StormCruzzer
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Hey everyone! This first part is basically a repeat of my Noobie introduction thread, but I figured I'd give some background here as well.My name's Travis, I'm 27 with and have a B.S. in meteorology. I work as a Financial Advisor specializing in Life Insurance and Annuities, but also run a Storm Chasing Tour business on the side, StormCruzzer LLC. (Check us out on Facebook and YouTube). I currently own a 2011 Silverado 3500HD Dually that I've converted into a storm chasing truck that I also use as a DD, and although it's not yet finished, I'm working on the designs for the next vehicle (a 5 ton). Here's a quick picture of the storm chasing truck from Hurricane Hermine in September 2016, and it's about to go through some major changes over the next year as we prepare it for SEMA.
If you've ever seen the Discovery TV Series "Storm Chasers," you know there are all kinds of chase vehicles. Some people chase in vehicles build armored vehicles with hydraulic flaps panels and spikes that go down to the ground, anchoring it to the ground and keeping wind from getting under the vehicle. Others like to chase in smaller fuel efficient cars. I took the middle road for the first vehicle (with the idea in mind that it would be the first of many), and built a lightly armored truck (if people are interested I'll list all the mods I've made) to be safe in higher winds, be reliable and durable and capable off road, and be able to carry rescue equipment in the bed to help out after a tornado/hurricane hits. Before choosing the specific vehicle and mods for the first storm chasing vehicle, I put well over 1000 hours (over the course of 8 months) of research into different vehicles and different scenarios we encounter while out chasing, and tried to build the best "all-in-one" vehicle that would do well in all types of storms and situations. Although It's not completely finished yet, I'm now working on designing the next two vehicles, one of which is looking like it'll be a 5 ton unless you can convince me otherwise.
Onto the good stuff! This will be used more for Blizzards and Hurricanes than it will be for tornadoes. The goal of this vehicle is to be able to withstand extremely strong winds while deployed (hydraulic panels and stabilizing arms), be big enough to drive through high flood waters for search and rescue, and have a living quarters where the crew and I can live for a week or two at a time with no outside help if needed. I'm also looking to potentially live on the road while traveling through the Americas for months at a time, and even make it a semi-permanent home - basically an extremely capable, heavily armored RV with a base station with a desk and monitors to monitor the storms. Over the past week I've done about 40 hours of research on 5 tons and deuces and learned quite a lot, but still have a long ways to go. Right now I have my eye on a M923A2 as the base vehicle and converting it to a crew cab. The Cab will blend with the rear box of the truck that will be the living space, so it's easy to traverse between the two, similar to the 5 ton pictured here, but the shape will be more the third picture to help in high winds.
We're planning on rebuilding the cab and rear box from the ground up with 1/4" AR500 steel to keep debris from penetrating the sides in high winds. Like an RV, I'm planning on installing a small shower, toilet, multiple twin size beds, an L-shape desk "command center," a stove, a sink, a mini-fridge, storage, and more. Although it seems like a lot, I've drawn out a few designs that fit everything in. It's basically an armored "tiny home" mounted on the back of a 5 ton. For electrical power in the rear, I'm thinking about mounting 6-8 batteries in the rear drawing power from the main batteries slowly overtime when the vehicle is running, along with being charged by a solar panel system mounted on the roof that can be easily covered if we know we're going to encounter hail or anything else that could cause damage. The entire vehicle, cab and rear, will be insulated as well. I'll get to the hydraulic panels and spikes for protection in high winds later, but I'll leave it at this for now.
I'm also building the vehicle to live in for a good chunk of the year as well as use as an overland vehicle. We've been planning a cross country trip in the stretched StormCruzzer in Summer 2019 while towing our jeep and 1500 to offroad and overland along the way, but this would be an even better vehicle for the job. I really want to make a trip down to the southern tip of South America sometime in the next 5 years as well.
I'm sure I'll have a million different questions as different problems come up along the way, but to start;
1. Am I crazy?
2. Has anyone here ever done something similar and converted their 5 ton or even deuce to an RV?
3. Is water/meth injection a thing for these bigger diesel engines like it is for 3/4 and 1 ton commercial trucks?
4. What are your thoughts on the M923A2 vs other 5 tons or other military vehicles for this project?
5. How do your 5 tons handle in high winds? (60mph+)?
6. Is there anything in particular you think I'm missing I should know about?
7. What are your thoughts on the project in general?
8. What kind of steel should I use? I was thinking AR500 but I know it's more brittle so not sure how it would handle under the stress of when off road.. Just found out about MIL-1 46100 steel but can't find too much about it.. How easy is it to weld? And how does it handle in flexion? Is there another steel that you'd use instead? I'd like the body to be near bulletproof.
Thanks in advance for all replies!
P.S. It's 2am after a long day so this thread is really unorganized and not as thought through as I would have liked, but I'm going to be extremely busy over the next week so I wanted to get this post up now rather than later.
Edit: Couple videos from the past few years. First few years we were in it for the experience and didn't care as much about video footage but we finally bought a good 4K video camera last year.
Simla, Colorado tornadoes (11 total) June 4, 2015. Crew for these videos were friends from Tech and this was their first tornado/tornadoes, and you could hear the over excitement and nervousness in their voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZOVZO9XWic&list=UUb_UxQ3yD1ERvOtTr-lo39g&index=19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5-061j-XQM&list=UUb_UxQ3yD1ERvOtTr-lo39g&index=23
Hurricane Matthew, Daytona Beach, FL 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iea7BVQSd_g&list=UUb_UxQ3yD1ERvOtTr-lo39g&index=12
If you've ever seen the Discovery TV Series "Storm Chasers," you know there are all kinds of chase vehicles. Some people chase in vehicles build armored vehicles with hydraulic flaps panels and spikes that go down to the ground, anchoring it to the ground and keeping wind from getting under the vehicle. Others like to chase in smaller fuel efficient cars. I took the middle road for the first vehicle (with the idea in mind that it would be the first of many), and built a lightly armored truck (if people are interested I'll list all the mods I've made) to be safe in higher winds, be reliable and durable and capable off road, and be able to carry rescue equipment in the bed to help out after a tornado/hurricane hits. Before choosing the specific vehicle and mods for the first storm chasing vehicle, I put well over 1000 hours (over the course of 8 months) of research into different vehicles and different scenarios we encounter while out chasing, and tried to build the best "all-in-one" vehicle that would do well in all types of storms and situations. Although It's not completely finished yet, I'm now working on designing the next two vehicles, one of which is looking like it'll be a 5 ton unless you can convince me otherwise.
Onto the good stuff! This will be used more for Blizzards and Hurricanes than it will be for tornadoes. The goal of this vehicle is to be able to withstand extremely strong winds while deployed (hydraulic panels and stabilizing arms), be big enough to drive through high flood waters for search and rescue, and have a living quarters where the crew and I can live for a week or two at a time with no outside help if needed. I'm also looking to potentially live on the road while traveling through the Americas for months at a time, and even make it a semi-permanent home - basically an extremely capable, heavily armored RV with a base station with a desk and monitors to monitor the storms. Over the past week I've done about 40 hours of research on 5 tons and deuces and learned quite a lot, but still have a long ways to go. Right now I have my eye on a M923A2 as the base vehicle and converting it to a crew cab. The Cab will blend with the rear box of the truck that will be the living space, so it's easy to traverse between the two, similar to the 5 ton pictured here, but the shape will be more the third picture to help in high winds.
We're planning on rebuilding the cab and rear box from the ground up with 1/4" AR500 steel to keep debris from penetrating the sides in high winds. Like an RV, I'm planning on installing a small shower, toilet, multiple twin size beds, an L-shape desk "command center," a stove, a sink, a mini-fridge, storage, and more. Although it seems like a lot, I've drawn out a few designs that fit everything in. It's basically an armored "tiny home" mounted on the back of a 5 ton. For electrical power in the rear, I'm thinking about mounting 6-8 batteries in the rear drawing power from the main batteries slowly overtime when the vehicle is running, along with being charged by a solar panel system mounted on the roof that can be easily covered if we know we're going to encounter hail or anything else that could cause damage. The entire vehicle, cab and rear, will be insulated as well. I'll get to the hydraulic panels and spikes for protection in high winds later, but I'll leave it at this for now.
I'm also building the vehicle to live in for a good chunk of the year as well as use as an overland vehicle. We've been planning a cross country trip in the stretched StormCruzzer in Summer 2019 while towing our jeep and 1500 to offroad and overland along the way, but this would be an even better vehicle for the job. I really want to make a trip down to the southern tip of South America sometime in the next 5 years as well.
I'm sure I'll have a million different questions as different problems come up along the way, but to start;
1. Am I crazy?
2. Has anyone here ever done something similar and converted their 5 ton or even deuce to an RV?
3. Is water/meth injection a thing for these bigger diesel engines like it is for 3/4 and 1 ton commercial trucks?
4. What are your thoughts on the M923A2 vs other 5 tons or other military vehicles for this project?
5. How do your 5 tons handle in high winds? (60mph+)?
6. Is there anything in particular you think I'm missing I should know about?
7. What are your thoughts on the project in general?
8. What kind of steel should I use? I was thinking AR500 but I know it's more brittle so not sure how it would handle under the stress of when off road.. Just found out about MIL-1 46100 steel but can't find too much about it.. How easy is it to weld? And how does it handle in flexion? Is there another steel that you'd use instead? I'd like the body to be near bulletproof.
Thanks in advance for all replies!
P.S. It's 2am after a long day so this thread is really unorganized and not as thought through as I would have liked, but I'm going to be extremely busy over the next week so I wanted to get this post up now rather than later.
Edit: Couple videos from the past few years. First few years we were in it for the experience and didn't care as much about video footage but we finally bought a good 4K video camera last year.
Simla, Colorado tornadoes (11 total) June 4, 2015. Crew for these videos were friends from Tech and this was their first tornado/tornadoes, and you could hear the over excitement and nervousness in their voice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZOVZO9XWic&list=UUb_UxQ3yD1ERvOtTr-lo39g&index=19
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5-061j-XQM&list=UUb_UxQ3yD1ERvOtTr-lo39g&index=23
Hurricane Matthew, Daytona Beach, FL 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iea7BVQSd_g&list=UUb_UxQ3yD1ERvOtTr-lo39g&index=12
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