MAN 4x4 Truck camper build

[jervig]

Ha ha, you here!! I think my colour is slightly different from yours. It is unlucky me my 4th

1st: we drove 315.000 km with it and it is sold
2nd: stolen in 2012 in Switzerland
3rd: Temporary Truck for last and next trip, now for sale and available 10/2014
4: It will be grey with orange accents.

Groetjes,

Jeroen

 

[SpudBoy]

The grey looks nice. A bit more interesting than plain white, but we decided on white for the hot Australian sun, which will make it a few degrees cooler.

Did you ever get your one stolen in Switzerland back? I wouldn't have thought that many of these types of vehicles get stolen. Pretty hard to hide one, and they are not so common that they can get "rebirthed" as another vehicle.

 

[SpudBoy]

Progress came to a standstill last week when the temperatures here were up around 43 degrees. That's about 110 in American temperature! Not nice for working "outside".

This week has seen the installation of the bed and the gas cooker, and nearly the kitchen sink (if only I could decide where I wanted it).

The bed sits on a neat ventilation system called Froli, which is normally used on yachts to stop the bottom of the mattress from going moldy. Got the bed all installed and tested it out for a night, even though it was just in the front yard!

We've taken it down to a couple of local beaches (about 100Kms from here). Was too gutless to go beach bashing. The thought of it getting bogged was more than I could bear on its first outing It drives very nicely, and will sit on 100KM/h when the road is smooth and wide. On narrow, bumpy, twisty roads you feel all of the 9 tonnes of weight behind you, and the speed is much more moderate. On normal local roads it happily sits on 85-90Km/h. When I get more experience driving it I'm sure I'll tackle things with more confidence.

Plonked in the gas cooker today. Easy/simple job, but it feels like a bit of progress nonetheless.

Here's a couple of photos. The Froli bed system:

Bed all set up:

The mattress was an Ikea special. It was out for half price, so I grabbed it. It is only a standard double bed size, but it is plenty big enough, and extremely comfortable.

Cooker and nearly the sink installed:

Links to more info on the blog: Setting-up-the-bed and Cooker-and-kitchen-sink but they're not very exciting posts....

 

[SpudBoy]

We've had a couple of German visitors this week too, so that's distracted us from doing building things.

I discovered each of them independently (one at the local Mercedes dealer and one via some other German friends) and it turns out they know each other! They both travelled from Germany to Australia in their campers and ended up in Adelaide a week apart.

Got lots of good ideas from checking out their vehicles. One had a Mercedes 4x4 and the other a MAN.

They are both heading across to Perth via different paths, and heading off to South America. Both very interesting couples.

A bit more info here: Visitors-with-big-campers

 

[Overland Hadley]

Progress came to a standstill last week when the temperatures here were up around 43 degrees. That's about 110 in American temperature! Not nice for working "outside".

It is the other side of "not nice for working outside" here in northern Minnesota. We are in our seventh week of fairly constant -20 to -30 (-34*C) temps. It is hard to remember what hot days are like.

Progress on the camper is looking good.

 

[SpudBoy]

That is SERIOUSLY cold! My Brother lived for a year in Duluth before he went to uni, and he was shocked at how cold it got up there. He also came back about 20Kg heavier, so not sure what sort of diet he got with his sponsor family. Mum got him back into shape with meals of vegies and lots of fruit etc.

Must cost you guys a fortune in heating costs ....

 

[charlieaarons]

I live at 61 deg North in Anchorage Alaska. Of course it is warm today, about +5C and raining; but average temp here in Dec-Jan is -5.5C high, -12.5C low. Houses are well insulated and I burn wood; my gas bill was only $138 last month.

Charlie

 

[Overland Hadley]

That is SERIOUSLY cold! My Brother lived for a year in Duluth before he went to uni, and he was shocked at how cold it got up there. He also came back about 20Kg heavier, so not sure what sort of diet he got with his sponsor family. Mum got him back into shape with meals of vegies and lots of fruit etc.

Must cost you guys a fortune in heating costs ....

Small world. I live two hours north of Duluth. Six months of winter can lead to "hearty" meals.

I am lucky in that the place we are currently living in is heated solely with wood. It is a lot of work, but as they say it keeps you warm twice, once splitting and stacking the wood and then again when you burn it.

Sorry for the hijack.

 

[SpudBoy]

Today I got the water heater fixed in. Made a stupid mistake with measurements which has made me cross with myself. The nicely made frame that holds the heater turned out to be a fraction too small, so I am feeling like a complete beginner about this. So basic!

This is the external frame I made and fitted to the truck:

Sadly 5mm too small for the external cover I can't face re-cutting/re-welding/re-painting/re-fitting another frame, so I will "butcher" the cover to make it fit.

The build is strangely "Land-Rover-esque", what with all the rivets and all!!

On the inside I made a stainless plinth for the whole thing to sit on, so at least that went well:

As per usual, link to the blog with a bit more information: Hot-Water-Service-install

 

[Iain_U1250]

David, at the rate you are working at you will be finished long before I am

Great build, and nice truck

 

[SpudBoy]

Haha - I sort of doubt it! You have got a lot more infrastructure built in your Mog than I've got. And you've had a difficult year or two with Trish's illness, so I reckon you'll get back up to speed soon.

We're planning on it taking another year at least to fit things out.

Cheers
David

 

[LukeH]

You really are having fun with the rivet gun. Pointless, adds further water ingress options, but if it gives you pleasure...

I'm interested in how you plan to "travelise" your gas cooker. The pan supports and burner tops on caravan cookers are secured, clipped or retained in some way. On a long distance allroad tourer you're going to encounter corrugations one day; those parts will end up on the floor at best. Do you plan on drilling, attatching or retaining the mobile bits in any way?

I ask because I plan on using a domestic 3 in 1 unit which will have the same issues.
http://www.rosieres.fr/table-cuisson-vitroceramique/four-flexible/pos_cuisinieres_triples.aspx

The french actually fail your motorhome approval if those mobile bits aren't secured, but I've never seen an elegant way of doing it...

 

[SpudBoy]

My other cars are Land Rovers, so I am right at home with rivets!! All the external rivets are sealed. They have a little O ring under each one, built into the design. Not expecting any water ingress.

I am planning on some sort of hinged cutting board to go over the top of the cooker, so hinged on the wall and up when the cooker is in use, and down when travelling, which will 'clamp' the top and the gas ring thingys. Reckon there will be some magnets involved If this is a failure, then we'll have to take the loose stuff off when we are travelling and store it in a shelf. We'll have to see how it goes.

 

[LukeH]

I am planning on some sort of hinged cutting board to go over the top of the cooker, so hinged on the wall and up when the cooker is in use, and down when travelling, which will 'clamp' the top and the gas ring thingys. Reckon there will be some magnets involved

Good idea! Lockdown will simply be included in the "is everything closed?" departure routine. Might just steal that.

 

[SpudBoy]

We've had some interesting visitors from Switzerland in a huge MAN 4x4. Been travelling the world for 6 years, and they reckon they have another 4 in front of them!

This is one heavy truck! It has solid marble bench-tops They reckons it weighs in at over 13 tonnes. It is also very high compared to ours. Their floor is 400mm higher due to the very deep chassis they have built.

See here for more details and pictures if you are interested: Swiss MAN visitors

For our part, the build on our MAN continues slowly. In the last week or two I have got a basic 240v switchboard installed which means we have an internal power point to plug tools into now, and the airconditioner can be run too. I've also built an aluminium "battery box" for my 3 Optima deep-cycle batteries and installed an 8 way fused distribution box for all the 12v items. Should be able to have the internal lights working by the weekend.