Chassis |
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Base vehicle | |
Cab mods, features and upgrades | Lined with various kinds of soundproofing material, carpeted, and cosmetically improved KAB 414 mechanical suspension seats installed 24V and 12V (via DC-DC converter) cigarette-style sockets sympathetically added to run / recharge devices 2 x cooling fans symathetically installed (easily removed if required) Simple and easily-removable behind-seat storage solutions added
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Drive configuration | |
Drivetrain | |
Engine | |
Fuel capacity | |
Officialdom | Correctly registered with body type 'Motorcaravan' Notes: Because of its motorcaravan status, the truck is subject to much-less onerous annual Class IV MoT testing. Additionally: there is no requirement to fit sideguards / under-run protectors; the vehicle is not subject to goods-vehicles-only weight restrictions; troublesome border crossings can be much less problematic; there is no requirement to adhere to the 10-year tyre rule, or to inform the DVSA of 'notifiable changes'.
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Overall dimensions (ex mirrors) | |
Suspension | |
Weights | Maximum Authorised Mass: 11600kg currently downrated to 7500kg) Gross Train Weight: 16260kg (currently downrated to 11000kg) Axle 1: 5000kg (currently downrated to 4400kg) Axle 2: 7500kg (currently downrated to 4800kg) Notes: Because it's downrated, the truck can be driven on a standard car licence if you passed your Category B (car) driving test before 01/01/1997. Uprating back to the originally designated weights is - of course - possible, and is essentially a paper exercise.
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Wheelbase | |
Wheels and tyres | Maximum Authorised Mass: 11600kg currently downrated to 7500kg) Gross Train Weight: 16260kg (currently downrated to 11000kg) Axle 1: 5000kg (currently downrated to 4400kg) Axle 2: 7500kg (currently downrated to 4800kg) Notes: Because it's downrated, the truck can be driven on a standard car licence if you passed your Category B (car) driving test before 01/01/1997. Uprating back to the originally designated weights is - of course - possible, and is essentially a paper exercise.
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Year of manufacture / conversion | |
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Habitation Box |
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Construction | Five-element professionally laminated panels (by CVR Ltd) comprising a composite of: GRP-plywood-extruded polystyrene foam-plywood-GRP Overall thickness ranges from 54mm to 64mm (approx) Timber inlays and rebated peripheral frames engineered in for extra strength Bonded together with Sikaflex 252, then back-filled and weatherproofed with Sikaflex 522 Aluminium cappings featuring replaceable, box-section sacrificial crumple-zone components on leading edges
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Crawl through | |
Dimensions (all external) | |
Layout notes | Beds: 2 x (separate) transverse single beds: one front, one rear. Main seating: 2 x feet-up chaise-longues style sofas Additional seating: 1 x separate 'quiet seat' with flip-down table - provides a secluded space for reading / laptop use etc Fully enclosed dedicated shower cubicle - no clingy shower curtain! Fully enclosed bike garage - keeps 2 x bikes clean, safe and out of sight Notes: Separate beds help with an undisturbed night's sleep - a really important requirement (for us) when travelling. They result in it being easier to regulate body temperature, they isolate you from your partner's fidgeting, and there's no need to clamber over one another in the event of a nocturnal call of nature.
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Paint colourway | BS381c 285 Matt NATO Green / RAL9016 Gloss Traffic White / BS381c 642 Satin Night Black Notes: The entire paint scheme is purposefully designed to leave the upper habitation box free of any paint and therefore easier to maintain following trawls through vegetation (the grp is easily polished). The scheme is also very easy to maintain (even on the road) and - importantly - really helps with how the truck is perceived / received by both officials and communities.
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Subframe solution | Standard LD 244 (stripped) load bed retained but a simple modification to the forward-most mounts of the bed affords very slightly increased articulation / separation at this point Notes: A simple and very reliable sub-frame solution - and all that the standard T244 really needs to make a successful overlander. This solutions avoids the need to second guess chassis dynamics and then run the risk of relying upon potentially poorly conceived and engineered home-made systems: some of which perform very badly / are just plain dangerous.
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Windows, doors and hatches | Windows: Dometic Seitz S4 - Fully protected with aluminium drop-down shields Doors: Locally manufactured 1 x roof-mounted Lewmar marine hatch allows for lighting and ventilation. This also fully opens giving easy access to the roof 2 x five-way MPK vents allow for ventilation over kitchen and in washroom All apertures have screens / flyscreens
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Equipment & Systems |
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Ablutions and Toilet | |
Battery charging | 24V (starter) side: charged directly by the truck's starter alternator 24V (leisure) side: charged directly and solely by the truck's FFR alternator 12V (leisure) side: charged via 24V (leisure) bank by Durite 24-12V Battery-to-Battery charger Notes: No hook up, no generators, no fixed solar panels, no wind turbine. None of these additional charge-sources have ever proved necessary or desirable given our preferred style of travel. That said, one 100W 72-cell solar briefcase panel is carried just in case we were ever to lose the ability to charge from the engine. The fully portable nature of the panel enables maximum efficiency as we can 'track' the sun at all angles. It also enables parking in the shade whilst the panel sits in full sunlight: both massive pluses. A further advantage of the omission of fixed solar panels is that the entire roof is at our disposal to be used as a fantastic wildlife viewing platform.
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Cooking | 36 litre LPG-powered Thetford Duplex oven equipped with dedicated separate grill Two-burner LPG-powered CAN hob - one medium and one slow burner Manual ignition systems chosen for both devices - simple and reliable
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Cooling | |
Electrical supply | 24V side: Powered by 2 x Yuasa 12V AGM batteries in series (rated at 93Ah @ 24V) 12V side: Powered by 1 x Yuasa 12V AGM battery (rated at 93Ah @12V) Combined reserve: Approx 3348 watt-hours in total 230V ac: Provided by 1800W quasi-sine wave inverter Notes: No reliance upon electronic control panels or monitoring systems: simple manual switches and mechanical distribution boxes have been utilised instead. Altogether, this is a simple and purposefully low-capacity but easily-properly-fully-recharged system (unlike many larger systems) that is totally reliable, maintenance / fiddling-free, and one which works very well given our preferred travelling routine.
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Furniture | Genuine Vohringer furniture board with solid beech structural / decorative components Tambour doors utilised for overhead lockers - a simple, reliable, maintenance-free, and lightweight solution
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LPG system | 2 x refillable portable cylinders with float gauges and 80% max-fill safety cut-off giving approximately 50 litres capacity Notes: The cylinders can be filled in-situ from a remote externally mounted fill-point. Unlike with fixed tanks, there is also the option to remove the cylinders to enable refilling away from the truck if required. On-cylinder regulators are utilised in preference to remote (bulkhead-mounted) types for reliability and compatibility reasons. No matter where in the world you are, it's not too difficult to buy a local cylinder along with the required regulator. Try that with a bulkhead-mounted system!
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Refrigeration | |
Space heating | Two interlinked systems: 2kW Webasto diesel-powered blown air heater 2.4kW Truma LPG-powered blown-air heater Notes: A blown-air system was chosen in preference to hydronic solutions for the sake of simplicity, reliability, electrical-supply efficiency, and comparative ease of maintenance. Both furnaces feed into a common ducting system delivering hot air around the truck (including into the cab). The furnaces can be used independently or together. Micro ducting also feeds the underfloor area to protect the water tank and pipework from frost damage. A separate TrumaVent booster fan has also been utilised to enhance the circulation of warm air as desired.
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Water (fresh) | |
Water (waste) | |
Water heating | 15-litre calorifier primarily heated by engine coolant - supplemented (if required) by a 230ac heating element and a 4kW Eberspacher hydronic furnace Notes: The calorifier and hydronic furnace are plumbed into the engine-coolant circuit, meaning domestic hot-water is always / can always be be made available as required. The furnace can also be used to heat / pre-heat engine coolant in order to provide a comfortable cab environment when parked up, and / or ensure reliable starting performance in extremely cold climates. A 750 watt 230V ac electrical element within the calorifier can also act as a backup heating source (this can be powered from the inverter when parked-up and whilst the engine is running). A thermostatic mixer is fitted to the calorifier's hot water outlet to regulate temperature and maximise capacity of stored hot water.
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