The OutFit - Unimog U1700L

[Iain_U1250]

Welcome to the forum, you have some great videos from some of our favourite places. Look forward to seeing your build.

 

[Sitec]

Thanks a lot Simon I actually started to research marine hatches but a lot of them were sold out so I'll have a look now!

No worries. It was Ian that put me onto them, and as you can see by his thread, he'll have much more real time feedback on them than I have.

 

[nathane]

We are going for Outbound windows, door, hatches and roof windows. We felt like there was a good balance there with price and guarantees of function. However, there is currently a 4 month lead time on all Outbound products. The demand for expedition vehicles and associated supplies in the EU is massive at the moment.

You won't be disappointed, I have put 6 outbound windows, 2 doors and 2 rooflights in our box. They are really nicely made. They are the most expensive single element of our build but i believe are worth it for the clarity, longevity and insulation.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Outbound or KCT windows are great, but very heavy, and very expensive, probably one of the reasons why European expedition vehicles seem to have to so few windows and they are usually small. We found that in Australia we need as much ventilation as possible, especially at night. We got two of the biggest Seitz windows and one of the next size down for our truck. They are double insulated acrylic, and whilst not as good as the glass ones, they are still pretty good, and at a cost for all three less than one of the smallest of either glass windows They were also the only ones I could find with a TUV certificate for passenger vehicles strangely enough. I needed that as my truck is certified to carry two passengers in the back.




As Simon said, I used the Vetus Marine hatches in the roof - certified for 5m head of water as they are meant for the deck of boats.

 

[The OutFit]

We are going for Outbound windows, door, hatches and roof windows. We felt like there was a good balance there with price and guarantees of function. However, there is currently a 4 month lead time on all Outbound products. The demand for expedition vehicles and associated supplies in the EU is massive at the moment.

We are having similar issues in Australia too in terms of stock - not the best time to build an Expedition Truck!

Welcome to the forum, you have some great videos from some of our favourite places. Look forward to seeing your build.

Thank you Ian! Hopefully we can have a great finishing result like yours

We agree on the windows. Outbound and KCT are out of our budget.

Do your Seitz windows come with fly screen and blind?
We are actually looking at the Eurovision Windows - have you heard about them? We are thinking of getting some very large ones too (probably 500mm x 1200mm - what size are yours?)

 

[The OutFit]

Question of the day : We are currently planning our kitchen build and are thinking of getting 2 induction hobs.
Have any of you encountered any issues since running them in terms of their energy requirements? We are concerned that cooking on two may use too much power.

 

[Neil]

Like you at the time of building I couldn't justify the expense of KCT and outbound where not a name that came up at that time .

I have used Seitz. They are OK, that as good as my description gets. They have never leaked and they are very easy to fit.

However, mine are scratched to death now and although you can polish them up again its not a quick job.

The fly screens are useless agains small bugs like Mosquitoes etc. There is a design flaw that makes it vey easy for them to not only get underneath the screen and out through the slotted vents, but around the side of the screen.

In the Pantanal wet lands of Brazil at 38 degrees we had to keep the windows shut at night as we were eaten to death.

I have now made the following modifications that have worked brilliantly. Nothing gets in and we can leave the windows open all night without fear of being bitten.

Firstly you need to glue insect mesh across the inside of the ventilation slots on the inner frame.

I then created an inner frame that sits on the interior of the window. It has a magnetic face. An outer Magnetic frame with the insect mesh then simply sticks to it magnetically and the seal is perfect.

I realise this is a poor description so I hope the pictures will make more sense.

Neil

 

[Iain_U1250]

We are having similar issues in Australia too in terms of stock - not the best time to build an Expedition Truck!



Thank you Ian! Hopefully we can have a great finishing result like yours

We agree on the windows. Outbound and KCT are out of our budget.

Do your Seitz windows come with fly screen and blind?
We are actually looking at the Eurovision Windows - have you heard about them? We are thinking of getting some very large ones too (probably 500mm x 1200mm - what size are yours?)

Our are 500x1200 - and the come with fly screens, but we found the white fly screens to course and the midgies came in. We refitted them with black midgie mesh when we were in Darwin. Not difficult to do, just requires some sewing for the pocket to fit the steel rod in. Getting the right tension on the wind up spring is tricky, too much and it locks up, too little and they don't retract. We needed the wood frames around the windows as our walls are 90mm thick as we have multiple layers of insulation, each with a different purpose. The is about 50mm to thick for the Seitz windows. They have never leaked, even to one on the back which is the most likely to leak whilst driving due to the aerodynamics.









Trish also made a door screen, which is just two panels with magnets up the middle, that works great for keeping flies and other bugs out. It has two layers of midgie/mosquito netting.

To protect the windows when off-roading, I made some screens for them. Two strips of sail track either side, and a heavy canvas screen, works great for low speed driving, but flaps a bit when over 60kph. We do have some rods in pockets which we can fit, but so far have not needed them, as we seldom do 60kph when the trees are close to the track.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Question of the day : We are currently planning our kitchen build and are thinking of getting 2 induction hobs.
Have any of you encountered any issues since running them in terms of their energy requirements? We are concerned that cooking on two may use too much power.

We have a portable single induction plate, it works great but we found the current draw was huge, about 185A when trying to boil water. These were my tests. https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...under-construction.37349/page-22#post-1517303

 

[Wyuna]

Question of the day : We are currently planning our kitchen build and are thinking of getting 2 induction hobs.
Have any of you encountered any issues since running them in terms of their energy requirements? We are concerned that cooking on two may use too much power.

They do draw a bit of power, we use one induction cooker (the little guy, as it was small and had variable voltage settings) as i limited my power draw to 100 ah draw.

on the 4th power setting we are seeing around 85 ah draw, we might use around 40amps cooking dinner, we use around 6-8ah boiling the kettle, it boils water fast.

to rely on this as a cooking system over gas or diesel you really need a decent lithium battery pack

 

[Jostt]

Welcome and nice video, the truck looks like in a very good shape, rust free and this is not easy with 40 years trucks, in my experience as less you depend on electricity better, not just for the stove also for boiler and heating system, we have 800 w in solar panels and in winter is hard to charge two 150 Amp batteries, our stove is diesel, like heating and boiler, I know it's not very ecologic but it is depending how you plan to be in remote places per long time, here in Europe would be not a big problem but, Australia and Africa.... One point I would keep in mind even if the 1700 has better payload than 1300 for example is to keep the truck as much light as you can, you will smile when offroading, and the fuel mileage will be decent, Unimogs are trucks but planed for light loads, enjoy