Shachagra- Family of 5 traveles Europe and Turkey, International 7500

[shachagra]

Doug,

I cannot thank you enough for documenting so much of your build for all of us. My wife and I have considered extensive travel with our two sons and four daughters, but simply have not been able to find an RV, fifth wheel, etc that has a configuration that meets our needs. We had all but given up when I stumbled on Shachagra. Saying that I am impressed is simply an understatement. What you have done is amazing.

After reviewing much of the information here, I feel that completing our own build, using some of your ideas, may be exactly what we need in order to accommodate our sleeping, cooking, and homeschool needs.

One big question that I have is in regards to the length of Shachagra. Can you please tell us what the overall length is from the front bumper to the rear of the truck? I am also curious of the length measurement of the overall box / hull from where it connects to the cab, measured to the rear as well. I think a similar truck would work for us, but with a longer wheelbase to accommodate our family of eight.

Thanks again!

Wow- I haven't checked this site for a while, so I am sorry that I did not respond. I actually floated the idea of selling Shachagra to the family and received a resounding beat-down of no way we will ever sell her. To your questions. Shachagra is 36 feet overall. from the back of the cab to the rear is about 28 feet, but I will have to check that. A longer wheelbase wouldn't be a problem as Shachagra weighs in at 34K and the the chassis will handle 52K.
8 is a tough number, adding two rooms below deck will add about 8.5 feet to the length, but if you work some of the stateroom space up above the main deck, you may be able to get 7 staterooms into a 45 foot overall length. Let me know if you want me to brainstorm this one, its a really good challenge.

 

[shachagra]

Patriot- Another thought that I considered that might work well for you is a trailer. Build a roomy expedition vehicle for two, that houses the parents stateroom, galley and shared spaces, then tow a trailer that has 3-6 small staterooms and a bath. You could also put in water tanks and use the extra roof space for solar panels.

 

[fabiopb]

Old vehicles rules

Hi Doug, how are you?

I'm not sure you'll be able to answer this one, but I'll try it.

Do you have any idea if it would be possible to do what you did if, instead of the brand new International you were using, say, a converted 1975 old bus? Do you know if there are restrictions to send an old vehicle like that to Europe? What about crossing borders? I know that emissions requirements for new vehicles are getting stricter every year, Euro V, Euro VI, DEF etc - rules that an old vehicle would fail miserably.

Do you know if they would prohibit someone to bring in an old truck, even if is for personal, non commercial use? Or crossing from Morocco to Spain, for example?

Thank you

 

[egn]

Hi,

the restrictions regarding emissions in the EU only apply for first time registration of vehicles in Europe.

I know no restrictions regarding foreign vehicles used for traveling the EU, except for traveling through low emission zones.

Emil

 

[pete c]

Doug,

I am absolutely blown away by your work. Going to a nautical solution makes a lot of sense as man has been trying to figure out how to house large crews in minimal space for thousands of years. Your below deck staterooms are brilliant.

I wish more RV builders out there would use fiberglass boat construction methods. They are far superior to the "stick and staple" method used by most budget minded builders. I once owned such an RV, a Toyota Sunrader. I also owned a Toyota Odyssey. The squeaking of the Odyssey drove me nuts. The Sunrader was silent going down the road. Without a doubt it is the superior construction method.

I do have a few questions/suggestions.

Did you ever consider using engine heat for your hot water? Seems like it would be worthwhile IF you regularly moved Shachagra. Not so much if you typically dropped anchor for extended periods. I think another cool idea, which is likely not practical seeing as it is already complete would be some sort of boattail storage shed. This could be used to get the bikes out of the weather and keep them safe from thieves. It might even add a mile or two to your mpg numbers. In fact, I found the link to this thread reading about someones boattail addition to his C Class RV on ecomodder dot com.

I have thought about building my own RV using the same construction techniques but much smaller in stature and budget. There are all sorts of old Toyota based RVs out there that have suffered severe structural damage from H2O poisoning. Many of them have very low miles. You can pick these things up for pocket change. Assuming they have a good drivetrain and fuctioning systems, I would think you could build one for well under 10K. Would it be possible for you to give me a per square foot guestimate on fiberglass over plywood? Did you used marine grade throughout? I would think that for a toyota based RV, going to 3/16 might be plenty.

 

[dlh62c]

^ Regarding building up a camper.

If you can source vehicle insurance for the truck and build during and after the build completion, anything is possible.

 

[Brian13]

The biggest problem with the truck is the suspension. It has not surprisingly, a truck suspension. I don't know what I could do differently. Maybe because she is so light (for that chassis) I could lighten it a bit somehow, maybe someone can give a hint.

2. You mentioned the stiffness of the suspension. Did you consider replacing the standard one with an air suspension, bus style? Maybe going with a single axle? I've seen videos of heavy trucks with air suspension and they seem to have an incredibly smooth ride.

Shachagra has an air-ride suspension, but its still a truck. I don't want to say it was too bad, it wasn't.

I know it is now years later, but if this is still a concern for Shachagra, or anyone else's rig...

Air springs are not inherently soft. Buses are more softly sprung than most trucks, and trucks vary a lot, but they all use similar components and the details of sizing make the difference. If a truck looks like it is riding smoothly, the spring stiffness is well-suited to the load that the suspension is carrying; Shachagra's suspensions are underloaded for ideal ride, and not designed for really smooth ride even at full load, since the truck would not normally be carrying people.

The stiffness of an air spring depends on its volume. If a movement of the spring makes a big difference in the volume, there will be a big increase in force (stiff spring); if the same distance of movement makes a proportionately smaller difference in the volume, there will be a smaller increase in force (softer spring). This means that adding an additional fixed-volume chamber (an air tank) connected to the spring by a pipe or hose (large enough that substantial air can move with the suspension travel - much larger than normal air lines) will result in a softer spring action. These tanks for extra volume are commonly called "ping tanks"... search for that for examples.

 

[swovcc]

Wannabe traveler

First let me tell you that Shachagra just blew me away. I haven't even traveled in an RV, leave alone build one from scratch. I was just browsing for ideas that I could one day use to travel some remote places with the family and came across Shachagra. I continued following material related to her. Most other sites offered few details about the build. Obviously this is a dedicated forum. To be honest much of what I read here is something completely new to me. I did not understand many of the finer engineering points either but someday this will inspire me to do something on my own. Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience.

 

[hbabler]

So any updates to one of my favorite overland builds? Did y’all make it to South America?

 

[kjo]

you check this these days??? dang... im so jealous of all the cool toys you have to do this particularly peculiar design. I'm a boat girl. think deadliest catch. I am wondering what is your clearance Clarence? Also total length tip to tail? (truck nose to ass end...) Nice space you have for 8 to eat really, in the back there. (im hung up on curves for what im sure will be a great end of life for me and my mobile ******** chat meet people and feed them machine! ya I know... . ) So you swear your butter doesn't taste like fiberglass or epoxy...? one of my last boats was a 3" thick, 1 solid piece, 125' commercial crabber/fisher. Made in the 80's by the Reverend Sun Yung Moon...no joke. from lousiana. It made it to Ak years ago. disgusting. couldn't even use butter from a freezer. probably old butter any way. My skipper wrecked that boat. Steel would have been way worse! so yay fiberglass and the Rev. So tip to tail please... and you don't have VOC's? Also, inset solar panels??? and you molded that in as well? psycho. freezer is major for me as well for my meat! love it. I don't want to have to plug in anywhere.. drooling over the 7k Dickinson oven/steel top stove. it will be just me and I love a nook cab over rack. the rest is this ying yang style table n dining booth on one side, slightly off set kitchen, then behind that a chillax stretch out watch sports/guest hidden bed area. nice entry is a must, shoes, snowboard boots off, heat to dry out, hang ********. no "real" manufactured gross chemical toilet shower... I really don't want to be longer that 33 total including truck...about 24' not including cabover bed... I wish you the best in your new builds. exciting. yada yada yada.

 

[reddrum]

Incredible build. As someone who plans to start my own build really soon, I really enjoyed the thread. Thank you for the thread and answering all the questions!

If you stop by these parts again, I have a couple questions.

On page 4 you talk a little about the cabover. How is it structurally mounted and built to withstand the hanging weight?

On page 6 there is a calculations image. Would it be possible to get this spreadsheet? The image is difficult to read after the file compression.

 

[1000arms]

you check this these days??? dang... im so jealous of all the cool toys you have to do this particularly peculiar design. I'm a boat girl. think deadliest catch. I am wondering what is your clearance Clarence? Also total length tip to tail? (truck nose to ass end...) Nice space you have for 8 to eat really, in the back there. (im hung up on curves for what im sure will be a great end of life for me and my mobile ******** chat meet people and feed them machine! ya I know... . ) So you swear your butter doesn't taste like fiberglass or epoxy...? one of my last boats was a 3" thick, 1 solid piece, 125' commercial crabber/fisher. Made in the 80's by the Reverend Sun Yung Moon...no joke. from lousiana. It made it to Ak years ago. disgusting. couldn't even use butter from a freezer. probably old butter any way. My skipper wrecked that boat. Steel would have been way worse! so yay fiberglass and the Rev. So tip to tail please... and you don't have VOC's? Also, inset solar panels??? and you molded that in as well? psycho. freezer is major for me as well for my meat! love it. I don't want to have to plug in anywhere.. drooling over the 7k Dickinson oven/steel top stove. it will be just me and I love a nook cab over rack. the rest is this ying yang style table n dining booth on one side, slightly off set kitchen, then behind that a chillax stretch out watch sports/guest hidden bed area. nice entry is a must, shoes, snowboard boots off, heat to dry out, hang ****. no "real" manufactured gross chemical toilet shower... I really don't want to be longer that 33 total including truck...about 24' not including cabover bed... I wish you the best in your new builds. exciting. yada yada yada.

Incredible build. As someone who plans to start my own build really soon, I really enjoyed the thread. Thank you for the thread and answering all the questions!

If you stop by these parts again, I have a couple questions.

On page 4 you talk a little about the cabover. How is it structurally mounted and built to withstand the hanging weight?

On page 6 there is a calculations image. Would it be possible to get this spreadsheet? The image is difficult to read after the file compression.

ShaChaGra was last seen on this forum in 2015. You might try the contact link on https://www.roadschoolodyssey.com/contact-us.html and ask him (Doug Cuthbert) to rejoin us here.

 

[thjakits]

....just a quick check - ....hope some day Doug (or forbid a new owner of Shachagra!) will be back here...!

Cheers all....

thjakits