really love. It draws a deal of DC current and without a good battery pack it might be a problem on a real cold long night.
Iain_U1250
Explorer
Great tips Rob,
I understand the thing about screws and agree 100% - avoid if possible. It has been a pain, but I have injected epoxy glue to each screw hole on my cabinets - and have limited the use of screws to the hinges ( s/steel piano hinge to spread the load), the drawer catches and to only two drawer runners. The cabinets are made from a Laminex/ply/foam composite - the doors are only 12mm thick and weight very little . On the two main "kitchen" drawers, I have the normal draw runners I which have screws with epoxy which the foam absorbs to make a solid block, then added another runner underneath to take the weight of the drawer.
I have a Webasto ST90 system very similar to your for heating and hot water - I first saw in Ron's GXV http://gxvmoghvn.webs.com/ when he visited us in Australia and was kind enough to take us through all the things in his truck in detail. We also decided that diesel power would be the way to go, similar Webasto X100 cooktop, also thanks to our time with Ron but we will make something to protect it. We don't have the same battery banks you do, only 400AH but may pack a little Honda genset for our round the world trip.
Safe travels and enjoy your trip.
I understand the thing about screws and agree 100% - avoid if possible. It has been a pain, but I have injected epoxy glue to each screw hole on my cabinets - and have limited the use of screws to the hinges ( s/steel piano hinge to spread the load), the drawer catches and to only two drawer runners. The cabinets are made from a Laminex/ply/foam composite - the doors are only 12mm thick and weight very little . On the two main "kitchen" drawers, I have the normal draw runners I which have screws with epoxy which the foam absorbs to make a solid block, then added another runner underneath to take the weight of the drawer.
I have a Webasto ST90 system very similar to your for heating and hot water - I first saw in Ron's GXV http://gxvmoghvn.webs.com/ when he visited us in Australia and was kind enough to take us through all the things in his truck in detail. We also decided that diesel power would be the way to go, similar Webasto X100 cooktop, also thanks to our time with Ron but we will make something to protect it. We don't have the same battery banks you do, only 400AH but may pack a little Honda genset for our round the world trip.
Safe travels and enjoy your trip.