VOLVO TGB Expedition Camper

[M.Bas]

My camper build came to a grinding halt when the garage ****ud up.
The TGB was there for over a week and the only thing the guy did was swap the Studded Suregrips fot XZL's.
Then he didn't call me to tell me the rear carb was leaking fuel. He just went on working other cars. I also noted he scraped the frame to bare metal at the right front wheel. Probably was searching for the chassisnumber.

So I had it towed away to my place (right around the corner, like 2 minutes wlaking distance).
I noticed the brakes were still messed up. Even though he said he fixxed em.

By this time I had to decide to not go on vacation

The carb has been fixxed. I removed the float chamber because fuel was pouring out. Didn't notice anything weird, put it all back together and everything works fine.

Last week an uncle and me take a look at bleeding the brakes again.
The passenger side brake line was leaking (the garage changed the CV gaiter on this side). One of the brake line flanges was damaged thus not sealing properly. We fixxed that also. So the brakes should be ok now. Took a little testrun (drive forward/backward and then brake, everything looked ok).

When I wanted to take the Volvo to the Mercedes Benz dealership (they said they wanted to TUV/MOT/APK the Volvo, but they had to see it first to make sure everything was going to work out because of the permanent driven rear axles, emergency braking features etc. etc.) to have them look at it, the Volvo wouldn't engage gear and wouldn't declutch.

So right now I'm at the point of gathering intel about would could be wrong with what.

And I bought a new daily driver so I'm also a little bit out of money
I was going to buy a Victron Energy inverter/charger system but that seemed a little pointless when the Volvo isn't even capable of driving.

 

[FotoValpen]

Have you tried taking your TGB to a Volvo Truck Center? The same garage that works and sells Volvo tracktor trailers...

 

[M.Bas]

I tried Volvo Cars dealers and Truk dealers. None of them ever heard of the TGB's, they couldn't/wouldn't even get me a new 24V relay.

The Volvo dealer were I had the TGB unloaded from transport from Sweden told me they didn't want to see that thing ever again.
An other Volvo dealer close by is physically unable to work on the TGB, bridge is too small, overhead door is too small, not enough space in the garage to manouvre it around.
Volvo trucks dealer was unable to do the TUV/MOT/APK because benzin/diesel thing. Might be able to do this.

But the TGB is not driveable now, so it's not going anywhere
So if want a garage to look at it, it needs to be transported to the garage.

 

[FotoValpen]

How frustrating! I do not know how far you are from Denmark but there is a great guy there. www.jpteknik.dk Christian can vouch for him too.

 

[M.Bas]

About 6 hours driving in a regular car

And I think I already talked to JP before, last year in Melle.
I took some pics of his C303

 

[FotoValpen]

That's him, great guy! How good are you as a mechanic? I can get you a DVD copy of the 2 mechanic instruction manuals. Then maybe he can set you up with the parts you need so you can make your own repairs?

 

[M.Bas]

If you have files not found at terrangbil.net, c303.de or the yahoogroup I would like a copy of them

To order parts I first need to know what is broken. And right now I have no idea, but some people are guessing something related to the clutch is gone.
And I don't like that at all.

I'm not a real good mechanic, I can do basic stuff. But my uncle was a car mechanic, he even recognised the brakes (and knew how they function) while I talked to him about how bad they were braking.
Most mechanic are like when you talk about the technical stuff found on our Volvo's

 

[FotoValpen]

Maybe worth the effort to take it to JP?

 

[M.Bas]

Might be worth looking at.
But transportation costs for those distances are crazy...

So if I can find cheap transportation it sure is an option.

 

[FotoValpen]

Question: How many weeks of vacation do you get in the Netherlands?

Is it long enough for you to put a good friend behind the wheel and for you to push? :ylsmoke:

No hotel costs as you can sleep on stretchers in the back and no gas costs either. Just food and coffee for your friend...

 

[M.Bas]

Maybe I can stuff it somewhere between christmas and new year...

I only need someone to push :violent-smiley-031:
Maybe pick up some hitchhikers along the way

 

[hikingff77]

Great thread!

Although I and my truck are in Stockholm Sweden I am born and raised in Doylestown, PA. How'd I get here? Answer: I married a Swedish nanny. :ylsmoke:

I am just off to bed so I will post more tomorrow but here is a link to my project as it is right now.

[URL="http://web.me.com/teddsoost/Fotovalpen_2.0/Home.html[/URL]

/Tedd

Doylestown? That's where I'm at! A nanny took you to Sweden! Interesting. What HS?

 

[FotoValpen]

Yupp! Lived first on E. Court St. then just off Burnt House Hill Rd.
Even cooler is that my friend who grew up across the street from me ended up marrying a nanny too and now lives and works in Gothenburg as the assistent manager of Hard Rock Café there. Only found that out this past summer.

 

[M.Bas]

A little update on the progress.

The Volvo may be parked on the streets officially now (2 weeks ago it passed it's APK/MOT thingy).
During the braking test (they had to remove the front and rear most propellor shafts to even be able to test the brakes), they were suprised by the stopping power :victory:
It's not bad at all to see a 35year old vehicle pull (front/middle/rear axle) 10,13/6,48/5,55kN of stopping power.

They had to redo some tests because the TGB hopped off the machine

The front axle weighed ~1420kg (allowed 1600kg)
The rear axles weighed ~910kg each (allowed 1200kg)
Thats 3240kg's with 6 Goodyear Studded Suregrip tires and a Michelin NATO profile spare in the back. And I have XZL's and they weigh a hell lot more then the Suregrips.
So I guess with Suregrips instead of XZL's it weighs ~3000kg's.

Some numbers on payload:
Weight: ~3240kg
Weight w/o Suregrips in the back: ~3100kg
Adding a driver and passenger: ~3300kg
That adds up to 200kg of payload
Add 80 to 100kg of battery's....
I'm allowed 3500kg by law.

On the bright side I can get a very good deal on a Victron Energy unit.

 

[Isle of Man]

Another TGB1314 owner with a project that is taken much longer than expected.....

We share many of the same plans so will tag along with you all.