• Notice for iPhone users: DO NOT use the image size reduction option when uploading photos to the forum. This causes portrait images to post as landscape. We have added a warning to the image insert pop-up as well.

Expedition Scrambler..?

its.... different.?.

Yeah, I know what you mean as a shop rate for welding but its a little different with this. The military has these shops set up for our use and its sponsored by the MWR (Morale, Welfare,and Recriation) for soldiers to save money by working on their own cars. A flat bay with no lift is 2 bucks an hour, with a lift is 3. The problem I have is that I'm getting charged for welding when most of what I'm doing in there is either thinking or working on the other parts just so I can weld them together. I know I sound like a cheap @$$ but spending an entire day there will cost about 50 bucks. do this a couple times a week and it adds up fast. So the logical response is that our hobby is expensive... sure, got that. But my difficulty is that its kind of a screwed up deal. We are not allowed to work on stuff unless we are in a bay. And the facility here is small and always packed so there is a waiting list. So there isn't really any way for me to prefit or set up so i can just go in and rent the welding bay, burn in what needs it and roll out... I have to be in there to do all the grinding and fitment etc...Gets kinda expensive when your having to lay out all your stuff, get what you can done, pack it all up, clean up the bay afterwards, etc...
Ok... enough whining... :) At least I have access and CAN do stuff.
As to that dune buggy... yeah, unusual looking isn't it? Doesn't look like one of the old Manx/VW kits... kinda wonder what it is.
I'm gonna try and look up the company and see about availability. The OBI store had a few different sizes but most looked taller than what I really want on the roof. I wonder if my metal guy could bend up something similar to the sizes I'd like...? Hmm...Gotta go there today to pick up more stuff anyways.. :)
 
couple of thoughts...

1. why areny't you posting picture evidence of the frauleins yet? ;)
2. RTT... making that feel stable is going to be a trick (I daily drive an FZJ80, which weighs a LOT, and the guys that put RTTs on them notice the difference). Have you considered doing a small camper trailer (ie: Jeep Bantam style) with a RTT on it.. that way you can easily hook it up for use but not have to deal with it "all the time").. last trip to Ramstein I saw lots of small cars pulling utility trailers (so cars can be used for landscape shop runs, etc), maybe you could weld/fab something?
3. Have you looked at possible sleeping platforms in the back of your rig? I've always wanted to design something that had storage below (Ie: like Tuffy pull out drawers that are wheel well high) and a fold-to-flat platorm above it that could hold some tie-downs or support a twin-sized mattress... it's no good to me anymore as I have 2 kinder, but for you and GF it might make enough room.. you could fold the front seats forward and lay out an inflatable mattress (see Airbedz online) on the platform should give you 6+ feet. The Landcruiser forums have good ideas on this, as does Expo, which I know you used to frequent.
 
oh and.. yeah, the hobby shops are great at times but not the most flexible options for getting stuff done, and it's not like the Germans are real "shadetree" friendly for working on stuff at your house... if you think the EPA regs here are bad.. you should see how much power the forest meisters over there wield..!
 
Friends, boxes, and making tents...

Hey Bushmaster...
Yea, I understand that both the weight and added loss of what miniscule aerodynamics makes the jeep squirely. I need to work on the rear springs anyway so we shall see what I do. But incase you didn't catch up here, this is all kinda temp. more to get the tent out of my room and to keep me from having to store it with my household goods. I will be heading to Afganistan soon so work on the jeep has trickled due to training, school, and general getting stuff squared away.
I already have a 40s era Bantam trailer that is in my storage in Colorado. The Army wouldn't allow me to ship it here so for now the RTT goes on the Jeep. Hindsight being what it is I should have left both back home and just used the beater VW Golf I drive daily. Shrugs. But if I can swing getting stationed at Ft Carson after this then the RTT will go on the trailer which will be rebuilt from the ground up for just that reason.
Unfortunately the 8 isn't quite long enough to sleep in without dropping the tailgate. I'm 6' and maybe if I pushed both seats forward I could make it work but I'd rather have the tent. I did just find these neat and very light weight aluminum boxes I could use for storage. I was in the local OBI (like home depot) and spotted them...Maybe some for the inside slide out that is yet to be built, a makeshift kitchen, and general stuff...?
I have some other bigger projects simmering in my brain for after this deployment but I'm waiting on some emails to be returned before getting to excited. See how that goes...
And no... no pics of the ladies. There are some tasty ones all over but I never have my camera. :(
 
Back in 1992 I put my glass body on my CJ5 at the auto shop. Back then it cost $1 and hour for a bay, $1 a day for storage and $2 for a lift or welding bay. It took me a little over 60 working hours and 1 month of storage for the swap to been finished enough to drive.
 
cheaper than dirt...

Kane, I bet you learned how much fun wiring a fiberglass bodied jeep was...? haha! I guess it kinda confuses me a little with the pricing for the shops use. Its a program supported by the MWR and provided so soldiers can have a way to work on their vehicles. There is usually two sides to the system, a DIY that I use and a staffed repair facility so mechanically challanged/spouses/uninterested people can have their car repaired without having to use the local (and often questionable) repair shops. The do it for you side charges an average shop rate for repairs and is somewhere between DIY and a dealer for pricing and quality of work. But that is the side that makes the most money. Since the MWR is a non-profit, soldier support program, that money is supposed to roll back into paying the employees, funding the shops operating costs, etc... But there is something almost shady in the way the diy side runs. If they like you then its not uncommon to not get charged much, if anything, for an occasional use. And depending on how busy the shop is and how much you 'bother" them for tools or help...you may or may not get charged a full rate for the tie you are actually in there. Its even more shady here in Germany since they deal with so many vehicles that won't pass inspection. If a "joe" has a car that won't pass, even for something little, and he doesn't want to keep it..he pays THEM to take the car into their "junkyard". It costs about 60 bucks to give them a car. They in turn will either let it sit and sell parts off of it or sell the complete car to someone if they are willing to fix it. That is usually in the 300-1000 dollar range.
Oh well... I'm hijacking my own thread... lol! Got stuff to do... cheers!
 
humbug!

Well today was a flop. I spent most of the weekend out of town and planned to work on nothing but jeep today. Got there and realized I was short on tubing so I had to make a trip to the metal guy. Got what I needed and even cut the uprites I thought I'd use. Got back to the shop and it was PACKED! So I wasted most of my time just holding stuff up and seeing that my uprites are to long. :( And since I leave for school at the end of this week I don't see much happening for a while. Oh well... Guess I'll do some more paper sketches and see what I can turn up by way of making the swing out work. I also want to keep gathering info on my diesel... ahem. :fingerscrossed:
 
Arrrgh! And Grrrrr!

So i came to the shop yesterday and it was full. Ended up helping a guy change u joints on his tj rubicon. Got here this morning and his is still I'n the bay (only one with welder access) and he decided to start changing fluids and stuff. He really doesn't know what he is doing which means he will be all day! This is my last day to try and get the rack and swing out done and I'm screwed!!! Grrr! And to make it better it's pouring down rain! Not expecting good things today. Crap!
 
Bad weather, good progress.

Well, I'm not sure why but I'm having computer issues and it won't let me post pics. I think my internet is just suffering from the bad weather here. Oh well... I will try to post the pics later. I did manage to get the RTT put up on the roof in a trial and error way. I built a set of 4 staunchens to bolt to the cross braces that are attached to the tent floor. The other end of those four brackets will get some exhaust clamps to hold it to the rack tubing. That way I can remove or adjust it with only one wrench. For now I mounted it to fold forward towards the hood. I have to figure out what to do about the short ladder... I think it was supposed to have another section but all I got is whats there when I bought it. Shrugs. At least for now it only requires the Scramblers footprint to set it up. And it sure is roomy inside!!!!!! Wow! Gonna have to find a few fraulines to help christen it...haha!
I also got some progress on the rear swing out tire carrier. Not having the tools I need and having to wait/share the welder and stuff has made this harder than it should have been. But hopefully at this point I am moving in the correct direction. I have a ton of fab work to take care of and still have to head scratch the hinge aspect but at least the rough shape is there. Need to make another run to the hardware store this week and pick up more nickle and dime death parts. :)
Sorry the pics are so crappy... not sure why the phone was having trouble? Usually it does a little better than these? But you'll get the idea. Headed to bed now... evil Monday is around the corner.
 
I like it! Looks like a roomy place to relax.
 
Big un...

Yeah Randy, it seems huge inside! To be honest i really think it would be/will be a better match on my trailer. Maybe once I'm done buildin the roof rack and stuff it will be easier to access. Not so much for getting I'n as setting it up. Just going to play it by ear for now though.
One thing i can say is that this model (Technitop) MUST have the cover!!! This is the first time I've really opened it since getting stand after only a few rain days here it was very wet inside. I need to let it air outand dry so hopefully we get some more nice weather. It already smells like grandpaws old pop up camper! Lol!
 
Thank god for RS9000s! :) lol! I still doubt the tent will be staying on top permanently but i am digging it. Gonna have to do some rear spring work as well since all the weight is making it do the doggy "butt scoot boogie"... Maybe i can add a couple YJ leaves to the rear to level it out.?. That will come later though...
 
did you go to the Allrad show in Bad Kissegen? Saw a photo/write up on it in this month's Overland Journal.. the Germans are big into overlanding.

Sounds like your auto shop has some management issues.. most of them that I've been in are pretty good about not allowing guys to "linger" to long.. have to state what job you're doing before you pull in, have to use a lube-bay to do lube work, etc.. sounds like you need to find a buddy off post with the (rare) shop or garage to work out of..
 
No joy...

I had planned on going to the Allrad show but got stuck doing other things that weekend. :( I always enjoy seeing how other countries do things mechanical and the overlanding comunity especially. Some really neat ideas come from strange sources sometimes.
Speaking of which.. On the way to the shop yesterday I saw this in the BK parking lot on post. As far as I can tell it is the German equivelant of our HumVee? I tried to get some pics but they didn't come out so great, sorry. It looks to be about the same size/shape and is fully independant suspenstion but has its own flair?
As for the shop... Maybe I was just spoiled from my time at the Ft. Bliss shop. We had 27 bays there as opposed to the 6 here. And its not really so much the shop workers fault since this is a temp facility until the "real" one is finished being remodelled. Soon the shop will close completely while they move all the stuff back to the completed facility so that should be a little better, I hope! Though if they don't do something to change the hours I will still be grumpy. Sat and sunday are 0900-1600.?. Stupid. But for now it is what it is I suppose.
I tried to go yesterday and get a little bit done but it wasn't in the cards. I managed to get most of the tire carrier stuff sorta fitted in place but when I went to get the welder it was being used. So I waited a couple hours to see if I could at least tack it all together but no joy. Ended up just throwing it all into the back of the jeep in a pile once again...Sigh. Maybe today...who knows.
I am a little stuck on how to make the thing swing. My original idea was to make removablepins that would act as hinges and allow me to open it either direction depending on which side pins I removed. Now I'm not so sure that will work...still head scratching though... The show goes on.. :)
*edit*
Oh yeah... and I found part of why my steering has gotten soooo sloppy lately. I only move the jeep around the parking lot and in/out of the the bay but lately the steering has gotten very loose! Like almost a full turn to keep it straight. Finally remembered to look under it yesterday and wouldn't you know...Found the castllated nut for the pitman arm TRE was GONE!?! I swear I had a cotter pin through it but who knows? At least it didn't happen while I was actually driving it!! Yikes! So now I get to try and find one to replace it which will then only leave me with the bad passanger side lower ball joint. :o
 
Last edited:
Got a little more done today on the rear bumper/swing out tire carrier to be. I also think I may have figured out the swing aspect but I need to check some suppliers here locally. The intent is still to make it work left or right and I may have it... maybe. I hope next weekend to make more forward progress as its a long weekend here.
I've also had the tent deplloyed for about a week to air and dry it out. Seems to be working but I need to find a way to cover it once its dry. The manufacturer is in Austraila and shipping a new cover would take a long time. I don't know if I am deploying to Afganistan soon or not now so I may just rig up some kind of makeshift cover.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0268.JPG
    IMG_0268.JPG
    66.4 KB · Views: 187
I like the carrier...it follows the lines nicely.
 
Barrel hinges..

Thanks Randy! Its all just a work in progress but its starting to look like something. I suppose time will tell if it works or not and it sure isn't perfect. Since its basically tubing with 90* elbows welded on I'm concerned that it won't take the stress but I will just continue to march and see how it does. If I like the design but the construction fails I will re-do it out of something stronger and one pc. I don't have a bender here so its slow and not the greatest but its something. I need to go looking for hinge material today so that I may be able to get it to swing this weekend. My thought is some kind of "barrel" hinge? I think thats what they are called.?. Only Istead of having a bolt/nut to hold them together I'd run something similar to a reciever hitch pin in it. That way I can pull the two from either side and the carrier will (hopefully) pivot on the other side? Why? Well... I've noticed that a carrier that opens to the passenger side is sorta the standard. And while that works most times for daily duty stuff like groceries or home depot runs, it seems to be all in the way when camping. It seems that once camp is set up I spend more time going in and out through the passenger side for stuff than the drivers. And while it may sound silly, It gets kinda old having to walk around the open swing out. *shrugs* Guess we will see if this works or not... :shrug:
Pics are kinda what I'm looking for... only the German version.:crazy:
 
A piece of tube, a couple poly spring bushings, and a center sleeve. Easy to build. of those and you will be set.
 
Pipe and bushings...

Randy... Maybe I'm getting senile but I can't figure a way to make your suggestion work? Perhaps because I built the swing out frame to close to the body or maybe the way it joins the rack...But I can't think of a way to make it work that way as it should.
Finding material to work with locally is a real challange here too. I found some DOM and some solid rod that is a close fit together but there is a little more play between the two than I'd like. I had though to maybe drill out the DOM to fit some sort of sleeve to take up the slack but can't find any of that here either, let alone a size I can work with. So this weekend I will play with it and see what I can do. As best I can tell the solid rod is about 18mm and the DOMs hole is maybe 19mm? Just enough to be able to rattle the rod around. I'll play with it and let you see what I do but I'd still appreciate some ideas.
I did go by and close up the tent today and covered it. Its finally dried out and the weather is starting to look like winter is inbound. The tent didn't come with the fancy water proof cover it was supposed to (or the ladder extention either) which is why it got soaked. I got lucky and scrounged a collapsable pool from some of the Joes here that were throwing it away. I liked the material it was made out of... like a really heavy soft top/boat material. And since it is designed to hold water it should keep the rain out? It doesn't fit like the real cover should but for free, it works well!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top