Builds Portland Troopy Build
- Thread starter umpqua
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umpqua
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- #402
I ordered what I think is going to be a very nice box for the top of the Troopy yesterday from Highway Products in White City (Medford), OR Highway Products Inc. | Aluminum Truck Accessories & Work Truck Solutions I worked with Gabe to set up the order. Nice guy that's in the process of building out a Transit van. Kindred spirits.
The box will be made out of black diamond plate aluminum. Measurement will be 40" deep x 57.5" wide x 10" high. Two air struts to hold the lid up with a T handle lock. The box will have airplane track on the top and is designed to be water "resistant."
I plan to us M8 bolts to mount the box to the existing track on the AluCab top. It will be mounted towards the rear of the truck so I can stand on the rear bumper to access the contents. I'll try to not put heavy stuff in the box, thinking towards camp chairs, toilet, recovery gear and general "stuff." This will free up cabinet space in the interior for clothes, additional food, etc.
Expected delivery is late January.
The box will be made out of black diamond plate aluminum. Measurement will be 40" deep x 57.5" wide x 10" high. Two air struts to hold the lid up with a T handle lock. The box will have airplane track on the top and is designed to be water "resistant."
I plan to us M8 bolts to mount the box to the existing track on the AluCab top. It will be mounted towards the rear of the truck so I can stand on the rear bumper to access the contents. I'll try to not put heavy stuff in the box, thinking towards camp chairs, toilet, recovery gear and general "stuff." This will free up cabinet space in the interior for clothes, additional food, etc.
Expected delivery is late January.
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Where will that place you in terms of overall height?
Curious, how do you "remember" how tall your truck is as you drive around?
Now that I've added a rack and awning I know I need to be more cognizant of my height...
umpqua
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- Thread starter
- #404
That's a good question. It has roof racks on it now (which I've never actually used) and I suspect that the box when added directly to the track is going to add another 7-8" from that height. At some point the truck is going to be put inside a shipping container. Hopefully the box isn't going to make it too tall for that but if it does it will be fairly easy to remove it....four bolts.
I couldn't get my head around putting the spare tire on the roof. Too damned heavy. The thought was to put a box on the bigger door that holds the spare
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umpqua
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- Thread starter
- #405
I did some what turned out to be winter camping in the Mt. Hood National Forest over the Thanksgiving holiday. Someone asked if I went "hiking" and I told them no. The main activity for the weekend was finding firewood and keeping a fire going. The chainsaw and diesel fuel helped.
Planning the installation of the Elgena water boiler this week. Hot water.....yeah that'll be nice!
Planning the installation of the Elgena water boiler this week. Hot water.....yeah that'll be nice!
Looks cold...
Loving the build! When do you leave for South America?
I did the trip on a motorcycle and was really surprised about what people were traveling in. I saw families in old air cooled VW's to toyota corollas!
I did the trip on a motorcycle and was really surprised about what people were traveling in. I saw families in old air cooled VW's to toyota corollas!
umpqua
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- Thread starter
- #408
Actually it wasn't all that bad. Probably got down to 20 degrees one night. The Espar diesel heater does a really nice job of keeping the inside of the troopy warm. Also, it's the first time that I used the solar shield window covers. Made a huge difference with the windows being covered.
I camped near Denio Nevada 7-8 years ago in a friends van. It got down to 10 below zero. We did everything (well almost) in the hot spring which was within 20' of the van. Now that was damned, three dog night cold and I only had one dog then.
umpqua
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- Thread starter
- #409
The plan is to be on my way within two years. Right now I'm still working. The Patagonia trip has been a dream for a very long time. I plan to be away and on it for at least two years.
Planning to drive to the Baja for 3 weeks later this month. It will be the first long-range, extended camping trip.
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umpqua
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- #410
Here's something that's just a little extra special that I've discovered about the AluCab Shadowawn. A big advantage that I liked about this awning is that it can be used without a pole, right? Well, like Raygun said, "not so fast." As I've used the awning one of the arms seems to have dropped lower and lower and now is hitting the small door. It wasn't as bad at first, more of a nuisance but it seems to have become worse. When your standing outside it's not a huge deal to physically raise the arm to clear the door but when you're inside with the door closed you are SOL. The awning arm is tearing up the rubber seal on the top of the small door because you have to force it over the door to get out of the truck.
The remedy? Use a pole that doesn't currently exist on the awning to hold the arm up
. Oh nice. What is going to make this worse is that I will have to relocate the lights that I put in the awning arm to be able to store the pole.. This is a known issue as evidenced here Builds - Cape Town Troop Carrier CTTC An expensive piece of equipment that is not functioning as intended. I appear to be frustrated here.
Pics below.
The remedy? Use a pole that doesn't currently exist on the awning to hold the arm up
Pics below.
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For as much as I love the idea of a freestanding awning I’ve never believed any of them are truly gonna survive that use. I’ve got the Eezi-awn 270 Manta and while they boast freestanding in no-to-very-light breeze situations, I’d never deploy it without the legs. Your predicament confirms for me that these things sag over time... the aluminum most of our awnings are made of will bend/give/fatigue.
Now the Hannibal ones, or the one from the new Kinsman Hardware guys built with structural steel, those I think would truly be freestanding.
Interested in hearing more (and seeing) on the water heater install. I've just come back from 10 days in Saudi, and luckily it's so vast that I could find privacy to shower, the overnight temps of 4c made the water particularly cold to shower with.
Also, I'm surprised and saddened about the issues with the awning. I've not faced issues yet with mine, although I don't use it huge amounts, but we've also spoken in private about the general issues I have with Alu Cab.
Hope they come through and sort something for you.
umpqua
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- Thread starter
- #413
I'll have more on the Elegena heater soon. It's installed but I've discovered that I'm going to need to put on a pressure reducer as the pressure relief valve kicks in at 36psi and my pump is pressuring over that amount. Shouldn't be a big deal to fix and I'll report back. Really like it though. It fit perfectly in the space that I had available.
AluCab has requested additional pics of the awning. It's been dark and raining in Portland so I haven't gotten around to it. I know of at least one other that has experienced this issue. If I had to do it over again I'd prob use the poles even though using it without poles was a major selling point.
umpqua
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- Thread starter
- #414
How about a crappy pic of a Yakima roof top box? Main point being is that I put it on for a Baja trip which I'm leaving for today. I'll cross the border at TJ on Monday and head as far south as a little south of Loreto. Beach. Warm, sunny weather. Cold beer. Good food. No phones. I'll post some pics when I have service.
c2dfj45
Supporting Vendor
The Big Country 4x4 awning on my camper truck is STURDY. We have 2 of them....one on mine, one on my employees camp trailer. They've been in heavy wind(oops) heavy rain, everything. Haven't changed a bit of height. I try to always use my poles just because I'm afraid of them bending but these things are stout. The hinge is really impressive.....we can get them now in the US pretty easily.
Gotcha... just looked the Big Country ones up. The supports on those are trussed just like Hannibal and Kinsman... so yeah, I can see them being quite stout. A trussed frame design like that is the way to go if you wanna go without poles I think.
c2dfj45
Supporting Vendor
For sure. It's a very rigid setup. Big though.....kind of bulky.
It also has zip in sides to make it a full tent under it. Really cool. Well thought out stuff.
umpqua
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- Thread starter
- #419
I'm going to follow up on this post and say that I've changed direction on the box for the top of the roof. During my Baja trip I borrowed my daughters Yakima box. I loaded it with various things.....stove, toilet, chairs, dog food. General "stuff". I could "barely" raise the top with the added weight. I'm not sure what the Yakima weighed but the empty Highway products box was 130lbs so there was just no way it was going to work.
So now, I've resigned myself to the fact that the spare is going on the roof and Highway is going to build a box for the rear that will be mounted to the bumper (no weight on the hinges) on the passenger side. The big door. Probably get this sometime in March.
Really glad I headed this off with Highway before the build started because it would have been a costly mistake (Slow down with this....think through things).
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I’ve heard of the struts struggling with weight, and know over time they definitely lose their potency.
Alucab will lighten your wallet for around $250 for some uprated struts, but again not sure how much extra they will hold, and even then they will struggle over time, especially in cold conditions.
You’d really need to mount all the weight at the front of the ro for it to be feasible.
Alucab will lighten your wallet for around $250 for some uprated struts, but again not sure how much extra they will hold, and even then they will struggle over time, especially in cold conditions.
You’d really need to mount all the weight at the front of the ro for it to be feasible.
