Not exactly tiny... or trailer...

[brian_bp]

http://www.uhaul.com/trucksales/truck_d ... ion=745039

All of the major parts of the truck have been recently replaced and after the test drive I found an oil leak so the salesman agreed to drop the price even further... I ended up giving $2549 with doc fee and and extra prize. They are going to bath her and get a fuel leak fixed for safety...

I think it's hilarious that someone can openly list that the vehicle is missing legally required clearance lights, and have no mechanical feature rate better than "good", but then list "Maintenance" as "excellent" because it has been "Professionally maintained"... but has a fuel leak.

Oh well, the price is low enough to allow it to be brought up to a truly good condition and still be affordable!

I think this will be a great project, and valuable vehicle when it is finished.

[Mr shorty]

Many moons ago I was a mechanic for toyota heavy equipment and have spent more than one day under a box truck, so I should be able to do anything on the truck it will need. The guy said they will fix the fuel leak, but when I get there to get it, it will be fixed or not leave their lot.


The chief financial officer has decided it is not so important to be able to watch TV going down the road after listing out all the parts and pieces I needed to make it all work.

I am looking now at running only one deep cycle battery and leaving the 110/12v systems completely separate. Heck if I know, but I wish I had more experience with this stuff before building my own....

[brian_bp]

...Heck if I know, but I wish I had more experience with this stuff before building my own....

If everything is kept accessible (unlike common commercially produced RVs) then changing the configuration later should be practical. Live and learn!

[edcasey]

If everything is kept accessible (unlike common commercially produced RVs) then changing the configuration later should be practical. Live and learn!

I agree 100%. I think the best part of building your own camper is it allows you to upgrade later when you have the money. If you keep that in mind when you originally design your systems, it makes it really easy to added additional components. I started out with one battery mounted to the 'A' frame and a very simple 110 system. It worked good and we had fun camping. Later I added a 1750 watt inverter with remote, an 80 amp converter, a circuit breaker panel, fuse block, a generator, an automatic changeover, four batteries to run my A/C and as soon as the snow melts a solar panel. I did these upgrades slowly as my budget allowed and my needs changed. Like Brian said, the key was to leave enough room and make sure everything is easily accessible.

[Mr shorty]

the key was to leave enough room and make sure everything is easily accessible.

That is one of the reason I raised the floor in the front, I am hoping to get four storage doors that are around 14" X 30" or so and mount two on each side and that will give me crawl in and around room if I have to. I believe that space is plenty large to mount the stuff I am wanting.

[edcasey]

So Mr Shorty did you pickup your new rig?

[Mr shorty]

Yes, I did, I got it to her new home, covered RV storage. I brought it home last weekend and removed the bench seat and put in a bucket seat from a suburban I had. It actually bolted in using the uhaul bench seat brackets and drilling a couple holes into the bucket seat bottom.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v15/s ... aul001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v15/s ... aul012.jpg

I will do the passenger seat once I find more bench seat brackets... they are not super easy to find.... can you imagine?

I even got a test fit to make sure it works as measured...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v15/s ... /Uhaul.jpg

On the way back to the storage area I felt a small vibration starting to slowly get worse. I crawled under it at the lot and found the rear most carrier bearing was coming apart. Called International and they had both of them for $40 each so I bought both new ones and will have the shaft balanced and replace the carrier bearings this week.

I have since found the rubber accordion seal I am going to be using and will be removing the material for the walk through once the seal gets here. Also if anyone is interested, here is the link:
http://www.accordionboot.com/