Aussie Off Roader

[Wolfgang]

Swags are a great bit of kit.... but you do need to put up a tarp or, if you hunt Deer in the high country like I do and the colder/ wetter months of the year are the best time, you end up dragging your backside out of the swag before sun up in the rain or snow......mmmm I'm over that!! cant wait to get this finished! The only problem then will be, do I really want to go out there or should I just lie here and watch a movie on my TV until it gets warmer out there....

[migal0412]

AS Wolfgang has said the Aussie swag is a great bit of gear. I suppose we are the lucky country as far as dangerous wild things go apart from the great white shark, 25ft crocodiles, the worlds deadliest snakes and the odd deadly spider or two, however your biggest fear when in a swag would be the little known (outside of Aussie that is) distant cousin to your grizzlies and that is our native Drop Bear.

Below is a link to some info from the Australian Museum Site on this dangerous little critter.

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Drop-Bear

I strongly advise anyone contemplating a visit Downunder from the USA to read up on it, forewarned is forearmed.

Cheers Mike

[Wolfgang]

It's always the cute cuddly ones that are the most dangerous!! Drop bears are a real problem in the high country... plenty of Deer hunters have had horrendous run ins with them.

[Wolfgang]

[Wolfgang]

[Wolfgang]

got sick of falling out of the van so folded up and installed the mudguards

[Wolfgang]

a little more progress this weekend.

[Adventure Time]

door frame trim and internal timber trim to mount the seals on.

Are your doors premade or made by you? If you made them please give a detailed account of installing the trim. Oh BTW I am Scott. Greetings from Texas, the downunder of the U.S.

[kd8cgo]

I particularly like the drop floor storage area, I was wondering a few things about it. As it's fairly shallow, did you already have some specific item(s) that will fit easily in that space for camping? Also, will there be small doors/flaps or some way to secure loose items that would be placed in the drop floor area - this depends on what you use it for I guess. Is there also an opening for access at the rear of the trailer, or just the two openings under the cabin doors on either side?

I'm really liking the overall "rugged" look of this build!

[Wolfgang]

Hi Scott, I'm building the doors myself. The seals will be attached to the lip I have installed on the inside of the door frame which you can see in the photo. The inside edge of the doors will also be recessed to marry up with the seals. Still have the finishing coats of paint and sanding to do on the inside so will be a couple of weekends before I get to doing the seals. Should have the doors mounted this weekend though. I'll post photo's when I get there.

Wolf

[Wolfgang]

Hi kd8cgo, the under floor storage area is 150mm in height. I put the false floor in so I could mount the water tank higher inside the trailer frame (see photos) so the storage area in the front is approx. 850 x 1200 x 150mm enough space for flat folding camping chairs and the table which will hook on to either of the mudguards (fenders) with extendable legs - not built yet. At the rear there is also storage area either side of the water tank - I'll take some more photos today. There will be doors over all the openings. At the rear there is the main storage area directly under the cook top and the under floor storage under that. There will be 2 doors, the left one is covered in stainless steel sheet and is 1/3 of the wide of the back - this swings up to become a benchtop. the door on the right is just a door.

Again I'll post photos as thinks progress...... I start with a basic sketch and dimensions and go from there - changing things as I go.....so don't have proper shop drawings to show you what I have planned, its all in my head

Wolf

[Adventure Time]

Hi Scott, I'm building the doors myself. The seals will be attached to the lip I have installed on the inside of the door frame which you can see in the photo. The inside edge of the doors will also be recessed to marry up with the seals. Still have the finishing coats of paint and sanding to do on the inside so will be a couple of weekends before I get to doing the seals. Should have the doors mounted this weekend though. I'll post photo's when I get there.

Wolf

The trim you used inside the door frame, is it a flat aluminum strap and you bent it into place? Is there anything that can rot under it? Did you use sealant, what particular kind? Also did you heat the aluminum before bending it? I am a mechanical engineer and I build things for a living. I just like to know all the details of something to minimize my guesswork. Almost everything I do, someone has already done it and done it better than I can think of. SO I try to find out the details any time I can.

[123jay]

looks great. What is the break call? I like to get some thing like that.

[Wolfgang]

Hi Scott, I glued a strip of Aluminium composite panel over the whole edge first (same material as I'm using for the outer skin 4mm thick) and sealed it all with Sikaflex 252. The mill finish aluminium strip you can see in the photo's is sold as "Table Edge Strips" available from aluminium extrusion suppliers - it's very soft and bends easily and as the name suggests it was originally designed as edging for table tops. It has a small lip the goes over the edge so it gives a good seal once glued in place (again using Sikaflex 252) Haven't seen this used since laminex tables went out of fashion in the early 80's. I'll find a photo.

[Wolfgang]

looks great. What is the break call? I like to get some thing like that.

Sorry don't understand??