Meertruck 1124AF

palebluewanders

Active member
Hello and Happy Easter, everyone! Our story actually began nearly a year ago, but we haven't made a huge amount of progress in that time so it won't be a very long story. ?

We bought this beautiful Mercedes 1124 AF (automatic and with front diff!) from a German dealer last May:
266A1E19-417E-44C4-ABB4-9026BD9B0FB9.JPG

The next 7 months were just dealing with various German mechanics. We don't live in Germany or speak any German so that was fun. In all that time the only things they accomplished were:
  • Some minor repairs
  • Replacing the tires (385 / 65R22.5 Hankook AM15+)
  • Removing the fire department box

In December we finally managed to get the truck from Germany to the UK. We even drove it a little bit for the first time! That was great. It's been in the good hands of Atkinson Vos since then (and in good company since Gertrude is also there!).
Screen Shot 2022-04-17 at 8.43.08 PM.png

We're a bit later in the queue than Gertrude so they haven't gotten it into the workshop yet, but they have (with great patience and good humor) worked on designing some of the exterior stuff to our specifications:
4.JPG

In the meantime, we've been working on the interior design. This is what we have so far:
3.JPG2.JPG1.JPG

It has, unless we change our minds:
  • Shower in the entrance to save space and also to clean off our future dog as he/she enters the living cabin
  • Separett Tiny toilet
  • Massive 300L Vitrifrigo fridge
  • Bosch built-in oven/microwave
  • Bosch kitchen extractor hood
  • Induction cooktop (possibly hidden under the counter so it's all usable counter space without worrying about the glass)
  • Cruise N Comfort AC
  • Two 5kW Espar diesel hydronic heaters with underfloor heating, water heating, some radiators, etc. Will do the usual thing of borrowing heat from the engine too.
  • Fancy air circulation system that Toni spent weeks designing
  • The biggest window Outbound makes, lol (plus a couple of smaller ones)

Still need to figure out:
  • Electrical system
  • Part time recirculating shower (probably only the additional "luxury" part of the shower after all the grime and soap are washed away)
  • The rest of the plumbing
  • Maybe alternatives to wood to build furniture out of
  • Whether we want to use aluminum extrusions for structure and where
  • Where to put the radiators (can they go right under the Outbound window blinds that stick out so far from the wall?)
  • Everything else

And that's more or less where we are now. Oh, and we very recently decided to name her Meertruck, partly because it makes us laugh. Looking forward to sharing our progress and absorbing some wisdom from the forum, no doubt we will need a lot of it in the months to come.

Cheers,

Tracy & Toni
 

Neil

Observer
Welcome

It's Good to see a fellow Brit on here .

What a great project, looks fantastic

Neil
 

RoamIt

Well-known member
Hello my brother! My 1224AF Doka just landed in the U.S. this week! Mine also has the Allison automatic and front dif, they are rare.
It's taken 6 months to get that far. I hope to pick it up in the next couple of weeks. You have already made more progress than me. All I've gotten done is tweaking the engine and the truck serviced.

Looking forward to stealing all your ideas....;)
 

palebluewanders

Active member
Welcome

It's Good to see a fellow Brit on here .

What a great project, looks fantastic

Neil

Thanks! Neither of us are Brits (we are from US and Spain) and we actually haven't figured out where to rent a workshop and do the rest of the build yet, but we'll figure that part out when we get there, heh.
 

palebluewanders

Active member
We have Outbound products and we are happy with them. The lead time can be several months so factor that into the build !

Yeah no kidding! Luckily we got all our Outbound stuff ordered in December so hopefully it shouldn't be too many more months now. Glad to hear you are happy with them!
 

palebluewanders

Active member
Hello my brother! My 1224AF Doka just landed in the U.S. this week! Mine also has the Allison automatic and front dif, they are rare.
It's taken 6 months to get that far. I hope to pick it up in the next couple of weeks. You have already made more progress than me. All I've gotten done is tweaking the engine and the truck serviced.

Looking forward to stealing all your ideas....;)

So exciting, congrats! Found your thread too, looks like there's lots of info there already. I might just steal some of your ideas first. :p
 

Geo.Lander

Well-known member
Hello and Happy Easter, everyone! Our story actually began nearly a year ago, but we haven't made a huge amount of progress in that time so it won't be a very long story. ?

We bought this beautiful Mercedes 1124 AF (automatic and with front diff!) from a German dealer last May:
View attachment 717585

The next 7 months were just dealing with various German mechanics. We don't live in Germany or speak any German so that was fun. In all that time the only things they accomplished were:
  • Some minor repairs
  • Replacing the tires (385 / 65R22.5 Hankook AM15+)
  • Removing the fire department box

In December we finally managed to get the truck from Germany to the UK. We even drove it a little bit for the first time! That was great. It's been in the good hands of Atkinson Vos since then (and in good company since Gertrude is also there!).
View attachment 717587

We're a bit later in the queue than Gertrude so they haven't gotten it into the workshop yet, but they have (with great patience and good humor) worked on designing some of the exterior stuff to our specifications:
View attachment 717592

In the meantime, we've been working on the interior design. This is what we have so far:
View attachment 717595View attachment 717594View attachment 717593

It has, unless we change our minds:
  • Shower in the entrance to save space and also to clean off our future dog as he/she enters the living cabin
  • Separett Tiny toilet
  • Massive 300L Vitrifrigo fridge
  • Bosch built-in oven/microwave
  • Bosch kitchen extractor hood
  • Induction cooktop (possibly hidden under the counter so it's all usable counter space without worrying about the glass)
  • Cruise N Comfort AC
  • Two 5kW Espar diesel hydronic heaters with underfloor heating, water heating, some radiators, etc. Will do the usual thing of borrowing heat from the engine too.
  • Fancy air circulation system that Toni spent weeks designing
  • The biggest window Outbound makes, lol (plus a couple of smaller ones)

Still need to figure out:
  • Electrical system
  • Part time recirculating shower (probably only the additional "luxury" part of the shower after all the grime and soap are washed away)
  • The rest of the plumbing
  • Maybe alternatives to wood to build furniture out of
  • Whether we want to use aluminum extrusions for structure and where
  • Where to put the radiators (can they go right under the Outbound window blinds that stick out so far from the wall?)
  • Everything else

And that's more or less where we are now. Oh, and we very recently decided to name her Meertruck, partly because it makes us laugh. Looking forward to sharing our progress and absorbing some wisdom from the forum, no doubt we will need a lot of it in the months to come.

Cheers,

Tracy & Toni

Great to see the thread being started Tracy & Toni!

Really nice interior planning! I really want to know more about the underfloor heating! I went that route at first but gave up eventually with all the temp regulating requirements to use engine heat. I would really like to know more!

Again, great to see the thread! Make sure to link to the IG too!
 

palebluewanders

Active member
Great to see the thread being started Tracy & Toni!

Really nice interior planning! I really want to know more about the underfloor heating! I went that route at first but gave up eventually with all the temp regulating requirements to use engine heat. I would really like to know more!

Again, great to see the thread! Make sure to link to the IG too!

Thanks, it was certainly about time!

Looks like we must not have gotten as far as you in the underfloor heating plan since we have no idea about the temp regulating requirements. ? It's such a common thing that most people do these days we didn't expect major complications. But also, I think we will have the guys at Espar UK help us with the installation after AV is done with the truck, at least as far as connecting it to the engine's coolant system goes.

We really gotta start posting more on IG too. Link is in our signature (which needs updating) in the meantime!
 

Toby3

Member
Hi Tracy and Toni,

cool to see another 1124AF build and the collection of them is growing at AV. Out 1124 AF is also there, coming back from second time at paint this week having had the cabin painted so AV can then fit roof rack, rear wheel carriers, lockers etc.

Your design looks great, good luck with the build

Cheers Tobias
 

palebluewanders

Active member
Hi Tracy and Toni,

cool to see another 1124AF build and the collection of them is growing at AV. Out 1124 AF is also there, coming back from second time at paint this week having had the cabin painted so AV can then fit roof rack, rear wheel carriers, lockers etc.

Your design looks great, good luck with the build

Cheers Tobias

Oh, I think we've met your truck! It's the one with the extended chassis right? Very cool to meet you here too. AV is definitely developing a nice little following in this forum haha.

Thanks and best of luck to you too, love seeing the progress on everyone's builds.
 

Toby3

Member
yes that's the one with the extended chassis. Trying to accommodate 4 of us, I'm 6ft 5, my 14 year old is almost the same and expecting my 12 year old will follow suit, plus 3 dogs, the largest being a 1 year old Great Dane, plus motorbike, 4 x kayaks, 4 x mountain bikes, climbing gear / trekking gear etc so hoping that the design is going to work. Hoping to go up and see it in the next couple of weeks as it comes back from paint the second time.
 

palebluewanders

Active member
yes that's the one with the extended chassis. Trying to accommodate 4 of us, I'm 6ft 5, my 14 year old is almost the same and expecting my 12 year old will follow suit, plus 3 dogs, the largest being a 1 year old Great Dane, plus motorbike, 4 x kayaks, 4 x mountain bikes, climbing gear / trekking gear etc so hoping that the design is going to work. Hoping to go up and see it in the next couple of weeks as it comes back from paint the second time.

If I could whistle I'd be doing it now! That is quite the crew and amount of gear you'll have onboard, no wonder you need such a long truck. Looking forward to seeing the pics with the box painted!
 

Geo.Lander

Well-known member

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