Builds GoTroopy - A Dubai Troopy Build (1 Viewer)

[renago]

will be very silent vehicle.
if you want a cool car , dark film on windows and textile blackout on the interior of windows .
you take away not only light but also UVA,UVB rays ,

 

[goexplore]

will be very silent vehicle.
if you want a cool car , dark film on windows and textile blackout on the interior of windows .
you take away not only light but also UVA,UVB rays ,

Check to the above. I’m currently running 30% tints in the back as I prefer to see out of the car and find 50% too dark.

I have a set of solar screens from Australia. They seems be the business.

 

[SoCal80series]

Looking good. Can't wait to see the final product. Also look forward to seeing pics of this thing out in the wild.

 

[goexplore]

Looking good. Can't wait to see the final product. Also look forward to seeing pics of this thing out in the wild.

You and me both.

I’m hoping to get some beauty shots of it out in the wild tomorrow, before I take it straight back to the shop to install the house power and finalise the construction of the cabinets and drawers.

We’ve now confirmed our first trip away in the Troopy. The wife and I are heading to Salalah in Oman on 31st July for the Khareef (monsoon).

 

[renago]

"I have a set of solar screens from Australia.!
are these the solar screens that attach with magnets ?

 

[goexplore]

"I have a set of solar screens from Australia.!
are these the solar screens that attach with magnets ?

Suction cups.

 

[goexplore]

So here it is... roof on, roof up.

The colour looks different shades of grey in different lights. I’m still having to convince myself I’m happy with how dark it is, but not a lot I can do now.

The roof is incredibly difficult to pull down. So much so, I’m worried I’m going to snap the strap off, and the handles are bending considerably. I’m hoping it will get easier with time. I’m sure they’re standard struts, although I did ask for uprated, but never paid for them.


Anyway, on to the power and interior. I’ll share some floor plans this week for some feedback from those who’ve lived in these vehicles longer than I have.

 

[Paulrotterdam]

I think the colour suits the car very well. Makes it look a bit more modern than the actual design is

Regarding layouts - my wife and I have been living in ours for 11 months now and are very happy with the layout - check my build-thread for details:

Builds - Toyota HZJ75 Troopy interior build

In August, my wife and I will be leaving on a year long world trip. The trip will take us from Rotterdam to India, then we'll ship the car to Kenya and travel down the east coast to South Africa and finally ship the car back to Holland. We recently bought a 1996 HZJ75 for the trip. Technically...

forum.ih8mud.com

Things I'd do differently:
Get a watertank fitted under the car instead of in the interior & free up the lower space in the 'high' cabinet

Possibly level the counter top with the high cabinet as you really only use the sink and stove when the roof is up. Advantage would be to gain another row of crates/storage, disadvantage would be that you don't have a table when you sit inside during cold nights to place a laptop, coffee cup etc.

I wouldn't bother making a 'downstairs' sleeping arrangement. We've never felt the need to use it and ditched the parts we were carrying around. We've slept with the roof up in some really dodgy areas (Indian train stations, Albanian alleys) and all sorts of weather (snow in Georgia, dessert storms in Iran, tropical heat in Zimbabwe)

Give the crates a 'top rail' to prevent them bouncing on the 'lower rail'

Make everything super dust proof. Maybe add lids tot the crates, close every hole you can find in the body and make sure your rear doors are properly aligned and the door rubbers new.

That's about it, but overall, i can really recommend our layout

 

[SoCal80series]

Wow! looks awesome. I like the color.

 

[TonyP]

So here it is... roof on, roof up.

The colour looks different shades of grey in different lights. I’m still having to convince myself I’m happy with how dark it is, but not a lot I can do now.

The roof is incredibly difficult to pull down. So much so, I’m worried I’m going to snap the strap off, and the handles are bending considerably. I’m hoping it will get easier with time. I’m sure they’re standard struts, although I did ask for uprated, but never paid for them.


Anyway, on to the power and interior. I’ll share some floor plans this week for some feedback from those who’ve lived in these vehicles longer than I have.

View attachment 2022156

View attachment 2022157

I think the color looks great! Not too dark, not too light.

 

[goexplore]

I think the colour suits the car very well. Makes it look a bit more modern than the actual design is

Regarding layouts - my wife and I have been living in ours for 11 months now and are very happy with the layout - check my build-thread for details:

Builds - Toyota HZJ75 Troopy interior build

In August, my wife and I will be leaving on a year long world trip. The trip will take us from Rotterdam to India, then we'll ship the car to Kenya and travel down the east coast to South Africa and finally ship the car back to Holland. We recently bought a 1996 HZJ75 for the trip. Technically...

forum.ih8mud.com

Things I'd do differently:
Get a watertank fitted under the car instead of in the interior & free up the lower space in the 'high' cabinet

Possibly level the counter top with the high cabinet as you really only use the sink and stove when the roof is up. Advantage would be to gain another row of crates/storage, disadvantage would be that you don't have a table when you sit inside during cold nights to place a laptop, coffee cup etc.

I wouldn't bother making a 'downstairs' sleeping arrangement. We've never felt the need to use it and ditched the parts we were carrying around. We've slept with the roof up in some really dodgy areas (Indian train stations, Albanian alleys) and all sorts of weather (snow in Georgia, dessert storms in Iran, tropical heat in Zimbabwe)

Give the crates a 'top rail' to prevent them bouncing on the 'lower rail'

Make everything super dust proof. Maybe add lids tot the crates, close every hole you can find in the body and make sure your rear doors are properly aligned and the door rubbers new.

That's about it, but overall, i can really recommend our layout

Hey. I had seen and recently reread your build thread.

I am looking at a water tank underneath, between the sub and rear bar. It should be around 50l, so enough for most trips of drinking water. I’ll also keep at lease one Jerry can on the back door (the OEM can is just for show, at the moment) and I’ve planned in space for one Scepter can inside. So that will take me to 90l full - underbody tank reserved just for drinking water, can in the back door for hand washing, emergency etc, and the internal can for cooking, washing, shower.

I will still do a downstairs bed for the time being. I will travel quite a bit solo, and sometimes I won’t want to put the roof up, so an option of a large single downstairs is quite appealing.

I’m still working on designs. It’s really confusing the hell out of me as it needs to fit so many different scenarios and trip styles. The majority of our travelling will be 3-4 days regionally, but then eventually 4-6 week trips.

 

[Don Lacer]

It has turned out really nice. That's a great color. The white is a bit too ambulance like . I would like to do something similar but the cost in Dubai compared to Japan is probably a lot cheaper. I was looking at a wrap but it is over $6000 US. I might change it later, but for me right now the Alu-Cab pop-up and suspension is what I want to focus on. Like you, I want to go with the BP-51s, but I haven't heard back from the dealer yet. ARB only sells to ARB dealers, who then sell to local distributors, which I'm sure is going to increase the cost. Add the exchange rate and import tax and it drives up the cost. I'm waiting on the dealer to provide me with an estimate. In the mean time, I'm looking over seas at costs. Your Troopy is really turning out to be similar to what I envision. I don't if this will help, but I came across this recently: 2009 - 2018 Toyota LAND CRUISER GRJ71 OEM Parts | General sales region, , 936449 for OEM parts.

 

[goexplore]

Thanks Don..

I also looked at costs of wrapping vs painting. Wrapping here, with 5 year warranty, was coming in at AED12,000. That didn’t include any of the door shuts. Cost of painting varies drastically. There’s some top notch paint ships here charging upwards of AED25,000. Some mediocre shops charge AED15,000. I went for a cheap one and paid AED6,500. I saw their work in advance, spoke to a few people who’d had their cars painted by them, and oversaw the work throughout. To be honest, many of the people I know have spend 25k on paint, can’t believe this is only a 6.5k job, it’s that good, plus they did the inside too, all windows out and trim off.

I’ll admit, I’m not impressed with the Dobinsons. After 3 months, they seem to have lost all dampening on the back. I’m tempted to give them back and swap out for Koni Raid dampers with OME leaves, once the build is complete and I know my weights.

There’s still a lot to do to get the vehicle ‘finished’. With people looking at Andrew St Pierre White’s Troopy as the benchmark, I personally think mine will be better/different and more suited to my needs.

 

[renago]

Very nice color , and general look.
Despite being very nice , the black pop up roof , is not the best in hot areas .
I like also the rims , quite racing ....

 

[goexplore]

Very nice color , and general look.
Despite being very nice , the black pop up roof , is not the best in hot areas .
I like also the rims , quite racing ....

I’ve been in the Middle East for 8 years. The difference between black and white really is negligible. A white roof gets equally as hot in the sun, plus by the time I’ve installed my solar panels, half the roof will be black anyway.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Hey. I had seen and recently reread your build thread.

I am looking at a water tank underneath, between the sub and rear bar. It should be around 50l, so enough for most trips of drinking water. I’ll also keep at lease one Jerry can on the back door (the OEM can is just for show, at the moment) and I’ve planned in space for one Scepter can inside. So that will take me to 90l full - underbody tank reserved just for drinking water, can in the back door for hand washing, emergency etc, and the internal can for cooking, washing, shower.

I will still do a downstairs bed for the time being. I will travel quite a bit solo, and sometimes I won’t want to put the roof up, so an option of a large single downstairs is quite appealing.

I’m still working on designs. It’s really confusing the hell out of me as it needs to fit so many different scenarios and trip styles. The majority of our travelling will be 3-4 days regionally, but then eventually 4-6 week trips.

Even with the option of sleeping upstairs I normally sleep down stairs and enjoy the headroom. If it gets crazy windy you just close the top.
The way Maltec did their Troopy inside.

 

[goexplore]

Even with the option of sleeping upstairs I normally sleep down stairs and enjoy the headroom. If it gets crazy windy you just close the top.
The way Maltec did their Troopy inside.

View attachment 2022819

That interior is a great source of inspiration. Is there a fridge built in to the left hand cabinets?

My biggest conundrum is where to put the SnoMaster 56l chest fridge I have. I must've redesigned the layout twice a day for the past two weeks. I just can't settle on something I feel happy (and more importantly, the wife would feel happy) with.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

That interior is a great source of inspiration. Is there a fridge built in to the left hand cabinets?

My biggest conundrum is where to put the SnoMaster 56l chest fridge I have. I must've redesigned the layout twice a day for the past two weeks. I just can't settle on something I feel happy (and more importantly, the wife would feel happy) with.

Drawer fridge on the passenger's side at the rear. Everything is lightweight with the troppys weight at 5900lbs as pictured. I fully understand as everything must be wife approved. I see storage as the biggest challenge for the interior. I will look forward to your interior build.

 

[goexplore]

Drawer fridge on the passenger's side at the rear. Everything is lightweight with the troppys weight at 5900lbs as pictured. I fully understand as everything must be wife approved. I see storage as the biggest challenge for the interior. I will look forward to your interior build.

Ah, I see the fridge now.

My newest plan is to half the bench so the back half is the fridge (accessible through LH Gullwing) then the right hand side are cabinets with drawers and shelves, sink, plus boxed in Gullwing for some light recovery, shower etc).

 

[goexplore]

Quick Pitch Troopy Interior Fitout - Quick Pitch

quickpitch.com.au

I never used to like Andrew St Pierre White’s Troopy interior. But since starting my own build and going round and round on the layout, I’m coming around to it more and more.

I like the construction style. Once a CAD design is done, it’s very simple and quite cheap to produce. We have a great fabrication shop here who can get all aluminium panels cut by water jet, and the materials are not that expensive. At least then, I could try it, see if it works, then if needs be change parts of it without a massive expense.

I’ve messaged Quick Pitch a few times about flatpack’s of ASPW’s interior, however they never message back. There would still need to be some changes, like I would have the bench on the left and drawers on the right, plus I would have the fridge at the back of the vehicle (on the left bench) to work with my two rear gullwing windows.

I would probably also look at softening up the interior a bit more with wooden top to the drawer cabinets, plus I have some teak style SeaDek flooring (looks exactly the same as the Maltec?)

Anyway, just wanting to vent a little with my frustrations and musings.