MB 1120 Coming to America! Purchase, Build and Now Travel!
- Thread starter VerMonsterRV
- Start date
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Yup. I have a set (6, 2 spares) of the Kronprinz 11.75x22.5 rims in the shed (imported from Germany as the 1120 is an 8 lug truck). I was waiting to fit them and the new tires until after all the spray painting was completed. I have a guy at the end of our road that does mobile truck tire service getting a quote for some General Tire Grabber 385/65R22.5 tires. They will likely be mounted in a couple of weeks before we start to assemble the habitat. Funny thing is, my wife who is not a "car guy" seems to be really excited about getting the tires
and keeps asking when we can get them.Thanks Neil, yeah we are getting pretty excited as we are pretty much past the tear down stage and started the rebuilding. We are hoping to one day meet up with you guys in some remote place. The goal is to have the truck mostly finished for next summer.
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Congrats! Nice progress!
The gentleman who imported our 917 swapped out the seats for "Rubicon" racing seats. They are bolted in with no suspension and are, in fact, very comfortable. My only gripe was that they were too low and I developed serious patellar tendinitis. (I have since raised the seats and, since the cab is too short to allow me to extend my legs, I make a point of getting out and stretching every hour. Of course, I am nearly 70 years old and two meters tall!)
Would be interested to learn if you think that the sound mats make a real difference.
Having a vehicle with a practical top speed of about 55mph presents an interesting conundrum - drive the motor ways and you are stuck in the right lane, but at least everyone can pass you. Drive the two lane stuff and you have to pull off the road even 15 minutes or so to let everyone pass you. To paraphrase Sammy Hagar, "No one drives 55!"
The gentleman who imported our 917 swapped out the seats for "Rubicon" racing seats. They are bolted in with no suspension and are, in fact, very comfortable. My only gripe was that they were too low and I developed serious patellar tendinitis. (I have since raised the seats and, since the cab is too short to allow me to extend my legs, I make a point of getting out and stretching every hour. Of course, I am nearly 70 years old and two meters tall!)
Would be interested to learn if you think that the sound mats make a real difference.
Having a vehicle with a practical top speed of about 55mph presents an interesting conundrum - drive the motor ways and you are stuck in the right lane, but at least everyone can pass you. Drive the two lane stuff and you have to pull off the road even 15 minutes or so to let everyone pass you. To paraphrase Sammy Hagar, "No one drives 55!"
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
I am really hoping the FatMat quiets the truck down a bit. I did notice in the disassembly of the interior that the floor mats already have some sound deadening applied to the bottoms. I already notice a distinct difference just closing the door after installing the FatMat, sounds more solid and less tinny. My guess is the roof, rear wall and doors will benefit the most as they were large flat metal panels which resonate sound well. I also hope the color change from red to white, will help keep the cab cooler.
Our new air suspension seats are supposed to arrive Thursday, I plan to be ready to install them once they arrive. They have air lumbar adjustment along with the suspension which I hope will make them a bit more comfortable than the factory originals.
Our new air suspension seats are supposed to arrive Thursday, I plan to be ready to install them once they arrive. They have air lumbar adjustment along with the suspension which I hope will make them a bit more comfortable than the factory originals.
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Got the new National Seating Captain Lo seats today. Took the old original seat base and held it up to the base of the new seats. All the planets seemed to be lined up ans the holes matched! Oh man, this will be easy and I bolted in the drivers seat. Then onto the passenger. All bolted up then I noticed the seat is too far over near the door and the armrest will fowl the door handle. Looks like a bit of modification will be needed. Either drill new holes in the floor and slide the seat over a couple inches (50 mill for those in countries with a more advanced and logical measuring system) or do a bit of welding on the seat base. I am sort of leaning towards the new holes, what do you guys think?
p.s. I'll upload a couple of pictures when all is settled. They seem to fit well and am looking forward to seeing how comfortable they are down the road.
p.s. I'll upload a couple of pictures when all is settled. They seem to fit well and am looking forward to seeing how comfortable they are down the road.
Roverchef said:
There is no need to ditch them. These tires are quite special; once they have a "duel", there will only be one tire remaining on each side and the problem will have resolved itself.
Jonturgeon said:
Please forgive us sire, for we know not what we do.
Could not agree with you more. The US is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, yet one of only two countries who have not officially adopted the metric system. Libya is the other, for those who may be wondering.
Truck is looking good. I wish I could have caught up with you while you were in Georgia.
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
No worries about that, my parents retired to FL so I am sure we will be going through Georgia with the truck once it is finished.
So a quick update. The interior, minus the carpets, window winders and a few dash switches is complete. For some reason I do not have a picture of the new Android stereo/nav system I installed in the headliner. This required a bit of fiber-glassing to heighten the radio slot there, then a new foam backed headliner to be glued in. Will post that one once I get the truck back (more on that). The stereo also required a bit of thought where to put the speakers, so this is what I cam up with. The trim was painted using SEM paint, black/gray. There is a matching tweeter in the headliner in the normal small speaker spot. I molded these door pockets using the original as a mold with a bit of foam added.
I also changed out the original mirrors. One reason was the passenger side was a bit melted from, I guess, getting too close to a fire. I also wanted a blind spot mirror. Heather is in process removing the black tape that was between the windows to paint it black (done now).
You can see in the picture above that holes for the eventual roof rack/light bar (this is not intended for heavy weights). So the truck is currently at the fabricators having the aluminum plate rolled and the subframe tweaked a bit (the wings drooped a bit, I missed checking this when we picked up the subframe in FL). Also getting some guide plates (for the subframe) installed and getting a quote for a aluminum gray water tank. I will wait on the actual roof rack until the habitat is installed as I want it to form to the habitat.
We also got notice that all of the Tern Overland windows/doors and hatches have shipped and we should be getting them on Monday! Thanks David and Aimee. We are waiting on an ETA for the habitat from Total Composites, can't wait to get the box and start putting this thing together! We are starting to get pretty attached to this truck
.
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Oh, forgot to mention. I needed to get some rubber door looms since the original door never had any wiring to it. So a trip to the local salvage yard had a junked Subaru and the rear door ones worked out pretty well.
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Hey all, Andreas did let me know the Total Composites kit should arrive Oct 5th! Can't wait and thanks Andreas for the update. Also the Tern windows/doors are now awaiting pickup at the local FedEx. Why are they waiting, well our home of the last 18 years (our sailboat) is in North Carolina, not in the direct path of Florence but close enough where there could be problems. We did a bit of a rush down from Vermont on Monday and have spent the last couple of days trying to get the boat ready for the storm. We left the boat yesterday and are now in a hotel in Raleigh, so not worried about ourselves, just the boat. Strange thing is I am more worried about the boat sitting in a boatyard than I was when we were crossing oceans.
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Hey all, just got news that our boat made it through Florence ok! The water level rose about 7 feet and is on the way down, I figured at about 8' we might start to have problems. Anyway, for now we can continue on with the plan to move the build from Vermont to North Carolina for the winter (while we live aboard the boat).
So a brief truck update, right before we left Vermont for the storm we picked up the truck from the fabricator. The company that built the subframe was not as accurate as I prefer so I needed someone to make a few adjustments. The adjustments were done along with getting the aluminum mounting plates (1/4" plate, with countersunk fasteners) for the roof rack rolled and installed. He is also working up a quote for the aluminum profiles I need for the Total Composites box (45 degree corners) and a aluminum gray water tank that will mount between the subframe rails.
So a brief truck update, right before we left Vermont for the storm we picked up the truck from the fabricator. The company that built the subframe was not as accurate as I prefer so I needed someone to make a few adjustments. The adjustments were done along with getting the aluminum mounting plates (1/4" plate, with countersunk fasteners) for the roof rack rolled and installed. He is also working up a quote for the aluminum profiles I need for the Total Composites box (45 degree corners) and a aluminum gray water tank that will mount between the subframe rails.
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Well we are back at it. I have started to think about the springs for the subframe. The fabricator I used for some modifications to the subframe thought that springs that were about 100lbs per inch would be right. Does this sound right?