Tuesday, February 4, 2020

What are we planing to do with the fire truck?


Many people that build their own camping vehicle are spending endless time in planning, repairing, building and optimizing their vehicle. I admit, influenced by videos, blogs and forums, I ran into the same dragnet. That was partially the reason why I thought I would need a 4x4 vehicle and bought the TRM 2000. But realistically I had played enough in the sand as a kid, first in the sandbox, later, a little older, in the Sahara desert with my motorcycle. I never went back to the desert to play in the sand. It was fun while it lasted, but not fun enough to do it over again. I hated the times when we had to dig out a motorcycle from the  quicksand at 50°C in the middle of the desert sun. I can only imagine how it would be to dig a 10 ton truck out of such situations. At my current age I don't really need such entertainment anymore. Having a 4x4 vehicle only to brag with at festivals doesn't make sense to me. When I arrived last year at the Adventure Southside with the Renault TRM 2000, it had rained for days and the camping area was a mud field. I had zero desire to drive into that mud. Not because I was worried about getting stuck, but because I didn't plan on cleaning the truck for half a day after having fun for a few seconds. I ended up parking on a graveled plain with no mud in sight. This way I didn't even have to clean my shoes after that weekend. This was basically when I realized that the 4-wheel drive of the TRM was completely unnecessary. I probably would never need it.

Camping area, Adventure Southside 2019


So when we decided to sell the TRM, I didn't even care for another 4x4 truck.
When Red, the LN2 Mercedes 814, came along it even had differential locks, which was more than I was looking for.
Unfortunately we are not in the situation to be able to travel indefinitely or live in the camper the whole year. So I came to the conclusion that spending a lot of money on our summer hobby would be stupid. If you are expecting shiny pictures and videos with expensive equipment mounted into the truck, you are at the wrong place. Instead I will be trying to test the limits on how little I can spend to receive the amenities the family expects from the vacation vehicle.
So far I mounted a chinese diesel heater into the crew cabin. It heats quite well. But I already learned from it that Diesel heaters will not be the ultimate solution for a vehicle that the whole family plans to sleep in. These types of heaters are way too loud to allow a restful night of sleep and I'm usually not the most sensitive type when it comes to sleeping situations.
I'm actually very surprised that many camper van dwellers keep recommending heaters like this. If I would expect to need the heater for much more than heating the cabin while I'm working in it, I would immediately replace it with a gas heater. And don't expect a more expensive brand to be much better. They are not, they are all loud.

The second part already in the truck is a simple electric system, consisting of two self built 12V LiFePO4 batteries with 40Ah each, a 2000W chinese power converter with real sinus. Mainly to drive the regular household refrigerator with 230V
As introduced im my last post, we started already with the cushions which will in the end build the bed or the seating area in the crew cabin.
The next step, when it gets a little warmer outside will be moving the roller shade mounting of the rear cabin. Currently the roller shades don't roll up, they just drag under the roof of the reak cabin. At this position they are in our way for the  project after the roller shades, which will be to build a lifting ceiling for the rear cabin.
After that I will build a inside box for the rear cabin with a toilet and shower cell. After that I have not planned yet. But I'm hoping to get all of that done before our first vacation this year.


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