K33F's self_build

Self builds and DIY projects
keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 599Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:18 pm

Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 6:37 pm Post subject: SmartChargers
I fitted a drop down folding table in front of the gas locker, put on some formica and made a couple of props to hold it up. I tried to figure an easy way to fit fold-out props but nothing was working for me, so I remembered that I am supposed to be keeping it simple. I used the same method to make a drop-in worktop to fit over the cooler.
When the carrier delivered my smart chargers I got the zig unit out and reconfigured the connections so that the cable will reach out through the hatch for making it easy to hook-up. The smart chargers can be left on permanently, but they need to remain accessible to be able to monitor the performance of the batteries and to change the charging rate. It defaults to the lower current after a power down and I prefer to use the higher rate, 4A. I made a couple of cradles for the chargers with some flex-band and hard-wired them in to the system. They are on soak test now to be sure they are up to the job.
Interior painting tomorrow, I guess.....
Pictures to follow if zildjian will be so kind.
Edit to say thanks again, you beat me to it.
_________________
Two time demountable owner, currently a demountable builder
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 601Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:18 pm

Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 6:59 pm Post subject:
zildjian wrote:
How do you think it compares weight wise to the ready made camper previously

It's still a good deal lighter than the Northstar, even with the beds in. I used to use about 100psi in the airbags to get a good ride height, this one is already too high at 75psi.
I should be able to blag a free weight check on the weigh-bridge at my local quarry, and I already know the tare as I've bought road-stone there already.
Even if I don't check it, it's bound to be a lot lighter....
_________________
Two time demountable owner, currently a demountable builder
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 603Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:19 pm

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2013 5:51 pm Post subject: Tanking
Did a bit more painting today. The plan is to have all the exposed wood painted with two coats of vinyl silk. It produces a wipe clean surface and does not poison me or the environment with massive amounts of VOCs.
While I was doing this i got the idea to tank the spaces which will hold the cooker and the "sink". Once again my store of building materials came in handy. I used Flashband and rubbed it down with a combination of wooden roller, wadded tea-towel and hot air gun set to a medium heat. Pictures of this later when the painting is finished.
_________________
Two time demountable owner, currently a demountable builder
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 605Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:20 pm

Posted: Sat Oct 12, 2013 7:21 pm Post subject:
Thanks again to zildjian for posting the pictures. This week I have been very busy again. I wasted three days and some amount of wood trying to make a door which could be plugged into either opening but I eventually abandoned it as a bust. The door was too heavy and awkward to manoeuvre in the tight space and the magnet catches don't hold worth a damn. We have enough fabric left from the upholstery work to make a heavy curtain and we intend to use it just the same way we were going to use the door.
All the bare timber is now painted with two coats of vinyl silk, underlay went down today and carpets laid. Sofa is in and it is going to be used as a permanent sofa, and possibly also as a simple bed, without sliding it out.
When Kathy inspected the project today she decided that she would manage up into the luton, so I am going to get a kingsize mattress from ikea tomorrow and that will form the basis of the bed. I managed to blag an old ikea bed frame from a good neighbour, I'll use the ✖ members and the spring slats and fashion a frame from some ogee skirting in my workshop.
Mo
E pictures to come.
_________________
Two time demountable owner, currently a demountable builder
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 607Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:21 pm

Posted: Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:36 pm Post subject: Nearly finished
Hello again. It's been ages since I last posted and quite alot has been done to the camper. When Kathy decided she would be able to get up into the luton I measured the space and discovered that it was a perfect fit for an ikea kingsize mattress. At the head end the mattress lifts up into the angled front and by a fluke is a perfect fit. I will make a couple of small shelves to hold a wineglass and/or specs, tv remote, moby etc. We like our comforts.

I decided to rethink the sofa. I made a lift-out frame with recycled slats from an ikea bed, cut down an ikea mattress to fit and upholstered it with some heavy curtain material. I made a couple of headrests from the same fabric. The whole thing looks the hat and I'm very happy that I did away with the original sofa bed since it took up too much space. The space under the bed is now available for heavy items like water and tinned foods.

The toilet door idea never really worked, it was too heavy and very awkward to move between the two positions so I scrapped the idea completely and made a heavy curtain from the same curtain fabric I already used for the bed. It works a charm and is really simple.

We had a problem using the dvd because every time we stopped and made a brew the excess moisture condensed on every cold surface, including the surface of the dvds as they came out of the pack. I think I have found a suitable means of eliminating the problem. The red wire in the 7 way grey connector is supposed to be used to power the fridge in a normal installation, it supplies power when the ignition is on (engine running). So I bought a ceramic fan heater designed to be run from the cigarette lighter socket. It draws about 11 amps on load and I have run it successfully for over an hour with no problems of overheating. The plan is to run the heater whenever we are driving so the camper remains warm and dry inside and condensation should be eliminated.

We drove down to england for the Christmas break and slept in the bed. It is very comfortable with a winter duvet over a pair of zip-together sleeping bags.

For keeping the bed aired when it's not in use, I have put in an electric blanket, and to keep the cabin aired I fitted a tube heater on the wall beneath the control panel.

All up weight is much lighter than the Northstar 750, I ran it without any air in the rear airbags and it coped fine. Since I have the airbags I will be using them to level out the ride height, which is achieved by using about 50 psi, and the truck handles pretty well at this setting. To give a comparison the Northstar 750 required 100 psi and was a full gear-change heavier than the normally loaded truck.
Hopefully there will be pictures soon, if I can impose on the kindness of zildjian who has hosted all the pictures on this thread, for which I am very thankful.
_________________
Two time demountable owner, currently a demountable builder
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 609Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:22 pm

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 11:27 am Post subject: Winter use
We did a short trip this week to test the new heating and practise the general living arrangements.

The heater has been run continuously for periods of at least three hours now on several occasions and has not failed, despite being cheap, cheerful and Chinese. The bearings in the fan are a bit noisy but have survived the ordeal. This keeps the cabin warm enough to ensure the bedding stays clear of any condensation and gives us a very comfortable sleep.

On our way home we stopped in the car park at the Rest and Be Thankful where there was about 6inches of snow lying. When we left this morning there had been a further snowfall and some 6inches more were lying on the roof, on the steps and on the truck. We had slept through the snowstorm completely unaware. Score one for the 50mm of kingspan in the walls and the roof.

There will surely be changes as we progress but the basic design has worked in much the way we expected.
_________________
Two time demountable owner, currently a demountable builder
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 611Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:22 pm

Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:08 am Post subject: Stability and stowage
Hiya Andy, I have noticed chassis flex with my rig but mostly it has been sideways twisting and it doesn't seem to be reaching resonance in any of the situations we have been in. I have a theory that the porpoise motion is related to to increased forward moment of the shorter truck bed of the double cab truck. Mine is a supercab model and it has a six foot truck bed. I was careful to keep the weight as low as possible to reduce the risk of instability. I mean I kept it concentrated as low to the floor as I could. I also made sure the weight is supported all across the floor and along the rails by building the marine plywood tub in situ at the start of the project. I thought about building dampers into the front but I don't think the frame and skin monocoque would be strong enough to take the extra load and in any case, we never suffered porpoising with either of our previous rigs. Hats off to you for coming up with the solution at short notice and making it work without looking too rustic.

I built a frame /cradle and a plinth when I dismounted after the last trip. If I put the box plinth under the rear and take the weight off the rear legs it is much more stable at full height on the front legs. So I drove out from under, built the cradle to slide in beneath then lowered the short distance onto the cradle. Voila! Camper standing stable and legs all taken away and stored in the dry. It's not in the final parking place yet but that's now just a minor issue of digging out and construction.
_________________
Two time demountable owner, currently a demountable builder
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 613Post keeflester
September 6th, 2014, 2:31 pm

Thanks to the help of my good friend ziljian, we have managed to re_construct an approximate timeline for our self-build.

Since then we have been on three trips, two into England and Wales doing the round of the rellies and our summer break this year when we travelled down the Wine Route through Alsace and bimbled around France for a few days looking at the occasional house renovation project. Never found anything we liked better than our current home, so we're here for the Independence Referendum on the 18th LOL.

Experience and use have thrown up a few minor points and I propose to report on these in the coming weeks. :D
2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

User avatar
zildjian
Site Admin
Posts: 22051
Joined: September 8th, 2013, 3:30 pm

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 615Post zildjian
September 6th, 2014, 2:34 pm

Will be nice to see it now its been 'lived in' for awhile and wrinkles ironed out

keeflester
Posts: 538
Joined: August 24th, 2014, 8:23 pm
Location: Carradale Argyll and Bute Scotland, beside the sea

Re: K33F's self_build

Post: # 5144Post keeflester
April 2nd, 2015, 10:58 pm

Now that we've been using the camper for a while, here's a few pictures from our last trip, down through Alsace, the wine route, across to the lot and home via Westbury Wilts where my Mum lives.

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2003 Ford Ranger 2.5 TD 109 Supercab, sold to Simon
Tandy Pony, sold
Northstar 750, sold
K33F-built Penthouse Pee Pod, sold to Simon with the Ranger
Built the lozenge for my wee sister, its now finished and in regular use
Now converting a blue Tranny.

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