Never Go Near The Truck Shop !

It occurred to me that it would be a good idea, before doing all the taillight stuff, that I should also think about some toolboxes for the back of the chassis and I needed to carry some extra petrol for the motorbike and the generator while I was at it. Then I thought maybe I could see what was available commercially (i.e. ready made) in the way of toolboxes and jerry can racks. Which just goes to prove that too much thinking is not good for your wallet and you should leave it at home when "going out to check on a few things".
I think I mentioned once before that my shop is not set up for sheet metal so toolboxes would be a bit of a problem. It also occurred to me that I could put some plastic jerry cans inside a toolbox for carrying petrol and that way I could vary the amount of fuel I carried and have usable space when I was not carrying a lot. Made sense to me!
So . . . some little while, and considerable money, later I arrived home with two of these toolboxes. They are a fraction larger than I actually wanted, with regard to ground clearance, but everything else was too far one way or the other so these ones were it.


















You can see from the picture that I also decided it would be easier in the long run to remove the house from the truck to get all the fixing and fitting done. I decided to hang the boxes from two beams across the chassis which required a little bit of remounting of the electrical buses in the centre of the chassis but nothing too drastic. This is the first of them made up, painted and bolted in place.

















I did have it all mocked up before it was painted but somebody distracted me while I was getting the camera and by the time I got back I forgot I was supposed to take photo's so I just pulled it all apart again (old-timers disease).
While I had it all together I did realise that I couldn't get to the bolts for attaching the house once the toolboxes were mounted so the house has to go back before final fitting of the boxes. This means that the tail lights needed finishing so I could put the house back. Back to where I started!
First thing was to record all the wiring codes for how it was originally wired up. Then cut off all the horrible wiring extensions that had been done for the trailer plug connection and wire everything to some connection blocks for simpler reconnection and to allow for removing the tail light bar assembly some time in the future if I ever needed to. These will be mounted inside the chassis in a mounting box when finished.























Next was to temporarily connect all the new lights to make sure everything worked as it should. I was replacing all the old globe lights with new LEDs and sometimes this does not work properly. The flashers tend to cycle too fast and the dashboard indicator for blown globes can light up all the time as the LEDs do not have enough resistance in the circuit. You can get load resistors to add in but they are about $25 each and you need one for each circuit, LH flasher, RH flasher, stop, tail, reverse! Fortunately everything worked OK.













Next in with the extensions to bring the tail light bar out to the end of the house and mount the bar.









The bar had previously been fitted with all the rivnuts for screwing the lights on so it was simple to fit them in place.














All these lights are fitted with short wires, about 300mm, so they all needed extending by soldering on extensions and heat shrink covering the join.























Then feed them all back through the chassis to the terminating block.

Christmas tree effect coming up soon.

It All Comes Back To Me Now . . .

After staring at the electrics for about 10 mins. it all started to come back. Thank goodness I had at least used the dymo machine and labelled all the wires.
Eventually it was all wired together and I now have a switch on the dash which turns on the cameras and the display at the same time. That way I can forget the on-off switch on the display and know that the cameras are on and off with the display. The blank square in the photograph is caused by flash reflection and the dymo label actually says "REAR VIEW". I left out the little LED light as I thought it would be too distracting at night and the display is a giant indicator all by itself!


















I will not go into detail but some time in the past I ruptured the video lead from the second rear view camera. Its the one used for close up backing and monitoring the bike and carrier on the rear. I decided to fix this as well, which required cutting the lead and replacing a 4 pin plug before the break. It's hard to believe but after looking through all the catalogues of electronic parts, at an electronics supply company, that plug could not be found anywhere! This meant of course that I had to cut off the end of both cables I needed to join and replace them with matching plugs of another type. This wasn't such a big deal but did mean that they could not then act as backup for each other, I had located these plugs so that the cameras could be switched in about 30 sec's should one or the other fail, without accessing a much less convenient spot and changing things there. That's life . . .

The 12vDC outlets were then all rewired and as I didn't really need a 24vDC outlet I rewired that to 12v as well. Now I can have several items operating in the cab, fridge, GPS 1, GPS 2, MP3, laptop, battery charger . . . hmmmm maybe I need to drill some more holes in the dash!


















The [connect batteries] button is part of the truck auxiliary battery isolation unit which protects the cranking batteries from the loads inside the cab and disconnects them when the voltage falls below a predetermined point. From the opposite point of view, in the rare event that the cranking batteries become low this button can reconnect the auxiliary batteries to provide some extra boost.
While doing all this I came across the remote control for the camera display still in it's plastic bag. I have always scoffed at the idea of a remote in a vehicle when you can just reach out and press a button or twiddle a knob but after trying to find a radio station while travelling down a dirt road recently this and the radio remote will now find a permanent home close to the drivers seat.























This seemed to complete all I needed to do in the cab for a while so it was outside again.
Some time ago in circumstance I refuse to describe (so I can't be prosecuted for endangering the public) I managed to lose a number of the leg housing covers. The next day or so was spent finding some acetal large enough and then machining the replacements. Enough said.



















While out looking for the acetal I managed to run across some locking fuel caps which just fitted straight onto the tanks. The ones which came with the truck when I bought it were some plastic caps which are only legal in this state as "get you home" type items. I was intending to machine some new ones from stainless steel whenever the opportunity arose but they fit and are locking and I can just put them straight on and aren't overly expensive. No brainer!





















Also the taillight assembly was transferred from the original tray body onto a piece of angle iron as a temporary measure to get me home when I sold the tray. They actually stick out a bit behind the house and get in the way of the bike carrier when it is swung down.
Time to address that so while getting the caps I also got some new LED lights to fit to the truck.





















It was startling to be told that the clear reverse lights were DOUBLE the cost of the turn and stop/tail lights. I was told that they are priced that way from all the manufacturers! Can't follow the reasoning there.
In looking for a suitable mount for these new little beauties I came across some "yard rail" I had left over from cattle yards on the farm. In order not to injure the cattle it is a nice smooth profile which I think will make quite a nice "bumper bar" on which to mount the lights.























Back in a couple of days . . . .

It Seemed To Make Sense at the Time ...

Some while ago I was organising how to make the lifting and securing of my off road bike a little easier and then seemed to get sidetracked somehow. Today I managed to get it sorted out. Well until I try it out in practice anyway. It's based to a large extent around a simple lifting bar. I tried straps and ropes etc. but they all require some slack in them and it made getting the bike high enough a little more difficult than necessary. In actual fact to make it work I had to put the winch up on the tyre lifting outrigger, which works but is just a little more difficult than I had hoped. By using a solid bar I was able to mount the winch on the same bar as for lifting the tyre, which is a little lower and easier to get at. The bar looks like this





and is made from 50mm x 20mm x 2.5mm wall thickness which is more rigid than the normal 1.6mm thickness tube I use for most things. At each end I have provided "cup hook" fittings which mount to the bike and in the middle a lifting ring. A bush of solid steel has been welded into the bar and tapped to match the lifting ring. At the front there are a couple of split bushes (in my favourite acetal material) which attach to the handlebars























like so























and another single hook at the rear which goes under the rack at the back as discussed in a previous post. When mounted on the bike it looks like this


















The next part of the system stays on the truck and looks like this


















Its a triangular tube frame which is pivoted with a couple of bushes again made of acetal, but painted over in this picture. The bushes provide a bearing surface which will not rust where it wears against things and makes a cap for the end of the tube to stop water entering.


















It works by : swing the carrier frame out of the way and lift the bike to the maximum height for the low winch mounting. It's actually impossible to lift it any higher even with the winch on the top mount as the bike is mostly underneath the tyre and fouls if you try to lift it any higher. The inside mirror even has to be swung forward to be out of the way of the tyre.























Swing the carrier frame back underneath and lower the bike into position.























Then the truck mounted triangle can be swung up into position and a bolt, or two, can be used to hold the triangle to the lifting bar.


















This effectively secures the bike to the truck!
The triangular frame ensures the bike can not roll from side to side and holds the bars at the correct distance from the back of the truck so they do not rub. The two hooks and bushes at the front hold the bars square as well so they can't flap around. All that is left is to strap the wheels to the carrier frame. This is just a safety measure as I don't think its possible for them to jump over the rear bar but better to be safe than sorry.

While doing this it became annoying to use the winch as it had the stupidest cord into which an extension had to be plugged, it was only about 600mm long, and because it was hanging all the time it tended to fall out. As I had a few extension cords laying around, they tend to get damaged in the workshop and have to be replaced from time to time, it seemed reasonable to sacrifice one to the expedience of convenience.























While I had the electrical toolbox out I decided it was time to do a few things that had been put off for a while. I needed some more 12vDC outlets inside the cab and I wanted to fit a switch to the rear view cameras as they appear to be on all the time even with the display turned off!
All these electronics and the controls for the non-standard electric windows and central locking which I fitted were on a panel I mounted under the passenger seat when I first built them (the truck is 24vDC and all these extra electronic components were 12vDC), so out with the passenger seat and .....






















I knew I should have made a proper circuit diagram when I built it, but it all made sense at the time . . .

One Siren After Another . . .

Trim up a sheet of stainless steel, drill some holes, put some silicone and a few washers under each hole and screw in some stainless self tapping screws. The washers provide a 5mm gap between the sheet and the fibreglass which will allow for some air to carry the heat away.
Now all jobs should be like this one !























Next another simple one. I finally remembered to get a battery for the smoke alarm I had sitting in a drawer for 6 months so a couple of screws and that's done too.
The test button provided proof of just how piercing the noise can be.
No chance of sleeping through that one!



















And while I remember, the exhaust air hatch on the generator box needed some final waterproofing and trim paint.























Then a few days of beautiful sunshine in the middle of winter and the siren call of the big road bike put paid to any work for a couple of days.
What can I say .... :)

I See the Light ....

Some while ago I mentioned my over-enthusiasm in selecting a water pump had resulted in one which cycled on and off about every 2 seconds, fast enough to ensure it would probably not last over any extended time. My friend Sich has kindly donated a pressure tank, which he does not need in his system, to see if that can help solve the problem. I find that this sort of re-arrangement does my head in. I tend to be a bit obsessive compulsive about trying to get things neat and "proper" some times and when there are a number of conflicting requirements it leads to a great deal of (SOMETIMES) useless anguish. My lessons learned on the generator saga however have encouraged me not to ignore the little things as they all seem to add up to more than the sum of the parts. In the case of plumbing there are always things like pipe friction involving length, diameter, bend turbulence etc. etc. etc.... which will cause these low pressure systems to not perform very well at the best of times. Then when you have to squeeze it all into small spaces involving twists and turns and try to match each manufacturer's fittings to each other it can cause great angst.
Never the less this re-arrangement has seemed to turn out OK and the cycling frequency has been greatly reduced so I am going to live with it for a while.


















While I was at it I decided to try and improve another aspect of convenience. I intend to do nearly all cooking outside - BBQ, wok or frying pan on the BBQ burner - inside the smells just never go away and I have never found a satisfactory range hood for a camper (or a house for that matter!). When you do this there is always the matter of cleaning up. Similarly if you ever need to just rinse something off before stowing it away it is a real inconvenience to be going backward and forward inside and out for water in a bucket etc.. It would be nice to have a tap convenient to the outside. So while I was at it I added another couple of fittings into the system and installed a mixing tap and shower hose just inside the compartment. I could have bought a standard "outside shower set" but they are really flimsy and then just give you the problem of securing them so no vandal can just turn on a tap and drain away all your water. (Yes I have heard of it happening!)
Now I have the convenience of an outside shower and hot and cold running water for cleaning up etc..


















With the carpets in it was time to clean up the last of the inside . . .
The bed frame is just about the last of it and I had decided that some more light was needed over the table for reading, eating and working etc. so that needed attending to as well.
A few bits needed priming and painting and I decided it was easier to do this in place than pull it all out and then scratch it all again putting it back in. It was interesting to note that while Sich and I were bringing the truck back across Australia we dropped in at Jacana Motor Homes who are probably the biggest builder of bus based motorhomes in Australia and they did all their finishing painting in place inside the bus after everything else had been completed! Sounds like a nightmare to me but they seem to make it work and they have a very good reputation.


















After that is was just a matter of carpeting the ply base on top


















and also underneath and putting all the trim bits back in place. Also visible are the two LED light bars underneath. These can be turned on their longitudinal axis for directing the light and consume something like .2watts and they are quite effective in this small area.


















As the bed rises and falls taking the lights with them I also needed to get some power to them. This was solved using a "cigarette lighter" adapter which had a coiled cord - cutting it off and soldering the wire ends to the lights and providing a couple of fittings to take the "strain" of stretching the cord.























Now I think it's back outside again.
Testing the plumbing I of course turned on the hot water system. It worked fine but this time I noticed the fibreglass just above the flue outlet seemed to get very hot. It was probably the same as last time but I never noticed it then. It is probably OK but I think over time it will discolour the fibreglass and maybe even cause it to break up. I think it just needs a simple deflector to let the heat disperse before it reaches the fibreglass. I have some spare stainless sheeting in the corner so that's where I am headed. . .

I Think I Like It . . .

With a modicum of contact adhesive and some fancy little plastic clips ( I forgot to take any photos but they are similar to the clips used to hold all the interior fittings into cars, commonly called "Xmas trees" ) made to fit the aluminium track and a couple of "D-ring pull handles" a hatch cover looks sort of like


















Not all that impressive by itself but it goes quite nicely under the table with a couple of others. You can't see it well here but there is a step at the edge of the dining area which needed a stair tread bull nose capping as well.


















At the other end there is just a small area under the floor which required a slightly more elaborate hatch cover but I may as well make use of every little space.























All in all I think it has turned out quite well.
One day I will get around to lining the inside of the bins with some carpet (or something ???) but for now there are some plumbing changes which need doing and we are getting our entire July rainfall in the next couple of days so I think I will attend to the plumbing until the weather clears a little. . .

Sweeping It Under The . . .

I started to cut up some carpet as part of the next major task to be completed.









































I originally envisaged cork flooring but it turns out to be very difficult in such a small area without creating a lot of dust and toxic fumes from the sealer that is supposed to be used. It is something I can always go back to if I feel the need to sometime in the future.
I guess I am also in a hurry now as the "finish line" seems a little closer.
In fact this also caused me to nearly overlook some basic finishing work.
The interior of the storage space under the table should also be "finished"in some manner rather than leaving the ply surfaces with boot marks and other sundry blemishes they have accumulated during construction.
So I stopped carpeting that area and started painting all the under surfaces with some light grey/silver paint that I had left over from painting a part of the factory some time earlier. So there are panels all over the place until they dry out and can be carpeted on the top.































Also some of the frame will still be exposed so that needed a coat of the ubiquitous silver hammertone paint used elsewhere on the frame.















With those pieces sitting off in the corner I could start on the main part of the floor.

I decided against trying to cut out a single piece to cover all the floor by convincing myself that I could make joins where the major joints are in the frame as they correspond to sections which may have to be lifted out if there are any problems with the water tanks. Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! I have found some nice low profile aluminium strips designed to cover such joins which I will report on later.


















I must admit it feels quite different with a bit of carpet in place.
Can't wait for the rest of it!

Forward Is . . . That Direction . . .

All the dangly bits outside have been cut off and some of the same pipe used for the manifold extension has been pressed into service for a small exhaust pipe extending outside the line of the body, a requirement as I understand it at this point but I also think it looks neater. What is interesting with this pipe is that it is relatively cool as the exhaust hits it and causes all the water vapour to condense inside and then get blown out. It falls right on the tail-light which just serves to remind me that the taillight assembly is supposed to be temporary, just to get me home from having the original tray removed. It's too ugly to look permanent so that's one more thing for the outside list.










Next a piece of body work is cut out from the window leftovers and fitted into the little hatch mentioned previously. A router is then used to enlarge the hole to take the hatch and it's all siliconed together. In use it will be fully open but the silicone is just setting here so it's not tilted up and tempted to fall apart.

















So . . . there we have it folks !!
It's been run for an hour straight now and it doesn't get any warmer after the first 10mins.
I think I can leave it alone now and . . . move forward . . .

















Seeing it's about 0 deg. C this morning I am going inside and turning on the air conditioning . . . on warm of course.
The seating area is in need of a little tidying up.
The rebated batten which holds up the far end of the table was just screwed to the wall with a couple of "T"-nuts and metal threads. These "T"-nuts have little spikes on them to stop them turning in the wood but they sit up proud of the surface and the batten wobbles a bit as it's not sitting flat against the timber behind.






















So the batten has to come off and be recessed so it will pull up tight.























As an extra I have decided to screw another couple of battens vertically between the floor and the underside of the horizontal table mount. This will mean that if the screws in the wall ever become a bit loose the load will be transferred to the floor and the screws only need to stop it falling over.























These tuck right into the corner of the seat and are out of the way, but the screws are ugly and need covering.























Some plastic buttons are made which will push into the top of any #2 Phillips head screw and can be bought in many colours. They only have a tiny little nub with which to grip so hopefully they will be OK.. There are others with a longer spike that I have used for other parts of the woodwork but I have run out of them at the moment and they can only be purchased through specialist suppliers and require special screws to accommodate them so it looks like these will have to do.


















Next I have some similar battens to run along the front edge of the seats which will be used to support the table when emergency sleeping accommodation is required.


















These were not ready when the initial covering was done and would only have complicated the job were they in place. So firstly they are screwed in place over the material and then a trimming knife is used to slice along the upper and lower surfaces to cut through the material. It is at this point that I discover what the material is really like. I haven't paid it much attention other than it seemed OK for the job and was suitable for marine use as well. I'm not sure how much good that is likely to do me but generally it means that it is quite durable and can be cleaned without fear of fading or staining.
What it turns out to be is "felt like" in it's construction and is made from some synthetic material, meaning "damn hard to cut through and won't cut with a clean edge but leaves stringy bits everywhere". (I can hear myself turning into another "grumpy old man"!!)


















Never the less obstinacy wins out and the job is eventually done.


















The idea is to keep an inflatable mattress hidden away, or visitors can bring their own, and the top bed only lowered half way will make two sleeping areas. As I said "emergency" only . . . sort of reminds me of one of the cut price Japanese sleeping modules hotels!

Next I will have to re-finish the tops of the storage bins under the table as the battens mean the tops are now too wide to fit between them.
After mulling it over while dealing with the table I think I have it worked out.
Tomorrow will tell . . . .