NRS91

You missed two important words... its a 5700kg off road truck, if you start putting a few hundred kilos of sloshing weight up high you could become a cropper on side slopes as the weight transfers off to one side. Keeping the heavy stuff low down will pay dividends later on. If the water tanks can go under seats/beds or between chassis rails that would be ideal, and will make it easier to fill too.

Personally I wouldn't have a considerable weight of fluid above chassis level, for both static and dynamic stability reasons

Getting back to the original question, check out TFL (The Fast Lane) on Youtube, they did a range test of a Tesla towing a box van trailer... after the popularity of that video they also took a camper trailer away for the weekend into a woodland with one to see if it was viable. Basically they are capable but the range when towing is hopeless... (To make life easier I dug out the links)

A manual transmission is around 90% efficient from memory but then the engine isnt constantly running in its peak efficiency range so you loose efficiency there... then if you have a bad driver you loose more... trains and mining trucks have used Diesel/Electric drive system for decades due to efficiency and reliability... combine that with the modern advances in EVs and small automotive diesel engines it would be interesting to see a modern Diesel/Electric 4x4! It would give you the range and usability of a smaller Diesel running peak efficiency with the opportunity to run electric only or boost modes via supercapacitors. Long term it means the EV platform gets dialled in and the customer gets used to it... when battery/charging tech and UK infrastructure improves you yank the diesel generator and fuel tank out and install batteries and a charger so your platform lasts longer!

My main thoughts would be the mud collected in there tbh

Yea the suspension design is worthy of a thread alone tbh

The torque reaction should be ok provided there is plenty of vertical separation between top and bottom links (i believe 1/4 the height of the tyres is recommended?)

I would love CTIS for green lane days or running in and out of fields. Reduce impact on the ground and improve grip but still back up to road pressures, would improve the life of the tyres too. AgRover used chain driven portals from a small Allis Chalmers tractor, not really suitable for the weight and power IMHO

guessing the white smoke on start up was just the veg oil then?

looks awesome Mike! Good to see it all working out!

Was that 100 miles before you started having issues? For the cost of a filter I'd put a new one on as all the symptoms are of fuel starvation. Only other thought is that youve gummed some internals up in the VE pump which is throwing the governor off. A quick trick is to fill a fuel filter with neat injector cleaner then run the engine for 15-30secs so it's filled the fuel injection pump, lines and injectors then leave it overnight to break down the gunk

i may have missed it but have you changed the main fuel filter?

any joy on those pics?

Looking good Ross. Are you on the bump stop or metal to metal with the chassis? Worth remembering that the rubber will compress though

cracking pics!

Keep us posted!

That will be pretty cool... Ive been looking at the O2 trailer IVA rules and it would be easier using a pre-built chassis but I dont think it will phase Mike much!

haha would be cider in mine anyway! what sort of caravan project? making your own or refurb an older one?

Beer fridge in the Ibex and BBQ meat in the caravan fridge then? lol

neat job as always!

Ok Mike, thanks for the extra detail! I love this build!

so the silver block that holds your pulley also has a sort of hawse fairlead? Any link to the rear pulley?

Cheers Mike, I always wondered how the Ibex Vector winching system was packaged as its something I wanted to implement on my 90 rebuild. Its the same set up as my Scammell Explorer to be honest and very similar to the Nokken winch on the 101FC. If you want to winch from the rear I guess you will just pick the rope off the rear pulley and hook a snatch block on?

So the Ibex Vector winch is under the 2nd row? Feeds out the back then around a roller and back to the front?

@Chicken Drumstick you are spot on the money, the extra timing advance typically reduces EGTs and clears up smoke by allowing the diesel enough time to burn completely. It normally makes the engine more responsive too and because you keep your standard static base timing you dont lose any low end grunt like you would by advancing the pumps static base timing.