The Big Lorry to Camper Conversion

[HandyAndy]

You should take a look at Unicat videos, they do a really good detailed explanation of what they build and why.
It's not so much to oggle at the awesomeness of it all but to look at the detail of all the the little things they do.
The security features, how they create latches and lock boxes, brackets for TV's, where stuff is hidden so things are dual purpose, even the extending countertop bracket looks a work of art in one of the videos, the best thing of all it's nice and ruggedly built, just how I like it and something I could EASILY recreate.

Some detail of how the windows are built.



Some detail on the security locks and doors + double hiding and securing your diesel filler from being syphoned and a cool way of washing / purging the shite out of a black water dump hose if I were to go the black tank route.
The four water pumps and 1.1 TONS of fresh water did crack me up though.
The pivoting garage rack for bikes has given me an idea too..



I liked the waste bin drawer in this one and the bracket to hold an extra kitchen work surface up and the way they integrated the washing machine / dryer into the shower cubicle.
Thought the sink was a stupid design though just ponce for the sake of it there. can't fill it and wash your face and anything small you drop will bugger off down the back of that slot at the back, never to be seen again.
When he's busy talking about the bog I am looking at the full length door hinge and seeing how they sealed the door from the hab area so that the shower water stays inside the shower.




Now if you looked at the step they designed in the above video and compare it with this simpler yet MUCH more useful design in this video you can see sometimes it's not about making it all the flash mechanisms to make it work.
Integrated extra floor level when shut so you can't stumble down the steps in the dark when inside.
Just a simple fold out design with one pivot. and he doesn't mention it but a flat area behind the bottom step when open to kick off your shoes and store them if they are a bit dirty..
Much neater finish IMO



I could go on all night really

 

[MANGOFORTH]

Thanks Littleoldman at least I maybe have inspired if nothing else??.

I will watch all of those!! Also, do you think I'm a millionaire or something. I weld up heaps of old junk for a living!! And we live off only one wage. I've haggled, begged and borrowed everything you see ?

 

[MANGOFORTH]

HandyAndy it's certainly ready for war!

 

[HandyAndy]

I'm not saying you buy all this stuff, it's just if you are good with your hands and have a welder which you have both.... then you can make more than half of it yourself for next to F all

 

[MANGOFORTH]

He drove this one over a feild towards me and It genuinely made the ground shake. 100tonne winch for pulling tanks out of ditches!! He was testing it by pulling huge tractors that had the breaks on..... Successfully ?

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[HandyAndy]

View attachment 343764HandyAndy it's certainly ready for war!

You had me worried about the weight for a while but looking at this thing it looks very erm STEEL... No wonder the thing is 11Ton

 

[MANGOFORTH]

I'm 6`7" to gauge how massive they are!!!

 

[MANGOFORTH]

You had me worried about the weight for a while but looking at this thing it looks very erm STEEL... No wonder the thing is 11Ton

Nope the body is aluminium. Its just got a bomb proof underbelly and beefy 4x4 system. Wheels probably weigh a couple hundred kgs each

 

[MANGOFORTH]

Might be 10.5 actually. And that is with fully loaded water and fuel tanks. He's also got a gama goat. Google it if you don't know, I'd never heard of it before. Mega cool US Vietnam war paddy feild navigator

 

[Yorick]

Wow auto correct was not a good wingman on that comment.

That made me really giggle. I shall borrow that

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[tacr2man]

This was the biggest of my wreckers

Some idea of scale the top of front wing is about 6ft . Unladen weight 21 ton

 

[jockaneezer]

Saw this Dutch van at Beadnell a couple of years ago, the whole patio folded flat against the back of the van for travelling.

 

[HandyAndy]

OOoooooh New episode is live..
I think you'll want to see this (maybe )

 

[MANGOFORTH]

Just watched 1 2 and the start of 3...

Mental. Seems we took different methods to shed weight!! Has got me wondering more about my engine. Its MANs own, 4.8l 4 cylinder. Can't really find much about it... Hint hint??.

When it had the old body on, i loaded it up with all the steel, ally, ply, flooring, insulation and loads of timber 2x2s. So effectively it had two bodys worth of weight. My mate drove it to the feild i was going to do the work in. He had it doing 80mph Oh Please! ?? I wasnt happy he drove it that fast but was nicely supprised.

 

[HandyAndy]

will look into it. I know F all about HGV's either
My concerns are the same as yours really.
What is the all up weight as just a rolling chassis of the different options MAN / Iveco /DAF etc .
What wheel base lengths are available in each.
Which is regarded as most reliable
How many miles is too many miles

and like this video.... what can I swap out to make it lighter / more powerful / more economical if need be
There's nothing I can't do if I needed too. I thought about why you can't just strip out the current chassis legs and throw in some longer ones and then just roll the rear wheels back a bit and bolt em up again but I'm sure there's some legal hoops to go through to do that. Like the guys on the video said, it was the better option for them to convert the 34 yr old shed instead of just building it on the DAF they bought as a donor.
Lots to learn and A comment today on a YT video helped me look into free CAD software for designing it all.
Namely FreeCAD. (something else to learn at least.)

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[MANGOFORTH]

I didn't get as far as them saying that. Or i missed it. Ive got friends who converted 7.5t lorrys. The grp ply bodys are crap (maybe just the commercially made ones) ...
Granted the one they've picked one that seemed to be in absolutely remarkable condition.

My one was really rotten, no sealant where the wall met floor so condensation ran down and.... Well you can geuss. Mine is 25years old, no sign of rust anywhere but the body was knackered ?

I kicked a hole in the wall and my foot went through with ease. ?

I watched it with the Mrs and even she said "fexk that"
I can do some mechanical work. Stripped down and repaired a turbo once is probably the most involved thing ive done. I would definitely start crying if i had to change the engine and gearbox. Especially if it was that rusty ? I bow to their effort snd abilities. ?‍

Ive got a mate who does lorrys, fridge body's and mechanics. He said, MAN or volvo. ?‍
Also mileage wise, mines done 300k km, same mate said its good for a million miles, they get serviced every 2 weeks and really looked after. I've seen them for sale with 750k kms and still fetching good money.

I dunno, im the kind of guy who jumps in and works it out. Seen so many people spend so long deciding and weighing up choices, they never make one. Which is my biggest fear.

BUY A LORRY AND GET STUCK IN MATE ??

 

[MANGOFORTH]

Also i look at every lorry i go past. All the big commercial companies use MAN.... Maybe nice new ones though... But still, gives me a smile.

 

[MANGOFORTH]

Buy this?. I'll be insanely jealous, but it would be amazing.

 

[HandyAndy]

There is a reason I've not just jumped in with two feet like I usually do.. I want my debts paid off first.
So while I'm working on that I have time spare to scour the internet for ideas ?

 

[HandyAndy]

Buy this?. I'll be insanely jealous, but it would be amazing.

I was thinking more Zetros to be honest ???
But noooo deep end deep end!! Not good place to learn to swim ??

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[tacr2man]

A good starting point is look for EX mil or Ex local authority vehicles . The next thing is stay away from anything with adblue . Reliability wise they are all pretty much the same , you just trade different areas of faults . Bang for Buck DAF are pretty good bet . MAN probably next . 4WD are usually about 750kg heavier unladen . If staying 7.5 ton 4WD will only be swb , short chassis. Technically speaking if staying in the realm of HGV testing (not motorcaravan but living van ) any mods to chassis requires engineers report and notification to DVSA . I think the Escargot lot are digging themselves a big hole thru ignorance of law re HGV compared with what they normally do , as theirs will need to be HGV plated and tested !!

 

[MANGOFORTH]

I think the Escargot lot are digging themselves a big hole thru ignorance of law re HGV compared with what they normally do , as theirs will need to be HGV plated and tested !!

I thought i caught them say it also only needs class 4MOT? Because it was a library?

 

[tacr2man]

I thought i caught them say it also only needs class 4MOT? Because it was a library?

I thought they mentioned class 4 , that isnt going to cut it .

 

[HandyAndy]

"Race trucks" not for hire or reward are basically camper van classed racecar delivery vehicles.
part camper, part vehicle garage (probably to transport binky to shows and races.) quite popular in club motorsport where all competitors stay at the venue.

 

[HandyAndy]

Exactly what yours was Mango ?? I saw the motorsport logo on the side of yours before you dismantled it ?

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[HandyAndy]

Text reply from mate who was a hgv mechanic up until last year sometime
"
Hey Andy ?. Hope doing well .

Well it depends on the size on truck you want, you would be better off buying the correct chassis length but you can get them extend but it’s not cheap.

The daf LF 45 is a good chassis, we used to run a lot of them at Watson’s and didn’t get many issues.

The Iveco cargo are cheap but they feel cheap and plasticity. They are the sort of truck that are good for 3 years and then bin.

The merc atego are a really nice chassis. Good and strong, well built with strong engines.

The Renault Midlum is pretty much identical to the daf as it’s a Renault cab but they are robust.

The man is a good chassis. But the parts are really expensive and they still hold the pattern for most of them so are unavailable in the aftermarket. "

From the horses mouth then.

 

[MANGOFORTH]

Text reply from mate who was a hgv mechanic up until last year sometime
"
Hey Andy ?. Hope doing well ☺.

Well it depends on the size on truck you want, you would be better off buying the correct chassis length but you can get them extend but it’s not cheap.

The daf LF 45 is a good chassis, we used to run a lot of them at Watson’s and didn’t get many issues.

The Iveco cargo are cheap but they feel cheap and plasticity. They are the sort of truck that are good for 3 years and then bin.

The merc atego are a really nice chassis. Good and strong, well built with strong engines.

The Renault Midlum is pretty much identical to the daf as it’s a Renault cab but they are robust.

The man is a good chassis. But the parts are really expensive and they still hold the pattern for most of them so are unavailable in the aftermarket. "

From the horses mouth then.

Interesting. Ive looked for parts and hes right, They aint cheap! But I have found aftermarket parts for my old beast. Trying to get new headlights for the MOT as was the only advisory. Genuine headlights are £300....EACH??. Found some aftermarket one's for £40 each though.

I did go and look at an atego, it had the Mercedes curse. RUST. It had major repair work done to the back end of the chassis. Inside cab was nicer than mine though i must admit. Mine is pretty skanky tbh.

But I'm 100% certain your mate has infinitely more knowledge and experience than me though. ?

 

[HandyAndy]

More links ?

found another motorhome door and window manufacturer.

Outbound - Part of your adventure

We develop and manufacture high quality yet affordable windows, skylights, doors and hatches for expedition vehicles.

www.outbound.eu

 

[Gromett]

After years of researching 7.5T I came to the conclusion I would be going with DAF. Seem to have fairly good reputation, plenty of second hand spares and new spares are reasonable.

How the mighty have fallen, and am now about to start converting a Vivaro

 

[Minxy]

How the mighty have fallen, and am now about to start converting a Vivaro

Are you just using that as a toad then Karl? I can't see you managing to full-time in that after you've been drooling at a big one for so long!

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