Nearing the end

[Marko1960]

Hello All,
Firstly, I'd like to say how much I appreciate the shared knowledge available on this forum. We've made much use of it, as I've been stalking this site for a few years now. Last November we took delivery of an ex mine bus, an ATW 2012 FGB71 with 30000 ks on the clock, with the intention of converting to a motorhome. A few specs on the build:
Diesel hydronic water and air heater.
360 ah Lithium battery.4*250 watt solar
Victron inverter, regulator, charger (1.6kw, 50amp, 70 amp respectively)
Shower in stairwell ala ATW and Earthcruiser.
Composting toilet.
212 litres water. 50 litres filtered water.
70 litre grey water.
All cabinetry Expanded PVC board.
Styromax for back "bedroom" area.
Vast satellite entertainment.
All up about 8 month build.
Cheers, Mark and Chris

 

[Marko1960]

Final pics...

 

[steve66]

Well done.

Is that the airhead composting toilet?

Cheers Steve

 

[Marko1960]

Sure is Steve....at the time of purchase I was only aware of 2 brands available in OZ, Airhead and Natures head. Googling others' preferences it was a near thing, but this one won out....the yachties and North American RV'ers are taking to composters enthusiastically.
Cheers

 

[Bris31]

Welcome and congratulations for your new rig. Looks very neat and clean.
And if you want to share, what are your travel plans?
Cheers

 

[WhereisFranklin]

Well done. You'll have a ball. Those ATW bodies look a great basis for camper conversion.

 

[Marko1960]

Thanks all for the positive responses...I feel like a bit of pretender here, given the excellent ground up builds others have done, whereas I've only really added off the shelf components.
Travel plans.......initially a shake down to Townsville, where our eldest son is (handily he's the GM of an engineering firm). Test our systems, fine tune etc. We are in the Coffs Harbour NSW area, so will go via Dalby, Roma, Emerald, Charters Towers, visiting and staying at various NP's and free camps (we have a real aversion to the clutter and bustle of CP's. Family commitments November at home, then head Southwards for another "lap"....did one in 2014 towing a van. No rush now, as we've both taken an early retirement. We intend to do some work when we find something that suits.
As for the ATW bodies, yes, they're very well built, overbuilt really as they were to comply with mine specs. As such, we have no hope of getting in under the magical 4.5 tonne limit for motorhome registration, but that is a small price to pay for the level of engineering these people put into the truck build.
Cheeers

 

[steve66]

Sure is Steve....at the time of purchase I was only aware of 2 brands available in OZ, Airhead and Natures head. Googling others' preferences it was a near thing, but this one won out....the yachties and North American RV'ers are taking to composters enthusiastically.
Cheers

Thanks, I have the Natures head, agreed there is bugger all difference, I believe the natures head 'inventor' used to work for airhead. There are a few here who have them as well. The Oz distributor says they can't keep up with demand.

I'm 80% done on the build so hope to be fulltime on the road by end of year so may run into you. Enjoy.

Cheers Steve

 

[yabanja]

Very nice! Enjoy your new rig!

Allan

 

[Marko1960]

Just an update...
Took the unit for a test run in July....Coffs Hbr, Carnarvon Gorge, Townsville. There our son made a fuel tank and some lockers, then off further North to Cooktown, finally settling in at Lakefield NP for a few days. Systems worked pretty well, with the exception of the alcahol stove, a Dometic Orego unit. Instructions simply state to use Methylated spirits or denatured alcahol. When garden variety metho, sourced from hardware stores is used (95% v/v Ethanol), the resulting fumes are horrendous. Much research later, Ethanol for use in space heaters (99%v/v Ethanol) was obtained, far less odour. Broken leaf spring and shocks replaced, as mentioned in a previous thread. We are happy with fuel consumption, average of 16 l / 100 km (loaded weight 5.5 tonne).
Composting toilet works well, glad we didn't go down the black water tank route as originally planned.
Since returning home we've been attending to long list of defects and modifications prior to setting off on an extended trip. All up, pretty happy with result.
Cheers

 

[Aussie Iron]

Nicely made lockers and fuel tank. You are going to have to make sure you don't hook the front corner of that tank though as it will be easy to do. I would have made that bottom outside edge at 45°. A little less capacity but a lot safer.

Dan.

 

[Marko1960]

Yep...you've got a point Dan....didn't think of that at the time...we will have to take care.
Cheers

 

[Dadmumof7kids]

Looks like a great set up, random question what bred of tyres are they as I’m very close to needing a set and have given up on the Toyos

 

[Marko1960]

Tyres are Kumho 285/70 R19.5 KRD 02. I've nothing to compare them to so cannot comment on relative performance.

 

[WhereisFranklin]

Looks like a great set up, random question what bred of tyres are they as I’m very close to needing a set and have given up on the Toyos

Yep, Toyos are gone too. I've gone 17s but if you are sticking to 19.5s then consider the Goodrides CM 986 I think. Probably significantly cheaper. ATW have them as Toyo alternatives though you'll likely get them cheaper elsewhere.