Sitec
Adventurer
Tho Mogs are not my preferred vehicle, your truck still has a great stance. Love this pic and the vids of where you've been! Love it!
Hello From NZ and help with a Big decision to make
- Thread starter Madoxen
- Start date
Tho Mogs are not my preferred vehicle, your truck still has a great stance. Love this pic and the vids of where you've been! Love it!
Peter_n_Margaret
Adventurer
Sitec
Adventurer
Blackwood, when we are home
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
Barossa for us! Enjoy!
Madoxen
Active member
Hi Sitec all valid reasons to ditch the crane although I so have thoughts the diffrences, your crane was behind the cab and would have taken up valuable cabin space and also the hatch to the cab would not be possable, and like you said when u removed it your front lifted up 120mm which is good as keeping weight down from the front axle is pretty hard.
on the Actros the crane is on the rear of the chassis on its own bolt on quick release frame( quick release being 1 hr to remove and same to install. the flat deck on the merc is 5.5 mtr with a decent gap befor the crane starts so i do not think it will interfear with a decent size cabin.
at presant the rear of the flat dec is sitting 60mm higher than the front and i would worry that if i removethe crane it will come up another 120mm on top of that , also being an 18 ton truck a little extra weight will help smooth out the ride , but then again taking out a leaf from the rear might also help on that front regarless of keep the crane or not.
you are correct that registering it as a motor home is much easier on the wallet. and with the crane i do not think i would be able to do that. hehe more food for thought
On the bright side our plan has now gone from 4.8 -5 mtr to a 5.5 mtr layout and it is amazing how much more u can do with such a little increase in space. I will get the layout down a little more and then will post although maybe i should be starting a new Build page for this project.
pic shows the crane removed and frame for it
Peter_n_Margaret
Adventurer
Suggestions.....
I would flip it so that the sitting area is at the rear has a decent view outside via maximum sized windows on 3 sides. You don't need the view at night.
Delete the skylights and increase the sizes of the windows. That will allow extra solar to be installed on the roof. You can not have too much solar (or window area either).
And a suggestion for your overhead cupboards.. In traditional cupboards, stored stuff wanders up and down inside. Having everything in boxes/drawers means you know where they will be
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
I would flip it so that the sitting area is at the rear has a decent view outside via maximum sized windows on 3 sides. You don't need the view at night.
Delete the skylights and increase the sizes of the windows. That will allow extra solar to be installed on the roof. You can not have too much solar (or window area either).
And a suggestion for your overhead cupboards.. In traditional cupboards, stored stuff wanders up and down inside. Having everything in boxes/drawers means you know where they will be
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
Madoxen
Active member
Hi thanks for your suggestion I like that idea
And although i like the idea of reversing the layout we discounted this early on for several reasons
1. we wanted the swivel seats with seat belts up near the cab hatch, which we could not do with beds at the front.
2 if u look at the plan there is a big door on the rear of the cabin in front of the kids bunks and the beds basically disapear into the roof and / lower bed creates a side wall to keep storage space under the main bed and then the "bunk area" can be used as either a garage or a workshop area but this is something that wont happen till the kids are not stuck with haveing to go on adventures with us
with current plan we can fit 3 500w panels on roof for solar which will hopefally be enough, but i do think if cost not to great bigger windows would be nice.
thanks
Hi, some of my poor value observations based on my not yet finished build.
Will your swivel seats face forward when travelling, will there be enough legroom?
If your passenger seats faced forward but at the rear of the dinette then no swivel required saving space and maybe making a better dinette in use?
If you decided on lowering the floor where the access door is so you can have a smaller, lighter and so easier ladder to get in, would that hole in the floor be a problem right next to the table? Or can you have some sort of slide out steps above your air tanks?
What's under the drop down bunk when it isn't?
We have some windows with protective metal covers in the front wall which look out over the cab roof, so we have four windows around the dinette at the front plus one in the door (but which doesn't open or can have a cover) so nice and airy.
We have small windows only over the double bed, plus a small hatch in the back wall. Opening that hatch provides a nice bit of fresh air, and since it's side hinged rather than top hinged like the windows gives a better vista, a small thing that feels nice That hatch also allows us to get out and climb down the spare tyre if needed, with no external handle though.
I think you could have a smaller gap between bathroom and kitchen? That means you could rotate your bathroom 90 degrees, giving more room front to back for two seatbelted forward facing side by side passenger seats? And also a bigger wardrobe. Since the kitchen worktop is only waist height I don't think that will close off the rear bed area too much from the front?
I'm told an exhaust pointing at the roof will cover your solar with black soot, or does your nice modern truck only emit buttercups and daisies?
The one skylight we have is above the shower tray so if it leaks I know where the water is going!
Each time we parked up in our last camper we could usually end up flat enough by making use of any undulations and slope combined with the built in tilt of the suspension. None of those ramps things. We did use the jack base for a while but it made too little difference. So I wouldn't worry about what the suspension is doing until you've finished and used it for a while maybe?
I could also recommend Ulrich Dolde's book if you've not seen it? Well worth it. Downloadable from his website if you like https://www.selfbuildmotorhome.com/Main_navigation/Bookstore.html
Will your swivel seats face forward when travelling, will there be enough legroom?
If your passenger seats faced forward but at the rear of the dinette then no swivel required saving space and maybe making a better dinette in use?
If you decided on lowering the floor where the access door is so you can have a smaller, lighter and so easier ladder to get in, would that hole in the floor be a problem right next to the table? Or can you have some sort of slide out steps above your air tanks?
What's under the drop down bunk when it isn't?
We have some windows with protective metal covers in the front wall which look out over the cab roof, so we have four windows around the dinette at the front plus one in the door (but which doesn't open or can have a cover) so nice and airy.
We have small windows only over the double bed, plus a small hatch in the back wall. Opening that hatch provides a nice bit of fresh air, and since it's side hinged rather than top hinged like the windows gives a better vista, a small thing that feels nice
That hatch also allows us to get out and climb down the spare tyre if needed, with no external handle though.I think you could have a smaller gap between bathroom and kitchen? That means you could rotate your bathroom 90 degrees, giving more room front to back for two seatbelted forward facing side by side passenger seats? And also a bigger wardrobe. Since the kitchen worktop is only waist height I don't think that will close off the rear bed area too much from the front?
I'm told an exhaust pointing at the roof will cover your solar with black soot, or does your nice modern truck only emit buttercups and daisies?
The one skylight we have is above the shower tray so if it leaks I know where the water is going!
Each time we parked up in our last camper we could usually end up flat enough by making use of any undulations and slope combined with the built in tilt of the suspension. None of those ramps things. We did use the jack base for a while but it made too little difference. So I wouldn't worry about what the suspension is doing until you've finished and used it for a while maybe?
I could also recommend Ulrich Dolde's book if you've not seen it? Well worth it. Downloadable from his website if you like https://www.selfbuildmotorhome.com/Main_navigation/Bookstore.html
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Our layout is very similar to what you have so far. The 2 differences are our rear bed is fixed and has toy storage beneath and no pass thru (and the entry door is opposite as we are in North America). So far we have been pretty happy with the layout. We have 2 skylights, rooftop AC, and MaxxFan and still had room for 1,000 watts of solar. We really are enjoying the amount of light they provide (but may become a problem in very cold weather, they sweat a bit in below freezing temps) and they also have integrated lights. Time will tell though as we just moved in a few weeks ago.
gregmchugh
Observer
I notice you have a MaxxFan in the bath. Pretty much guaranteed that you will get lots of condensation on the inside of the vent cover in cold weather which will drip down into the circuit board leading to failure. Here is a video with info on preventing/fixing the problem. You may already be aware of this issue.
By the time mine failed the circuit board was in bad shape from water intrusion so I bought a new board and applied the conformal coating to prevent reoccurrence. My keypad needed replacement also and I installed the replacement with sealer as shown in the video. I now carry some spare keypads and circuit boards with conformal coating just in case. A second MaxxFan in the living area gets condensation but not as much as the bath fan but over time I expected it would also fail so I pulled out the board and coated it and sealed the keypad as shown in the video.
Peter_n_Margaret
Adventurer
I used the same system for retaining the main kitchen drawers.Hi thanks for your suggestion I like that idea
Pics were taken 10 years ago.
Plenty for the good days but not enough for the bad days.
There are also benefits to getting rid of LPG all together and going electric induction cook top. For that you need over 1kW plus a back up direct charging capability from the alternator.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
VerMonsterRV
Gotta Be Nuts
Thanks for that, that task is on my TODO list (which seems to be getting longer and not shorter). I like the Everlander's videos and have watched them all. One thing I would add it we also have the MaxxShade. Although not a robust bit it does reduced the condensation that occurs. Tried both open/closed in near freezing temps and it was way less with the shade shut.
Peter_n_Margaret
Adventurer
Another small tip for drawers and storage boxes...
Don't make the runners exactly horizontal..... If you make them slope backwards slightly, the drawer will tend to want to stay closed as the vehicle rattles over the corrugations, instead of tending to want to slide open.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
Don't make the runners exactly horizontal..... If you make them slope backwards slightly, the drawer will tend to want to stay closed as the vehicle rattles over the corrugations, instead of tending to want to slide open.
Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 motorhome
Madoxen
Active member
Hey lets hope the plan works out but i am not convinced it will go through that way, the truck will not be collected untill the end of feb :-( maybe earlia if it is possible.I like that your crane detaches! That is handy. If it's 'not there' when you get your 'Motorhome' classified as just that, then you are in a win win situation!
It is killing me knowing its so close yet so far
.ye I was looking at the maxxfan but am not sold on it yet will keep digging for what works with us.
yes I have read the book you might recognize the excel spreadsheet style layout that i used to make our layout
yes we did play with this but then the access to the bunks is over the top of our bed which might get a little frustrating with 2 kids getting up all night over our bed .
I am hoping so but need to fing the actual seats to put real measurments in . I might need to shorten the kitchen and bring back the seats not sure yet .
VerMonsterRV
I love your build and am re reading it now
and am seeing lots of details i missed first time around I am flighing up to North Island on the 2nd to have a look and drive of the truck and to get measurements and photos for the torsion free frame designe ( hehe so exciting )
thank you so much everyone for your thoughts and suggestions it is this that makes this site so Valuable
again thank you