planning my first overland vehicle.knowledge required

[TravelTed]

Hi I am in the process of planning an overland build

I would be happy with bolt on back end to a defender 130 but swmbo wants high sleeper over cab access to cabin from drivers position, toilet and shower, kitchen and seating area

I am fairly proficient with mig, tig and plasma so thinking of making my own back end to graft onto cab.

Still in planning stage at moment so any thoughts, comments or guidence would be greatly appreciated.

[Orgasmic Farmer]

My thoughts would be to start with a more suitable base vehicle by the sounds of your wifes' requirements. A hitop VW syncro or a 4x4 Sprinter might be better suited me thinks.

[TravelTed]

Thanks but she still wants a Defender. We did look at an ex mod media wagon last year and with a few mods like adding a bit to the back and front whilst keeping the approach and escape angles. Other options are 101 ambulance bit these are very rare.

[Big.Mike]

I am fairly proficient with mig, tig and plasma so thinking of making my own back end to graft onto cab.

I wouldn't buy a 130, buy a 110 with a knackered chassis but good engine and running gear and get galvanised 130 chassis. You're going to bin the back end anyway.

Honey comb aluminum is amazing for floors (though expensive), PVC foamed plastic sheets are light and water proof and make great boxes/cupboard doors.

There is lots of room around the wheels on a landy and it's very rarely utilised!

Don't forget to design your box to fit into a container, you might not want to ship it around the world, but the next person might.

Think hard about where you want to store spare wheels.

Keep your center of gravity low.

Baffle your fuel and water tanks.

Consider feet for stability (like a caravan)

Just a few thoughts...

Cheers,

Mike

[TravelTed]

Thanks Mike

I was originally thinking of a 110 and getting galv 130 chassis to suit 300 tdi.As far as the rolling chassis is concerned I am fine it is just the box at the back.was considering having roll cage incorporated within body.what are the requirements to keep vosa and plod happy when self building.

[tacr2man]

Dont go cabover route , it will be more unstable , will not fit even hicube container, slow the vehicle and increase fuel consumption . Look at box with either jack up roof , or say elevating roof panel . Do you need the 4wd ability for certain as building onto LR chassis will make some of your other halfs requirements harder to achive . Slightly increasing width will give a lot of improvements . Type of structure will be dictated by type of terrain , otherwise it will just fall apart , construction materials will be dictated by environments you are intending to visit . The more info you can give the more specific advice caan be given . eg number of persons to be carried etc . eg if visiting china you need to be able to seat the chaperone ! HTSH

[Big.Mike]

The requirements for these things are a lot less stringent than you'd think. I'm constantly amazed by the bits of junk that can make it onto the road.

As far as I understand it and I'm sure I'll be corrected, you can do anything to the back of the vehicle within a certain size. Just look at the redbull cars:

The standards are covered in the MOT and you'll need to ensure your mods will get insurance scrutiny, you'll probably want to class it as a camper (there are rules for this).

Lots of info here:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/publications/svainformationbulletins/svainformationbulletins.htm

Hope this helps,

Mike

[simonr]

I've seen some great 130 conversions! Most of the off-the-shelf ones are VERY expensive, but looking at them, they would not be difficult to build (just time consuming).

One option might be a Series 3 Military Ambulance, or even putting the Ambulance body on a 130 and extending it a bit. They are fairly heavy though IIRC.

There was a German chap at the Billing show who had a 130 with a pop-up roof supported on Gas Struts. The whole of the original roof (I guess an extended 110 roof) popped up about 70cm. In the down position, it looked like a regular Land Rover.

'Upstairs' there were two beds with webbing straps running side to side, supported by an Aluminium pole running down the middle of the vehicle. When collapsed, this provided a soft headlining for the cab. At the back of the vehicle, behind the bed upstairs was a standing area with a shower in the corner. It was also used to access upstairs via a ladder. The Shower tray lifted up so it doubled as a kitchen sink, the taps coming from the same feed as the shower. Downstairs was a seating area opposite a TV screen. and below the TV, a table / bench for food preparation etc which could also double as a bed (as could the seat opposite).

It looked very cosy and well thought out. I tried talking to him about the construction, but his English was as good as my German - not great! He bought an unlockable anti roll bar from us which is how I came to meet him.

If I were building one, I'd look at making at least one side telescope out as well which would give you quite a big living area. The TV was too close to the seats for my liking!

Best of luck with your project!

Si

[mmgemini]

Hello Ted

Where abouts are you ?

Where do yo intend travelling ?

As has been said. If you want/ need to ship, think about the height. 2.2 metres is the highest for a box...

Might I suggest before you start spending you have a visit to the Overland Show. http://landroveraddict.com/forums/thread.cfm?threadID=81088&boardID=19

There you will see plenty of overland trucks and Land Rovers. All will give you an insight into what you can do and get.

HTH

[TravelTed]

I am in Newark Nottinghamshire and when we travel we intend to circumnnavigate the world 80 % in the vehicle and 20% by local transport at the end of our trip

Not planning to go for s few years yet but want to build vehicle to test out weekends two weeks and a month so we can getvit right to live in for 8-10 months.

[zoltan]

This is worth a look at for ideas, bit spendy if you buy one

http://www.azalai.co.uk/

If you rechassis longer I would think you need to IVA your creation (?)

[Eightpot]

You need to balance a lot of compromises when building something like this, but as a rule and in my experience it's best to keep the overall size to a minimum and keep the weight down as much as you possibly can. Defenders in particular get quite ungainly with a lot of weight high up, I'm reminded of a friends very expensive new defender built by a specialist german company which rolled over with disastrous consequences after it hit a pothole on an adverse camber on a dirt road- it had way to much weight up top.

personally I would stay away from roll cages and just make the machine as stable as possible with a low CoG by clever design. Weight also gets you bogged down and adds to chassis stress on bad roads. 130's are more prone to this.

If your intended route takes in Africa/middle east, spare a thought for your comfort at night as well - cosy upstairs bunks are great in chilly Europe, but when it's over 40 degrees outside and humid as hell it's a godsend to have plenty of air around you, lots of ventilation and good fans (also bear in mind provision for mosquito nets if you're going into affected regions.)

As Mike says it's a great idea to go to the overland show to get some tips on practical issues, but so long as you keep things real simple you can't go too far wrong (also worth remembering they have shops/tools and materials in the rest of the world, so if you've forgot something you have plenty of time on your hands.. )

[landroversforever]

If building a 130, you would need to start with one to avoid the IVA process.

[Snagger]

For what you want, I'd suggest a Pulse ambulance or earlier 110 ambulance would be a good starting point.

[TravelTed]

Thanks for all the info and suggestions guys.keep them coming. I will be at the Bristol snd west Landy show at the weekend so will be spotting suitable vehicles and chatting with owners.

[TravelTed]

How scary is the iva process?

[western]

all the info in http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showforum=31

[RustyNissanPrairie]

110 with a decent roof rack and a Howling roof tent of your choice and a light roll out side awning. Your wifes ideas will be expensive and time consuming to make and you'll be left with a well overweight 130 that will break stuff. Keep it standard as possible.You wont need extreme approach angles this is your home and survival pod, approach angles are for the local quarry.

You're only looking at 8 - 10 months, a RTT/110 is fine for this time.

If you do need the requirements of your Mrs then you're into Sprinter/Mitsubishi Canter or Vario 4x4 vans, or go bigger still and ex UK military DAF or ex Dutch/German MAN.

Depends where your planning going also - most of the world is tarmac nowadays thanks to the Chinese. Also your budget?

Think about when you come home and try and sell it - 2nd hand overland trucks always sell for a massive loss as everyone builds their own dreams. Unbolt the stuff from a 110 and its your daily driver.

A good starting point;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mercedes-vario-4x4-paanel-with-winch-/181152239149?pt=UK_Commercial_Trucks&hash=item2a2d83ce2d

http://suchen.mobile.de/lkw-inserat/iveco-iveco-magirus-fm-130d9-fa-thw-allrad-doka-hennef/1326244.html?lang=en&pageNumber=3&__lp=23&scopeId=VUT75&sortOption.sortBy=searchNetGrossPrice&makeModelVariant1.modelDescription=allrad&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&vehicleCategory=VanUpTo7500&segment=Truck&negativeFeatures=EXPORT&grossPrice=false

http://suchen.mobile.de/lkw-inserat/iveco-daily-40-10-wm-allrad-4x4-gera/171870120.html?lang=en&pageNumber=4&__lp=23&scopeId=VUT75&sortOption.sortBy=searchNetGrossPrice&makeModelVariant1.modelDescription=allrad&makeModelVariant1.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant2.searchInFreetext=false&makeModelVariant3.searchInFreetext=false&vehicleCategory=VanUpTo7500&segment=Truck&negativeFeatures=EXPORT&grossPrice=false

[Sirocco]

^^^ some truth there with exception to tarmac! (give the Chinese 20 more years though!)

My 1 piece of advice is to build everything strong, whatever you decide to do. People bang on about weight but if you try to save too much on engineering you may find stuff failing along the way.

G

[tacr2man]

You also need to be careful with payload on some 7.5 ton vehicles , RTT are not the best for world type tours , as they restrict places where you can "camp" as they are not very inconspicuos and you often need to allow for being able to sleep inside the vehicle with them anyhow . Close living in small spaces can really test relationships , so dont plan to build "over cosy" for long periods of travel . JMHE

[Eightpot]

I wouldn't rate a roof tent for a long trip either, aside from the daily chore, they get covered in dust and bugs which then gets all over you. Being inconspicuous is a very desirable thing at times, and being able to just get in the back, take a seat and get a brew on can really lift a bad day.

As has been said, a defender ambulance is a great choice, I would steer away from built in toilets and showers as you really dont need them, people the world over use them and you will find plenty about. The thing my missus found absolutely invaluable was a plastic medical wee bottle/jug thing for the odd occasion when the loos were too gross or there was no bush : )

I did tee in a water hose with shower head off my water pump which gave a cracking outdoor shower, but probably used it three times in a year.

For info, withams have a pulse ambulance on their auction site at the moment.

[mmgemini]

^^^^

Well said. I wouldn't rate a RTT at any time....

All I use is a standard Defender 110. If you really want a shower. A plastic bucket with a water rose and tap make wonderful showers.

[Happyoldgit]

A Defender based ambulance might be worth considering. There are a few Pulse types filtering into the market now but they are fairly expensive, a cheaper alternative would be the slightly earlier 127/130's with bodies by Marshall's or Locomotors both of which have a fair amount of room in the back. The 'ambulance' clobber is either just bolted, screwed or riveted in and once removed you end up with an empty, double skinned, insulated but still fairly light box in which you can nail whatever you like.

I don't have many pics of the one I converted on my photobucket account any more but here are a couple:

http://s7.photobucket.com/user/Miserableolgit/media/127a.jpg.html'>

http://s7.photobucket.com/user/Miserableolgit/media/127.jpg.html'>

IMHO Ex RAF are the ones to go for but you'd probably want to repaint it in a less military looking colour and swap the V8 for an oil burner. They had twin batteries, split charge, HD springs etc etc.

[Snagger]

A Defender based ambulance might be worth considering. There are a few Pulse types filtering into the market now but they are fairly expensive, a cheaper alternative would be the slightly earlier 127/130's with bodies by Marshall's or Locomotors both of which have a fair amount of room in the back. The 'ambulance' clobber is either just bolted, screwed or riveted in and once removed you end up with an empty, double skinned, insulated but still fairly light box in which you can nail whatever you like.

I don't have many pics of the one I converted on my photobucket account any more but here are a couple:

IMHO Ex RAF are the ones to go for but you'd probably want to repaint it in a less military looking colour and swap the V8 for an oil burner. They had twin batteries, split charge, HD springs etc etc.

RAF vehicles are always the best to go for - they get the same meticulous servicing as other MoD vehicles, but how many ditches and tree stumps do you think they drove into on the airfields? They got a much easier life than their Army or RM counterparts, though you want to check the rear cross member on any RAF vehicles that could have been used for aircraft towing and overstressed around the hitch mount.

[taff_jj]

Start camping a lot now!

You will soon realise just how much equipment you will use and can live without. it will also give you the option of getting to know how you live out of boxes/ bags.

You will then be able to start building up equipment.

Use this as a guide to your vehicle,

other wise you risk, a 130 being big for your needs and end up taking too much. Or a 110 being a bit too small and end up forgetting something/ having to leave bits.

In the military i deploy into the field often (RAF 11 years and i have never seen our ambulances or any of our landys towing any aircraft.) and living out of a bag you quickly realise what you use often and can not do without.

experience is invaluable and it may be, that the way you live on the road, you can cope with a 90 and a roof rack..

I know this post seems a bit all over the shop, but it is how my brain works.

So again, get camping (if you both like glamping then a 130 it is) learn what works build a list of what you need and get a vehicl eto fit. worrying about the vehicle first can lead to comprimise. which will drive you crazy after several nights driving and camping.