Lowly the Lorry. . .

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

With the entry steps riveted together I took the assembly out to my good friends at Rogue Gear Works to weld them up. This summer Johnny recently broke both legs in an accident so it is great to see him back on the torch!


With the steps welded it was time to cut and drill the adjustable legs:


Voila! Entry steps! I no longer have to monkey my way into the habitat using our scissor lift's ladder and hand rail! The top is held in place by the habitat's T-Slot.


The bottom has two adjustable/retractable legs held in place by detent pins.


I still need to 3D print some feet for the legs to help distribute the load but for now they are serving their intended purpose. When in transit the legs will retract and the entire system will stow between the chassis frame rails in the rear of the truck.

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Built-in cabinet process continues. Sitting area backrest got glued in, creating storage area accessible by large cargo hatches on each side at the rear of the habitat:


Countertop and seating area top plates were installed, allowing the back wall storage shelving unit construction to begin:


With the parts fitting together the installation process began:


Each of the 12 shelves will be closed by a top hinged face, allowing for quick access to clothing and everyday items:


- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Battery box was built but some customization was needed to get the batteries to fit better and be more serviceable once installed:


Replacement battery caps, feet and covers were 3D printed to give just a little more wiggle room between each battery inside the drawer:


8 x 4-cell sub-banks (for a total of 32 cells) will be arranged in series-parallel to create a 12V, 800Ah bank. Caps were printed in a variety of colors to help visually separate the sub-banks:


Tie bars were fabricated to help keep the batteries in place inside the drawer by cross-pinning them through the printed caps and feet:


Full extension, locking drawer slides were installed onto the drawer and then the drawer was installed into the cabinet:


The test fit was a success - this box is heavy! Additional battery bank management components will occupy the drawer's remaining space. A chest refrigerator/freezer will occupy the space above this battery drawer.

- Sheik

 

[Blowby]

Am really enjoying your build and your attention to details.A question for you though as
with the battery box and a chest refrigerator above are you looking at adding any external ventilation for heat buildup?

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Am really enjoying your build and your attention to details.A question for you though as
with the battery box and a chest refrigerator above are you looking at adding any external ventilation for heat buildup?

None at this time. I tried to incorporate as much passive heat dissipation openings around the batteries and chest refrigerators (there will actually be 2 of those) into the habitat's main volume but no dedicated active fans or vents to the exterior for those items. There will be a vent in the ceiling at a centralized location for drawing hot air out if the need arises as well as a 12 volt AC unit that will pump cool air throughout the habitat and into the rear of the cab.

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Diesel and Grey Water tank components have been CNC plasma cut and CNC formed in preparation for fabrication:

Grey water baffles and freeze prevention tube had to be assembled and welded before slipping into the tank's exterior:


Cutout slots on the lid and tabs on the baffles allowed for easy location (along with lots of clamps and right-angle blocks!):


TIG welding the Grey Water internals before they become inaccessible inside the tank:


Grey Water tank laying on its side with the internals slipped into the tank externals:


Johnny at Rogue Gear Works shoulder deep inside the GW tank:


Once the internals were fully welded in, the lid was placed on top and the outside seams were fully welded, along with all of the pass-thru bungs. Stay tuned for finished pics.

- Sheik

 

[RoamIt]

Wow, everything from scratch!

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Tank and box fabrication continues. The diesel tank was next, larger but simpler than the grey water tank in that it doesn't have the heater tube snaking through the baffles. Again, slots/tabs were used to locate the baffles with respect to the lid. Got clamps?


With the baffles welded up, and the tank's end cap tacked in place, the baffle weldment was slid into the tank's shell:


Once the baffles were slipped in and tacked into place, the other end of the tank was tacked on before the heavy welding took place to secure everything together. The last piece to go on was the lid before all the outside seams were fully welded. Finished pics to be posted later.

Next up was the forming of the storage locker/box pieces. These will be taking up the remaining space underneath the truck in front and behind the rear tires not occupied by the grey water and diesel tanks. All parts were CNC plasma cut out of 1/8" aluminum sheet, washed and their edges ground to remove impurities. Next was the task of forming the parts on the CNC press brake:



Lots of double checking measurements, making sure the brake was locating correctly and man-handling the parts. The boxes will have flush fitting doors necessitating a series of bends to allow for good fitment and seal.


These will be pretty sizable, large enough for me to threaten my boys that they will be the places they have to ride if they mis-behave:


Lots of welding yet to be done on these, but so far, so good! I sure do like making progress on big visual pieces of this project.

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

3D printer got fired up to help finish off the stairs. Bump stops were needed behind the top step to keep the stairs from rubbing and squeaking on the habitat's aluminum extrusion. A bit of orange PETG and some rivets did the job:



On the other end, foot pads were needed to help cap the ends of the T-slot telescoping legs and distribute the load on potentially soft ground. A bit of orange nylon and stainless hardware did the trick:


Man, do I love my 3D printer!

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

Cabinet carcass install has been completed - on to fabricating the drawers and cabinet doors. Please keep in mind this is my first rodeo into making these things so without a doubt I'm going about it differently than a professional would, but I do have my reasons!

First big drawer project was the upper and lower pantry pull-outs. All sorts of routering and circular sawing was done to achieve the angled geometry at the front of these tall cabinets to match the geometry of the cabinet carcass as it transitions from the kitchen to the bathroom:


Each of these will be slid in and out on 2 sets of soft closing drawer slides. I have yet to fully install as I'm saving up my frustration for a rainy day.

Next was 9 regularly shaped drawers that occupy the kitchen area and 3 funky shaped drawers that fill out the hallway area. These will all have flush fitting faces with the exposed edges of the baltic birch plywood cabinets.


Getting all of the reveals to be equal and have the soft close drawer slides to line up is going to be a nightmare because these drawers won't have an extra drawer face in the effort to save weight.


In addition to the soft close drawer slides each drawer will have a push-pull locking latch to hopefully ensure the drawers (and cabinet doors) will stay closed on the move:


Tight tolerances are the bane of my engineering existence. I wasn't surprised to find that a few of my drawers were too tight to fit into the cabinet carcasses. Using my router I had to shave down the areas of the drawer sides where the slides attach to make them fit:


While the battery bank will be living in its own dedicated drawer (see post #408) the remaining electrical components will live in a large cabinet above. I figured I'd perforate the top of that cabinet's door to help with air movement (supplied by a couple of temperature controlled 12V fans):


Even though I hate painting, I can't wait to be done with all of this cabinet work so I can at least move on to something different!

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

We will be using a urine diverting/desiccating toilet in Lowly. It will be housed in a compartment adjacent to the shower, sealed in by a large exterior cargo hatch:


The toilet will be mounted to a custom aluminum shelf that slides in/out on super duty locking drawer slides:


The area where the toilet is housed when we are in transit or the shower is in use is directly below the washer/dryer and directly above the inspection port for the inboard fresh water tank:


By sliding out the toilet and then removing a magnetized cabinet panel in the hallway, access should be sufficient to various waste water (urine) and fresh water systems normally tucked out of sight. A step stool will likely be employed for using the toilet because it elevated off the floor (thanks to the space occupied by the fresh water tank):



Most urine diverting toilets come standard with some sort of 1-2 gallon catchment jug and this one is no exception. I don't want to be constantly emptying the pee jug so needed to devise a way to evacuate the urine directly into the effluent water tank on the exterior of the truck. The toilet has a diverting funnel that aims straight down into a jug so I designed a secondary re-directing funnel that would mount in place of the jug. This 3D printed component will transfer urine into a flexible hose (remember this toilet has to slide in and out of its cabinet) while still allowing the toilet to open in order to remove the solid desiccating compartment. Due to all of the angles and constraints it took a few tries but I finally got it sorted:




Enough potty talk for now!

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

The exterior rear of Lowly's habitat will have a pivoting framework that will allow for elevated bicycle storage and a way to lift and lower our spare tires without the need for a complicated and electrically driven 4-bar linkage system. Some of the bits & bobs of this system were discussed in posts #373 and #376. One of the critical components to this framework is a bent cross bar that sits directly above the spare tires and connects both vertical side tubes:


A local muffler shop bent the tube for me but I had to measure 30 times before cutting and coping to fit the uprights using a 3D printed jig, drill and oscillating cutter:


A bit of cleanup using a file and this long chunk of aluminum was ready to get welded up:


Good thing the shop at Rogue Gear works has a high ceiling!


Once welded it was too big to fit into the Sprinter so a bit of cam strap magic was used to transport it home:


With the welded pivot rack/framework installed back on Lowly it was time to start 3D printing the components that will allow at least 4 bikes to be fork mounted above the spare tires:


Looking forward to finishing up this yet-to-be tested pivoting rack system. I sure hope it works as intended!

- Sheik

 

[jaleel_da_sheik]

Lowly Update:

External tanks and storage boxes were welded up by Rogue Gear Works. Time to bring them home and test fit them - good thing I've got a big van!



First had Things 1&2 help assemble the latches onto the box doors:


Got the boxes located underneath the truck behind the rear wheels:


Then jacked and blocked into place:


Diesel tank and its attached box was then located in front of the right rear tire:


Then jacked and blocked into place:


With the tanks and boxes lifted into place I was able to locate and mark angle brackets that will be welded onto their tops. These brackets will then bolt onto the sides of the subframe outriggers, suspending the tanks and boxes underneath the habitat. They are all now back at Rogue Gear Works for finish welding!

- Sheik