HDJ100 build for South America (1 Viewer)

[Moridinbg]

So far I have been posting only in my big thread in the 100 series forum - HDJ100 - Body off renovation, now with a hot dip galvanised frame *Picture Heavy* - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/hdj100-body-off-renovation-now-with-a-hot-dip-galvanised-frame-picture-heavy.1220814/ , but here I will focus on the overlanding preparation.
Most of the work on the car is already done and now it is waiting in the port of Marseilles in France to be shipped to Uruguay next week, but there are still things to finish once it crosses the Atlantic and there are still a lot of quality of life improvements that I will have to add on the move, such as camp lights, USB sockets, etc.

There is a lot of DIY with elements of DIWhy in this build.

First of all, it is an European 2005 HDJ100 with the 1HD-FTE and AHC. It started it's life with me like this.

Now it usually looks like this.

But before that went through this, when I hot dipped the chassis and overhauled everything below the body. Lots of details on that starting from page 2 in the 100 series forum thread. I also kept the AHC. Lovely system.

This is it right now, standing in the port of Marseilles, next to this French camper converted Land Rover Defender 130. Hopefully on Monday they will be sealed in the container and on their way to Montevideo, Uruguay, where they are expected to arrive on August 16th.

 

[Moridinbg]

One of the biggest QoL improvements I did was the sound deadening. The 100 series is not too bad to begin with, but this certainly improved things a lot. I drive primarily MT tires and this cut down a lot on their whine. On top of the deadening material I added a lot of open cell foam in the wheel wells and in the roof.
The difference is amazing on longer drives. Wind noise is way down, can't really hear the other cars.

For the RTT & awning I built my own rack out of 8020. I have to say, I hate 8020. It's expensive and it requires a ton of fasteners, which are not exactly cheap either. Once you build a more complex structure, if you find that you have to add something to the middle, you either have to use the flimsy fasteners that you can insert through the middle of the channel, or disassemble a lot of things to slide in the sturdier fasteners. Never 8020 again.

It is also heavy, if you need it to be really sturdy. I went with 30mm and it has a lot of flex. The way the awning attaches to the side, if it starts moving (e.g. wind) once it is deployed the two crossbars at the end start flexing like a bow. I added some 3mm steel L beams along them to mitigate that. 40mm wouldn't have flexed, but it is exactly 2x the weight and increases the stack height even more. Never 8020 again.

This is the awning I got. The Bush Company 270 XT MAX Amazing piece of kit. It's extremely well built. Freestanding with no need for poles, only tie downs for wind above 35kmph.

It is also very large with an area of 12sqm/129sq

Between the tent (65kg), rack (18kg) and awning (33kg) I have added 116kg/255lb to the roof On the other hand the entire car is ~3200kg, with just the tires 50kg each, so is not super bad.

 

[Moridinbg]

The Bush Company also sells a wall kit for the awning, but it actually costs more than the (already expensive) awning itself! Thankfully, they have a very detailed video on Youtube that explains the kit in great detail.



So I went to a local sewer (guy that sews, not the waste conduit! Lol English!) and showed him the video. In a couple of weeks he got it done for about 40% the price and maybe 85% the quality. I supplied him with the materials - TenCate AllSeason Touring WR-18 fabric, YKK zippers, Velcro tape. We copied the original kit almost to the letter.

With the wall kit it is advisable to use poles, as the canvas is not very light.

The entire thing packs pretty well. Next to a 33" for scale. It's heavy though. I would say about 15kg/33lb

It is made out of 5 panels that attach via zippers to each other and Velcro to the awning. It's pretty flexible in how you can attach it. 2 panels also have doors, all 5 have windows. There is also a 6th panel that closes the gap above the hood, in front of the windshield.

 

[Moridinbg]

Storage. From the beginning I knew I wanted to make metal drawers. Wood is cheap and easy, but is heavy and thick. I have access to a friend's well equipped workshop where I have been slowly learning how to work with steel and aluminium.
I took great inspiration from this thread - 80 Series 8020 Cruiser Kitchen - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/80-series-8020-cruiser-kitchen.1225307/ and this video, which features this system - Truck Bed Expedition Kitchen – Overland Kitchen - https://overlandkitchen.com/product/tru-expedition-kitchen/



I especially liked the sideways drawer that uncovers a cutting board/prep surface. This is genius! It frees sooo much space. So I started measuring an drawing.
Thin steel frame with aluminium drawers and cupboards. 1.05m across, to fit in the 1.09m between wheel arches, 73cm high, to be level with the top of the rear seats, 86cm deep to leave me enough space for some additional things between the rear seats and the drawers. There is the sink/stove extension missing on this screenshot.

SolidWorks estimated 84kg.

It's like IKEA from hell, where most of the bends are a few mm out of line and nobody has ever assembled it before

It turned out pretty sweet. I added walls and top made out of acrylic glass. Wanted to do polycarbonate, as it's much more durable and lighter, but this is what I had at hand for free. I lined the drawers with cork to reduce the clanking from stuff. Added some leftover sound deadening to the bottom and sides of the drawers, as it was ringing like a bell tower.

One of the drawers

Kitchen fully deployed. I have added a chopping board since.

All in all the result is really good. There is very little I would change if I am ever to make V2. Definitely wouldn't use acrylic glass though.
Before I started adding things to the drawers it was noisy, mostly from the sliders, but once they get even a little load it is completely silent now.

 

[Moridinbg]

Power.
I got a set one of them Chinese 280Ah LiFePo4 cells. I put them in a marine battery box with the BMS slapped to the side and with a 250A fuse on the positive terminal. The BMS is only 150A and apart from 67A max for the inverter, I have about 30A more in total between the heaters, battery chargers, fridge, etc for an expected max of 100A.
I have since added two plates for sturdier sides to the box and compressed the cells with one of the long hose clamps.

I wanted the battery to be usable on it's own and added 4x 50A and 1x 175A Anderson plugs. The 4 small plugs are each individually fused.

In the vehicle I have a 220V charger, a DC-DC charger connected to the main battery & alternator with 4AWG positive & negative wires, a solar controller and an 800W inverter. They are independently fused each and connect via a 175A Anderson to the battery. This power board is bolted to the rear of the drawer cabinet, behind the rear seat. The wires to the alternator go under the passenger side carpet along the factory harness and go out into the engine bay through the factory grommet.

For the solar panel I drilled the hood and attached the panel with wing nuts underneath. Idea is that I can always park in the shade and quickly remove the panel and put it under the sun. I have 5m of rugged cable between the panel and the controller. I was concerned about a big power loss through the cable, but in mid May I got 155W out of a 175W panel at 42°N (~Chicago, Boston latitude)

 

[Moridinbg]

Heat. We intend to camp as much as possible and resort to hostels only when absolutely necessary or otherwise not safe. With a large part of the trip - 2-3 months in winter down south and lots of places at 4000-5000m altitude it's going to be cold in the tent. So I got an Espar diesel heater and put it in a toolbox. I was concerned that maybe the exhaust outlet might melt the plastic, but have used it for a few weeks now and this doesn't happen. The heater does not heat up itself at all, as long as there is good airflow. Temperature in the box when closed is within 1-2 degrees from ambient.

For the tank I used a small 5L fuel jerrycan and attached the pump directly to it. Sealed the fuel line with some oil resistant sealer and it is enough for about a week

I am using a foldable air duct to move air between the tent and the heater. I was concerned that there might be too much heat loss, but at 7C ambient I am getting 49C and this is without reheating already warmed air.
It is convenient because it extends to about 3m and compresses down to about 0.5m

Use it like this. The heater works outside the vehicle, somewhere in the back. The air duct goes next to the ladder, through the tent entrance.

I also got the additional Winter hood for the RTT. With no heater, by itself it increases the inside temperature by ~5C with two people inside. When camping at 8C ambient it used to get to 12-13-14C during the night inside, with the hood and at 8C ambient again, it gets to about 18-19C.
With the hood, heater and recirculating the warmed air I hope to be able to achieve +20C inside at -20C ambient.

 

[2020 Rocks]

For the solar panel I drilled the hood and attached the panel with wing nuts underneath. Idea is that I can always park in the shade and quickly remove the panel and put it under the sun. I have 5m of rugged cable between the panel and the controller. I was concerned about a big power loss through the cable, but in mid May I got 155W out of a 175W panel at 42°N (~Chicago, Boston latitude)

View attachment 3063906

I would consider moving solar panel to rtt or some sort of attic rack in the rear where is can be slid out and deployed. In Africa, I think that solar panel might walk away.

 

[Moridinbg]

I would consider moving solar panel to rtt or some sort of attic rack in the rear where is can be slid out and deployed. In Africa, I think that solar panel might walk away.

That's good then that I am not going to Africa! There is not enough space under the RTT to put it there and I really do not want to drill the tent to be able to fix the panel there. Trees and branches would also be a much bigger issue, removing it would be a real hassle.
I hope that with the wing nuts being under the hood, people wouldn't be able to remove it. Currently there are 4 6mm bolts in the corners that could be cut, but I am considering putting two more in the middle, where they aren't exposed.

 

[2020 Rocks]

That's good then that I am not going to Africa! There is not enough space under the RTT to put it there and I really do not want to drill the tent to be able to fix the panel there. Trees and branches would also be a much bigger issue, removing it would be a real hassle.
I hope that with the wing nuts being under the hood, people wouldn't be able to remove it. Currently there are 4 6mm bolts in the corners that could be cut, but I am considering putting two more in the middle, where they aren't exposed.

Oops, not sure why I read it that way, none the less. Good luck.