Introduction To The Initial Fit Out Pages

The following Initial Fit Out pages are mainly concerned with the choice and fitting of ‘life support’ equipment. Our experience of motorhoming and boating, plus our intended use of the truck, broadly informed our choices in this regard. Of course, there is no right and wrong when it comes to the finer points of equipment choice and much depends on the kind of travel intended. As our own preference is to be out in the middle of nowhere, it is important for us to be able to self-sustain as much as possible. To meet this need, relatively large capacities of fuel(s) and water are helpful; as is engineering simplicity, component reliability, and the availability of auxilliary systems. If one life support system should fail, that system should ideally have been chosen and built in such a way that will allow an attempt at repair in the field, and if that is not possible, then there should ideally be a standby system in place. No heating whilst pursuing the Northern Lights in November would not be condusive to comfort...

The water tank has a 345 litre capacity. On ordering it from CAK - as is required by the company - I specified the various fittings to suit our build. These included a 'three-quarters empty' float switch as well as twin inspection / cleaning hatches, plus the usual array of filling / take-off fittings. Keeping with the simplicity theme, I didn’t want the bother of fitting any of the various probes / multi level sensors normally found in motorhome water tanks as these are very often unreliable and nearly always inaccurate. Our system does just what it says on the tin and a warning light illuminates (extinguishable by a manual switch) when we are down to our last 80 litres or so. This gives us, with our usual rate of use, about four or five days to find more water.

I arranged the fill and breather points to be isolated via taps from inside the truck as I didn’t want to go through the outer wall with a conventional filler / breather arrangement. For me, an outside filler is just one more thing for unwanted hands to tamper with – and one more set of keys to lose. The tank is filled by connecting a hose to a simple connection point within the truck (accessible from standing in the sheltered position just outside the main entrance door) with the additional option to pour / siphon from portable containers straight into the top of the tank via the inspection hatches in the event of no pressurised supply being available. The tank can also be tapped-off and drained via a fixed tube situated beneath the floor to externally supply fresh water for bike bottles / cleaning windows / washing down muddy boots etc.

I constructed a very substantial aluminium cradle to hold the tank in situ and, to prevent any chafing, ran strips of closed cell foam in critical areas. Furniture is also constructed tight up to the tank to prevent any movement whatsoever. The tank feeds a Shurflo 24V 30psi water pump which takes care of distribution. The pump itself is manually switched to allow it to be isolated when driving / left unattended. If the plumbing failed at any point, it goes without saying that 345 litres of water pumped around the interior would make something of a mess. All the electrical switches for the water system, as throughout the truck, are from CBE who make a very useful array of switchgear and monitoring equipment for the self-builder.