Quote:
Originally Posted by joeblack5
That is very nice.. . I have a small bus already but if I would do it again then that is the most practical way to go...I would like single rears and grandma 's attic....loading deck in the back for outside expansion and awning? Side door entrance??
You think you could bond the outer skin and inner plywood with pour in two component foam as they use in boats for floating compartments. If it bonds together it would get crazy strong.
Later J
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I prefer the dually setup because of the built-in spare tire carriers. After replacing my sagged front springs with 2" lift over stock, the first long trip will be on LT235/85R16 BFG T/A KO2 (32" dia) tires. Planning to retrace most of your epic trip this winter.
Even with the current 225/75 donuts, the vehicle has impressive off road capabilities. Backed a 6000# trailer up a wet grass hill last week and had no traction problems - to my own surprise. This was one of these "It's not going to work but let's just see whether today is my lucky day" ideas.
I may not even need to spend $6k+ and a lot of time for the 4WD conversion if I put a locker in the rear and maybe a winch bumper on the front. The main reason for the 4WD front axle was being able to mount bigger, better tires and it looks that this will work with the original front axle.
RV side door with bug screen is already waiting for install.
The rear roll-up door will be replaced with a toy hauler gate that will double as my mini Biergarten. Found a cool Hacker-Pschorr patio umbrella but installing an awning on the solid frame of the rear end would be easy.
Also got a fiberglass cap/transition/air dam that will be installed over cab roof with cabinet doors on the inside front wall of the box to serve as storage closet (by not cutting out the cab roof).
I am afraid that the pour-in foam may bulge the skin out. Was planning to glue polyiso panels to aluminum skin and plywood with Sikaflex or similarly strong adhesive. (A stressed skin panel does not need much shear strength between core and skins especially if the ends are capped. The key function of the core is to keep the skins at the same distance as bending stiffness increases with the cube of skin distance).
Come to think about it, I could build a 'form' structure to prevent bulging while the foam hardens and add plenty of relief holes in a first plywood layer and then skin again with a solid piece. Let me see what that foam costs per cuft. (I discarded spray foam insulation because of cost and insane amount of cleanup work)