Ver 3.02 big rear door

Big rear door is much smaller rear door now.

Interior in 'travel' mode

A look at where I went

I haven't tried this before but here goes..

Google Earth should show you my GPS track.

Ruahine adventure 1

Four days in the Ruahine mountains tramping. Good weather and not another soul met from start to finish. Solitude.

I didn't actually sleep in  the AdM  but it did get me to an out of the way place and I have found the site for our first overnighter.  Just 100m on from here via a 4WD track to the river is a flat sheltered spot. Perfect.

Real (off) road test

This afternoon we took the Adventure Machine for a decent offroad test. I am happy to say it went very well indeed. The roads have seen better days after the recent heavy rain so a real test of its ability.
One steep uphill section required low ratio 4WD as it was soft, rutted and very steep. I needed a cup of tea by the top.

Design flaw

The project had one large design flaw, the big rear door, in particular the inability to close it whilst in the rear cabin.
So if you are, for instance, by the sea and it gets windy, you can't close the door and hunker inside. You would have to get into the front cabin.
In addition, the big rear door was a bit bigger than I first planned and a lot heavier.
After a great deal of thought the only solution seemed to be to hinge part of the door so that it could fold down and attach to the supporting doors for strength but also allow us to get in and out.

So off the came to door again. A bit of cutting here, a bit of welding there, a few hinges extra and it was ready for a trial fit.

 Of course now that I have put in a hinge I also need a way to hold the door straight as well.
All up the door weighs 20kg. This puts a lot of pressure on the supports. It all looks ugly.

Version 3 will do without the second part of the door all together. This reduces the sheltered part at the rear but more than halves the weight of the rear door making it much easier to support and manhandle. We will have an 'awning' made to create a covered an enclosed rear. The size and details are yet to be decided.

I have spent far too many hours constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing this door and I am heartily sick of it.

Road test 2

With Tom and Molly's help we managed to get the counterbalance weight back in to place beneath the front bumper. Not an easy task but no lost fingers or toes which is good.

This improved the handling and it felt less skitery in the front. 

plumbing next...

Next step...

The next pane in the panorama is filled. I wonder how many more panes there will be?

Road Test

The time has come for a road test. The rear doors and beds are secured so there is nothing to fall off.

Under the front bumper was a huge block of steel. I didn't weigh it but guessed the weight at about 100-150kg. I had taken this off when the original rear body was removed as there was no grip from the rear wheels. I think I will have to replace it as now the front end feels too light. This is no small task and i have yet to work out how I will achieve this.

Other than being a little in the front end, the test went well. Its actually very nice to drive.
the first trip away is getting closer...

Big door

A break in the wet weather meant we could get the big rear door on at last.
It is already ver. 2.01 and I think we'll have a ver. 2.02 before too long.
this has always been a problematic design area.
I really needed some extra shelter, a 'room' actually,  and achieving this has absorbed plenty of cogitation.

Although the door is now lighter than the original design, it still places a lot of stress on the hinges.

A road test is not too far away.

Bed frames

An important factor in deciding whether the entire project was feasible hinged on being able to sleep across the truck. The rear (crew) cabin is too small to sleep and my intention has always been to have bunks, one that folds away.

The water tank will go beneath the bunk with the pump and filling in the 'crew cab'.

The top bunk folds up and away. 

New Year 2012: Tin Tin and the weather

She who must be obeyed requested my attendance at a New Year's eve screening of the TinTin movie, in 3D, at the Paramount in Wellington. My first visit to this historic theatre.
The New Year festivities planned for the Wellington Harbour including fireworks has been cancelled due to bad weather. A soggy end to the year. Luckily 2012 started with brightening weather. An omen I'm sure.

I have never read the TinTin books but enjoyed the movie: a fast paced, loud romp around the world with a dog that runs like a wombat.. A little too much Steven Spielberg for me but there you have it.