The Big Lorry to Camper Conversion

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I shall have to get you one of these. ??

On another note your description of the interior has put doubts on how I was going to lay mine out now. Damn it. I was going to put the bed at the back, high up and have the "tail lift" be the access to the garage under the bed. But as you say, you can't sit in the "lounge" and look out at the view if the bed is there. Grrr.
 
MANGOFORTH said:
Yes we have a rough plan. Raised floor at, the front, storage underneath, water-tanks under aswell. U shaped Kitchen on the raised floor, tanks go under he cupboards. Bathroom to the right of the door. At the back, sofa on one side so we can see out the window, then opposite sofa a big wall storage cupboard unit thing for clothes and the rest, cut out in the middle of the unit for the tele (obviously). Bed is at the back above the window on a pully/rail/hand winch contraption thingy (or as jasmine called it "a hinch") that drops down to just above the sofa so we can see out the window again. Then in the middle more stuff and things ?‍♂️
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Why don't you put tanks on outside the same as a fuel tank ? You could even use an old fuel tank for grey water, that would stop the fuel syphoning !! And a nice ally one would polish up nice. Make plumbing, and emptying easier, also easy to flush through and clean .
Cupboard space then freed up for storage.
 
HandyAndy said:
View attachment 333585

I shall have to get you one of these. ??

On another note your description of the interior has put doubts on how I was going to lay mine out now. Damn it. I was going to put the bed at the back, high up and have the "tail lift" be the access to the garage under the bed. But as you say, you can't sit in the "lounge" and look out at the view if the bed is there. Grrr.
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Swings and roundabouts. I don't have a garage so... The layout has been set around our needs and wants. I've watched almost every video on YouTube and picked out the bits I liked. Lots of odd things that I'm sure many people will turn their nose up at. For example, all our electrics will be retrofit in an aesthetically pleasing conduit, simply because it will be easy to add on and change things.
 
Oldbob said:
Why don't you put tanks on outside the same as a fuel tank ? You could even use an old fuel tank for grey water, that would stop the fuel syphoning !! And a nice ally one would polish up nice. Make plumbing, and emptying easier, also easy to flush through and clean .
Cupboard space then freed up for storage.
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Well the space under the cupboards will be lost space, unless it dropped down into the void, but then getting the stuff out the bottom will be annoying. It is space saving, will be small tanks linked together so can still get them out. Also it won't freeze in the winter. Also...... When I fitted the glass in the side window, I dropped it. Bounced off my leg and landed corner first onto the ally. Pierced a hole in the panel ? its not strong without the insulation glued to it yet. So seemed like a good place for a water fill inlet ?

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I'm still at a loss as to what the mpg improving blunder was... rear bumper fell off?
 
HandyAndy said:
I'm still at a loss as to what the mpg improving blunder was... rear bumper fell off?
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I assume because there was no front cowling to deflect the wind?
 
MANGOFORTH said:
Ally won't rust, only reason the frame isn't ally is the expense. And also there's 17 sheets, 4 edges a sheet. Sooo thats 127 meters of butt welding... no thanks ?
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a bit late now i know but you could have bought it on a roll, when my old motorhome was reframed i used ally rolls for the sides, not the easiest thing to move about (my rolls were only 4.5m) but you have the room around the truck, there is also a company in holland that would do the modern motorhome sandwich sides to your own design spec with all the holes cut out for windows etc

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busbuddy said:
a bit late now i know but you could have bought it on a roll, when my old motorhome was reframed i used ally rolls for the sides, not the easiest thing to move about (my rolls were only 4.5m) but you have the room around the truck, there is also a company in holland that would do the modern motorhome sandwich sides to your own design spec with all the holes cut out for windows etc
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The next one will be different. I already regret so much. But that part of building stuff I geuss, learn and move on.
 
MANGOFORTH said:
The next one will be different. I already regret so much. But that part of building stuff I geuss, learn and move on.
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I spent all my life building better and better , never got to use them , enjoy , believe me I’ve had all the tee shirts not worth it, but hea ho I’m not here to preach good luck and have fun.???
 
MANGOFORTH said:
The next one will be different
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You're planning the next one already?!

The sign of a true maker :)

MANGOFORTH said:
I already regret so much. But that part of building stuff I geuss, learn and move on.
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Indeed it is... but at the same time, it's all part of the fun eh? I often spend more time making something than I do actually using it!

I also tend to find I get more fun from making it than I do from using it too :blush:
 
Well bugger me the new guy that's recently started at our place used to build box conversions for trucks..
IT'S A SIGN I TELL THEE!! :D
He gave me some links today.... which I will post once I find my bloody phone :rolleyes:
Along the lines of what busbuddy was saying above.. the company he used for the outer skin stuff, cut all the holes for the windows for you in advance and also inlayed structural pieces to your design critera so that you could hang your cupboards onto something solid and what not.
So all you had to do was order the GRP / Ally/ Insulated sheets and just glue em /rivet em together.
 
What are you doing about power in the hab unit.
Presumably you will be taking off a 12v supply from the 24v bank to power/charge a 12v hab bank.
Are you isolating the hab from the chassis if so as I think you cause a few back feed issues to the truck if you don't. I remember a land rover conversion some years ago where he fitted a 6BT engine (proper old donk?) and used 24v for the standard starter but then had issues with the rest of the standard landy rover 12v leccy?
Forgot what the actual issue was now though ?

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Yeah I looked on service metals back at the beginning, it's more ideal for sure but budget was a key factor in this. I wanted it to be made of anything but GRP basically and couldn't afford full sided sandwich panels. I calculated the weight of the new box including subframe to be 670kgs, (subframe is 280kgs and direct copy of original) so body is 390kgs. Instead of 20mm ply grp all round, huge steels on the back for tail lift, the tail lift itself, rams, pumps......
Yeah starter is 24v and hab will be 12v. It came with a Durite 24 to 12v split charger which are about £300 so that was the deciding factor there ? Probably due to a shoddy charger I imagine? You know more about electrics than I do ?‍♂️
 
i use a 24v to 12v charger to help charge batteries in the trailer. mind i permanently have one 12v battery in the cab just to run 12v items i may need or jump 12v cars etc . its a durite 24-12v split charger , been using it for 12yrs in the mitzy.
i then run a cable from the 12v battery in the cab to the 12v battery bank in the trailer. works a treat. ideal if no sun and traveling around .
have a look on ebay they must still be available .
oh well looks like you have one already. great bits of kit.
 
MANGOFORTH said:
Has anyone ever set up guttering to fill up water tanks?
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it would be contaminated with dirt

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MANGOFORTH said:
Has anyone ever set up guttering to fill up water tanks?
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It has been done on some larger self-builds I believe but ONLY to use for flushing the toilet rather than consuming so a lot of hassle really for little gain. In a 'static' home situation it would be a different matter as they would likely get through a lot more water with a domestic toilet.
 
Rain water harvesting is an option on Blissmobil , includes filtration and sterilisation :)
 
quite a few over the years have managed rain water feeding . mind most just catch rain water as it drips off the vehicles then you can do a visual check to only put clean water in the tank. most use those big flexy builders sort of bucket things .
i know many that hardly ever actually put tap water in their tanks .
 

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