M1078 camper in the Glamis dunes Thanksgiving 2016

[Keith Knight]

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Looks great.

 

[Duckworthe]

Thanks Keith. I was just talking about you yesterday with Steve while he is building his camper. I have been doing small things in mine but mostly just out enjoying it. I need to finish up the cab air soon as San Diego is starting to heat up. As of now, the summer circle track season is already 3 races in and I have two cars to keep up with. I did get Steves roof rack, ladders, fuel tanks and a bunch of other things built and being delivered out to him. I know he cant wait to get them installed.

 

[Masspilot]

Keith don't let Eric fool you he has all kinds of free time on his hands to play around and do stuff. Isn't that right Eric LOL. I'm just kidding don't forget though to measure the ground height on your truck to center of the axels others need to know it. Hahahahhaha

 

[Reworked LMTV]

Are those balancing weights on the wheels? what kind of winch did you get? : ) Thanks!

 

[1951M1078]

Any photos of your generator mount ?

 

[ramdough]

Are those balancing weights on the wheels? what kind of winch did you get? : ) Thanks!

Those are ctis valve covers. He has a smittybuilt winch. Think it is a 17.5k winch. Hope that helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rchalmers3]

Awesome build, thanks for posting.

Sorry to pile on with another question: Have you had a chance to run the truck over some weight scales?

Rick

 

[Duckworthe]

I haven't been posting up much lately as I have been very busy with work and my other projects. As for the last question, It weighs 22,500lbs fully loaded with all my stuff, I live in it full time. So those of you who have owned and lived in an RV, you know how much stuff you can actually get in them! lol. I have my hot water heater installed and working great! I used an Atwood 10 gal propane, electric and heat exchange unit. Could have gotten away with the 6 gal unit but the price was right for the 10 gal. I was going to use an 115v on demand unit but they just wont work right and produce more than 15 seconds of hot water. It has to do with the pump volume and flow rates. So I decided to just go the RV style route. Used Atwood model GCH10A-4E in the end. Also replaced my engine fan and fan clutch with the newer style as mine was getting loose and had a slight vibration. After taking it apart it didn't have any signs of abnormal wear or indications of immanent failure but it is now much quieter and tight. Thanks Superman for the unit. After talking to Borge Warner, there is already a newer unit out there but this one is brand new and I have no concerns. I don't remember the new part number. At the same time I finished my ac compressor install to include the idler pulley/tensioner. Before I get a million questions on this, I just bought the cat water pump idler and removed the weld and flipped the shaft/pulley on the bracket, re-welded the unit and used it on the drivers side of the engine. It was $80 for the unit and my labor. You can make this thing any number of ways, or try to find the correct one. Your choice. I still have to install my hoses and drier before I can test it to see how it cools. I will get back on here after I finish it up. Happy late 4th to everyone!
Eric

 

[Duckworthe]

Well I have finally been able to test the truck in some real heat camping in the truck. Now I don't have the cab ac completed yet. Still need to install the hoses and all. I had to go to Las Vegas so I also some time out at Lake Mead. It was 110 degrees where I was at with zero shade. The truck ran flawlessly in the heat. It was very nice to know that with my roof ac the inside of the camper was very easily maintaining 70 degrees on its lowest setting. This made it very comfortable and also helped my refrigerator maintain a cold setting. My Domestic deep freeze has always handled the heat well, it was holding perfect at -25 degrees without having to keep running. I was concerned that this heat might be just to much to get comfortable in. I have owned class a motorhomes and diesel pushers that couldn't handle this heat without being hot inside. That was with two AC units running! The unit on my truck now is a Colman cub. I don't remember but I don't think it is over 15,000 BTU. I more believe it is 12,000 BTU. Now, besides the close cell insulation, I think the biggest factor might be that the truck is white. That reflects the sun and helps not to absorb the heat. But don't think it wasn't hot, if you put your hand on the truck it was very hot. The stairs would burn your feet if you where barefoot. I feel that the close cell foam, 2 inches think, with foil on each side really does great job. Its rated at R value of 13.5. The next camper I build might have thicker walls though. The coldest that I have taken it I think was around 24 degrees. It seemed fine and the heater came on routinely. I did have a little condensation around the windows at that temp but I was running propane heat and also cooking in the oven and gas cook top. Cooking with gas always makes for a damp environment if you don't have fresh air coming in to help. Anyway, Just thought I would drop a note. Looks like many have some fun projects in the works. Good luck on them!

 

[1951M1078]

Photos of the Honda Gen mount ?Please.

 

[Duckworthe]

I will take pics for you tonight. Sorry I switched from driod to IPhone and I don't have all my pics back on new phone yet. I have to take new ones and then post. I will take pics tonight and post in the am.

 

[1951M1078]

Thanks.

 

[Duckworthe]

Finally was able to take some pics of my gen mount. Its just a simple cage with slides to be able to service the unit. I don't feel the need to encase the whole thing for theft or protection. It works great.

 

[Duckworthe]

So I have all of my ac parts installed on the cab except for the hoses. I just haven't had the time to work on it. So tomorrow I am having a guy I know come out and just finish it for me. He works on RedDot daily so it should be easy day for him. His mobile truck is quite amazing as to how much stuff he carries. Just about anything he would ever need on the site. I hope to have air blowing cold tomorrow and will update you all as to how it works out. Fingers crossed!!!

 

[agazza2]

So I have all of my ac parts installed on the cab except for the hoses. I just haven't had the time to work on it. So tomorrow I am having a guy I know come out and just finish it for me. He works on RedDot daily so it should be easy day for him. His mobile truck is quite amazing as to how much stuff he carries. Just about anything he would ever need on the site. I hope to have air blowing cold tomorrow and will update you all as to how it works out. Fingers crossed!!!

Did you mount the condenser on the back of the cab? I am just missing the AC bracket #2 that goes to the block and the pulley and then I will be ready to install mine. Where did you locate those parts? I bought the evaporator from the same gentleman in San Diego as you. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

 

[Duckworthe]

I'm going to use the stock condenser mounted in the stock location. And if that doesn't work I'll go with a different condenser mounted probably in front of the radiator. If I remember correctly I've got both the air compressor brackets and the pulley from Superman. The belt tensioner, I bought the Cat part that matches the water pump and I just reversed the pulley on the bracket. Cat sells two versions of their parts, Cat original and then Cat. One is cheaper then the other. But there is a difference in the quality of the build. Cat part is much thicker bracket then the other, but both are fine.

 

[Duckworthe]

So yesterday I finished my AC install. I had a friend come out and help as he is a mobile AC guy. Built all of my lines on site and got it working. It wasn't plug and play. My truck didn't have all of the connections in the dash to just plug it in. I had to improvise a little to get it to work. The main power supply to the fan unit was there but the others were not. So I could power my fan and use heat but nothing else. I used stock Gen 1 evap, condenser. Pick what AC compressor you want to use, just needs to be the correct mounting type, size, and 24 volt. After mounting everything and then building and routing hoses we turned on.......No ac. the fording wire needs to be hooked to a ground, I didn't hook it to my fording switch as I couldn't find the right wire that went to ground when the fording switch was turned to the off position. So again, I just grounded it. Also the two other two wire plug coming out of the back of my evap unit needed only power sent to it to make the cooling fans run and energize the compressor. There wasn't a place to plug it into behind the dash. So this is how my system is wired in to operate....... to turn on ac I flip toggle switch to on, turn on fan. At this time my ac compressor has power, my condenser fans turn on and it cold air time. If I have to ford water or mud, I turn off engine fan with the fording switch, engine fan and radiator protected. I then turn of the ac and the fans stop and ac stops, ac condenser protected. Done deal. In the end, this is how I wanted mine. Some will disagree, that is fine. I wanted my condenser fans to run all the time when the AC is operating. Normally I will be traveling slowly off road so the fans will be on and keep air flowing over the condenser. I know the thermostat in the unit should control that, however, Mine would not. So its fans on for me when AC is operating. So tonight I finish bolting the dash back in and the evap unit. Then start packing to go back to Middle East for a while and dream about the cold air in my truck!
Eric

 

[Duckworthe]

Good morning everyone. I just returned from a trip that I took out through the Southwest deserts from Ca. to Nevada. I took my 80 year old mother out for just over a week. She has wanted to do a good 4x4 camping trip in the treehouse, ( that's what we call my truck). We started in Vegas and decided to go Kayaking on the Colorado river below the Hoover dam. There is a great place called Willow Beach that you can camp at, we didn't because it was full, and launch from. We paddled up the river about 6 miles and then 6 miles back. I towed mom as she can't paddle much anymore. After that day we camped at Boulder Beach on Lake Mead. We stayed 2 nights there and met many nice people and of course, gave many tours of the truck. we left there and headed out to the Mojave National Preserve. We traveled off-road and camped different places through that area to include hole in the wall. We traveled out through the desert to Dumont Dunes and played in the sand for the day to finally end up in Pahrump NV. and went up through the mountains at Wheeler Pass. That night was spent in winds of around 70mph constant at 7700 ft. elevation. Mom thought we might blow away! LOL not a chance in this truck. Our final day was heading down the back side of the mountain into Indian Springs to finish up on the Highway back into Vegas. Overall we put right at 1200 miles all off-road and another 850 on the blacktop. She had a great time and cant wait to do it again soon. The truck ran flawlessly and so did the AC in the cab! It never went above 70 in the cab with the ac fan on the first blower motor setting. I do however have a new sound coming from the truck on road and off that I can hear out the window. Its at lower speeds and sounds more like a vibration sound. I thought at first it could be my removable Propane tanks but I isolated them and it was still there. I checked hubs, suspension, cab, drive shaft blah blah blah....... still need to find it. One I get into 4th gear it is gone. I may never find it until it finally gives up the ghost! Anyway, just thought I would share and also let those of you who have emailed me with questions, give me a call and I will get all the questions and emails replied to as soon fast as I can. As for some of you who have installed ac and are not satisfied with the cold air output, know that one issue I had was the heater coolant control valve was not closing all the way so the heat was basically overpowering the cool air output making for not so cold of ac. I installed a manual valve in line behind the grill that I can close off the coolant completely as I rarely need the heater in my truck out here. And as you all know, these heaters work amazing! Just a thought that might help out others along the way. Thank everyone and have a Fine Navy day!

 

[Duckworthe]

A couple more pics of the trip. One of the trails ended at a train bridge that was just a little to low to fit under, So we just went over!
As many of you also enjoy firearms, You can tell by the pics with the sign, we still have those idiots out there who shoot up things that they shouldn't and cause areas to get closed down. It was sad to see this type of disrespect. I spoke to the park Ranger in the area and he said that the state is trying to make it a no firearm area. Sad because this is also a current hunting area and so much will be given up because a few keep shooting up the park signs and historical markers. Anyway, enough of that. It was an amazing trip and if you have an older dad or mom still around, try taking them with you! it is just as fun as taking a child camping for the first time! lol

 

[Duckworthe]

Figure I would post up a small story with chain of events that caused my alternator to go out which put my truck down for over a month. I was getting her ready for the upcoming Overlanding Expo and it just occurred to me what had happened too cause this trouble. I was thinking about someone else on here that posted that their alt shorted out as somehow the cab grounded out to the Alt housing. I feel that is somewhat what happened to me. I was driving and heard a huge whooshing sound and when I looked I saw that two things had happened. 1 was that my boost hose from the turbo had come off because of a clamp failure. 2nd was the belt for my AC compressor was broken. 3rd was that my alternator regulator was fried. Well here is my theory..... First, I knew that the belt that I currently had on my AC compressor was to thin and was not going to last very long riding down in the v pulleys. Well it broke and It probably wrapped around the boost hose from the turbo to the intercooler,(I found the belt over on the passenger side). This probably wrapped around and yanked on the boost hose pipe and snapped the clamp causing the tubing to drop down and touch the Alt housing or the regulator shorting it out. All three happened simultaneously. I think what I want to do is wrap my boost hoses with a thermal wrap to make sure it cant drop and touch the Alt again (ever in the future) and also help keep the air charge cool. I think most newer trucks come with wrapped boost hoses anyway? I need to grab a new wider AC belt and get that back on soon as desert temps are climbing already. Soon to be in the 110-115 range! Just thought I would share. I also mounted my new air drier last night. I hade to buy new fittings as the elbow wouldn't spin past the clamp ring on the drier body and also bought the adapter for the control line. works great and look forward to easier system maintenance. Wanted to note that I didn't have any real issues with the old finned units in the first place.
r,
Eric