[bsmith123]

great rig and incredible scenery!

[concretejungle]

very cool! Great photos.

[soenke]

thanks, I´m glad you enjoy the pictures...

some more close ups
the bumper; covering the body lift, winchmount and storageroom...






underground:
frontaxel tube is reinforced but still high pinion diff


middle tank


skidplate and compressed air reservoir


rear tank


battery and tank switches (box still needs to be painted and the watertanks underneath the seats covered...)


greetings Sönke

[gilghana]

Well,
impressive stuff continues Soenke! What sort of shocks are you running on your cruiser? Can I ask what the vehicle weighs in total loaded up with fuel water and camping equip?
Gil

[soenke]

Hey Gil,

the shocks and springs are customized for the car by
ht-suspensions
though don´t satisfyed our needs as good as I hoped...they have been much to hard. We had them overworked two times, haven´t tried the last set up yet....HT usualy builds for amored and heavy cars or for high speed rally cars. But they seem to last very long. We decided to spend some money, beeing bugged from OME lasting seldom more then one or two journeys.

The weight depends on the destination ...between ~2.9 and ~3.6 t . About 550kg is just fluids....
for Afrika ,especially if driving alone, we would take more spares and tools then for Iceland...

[Oman4x4]

Truly awesome vehicle... excellent use of space!

[dieseldan]

Unbelievable and very inspirational write up - thanks!

[rideglobally]

Hi soenke, just wandering do you have air condition in the cabin? it seems that you may not need it where you are. just wandering, i have been thinking about it on my build.

[soenke]

Hey,
I got used to A/C traveling with the HZJ78..
We only used it going fast on main roads or pists to reach the destination we want to travel in...I found it very exausting having the window open and going fast, hot wind blowing in the car with a high noise level all day. ( We have been in the sahara in summer too ...)
So I wanted one again. We build the Vintage Air System in the cab, though I might change to stock sometime. With the bug chatcher windows driving with the window open isn´t a problem any more, no noise, no draught
In the cabin we don´t need A/C, doesn´t get to hot (white f/g roof) and ventilation is sufficient. Better to get adapted to the climate then beeing in airconditioned rooms the whole time and die when stepping out
Remember just two nights too hot for sleeping in Botswana standing on hot rocks with no wind blowing...

An A/C System for the cabin requires powersupply or a running engine, or if it needs less power it will need water to evaporate. So I think it is not realy practicable for a small car used in remote areas

PS congratulations on your running 12-HT

[Grolar]

Holy Schmidt! This is an incredible vehicle, mixing ingenious solutions with German quality. Congrats. Were you actually driving to somewhere down that cliff in the first pics?

[rideglobally]

Originally Posted by soenke

Hey,
I got used to A/C traveling with the HZJ78..
We only used it going fast on main roads or pists to reach the destination we want to travel in...I found it very exausting having the window open and going fast, hot wind blowing in the car with a high noise level all day. ( We have been in the sahara in summer too ...)
So I wanted one again. We build the Vintage Air System in the cab, though I might change to stock sometime. With the bug chatcher windows driving with the window open ist no problem any more, no noise, no draught
In the cabin we don´t need A/C, doesn´t get to hot (white f/g roof) and ventilation is sufficient. Better to get adapted to the climate then beeing in airconditioned rooms the whole time and die when stepping out
Remember just two nights too hot for sleeping in Botswana standing on hot rocks with no wind blowing...

And a A/C System for the cabin requires powersupply or a running engine, or if it needs less power it will need water to evaporate. So I think it is not realy practicable for a small car used in remote areas

PS congratulations on your running 12-HT

we now have stock AC on the cab (just installed), we will try to fire that up tomm along with the brakes and heavy duty clutch. we have been trying to figure out if we need ac on the cabin, i think i agree with you with the proper ventilation we should be ok.

we are very exited about the 12 ht, i am now researching an inter cooler for it. thanks for sharing...

[soenke]

Originally Posted by Grolar

....Were you actually driving to somewhere down that cliff in the first pics?

Hey Grolar,
do you mean the road following the stony beach.. yes we had to go there, was just a little tippy...(and one of the experiences that made us build a wide rather then high car...)

[soenke]

Originally Posted by rideglobally

we now have stock AC on the cab ..... we have been trying to figure out if we need ac on the cabin, i think i agree with you with the proper ventilation we should be ok.

I don´t know any A/C that meets the demands, either they need 220/110V or the engine running or they work evaporating water and need batery power and suck up the watersupplies...

[Bogo]

12VDC and 24VDC powered compressor type air conditioners for vehicle use exist. They are getting a big boost in production volume due to the anti-idling laws in many places. The kicker is they require a large DC battery bank. 4 group 31 batteries (4 * 105AH @ 12VDC) are needed for overnight use. DC Airco is one such supplier, and possibly the most efficient out there.

[soenke]

yes, that is what I mean. Such a large battery bank is to heavy and needs to much space in a cruiserbased mobile home...

[Bogo]

Originally Posted by soenke

yes, that is what I mean. Such a large battery bank is to heavy and needs to much space in a cruiserbased mobile home...

I don't see the size as much issue, it is the weight that is the killer. While alternate battery technologies could be used that would decrease the weight to less than one third, they are very costly and lack good parts availability.

There is a secondary advantage to having such a battery pack. In all likelyhood it would be made of 3 or more batteries. Hooking three batteries in series allows welding. Having said that, it is possible to use three smaller AGM deep cycle batteries.

[soenke]

we have been green laneing testing the softend HT shocks, they perform great now.
Later we met with friends for new year celebration at the beach...

so it was a nice winter night

[Chronodude]

Wow! Very cool rig. I'm new to ih8mud, but not to FJ's. I better hurry up & finish this post before my drool shorts out my computer!

Cheers,
Michael

[soenke]

Thanks and welcome to MUD, Michael.
I´m quite new also, and haven´t had such a friendly welcome beeing new to a forum before

[folsom50]

Originally Posted by soenke

we have been green laneing testing the softend HT shocks, they perform great now.
Later we met with friends for new year celebration at the beach...

so it was a nice winter night

New Years Eve. was a beautiful night wasn't it? I spent the Holidays a few hours north of you in DK, flew out of Kobenhavn last Fri. If I'd have known you where so close, I might have tried to work out a visit.

[soenke]

Originally Posted by folsom50

New Years Eve. was a beautiful night wasn't it? I spent the Holidays a few hours north of you in DK, flew out of Kobenhavn last Fri. If I'd have known you where so close, I might have tried to work out a visit.

would have been nice, are you frequently visiting here?

[ramdough]

First off-great rig!!!!

Do you have a link to your awning track source? I have been looking for that stuff in the US for years (found it once, but lost the link). I used to speak German, but I can still read it ok. Perhaps I can learn a little from your source.

Also, do you have any close up shots of the rear hatch seals? I would like to see how the seal and lock work.

Danke,

[soenke]

Hey thanks,

here is one link
http://www.woick.de/catalog/pdf/387.pdf

look for KEDERSCHIENE and KEDER

don´t have a close up from the reardoor seals in the moment sorry..

[ramdough]

Thanks Soenke,

That is funny. I found it in the US as Keder Rail, Keder Welt, and finally Awning Rail. I can't believe I did not find the last one a long time ago.

If you ever get around to taking close-up pictures of your door seals, hinges, and latch mechanism, I would appreciate it.

[fj404life]

That is one sweet rig! Your camper cab reminds me of my 1958 Alaskan Pickup Camper!

[soenke]

nice cabin, any more infos?

it is more practible having the windows in the upper part, but we didn´t want them to be seen in low position...

[folsom50]

Originally Posted by soenke

would have been nice, are you frequently visiting here?

We go back to visit the inlaws about once every three years.

[ramdough]

Hey Soenke,

Do you mind giving me some dimensions of your camper? I attached a picture with letters showing the dimensions I am curious to know.

I would also like to know the size of the bed when fully extended.

Your rig is giving me ideas..... very crazy ideas.

I am wondering if it is possible to make rig like yours that can carry 4-5 people on roughly the same chassis.

Thank you in advance.

[soenke]

Hey ramdough,

I don´t understand how you want to built the rig. Using a pop up cabin like ours ?
In Germany transport of persons in a cabin is just allowed on tested seats with seat bells facing driving direction (nowerdays, used to be easier)
You have to provide two possibilities to leave the cabin in case of emergancy. And you have to have windows...

So I dont think our pop up concept will work for more people, with the roof down there will be no communication possible from front to back.

But using a different cabin concept your plan should be possible. You have to sleep 2-3 kid downstairs and 2 adults in the pop up roof..
In the beginning of the tread is a link to Marcus, just have a look at different cabin conceps..
www.offroad-schmiede.com

to the dimensions, I don´t have the car at my place so just what I remember: (no guarantee )
W 198cm
L 240cm
H ~70cm
X 40cm
Y ? standard hight of the cab

can we see what you are planing ?

[ramdough]

Thanks Soenke,

I am just collecting data right now, so all of what I am about to say is just daydreaming.

I like the idea of using an FZJ80 Chassis. I plan on converting it to a Diesel. Right now I am thinking of using a 4BT which is short front to back, but tall. May leave some room to shove the body forward if I can clearance the wheel wells/fenders a little (maybe not).

I measured the space required by my backseat of my truck (about 76 cm or 30 inches). I am considering an FJ40 (with back seats) or a 4 door version (I have seen them, but I bet they are rare here). Do you know what they are? Or I may even go nuts and find a non-Toyota body.

From what I can tell, I will probably have to stretch the chassis 18 inches, shorten my camper slightly (maybe 12 inches), etc.

I like your camper setup. What I was thinking about doing is making the roof flip open like the attached picture in addition to your pop up.


I probably would make the tent allot simpler since I cannot sew. The idea is that if the tent were very simple and light, and all of the mechanisms were simple and light, I would not hurt my center of gravity too much. In fact, I may just use mosquito netting only to start out (it is usually hot where I live).

If a storm came up, I was thinking of putting some platforms above the cabinets. Two people could sleep in the bed, one over each cabinet, and if need be, one in the isle.

Like I said, just brainstorming/daydreaming. What do you think?