1120 AF Build in Norway

[Fred Skywalker]

Sorry for the radio Silence. new jobs, travel and houses have sort of taken up all our time the last 6 months, full writeup incoming soon!
For now just a pic dump with with latest and short summary!

* Storage lockers are fully fitted now with doors and locks

* The last fitting of the hydraulic lifting RUB bar is ongoing, I am very happy with the design we came up with and AV execution of it! It has towing and MC lifting capacity with 3 2" receivers for stability

* Box brush bars are fitted

* New battery design incoming too, stay tuned for that one!

* Water tank and inlet fitted as well as various grey water plumbing, more info incoming

* The steps have not worked out as planned unfortunately, AV have been really understanding to be honest because we were not happy with how they functioned so they have been removed from the deliverables, it is pretty clear that not all custom design items go as planned. We have to come up with another solution but it might be a step ladder for a few years I have to say I am super happy with how AV dealt with this, the steps were perfectly functional but not as stable as we wanted, so they were very accommodating with our request to remove it.

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That looks really good. Really, REALLY good.

 

[palebluewanders]

Living vicariously through your updates. The run under bar looks so pro! Brush bars and lockers too. Seems like AV is having a bad luck streak with their steps, we also decided not to go with theirs... -.-

 

[Geo.Lander]

That looks really good. Really, REALLY good.

Appreciate the praise Fred, Still so so much to do and we are 2 years in ?

 

[Geo.Lander]

Living vicariously through your updates. The run under bar looks so pro! Brush bars and lockers too. Seems like AV is having a bad luck streak with their steps, we also decided not to go with theirs... -.-

What design did you go with in the end for steps? We will have some space for a telescope ladder or something similar where the steps were supposed to be housed, I think I will just have some come up with a custom design of my own once I get the truck back from AV...

 

[palebluewanders]

We ended up buying Krug's stairs. ?

They're big and a bit too low, but perfect for our future dog. We've tried them out on other people's trucks and loved them.

 

[Geo.Lander]

We ended up buying Krug's stairs. ?

They're big and a bit too low, but perfect for our future dog. We've tried them out on other people's trucks and loved them.

View attachment 776986

Yea they look stellar! I was put off but the price I must say, 5000 is a lot for four steps ?

 

[Iain_U1250]

Those look very well made. On problem I have seen with step that reach that far is getting a hand hold close. You may be 3-4 step high before you can reach any bar you have on the door. On light trucks like outs, the truck rocks a bit as you get on the first step, so a hand hold is a good idea to keep your balance.

I've fallen off the top step once or twice as I tend not to use the handhold, but Trish is a lot more cautious.

We have a long handle on the door, which works great, as long as you use it.

 

[palebluewanders]

Yea they look stellar! I was put off but the price I must say, 5000 is a lot for four steps ?

That's what we thought at first, but then AV did that trick where they present something even more outrageously priced and then suddenly Krug's steps seem like a steal. ?

 

[palebluewanders]

Those look very well made. On problem I have seen with step that reach that far is getting a hand hold close. You may be 3-4 step high before you can reach any bar you have on the door. On light trucks like outs, the truck rocks a bit as you get on the first step, so a hand hold is a good idea to keep your balance.

I've fallen off the top step once or twice as I tend not to use the handhold, but Trish is a lot more cautious.

We have a long handle on the door, which works great, as long as you use it.

Ah, TBH we had not considered the issue of having a handle. Maybe that's a mistake. But the Krug steps are really very big and stable, so I guess we'll see first how we get on without a handle. If we weren't planning on having a dog we would absolutely go for more sensible steps like what you have, those look great.

 

[Geo.Lander]

Ah, TBH we had not considered the issue of having a handle. Maybe that's a mistake. But the Krug steps are really very big and stable, so I guess we'll see first how we get on without a handle. If we weren't planning on having a dog we would absolutely go for more sensible steps like what you have, those look great.

my experience is dogs can jump a lot better than we can

 

[palebluewanders]

Even so, it's such a long way up and down a bunch of times every day, no? ?

Plus now we're future-proofed for when the dog gets old.

 

[Geo.Lander]

Those look very well made. On problem I have seen with step that reach that far is getting a hand hold close. You may be 3-4 step high before you can reach any bar you have on the door. On light trucks like outs, the truck rocks a bit as you get on the first step, so a hand hold is a good idea to keep your balance.

I've fallen off the top step once or twice as I tend not to use the handhold, but Trish is a lot more cautious.

We have a long handle on the door, which works great, as long as you use it. View attachment 777153

I really like your solution Ian! simple and looks super robust!

 

[Iain_U1250]

I really like your solution Ian! simple and looks super robust!

Thanks, it has worked pretty well for 10 years.

 

[Geo.Lander]

Felt cute, might delete later.... thanks @DiploStrat ?

 

[Geo.Lander]

Truck mode is firmly back in gear up here in Sogndal, I am busy ordering up the remaining tools and pieces we need to start the interior build out as soon as we get our hands back on Gertrude. I have decided to switch out all my tools and purchase some fancy woodworking tools, I am not much of a carpenter but there is no avoiding this if we want a decent result, so I am doing some online courses and have a rather silly amount of Festools on the way from Germany next week (track saw, mitre, jigsaw, table jigs, etc). I have also found a nice supplier of hardwood for our dining table and hopefully making some edge banding for the internal edges of the GRP/Foam, we have an idea to also rip long strips and make some type of sliding door or tambour door, we will see

I am also trying to figure out what to do with the step situation, I have quite a large space available where the old steps where supposed to reside to store some sort of temporary steps while something more permanent is designed.. any ideas from the community appreciated




In other news I have fully tested out my lithium starter batteries from Winston, i have the 12v 90ah, they are solid performers and even play nicely with my AGM starter in the Land Rover, exceptional power and no issues charging from my dumb alternator in my boat and high power one in the Range Rover. Now wired up with a voltage relay as a fridge/house battery, I will purchase 2x 90ah for the truck starter and use a series of programmable relays to connect to house power (this will also be the main line for DCDC charging, double pole of course), truck alternator (now 100amp 24v), and internal truck house power as we will have some power hungry devices in the cab:



Personal updates, Thea is recovering from ACL and meniscus surgery and it is still ski season here!