Pretty Ugly... 1835, The Build Begins
- Thread starter Madoxen
- Start date
Madoxen
Active member
Hey all sorry it has been so long for me to post, but my excuse did involve a new computer 
The next step for the truck was to start stripping off the deck
trying to loosen the deck from the chassis
thought we had got all the bolts but had missed a few in the ladder and frame, you can also see the sticky stuff they filled between the chassis and the deck frame that just refused to let go and was to compact to get a knife in lol
Friend Brian (who also happens to be a very clever Engineer) helping with the ladder
Right Now we are set and ready to give it a propper nudge
All strapped up
have some videos I will try to post but missed pics of the middle lift part sorry but her she is off
and getting ready for the next part which was to see how much twist the chassis would have
The next step for the truck was to start stripping off the deck
trying to loosen the deck from the chassis
thought we had got all the bolts but had missed a few in the ladder and frame, you can also see the sticky stuff they filled between the chassis and the deck frame that just refused to let go and was to compact to get a knife in lol
Friend Brian (who also happens to be a very clever Engineer) helping with the ladder
Right Now we are set and ready to give it a propper nudge
All strapped up
have some videos I will try to post but missed pics of the middle lift part sorry but her she is off
and getting ready for the next part which was to see how much twist the chassis would have
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Madoxen
Active member
The Torsion test for the chassis was supposed to be very simple and was to use the forklift under the right rear wheels and lift until the other side started to lift, Unfortunately the the forklift could manage about 6 inches then gave up. After a little head scratching we decided to use the rams on the crane and the forklift with wooden blocks to stagger the lift up.
Unfortunatly as per usual I seemed to miss the pics of the rear wheels all but off the ground.
And the results of the effort.
Unfortunatly as per usual I seemed to miss the pics of the rear wheels all but off the ground.
And the results of the effort.
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Madoxen
Active member
The instrument cluster in the dash had a cracked and broken screen as well as very dull lights and a temp gauge that was not working. Behind the screen had filled up with the super fine dust making it very hard to read any of the displays, so I decided to pull it out and see if I could clean it up and get it working a little better
Pic dirty cluster
Hard to read
Once I had pulled this out there was about 10mm of this dirt and dust on every surface and wire behind the dash unfortunately when I looked at it I hit it with the air line which was almost comical in the fact that it exploded and I came out of the cab looking like a snow man, this also got in the way of me taking any pictures of this as I was on a mission to strip out the rest of the plastics and clean out all the vents Filters and any thing else that I could.
These pictures believe it or not are from after the clean up and return of most of the plastics
Clean cluster
clean wires
dash clean all
Pic dirty cluster
Hard to read
Once I had pulled this out there was about 10mm of this dirt and dust on every surface and wire behind the dash unfortunately when I looked at it I hit it with the air line which was almost comical in the fact that it exploded and I came out of the cab looking like a snow man, this also got in the way of me taking any pictures of this as I was on a mission to strip out the rest of the plastics and clean out all the vents Filters and any thing else that I could.
These pictures believe it or not are from after the clean up and return of most of the plastics
Clean cluster
clean wires
dash clean all
I love the big pictures, and great to see some progress.
You can insert just a thumbnail into the post that would assist those not on broadband.
Madoxen
Active member
haha yes that would be a lot of twist , I did give that some thought when we did it but decided that I might over twist the chassis as it would force the right hand wheel into the ground rather than lift it till the other side comes off the ground.Great progress! They look totally different without the tray eh! If you want to do a real twist test, swing the crane out to the right and try and pick the forklift up without the stabilizer legs down! You'll see twist then!
we were told that a true test would lift the right rear wheel until the front right also left the ground then u would have twist . but aint no way in hell I can lift that weight with all the trackters cranes and forklifts we have hehe. well unless i open my can of spinach.
Madoxen
Active member
After much thinking of the pro's and cons I have decided to change over to supersingles from the current duel setup. Part of the reason for this was that we have to get the Torsion free subframe certified which has a cost of about $3000 just for the certification. Being as we are having to pay for this we can make any other changes and also get them certified under the same cost . Changing from duels to single as well as the weight changes and rim size changes all get done at the same time. ( can anyone think of anything else i might need to do at the same time ??)
yesterday I got the sample rim for my supersingles conversion organised through Ben at Kaiapoi Bridgestone ( if you are looking for advice or doing the same thing he is well worth giving a call) , I had to fit the 1 rim on both front and rear check for any binding and also make sure it was all in line.
The rubber was not my 1st choice as I wanted something a bit more knobbly but the bang for buck worked out almost 1/3 of the cost of my original choice so we will see how they go.
I have heard some good things about the Goodride and cant find any negative atm but proof will be in the use of them.
The rim Just tacked in place to check for fitting
Comparison of the front original and the new rim and tyre
there was plenty of room and no binding or contact problems but then I saw the air breaks clip about 5mm off the rummer :-( , I was concerned untill I realised that i can just loosen and turn the clip to 2 and 8 on the clock which looking at the other side will give plenty of room.
The rear was a PITA but worked out all good for fitting and alignment
After the test fit I have given them the go ahead to make 6 rims
yesterday I got the sample rim for my supersingles conversion organised through Ben at Kaiapoi Bridgestone ( if you are looking for advice or doing the same thing he is well worth giving a call) , I had to fit the 1 rim on both front and rear check for any binding and also make sure it was all in line.
The rubber was not my 1st choice as I wanted something a bit more knobbly but the bang for buck worked out almost 1/3 of the cost of my original choice so we will see how they go.
I have heard some good things about the Goodride and cant find any negative atm but proof will be in the use of them.
The rim Just tacked in place to check for fitting
Comparison of the front original and the new rim and tyre
there was plenty of room and no binding or contact problems but then I saw the air breaks clip about 5mm off the rummer :-( , I was concerned untill I realised that i can just loosen and turn the clip to 2 and 8 on the clock which looking at the other side will give plenty of room.
The rear was a PITA but worked out all good for fitting and alignment
After the test fit I have given them the go ahead to make 6 rims
No of passengers possibly? Seatbelts would normally need to go through that process I thought? Cant recall if you were having the ability to carry passengers in the rear. It is something we have found handy in Dad's motorhome. We had a 6 berth, seldom used it more than 2 up as a motorhome, but heading out for the day it was handy to take 6 in one vehicle.
Madoxen
Active member
Hi grizzly, my understanding is that if it is over X% bigger then any tyre change has to be certified and also matched to correct size rim for the tyre
Madoxen
Active member
Hi sAsLEX, yes you are correct extra seats & seatbelts need to be certified, we have 2 self contained air sus seats to be mounted in the Hab box,
I am not certain about passangers though as this for the time being will remain on a commercial reg not RV. So we can swap bodies and continue to use it for work.
This has caused no end of problems with the 4 point torsion system which i will explain in greater deatail in a later post, but long story short the sub frame has had to be massivley overbuilt. Rather than coping with only a payload of maybe 3 or 4 tons it has had to be made to handle the full truck rating, talk about over built haha Sitec you would be prowd of me hehe.
Not to 18 tons as the trucks name implies but to 14 tons due to a quircky rule about max weight allowed per an axle and 2 axle =14 tonns max.
Madoxen
Active member
Well its a little ahead of things but I have just ordered up 4 x 550w solar panels running at 21.46% efficiency, and 32 x 3.2 v 280AH Lifepo4 batteries, will most likely be in 2 x 48v 560AH config but might drop down to 24v 1120AH, if the dropping for charging and 12 /24v is going to be too much like a pain. Will expect delivery in about 3 months lol via Sea freight which was only $198 US to local port for shipping the batteries.
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Madoxen
Active member
Just had a few messages from the supplier Rep Amy who has put the order together and checked all batteries including sending me a video of her checking each individual cell, I must say that I am more than a little impressed with how help full and thorough she has been, I will let you know how they are when they arrive but if any one is interested here is a link
3.2v 280AH lifepo4
some of the pics
Bellow is the spec sheet
280AH Lifepo4.pdf
Also including the spec sheet on the solar panels here 500w~550w.pdf
there are 2 video's showing Amy checking each individual batterie that I can post up, if anyone would like me to put up just ask
3.2v 280AH lifepo4
some of the pics
Bellow is the spec sheet
280AH Lifepo4.pdf
Also including the spec sheet on the solar panels here 500w~550w.pdf
there are 2 video's showing Amy checking each individual batterie that I can post up, if anyone would like me to put up just ask