MB 1120 Coming to America! Purchase, Build and Now Travel!

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

door trim: the arctic tern entry door comes with somewhat stiff rubber trim to cover the transition between door frame and wall. Warming the rubber up before you work it helps a lot but still requires some harsh wording... the other thing is that the door is designed for 45mm wall thickness. Our sidewalks are 50mm, so just a little bit thicker. This makes the rubber seal install just another bit more interesting...
Its all about compromises when we are designing the campers and select the suppliers... there is not a single one size fits all solution when it comes to this. But we are trying to improve and listen with each feedback we are getting. Hence us manufacturing our own composite entry door.

Thanks for the info @Victorian

In the end, does it work with the bug screen? That was a pretty big selling point for me.. Because... Alaska...

I checked high and low on the YouTube and didnt see many videos of a detailed install of the door and the trim issues. Maybe ill make one to help others.

 

[Joe917]

From my experience I would say forget the door bug screen and use your windows. With open windows and closed bug screens the screen quickly collects dozens of mosquitos waiting to get in. At this point lifting the bug screen to close the window is the green light for bug entry. Closing the black out blind for a bit before attempting to close the window seems to disburse the bugs. With a screen door you will not have the option.

 

[Victorian]

Thanks for the info @Victorian

In the end, does it work with the bug screen? That was a pretty big selling point for me.. Because... Alaska...

I checked high and low on the YouTube and didnt see many videos of a detailed install of the door and the trim issues. Maybe ill make one to help others.

Yes of course the bug screen does work.
Although as Joe917 mentioned, a loose fabric screen is probably better. We did not even design or look for a fixed frame screen for our gateway doors. We simply bought a magnetic bug screen at the dollar store

 

[Victorian]

Here is a simple powerpoint video we did a couple years ago for the Arctic Tern Door.

 

[RTWLES]

Very nice. Congratulations!

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Hey all, we have been away for a bit taking care of some family stuff. We are a couple of days away from returning to the truck but I have a few minutes for a quick update. Our friends we were visiting in Idaho are people we met sailing in the South Pacific. We ended up getting to know them pretty well and they are good friends. Anyway they are both retired airline pilots and have a very cool Cessna 185 that is setup for back country airstrips. So we loaded up the plane, flew out and spent 2 nights on a grass airstrip in the back country. Very cool and and is what I refer to as Phase 3 of my life plan (Phase 1 was the sailing bit, Phase 2 is the truck travel and if all goes according to my long range plans Phase 3 will be a small plane). Our friends plane is on the right. A couple of their plane friends also flew out, the plane on the left is one of them.


This was the nearby river and a bridge that crosses it. These are setup for hikes and pack animals as there are no roads into these areas.


When we get back I will continue work on the air compressor system. A few more parts arrived while we have been away so I can install those. Also the expansion tank arrived for the cooling system. I am still waiting on a new coolant hose from Latvia though. Once those go in hopefully our coolant loss problem will go away, if not we might need to bite the bullet and drive to see Rob Pickering.

Also, Stefan from the LN2 forum may have solved my occasional ignition key removal problem. He gave a very detailed description of how this system works here https://ln2-forum.de/thread-1344.html. Since I replaced the alternator and have since been bouncing all over the place I will check those connections first.

 

[mog]

Phase 2 is the truck travel and if all goes according to my long range plans Phase 3 will be a small plane.

If we have learned anything from your MB1120 build, it will look something like this

 

[VerMonsterRV]

When and if I we et to the point I am considering a KitFox. I mean once the truck is finished I will need another project . The factory for these kits is near by but due to Covid are not doing tours. Hopefully they will open up before we leave this area because I would love to take a look, plus our friend here would also like to go along. Oh, our friends here are building a Sprinter 4WD van right now. It is going together beautifully and once finished we will do a bit of travel with them. I am trying to help them along the way by installing a very nice stereo for them while he puts the finishing touches on the shower stall and kitchen counter.

So a bit of a travel trip update, we are back in Idaho and spent the last few days in the Sawtooth National Wilderness. Still a bit early for us to backpack though as it snowed one of the nights (I know, we are a bit soft). Anyway, here are a few pictures of our day hikes into the mountains, we really loved it there.










And a truck update, our ignition key removal/charging issue seems to finally be resolved. A replacement alternator arrived while we were hiking and as soon as we limped back to our friends house I installed it and all is now well. The failed alternator was only 11.5 months old. As it was the only one I know of available in the USA I got the same one, but now I am looking for a higher quality one (if anyone knows of a USA source please let me know). Also the expansion tank from the UK and the needed coolant hose from Latvia arrived so hopefully our coolant loss problem with also be resolved. And the cab rooftop AC is now functioning after replacing 2 PCB under warranty! Today I will work on mounting the 5 gallon air tank to the subframe, once that is in I can start the air tube plumbing for the onboard air system. I now think I have all the small bits to make this system work so hopefully it will go quickly. Oh yeah, a couple more small projects have been completed. We now have 2 rear cameras, one acting as a rear view mirror and one as a backup. Really nice to finally see what is going on back there. And we have an outdoor water outlet from Aquor. Nice flush fit cast stainless outlet with a twist on handle that turns on the water. We have a short hose with with a sprayer on the end attached to the blue handle. Nice to rinse off the dust after a hike and give the motorbike a bath (it takes a dust beating riding out back on the lift). I learned about Aquor from their original marine business casting high quality stainless boat parts. Good stuff.

 

[Joe917]

Rob at Terry Lee ( http://www.terryleeenterprises.com/ ) can get you any part you need, he is very familiar with MB.

 

[PaxG56]

I'm not familiar with your particular alternator but if you are near an industrial area or larger city a rebuild might be a better option. I've had bad luck with remanufactured units and found that a local starter/alternator shop can typically do a better job and sometimes at a more reasonable price.

 

[Sitec]

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Those pictures there sum up exactly why we build trucks! How nice is it to have the ability to drive into a stunning location like that, then park up and explore for as long as we like whilst living in comfort, then leave without leaving a trace. Love it!

 

[VerMonsterRV]

So I have pretty much decided to remove the cylinder head with hopes that the head gasket will be the source of our coolant loss problem. We are in the Portland OR area and trying to decide whether to tackle this job ourselves or have it done. If we try and have it done any chance any of you know a good truck mechanic in this area? Kind of hard to hand over the truck to a random unknown mechanic. I have already printed out the WIS instructions for the head removal/install which requires removing the air pump first (different set of instructions). So a lot of parts need to be removed and reinstalled (intake/exhaust manifolds, turbo, injector plumbing, rockers, fuel filter, air pump etc). Never worked on an engine like this so would definitely be a slow process if I take a whack at doing it (and it may be nuts to even try). Either way, unless I go to Terry Lee I would need to provide the mechanic with the WIS info and the needed parts. I can get a complete top end gasket kit out of Europe but the parts I am having a bit of trouble tracking down (internet searches) are all the various O rings. Sort of hoped to have all the parts ready to go when the destruction starts.

 

[Joe917]

Try Pacific Power Group.
They service Mercedes and can order parts, They will have the epc for your truck,or at least for your engine. They were very helpful when we had problems in Anchorage with our 1993 917AF.

 

[DiploStrat]

Rob sourced our alternator from Adam Nations. We went with the 24v 100A unit in stock. There was a 200A unit at around $1,000, but it would have had to be ordered.

Adam and his troops are most helpful. And the alternator has not misbehaved.

Nations Starter & High Amp Alternator- Best Quality Starter & Alternator Supply!

 

[VerMonsterRV]

Truck goes into the shop first thing Monday morning. We found a place that seems very interested in working on the truck as the mechanic knows about expedition RV's and wants to work on it. Most places once they heard it was a 1988 and from Europe said nope, not interested. Hopefully will all work out, the parts are supposed to already be there waiting us. Thanks guys for the tips, I ended up having to order the parts directly from Europe but with DHL they came quickly. I have sent an inquiry about the alternator, will be curious to find out what options they have.

So, to keep the miles down on the truck we decided to do a 3 night backpack trip in Olympic NP. Great fun and even got a bit of a workout!

Trail was a bit sketchy thru this part, took us a bit of extra time to work our way thru here.


We camped one of the nights right next to this lake.


And Heather admiring the mountains across across the way, we hiked down the other side to a river crossing then back up this side.