Toyota 78 pop up roof

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What I must do now is to adjust the front bumper.
What I don't want is an absurd heavy and big bumper with bull bar .
Much prefer a slim , light weight maybe in aluminium and rounded shape .
something like this ??

What would you recommend ,
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any suggestions ?
 
renago said:
hope this can inspire someone for their Toyota interior
Click to expand...

thanks! it doesn't matter how many troopy interiors you've seen, or how far along you are with you're own troopy interior, practically every installation you ever see gives you a good idea... you just gave me three ideas for mine :)
 
In this case I am happy I gave Damienperu some new subject on which he can work :)
Hope it can be useful also for others .
Still have a lot of things to do.
Slowly but steady progress comes.

Bye Renago
 
Hi , small steps forward .
I have a plastic cover under the radiator , that I had to remve in order to install the drive shaft for the mechanical winch .
because my winch is made for the 80 , and not 78 , the drive shaft is in a slitly different position .
this brings the shaft in contact with the plastic cover .
2 options :
shave the plastic cover or
make a custom one in aluminium , with the right shape.
I went for the second .....
here is how it looks just before painting .
it's a 2,5 mm aluminium 5000 series .


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Hi guys .
last summer I changed part of my interior set up .
if you go back in the thread you should find some pictures .
the new interior worked fine during our summer vacation .
Since the begging It was intended as a prototype but it gave me the opportunity to check on some mistakes , and improvements .
I will scrap it as soon as I have the final version ready .
one of the main issues is weight !
interior , as well as all car accessory, must be as light as possible , but strong to survive the worst stress .
so the interior will be made in aluminium .
I have looked also to flight case option , but too heavy and too fragile with corrugated road vibrations .
and I don't like the look either .
the plan is to make a aluminium frame of square tubes 20 x20 mm and cover them with a aluminium skin thick 1,5 mm .
I am in doubt to weld or to use a joint system for the square tubes .
the skin will be glued with polyurethane strong glue , and riveted .
welding will be stronger , but less flexible , costly , and longer production time
joint system will be easier , faster , cheaper , more flex in the construction , too much ??
the wall thickness of the tubes with joint will be only 1,3 mm
welding 2 mm

joint system concept

porsa system stand.webp



welded frame

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the cabinet will look similar to the one , just in shape , not in final details .
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so now the question ;
Which solution would you go with ?
welded ?
Joint system ?
if any one had some experience with either solution I would be grateful for his comments and experience .

thanks Renago

porsa system stand.webp
 
Ciao Renago,

I'm looking into this very same predicament. Welding is better if you can keep production costs down and weld it yourself....otherwise the trend seems to be a riveted alu skin as you mention. The tension of the skin helps align the structure and allows for a bit of give. I have had a 2mm welded construction fail after use offroad due to flex. When the cabs need to be attached to more than one surface ie. the floor and wall it really needs a bit of flex. The other plus of those tube connectors is the exact tolerance of the corners means drawers, etc can fit tighter and need minimal dampening material to cut down on rattles. There are some semi- modular systems that use extrusions and bolt together connectors but those are more expensive. Some of the german builders have done some excellent stuff lately with riveted skin construction. The hybrid alu skinned plastic panels are even better at reducing vibration and noise.
 
Thanks Mookies for you comments .
the cabinet will be bolted only to the floor , and just leaning with no bolts to the side wall .
for reducing noise ,I had a very good experience with aluminium boxes 50 x50x80 cm but lined with slim foam and fabric .
total thickness of foam and fabric 3 mm . no rattles , no cracks or failures .
during over 10 years of african tracks .
empty they weighted only 4,5 kg ! that is unreachable by any other system or box.
I looked at the bolted modular system as well , but hey are very thick and heavy .
plus the sections start at 30 mm , meaning I loose a lot of space .
they are of course also much more expensive , due to higher weight .
German companies , generally use flight case concepts , with 7 or 9 mm panels riveted to L aluminium bars .
in all I don't like the look , but also the narrow opening drawers , plus the system is not cheap , and more heavy .

with my cabinet design I will need to have 3 drawers , quite large , and 6 wing openings .
maybe the joint system is the way ????
would really like to hear some one that made and used in off road this system .
could give us some tips or wise advise .


bye Renago
 
As far as those connectors go, the steel core ones are well worth the extra money. Flexliner | Tube Connectors
These Flexliner ones are built well and allow 25x25mm tubing which is easier to get locally and cheaper.

I am finding cheap composite panels by searching for "sign panels" for commercial exterior signs. They are dense foam or honeycomb with an aluminum skin. They are perfect for interior cabinetry.
I'm hoping to prototype a panel with these that includes some fabric for sound deadening and anti-rattle.

Ciao
 
I live in Europe , Italy , so we run on metric , and have different companies suppliers.
today I spoke with a few that make joint systems .
found one that have the joint made of cheap aluminium .
should allow to use also 20x20 x2 mm , that is quite strong , and should hold well the rivets on the walls .
next week I will visit them and make some trials , before ordering the goods.

If you can find sign panels scrap material , they are super tough .
excellent for panels , no problem with heat -cold , vibration .
I will probably go down the same for the front panels .
Honeycomb , are good , but I find difficult to fix as a box or panel.

Rgs Renago
 
great info guys ; keep it up.
Came across some German built 7x series in Peru few yrs ago; with custom back/cabins and these were glued to the main bodies and not rivet/bolted and no issues after many years in Africa and lots of 4x4ing Glue was what was used in airline industry
 
Thanks for the info There, but if you glue the cabinets to the body , you can't unload them or change anything.
There are there for life time .
I don't want that !
Some time I need to have the whole car empty in order to load something very bulky .
Or for any other reason .
The technic of glueing alluminium panels together is good . My pop up roof is attached to the car with glue .

Bye Renago
 
Hi Renago. I have the joint system. It has inlays too glue panels too. For which I used aluminum composite plate. All can be had in the color that you want. I really like that I can design and build it myself, and of course that it is very strong. Just some examples below.

This is all 25x25x1.5mm

Building up kitchen:

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Finished with plate work:

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Panels for bed:

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Drawer system:

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Mini roofrack outside:
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Hi Hiace

Nice job you did with your interior .
May I ask you some details ? such as :
is this system heavy ?
how many km in off road you have done , and how did it perform ?
is it rigid or swings ?
costs ?
I have thought to it as well , but with a 20x20 mm section, 1,5 mm.
still very doubtful
Like very much the DIY option , but I will cover it with panels on 3 sides any way .
So maybe I don't need a structure anyway but I think will add strength , but also weight .
your feed back will certainly help me take the right decision .

thanks Renago
 
Thanks.

Before this I had built an interior with wood (because I can work simply with that). In wood I used only 27x27mm. Which was light but of course way too weak. But comparing the aluminum tubes with the 27x27mm wood, it is not lighter. But much stronger!
However, I used 3mm aluminum composite plate. Actually too good for this purpose, because it should only fill up the empty spaces, no structural integrity. So you should use 2mm or some lighter material.
We have done some trips, but only one holiday which included offroad. Not so much mileage but some hard and rough parts in Albania (you should definitely go there if you haven't already :) ) And it is pretty solid.
However, sometimes the connections are not that strong (usually you hammer them in, and it is very strong). Then you could add some glue or use a screw in a location that you don't see.
What is annoying if you keep interupting a tube with these connections blocks, it does not keep as strait as an uninterrupted tube.
The kids sleep on a platform made of uninterrupted 120cm tubes, quite strong really! But we sleep on a platform with interuptions every 30cm or so, and it flexes more.
But, this also depends on the connection blocks. You can choose them in weak plastic or steel reinforced. With that last one, it is of course much stronger.

If you want to use some strong panel material, like this 9mm hardened wood, then you could also just make the construction with aluminum angles.
It is the difference in making a structure with panels and attaching them together, or making the construction with tubes and only use very thin panels to close the openings. If you use both you will have the strongest and the heaviest :)

Just for the idea, most empty frames that you see in my pics (if they don't have any panelling or other stuff attached, just tubes and connectors) can be lifted relatively easily with one hand. So I don't think it is heavy. I just used 3mm aluminum composite plate which made it heavier, I could have used 2 mm. This aluminum composite plate is very tough!
 
Hi Hiace
Thanks for the reply on your interior set up .
I know the plastic aluminium panels you are talking about , most probably they are Allucobond , german company ,
very good , expensive and heavy .
might go for some parts in joint system , but not the whole interior .
the more I think , the more I am leaning towards folded aluminium sheet , 1,5 mm ,max 2 mm .
BUT , must use outside company , can't build it in-house , so €€€€
ending some designs , and putting them forward to this company .
will keep you guys updated .

bye Renago
 
Hi Renago, i'm in the planning phase of my build and am considering 3mm or 4mm HPL (High Pressure Laminate) plates in combination with the square tube construction system. HPL is super strong, 'un-bendable' and reasonably affordable. Haven't decided if i will only glue (looks nicer and less work) or rivet & glue (strong, but looks less nice and more work)

Have you found a cheap source for the square tube system? Most European suppliers i've found seem to charge around €2-4/connector and about €6-8/m tube. Has anybody found a cheap 'aliexpress' supplier?
 
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