November 29 2009 by Darrin.

You may notice a new color scheme on the blog.  If you’re observant, you’ll also notice the header has changed from “Stories of our travels near and far with the AATREC-FM204″ to simply “Stories of our travels near and far.”

Yup, the AATREC-FM204 is gone from the header, AND gone from our lives.  A well-traveled couple saw the last FM204 we built (and delivered to San Diego in 2008)  and became very interested in owning one for themselves.  The choice to sell what was built to be “our camper” was tough at first, but  we knew they’d use the vehicle more than we would.  When we coupled that with their desire to donate medical help around the world, we had peace with our decision to let it go.

For now, I have no idea what to do next.  New emissions laws for diesels make it impossible to fuel new chassis in developing countries, and also make it tough to do the required 4WD conversion.  Time will tell.

So we’re left with the old 1980 Unimog U1300L camper I built in 2002.  It was the project that encouraged me to incorporate, and build the next three AATRECs.  Thus, the old ‘Mog has a special place in my heart.  How special?  Offer me money and see. 

That whole project is online on our personal website if you’re curious.  If you’re not, here’s a photo…

 She’s been in storage for a few years, and needs new batteries due to a charger failure.  Otherwise, she’s well-equipped and ready for local travel within 500 miles.  Unimogs aren’t great highway cruisers, and ours tops out at 55 mph.  Fortunately, WY and CO alone offer tens of thousands of miles of remote dirt roads and numerous camping opportunities.  Our Unimog has a new engine and is in excellent shape, so we can still get out in the wild!  The Unimog chassis is, without a doubt, a formidable off-road machine.  It can carry our shelter to places we’d never have the courage to try!

Seasons Greetings to everyone.  Specifically, Merry Christmas!

Darrin and Anna

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September 10 2009 by Darrin.

I finally got a chance to get the new VDO boost gauge installed.  I was really looking for a voltmeter on the Alaska “attempt” so decided to install one along with the pressure gauge.  Here’s the dash, torn apart…

…and back together again, ready to go…

I love this FM chassis for its ease of dash access.  Three screws, and the whole central fascia comes off.  This truck was sure a pleasure to work on.

On a side not, I do have a very serious buyer and may sell.  It’s a tough decision for me, as I know I can’t replace the FM with another “any diesel” truck.  They’re all requiring ULSD now.  Any other fuel will destroy the DPF (diesel particulate filter) in the exhaust, and it’s that damned DPF which will likely interfere with my chances of building another 4×4 conversion.

Oh well.  Just when you get it all figured out and working really well.

 I think I give up.

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August 9 2009 by Darrin.

Fridge Problem - Solved!   The new Nova Kool is nearly silent, thanks to the German Danfoss compressor.  In fact, all you hear is a small muffin fan running.  It is Kool.  And it freezes 20 oz. of water in a few hours, at 4/7th of its coldest setting.  The Norcold is a smidge larger, and the food storage on the door is more functional, but we’ll gladly compromise for the lack of noise.  In all fairness, the Norcold is a good fridge when functioning properly.  Their current level of customer support, however, sent us packin’.

Cushion Problem - Solded!  Our new upholsterer in Loveland came through and did a great job.  The cushions are a little brighter than we expected in full light.  They aren’t really “navy blue” under flash, as you can see in the shots below.  (LED lighting vs. flash.)

Today, it was pre-trip truck maintenance.  I changed the two-year-old “nearly-new” oil for fully synthetic Shell Rotella 5W-40.  It should be good for the entire 7500 mile journey.  And new oil for the generator too, as it’s been sitting since the summer of 2007, just like the chassis.  There was just 1.5 hours on the little Kubota diesel, and I doubt we’ll use it much on this trip, but I won’t have to worry about acidic oil if it’s been replaced.

The last little projects completed today were:

• the support legs for the sofa extensions (they turn the couches into bunks)
• the back-up ladder mount (the ladder’s for getting into the camper when there’s no room to deploy the stairs)
• power to the amateur radio gear
• an extra cushion behind the seats, for Puppy, or Anna if I’m snoring like a buzz-saw

Here are some random shots of that stuff…

 Mechanically, the vehicle is ready.  I even had a chance to pack up a bunch of tools, and load the rear box with maintenance fluids…

 So what’s this about rattlesnake sex?  Well, full moons like this one a few nights back…

…must put romantic ideas into little reptilian brains!  Anna, her dad Frits, and I were heading to Casper Thursday for the final parts-run.  I don’t know how Anna saw these in the grass next to the road - at 35 mph - but she did.  This is how the Prairie Rattler gets it on…

 Three days to go here.  There’s lots of packing to do, and we have to refresh the planning we did months ago.  See you on the road, or just before.

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August 7 2009 by Darrin.

Friday now.  Less than a week to departure.  Camper almost ready!

We had a crew change for the journey, then reverted back to the original plan with Anna, Charlis-dog, and me making the trip.  It’s a long story, so I won’t bore anyone with the details.  Suffice it to say, “Sorry to my friends who got psyched up for the trip!”  I am deeply sorry for the confusion, but extremely happy Anna can go.  It’s going to be a trip of a lifetime.  Michael - your new fart-sack is here safe, delivered last night. 

The NovaKool RFU-9000 fridge/freezer arrived at the Douglas truck depot this morning, at 0630.  I can pick it up after 1200 today.

The flooring tiles we wanted and waited weeks for never arrived, so we had to pick something else yesterday.  It’s so close you’ll never know the difference, but in a perfect world, it’s our second choice.  I’ll install it tonight, most likely, after sliding the fridge around.

My Loveland upholsterer came through, and the cushions are ready.  I have to go to Fort Collins tomorrow to pick ‘em up.

Better get to work!  We’ll likely post something right before we leave.  The camper should be as ready as ready can be on Sunday night.

Later

D

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July 28 2009 by Darrin.

Bad news here.  We leave in two weeks, and right now we don’t have a refrigerator.  Our brand new Norcold DE0061 compressor fridge proved defective on the test trip - it is short-cycling and not freezing, and right now we’re not quite sure what to do about it.

After three laborious calls to their service center, testing with meters, being transferred here and there, disconnected, etc., they are finally admitting that the compressor itself is bad, as are many others from their early 2009 shipment of cooling units.  It’s using too much electricity, AND not cooling properly, AND loud enough to wake hibernating bears.  (And I am one of those, says Anna!)

To make matters much worse, there are no replacements.  There is a shipment of new units coming in - a month after we are to depart for Alaska!  However, they are all spoken for by another manufacturer.  After that, they “just don’t know” what will happen, or even if they will keep selling this model.  (Nice - the cabinet is done and installed - glued in with SikaFlex.  Removal of the cabinet is destructive.)

Soooo HERE’s what to do about it….

I (well, RUF, Inc.) have (has)  just become the first Wyoming distributor for NovaKool fridges, so if you need a good compressor fridge that is MUCH quieter than Norcold, let me know.  ;-)  I’ve used them in Unimog projects in the past - even in the first AATREC-FG camper.  NovaKool’s RFU9000 is their flagship model, and will fit perfectly in the current opening.  It’s even smarter, with the freezer compartment on the bottom.

Now I’m going to go tend to my numb left arm by taking a couple aspirin, and then I can finally get back to work finishing up all the loose ends.

I even have a line on the cushions, either from Denver OR from Miami.  It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out, so close to departure!

Om-mah-ney-pahd-me-om.  That doesn’t work.  Stress relief really pisses me off!

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July 25 2009 by Darrin.

I’m home safe, after the Tuesday-Thursday break-in run in the new machine.  Overall, it was a great success.  Of course, no project of this magnitude is complete without a few little niggles, which I’ll get into in a moment.  To start off, here’s a shot of the AATREC-FM204 outside the historic LaBonte Hotel and Bar in Douglas, just before leaving town to head out…

The GOOD:

  She is a joy to drive on highway and off, with light steering effort and a solid feel.  Even in a crosswind, a couple fingers on the wheel will keep her on the road.  I had to pick some stuff up for Anna in Denver, and one stop was at Alameda and Pearl.  Even at 26′ long and 98″ wide, she maneuvered around the city streets and traffic with no worries.

• The Bosch four-wheel disc brakes are astounding!  Coming down the switchbacks on Rt. 40 into Empire, Colorado, a deer jumped out in front of me.  I’d have hit it in the FG, but it wasn’t even close in this heavier camper.  I swear, it feels like this custom FM will give a Porsche some good braking competition.
• I never touched my brakes on the ~4000 ft. drop down I-70 into Denver.  The pneumatic exhaust brake really keeps the speed under control.
• Driving home, with over 600 miles on the engine, I decided to try the cruise control.  I set it at 2500 RPM engine speed, which pushes the truck along at about 64 MPH with the 6.50:1 final drive ratio.  (max speed calculates to over 80 MPH.  That seems high to me.) The engine held that speed up all but the steepest of hills, and the ride is smooth and enjoyable at that speed.  As far as I’m concerned, knowing we can make a comfortable mile a minute is plenty good for holiday travel.
• Camping was very pleasant.  Lots of room, good heat and bug-free ventilation, fresh-baked pizza, TV, etc.
• The 600 A-Hr battery bank is plenty big.  Camping under trees for 13 or 14 hours (no solar or other charge input) results in a 12.58 VDC battery level.  And that’s under load with the fridge and furnace running in the morning.  The nights before, I had plenty of warm LED lighting, fans running, AND the inverter cranked up and a 22″ LCD TV on for a couple hours.
• Overall, it’s a total hit with the public, as many RVers came to ask what it was and other drivers gave the “thumbs up” on the road.  I gave out almost every business card in my wallet.

The BUGS:

  The fridge - a brand new top-model Norcold compressor unit, is not freezing water solid on its nearly coldest setting.  And that’s after 13 hours!  It also runs for about 11 minutes and shuts down for three.  It should run less than 50% cycle-on time at a 70ºF ambient internal camper temperature, and freeze water with ease.  Gonna have to call them Monday!

• The right rear hub was getting warmer than the others, on the first two days - and I was worrying about it.  (I worry about everything on a shake-down cruise!  Anna knows better, so she stayed home.)  The hub never got “hot”, you could leave your hand on it, but it wasn’t comfortable after ten seconds or so.  I forgot my temp gun, so had to use the old-school tamp gauge - burning flesh.  However, it seems to have settled in, and was the same temp as the others on the last day of the trek.
• One drawer won’t stay shut.  My cabinet builder installed the latch a bit too low, and it’s not making decent enough contact with the cabinet rail.  A simple fix.
• The bunk sub-floor carpet slides.  Need tape.
• The engine really stumbled when leaving the Berthoud Pass parking lot at 11,307 feet.
• After getting a warranty service bulletin taken care of in Denver at Colorado Mack/Mitsubishi, the engine ran pretty hot on the way back to Wyoming.  Also, on left turns, the coolant level warning light/buzzer started doing its thing, and I know that means that the top radiator tank is low on coolant.  For some reason, it’s not taking coolant from the expansion tank.  I’ll get to the bottom of that this weekend.

The UGLY: 7.1 MPG.  The last FM I delivered (identical to this one) managed 9 to 10 MPG on its delivery cruise to San Diego.  That’s what I was counting on.  The guys at Colorado Mack say it’s just break-in mileage, and not to worry.  They also suggested that the injectors might be dirty from the truck sitting for two years. I mentioned the stumble at altitude, and their answer to that was also “dirty injectors”.  I’m not buying it yet, but we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.  It’s under warranty until July 2014, or 250,000 miles.

I was lucky enough to have the Fuso rep visiting the dealer on Thursday, and he suggested running a good ULSD additive to clean the system and increase fuel lubricity.  I fueled WITH 30 oz. of Power Service additive in Cheyenne on the way home, and I see an improvement.  The fuel gauge shows about one-sixth gone with 150 miles covered.  If that’s accurate, it’s delivering 9 MPG now.  It might even be a little better, as the top of the tanks go faster, and there’s some fuel left at “E”.  Another contributing factor is that I bought fuel in Casper in January or February and hauled it home to the chassis.  It’s possible that it was strong with #1 fuel oil, for a winter blend, which yields cruddy mileage.  I’ll stop worrying for now, and see how it plays out.

 I have a bit of video to edit into a short movie.  I hope to do that this evening and get it online.  For now, here are some more photos from the test trip, starting with the map, and Charlis-Dog trying to convince me to let him come along (he loves the campers)…

 On the way to Lake Owen Campground near Centennial, Wyoming, the wild flowers were everywhere!

 My second night was spent at 9825′ at Mizpah Campground, just after crossing Berthoud Pass at 11,307 ft. You can’t quite see it in the image below, but in the background the high ridge is above the treeline, and capped in snow…

 It’s time to go back to work - I’ve accumulated a list of things that need to be done in the next week to ten days.  After that, Anna and I are having some guests from Maryland, and Anna’s dad is visiting from Holland.  Then it’s off to Alaska!

 On a final note, we have NO CUSHIONS.  I could have ordered them online from California eight weeks ago, but gave a local guy in Casper a chance.  After three weeks thinking about it, he quoted me a few hundred $$ less, so I gave him the work around July 1st.  It was very clear that we needed our cushions by early August, and he said it would be no problem.

  Yesterday, the 24th of July, he called to say his quote was wrong, and he was $800 higher.  Now there’s no way to order elsewhere and get them on time, but pigs will fly before I give this idiot a penny.  Anna and I will likely be sleeping on air mats on this trip.  And saying friendly things about “Garry” of Corner Upholstery in Casper, Wyoming.

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July 19 2009 by Darrin.

It’s late Sunday night and we’re totally on track.  Tomorrow, Anna and I make a test run to Douglas, and Tuesday it’s three days of camp-about for me, ending back at the ranch Thursday night.  I have a break-in fluid service scheduled at Colorado Mack in Denver, and I’ll hopefully have 500+ miles on the odometer when I get there.  The work includes a service bulletin repair (EGR cooler) and the PM labor is free, or I’d definitely be doing it myself in WY.

So what’s been happening with the project since the most recent post?  The week before last saw 90% of the interior trim completed, all the doors, drawers, props and latches installed, the LCD TV made ready with a custom mount, and some other stuff I’m likely forgetting.  This past week was set aside for the rooftop work, and that’s exactly what we finished.  If I’m not bitching about politics, I’m complaining about the weather, so I’d better be fair and say that we had a few drops here and there, but nothing to cause any problems.  It was hot though, so I found easy motivation to get the A/C installed and operational under a deep blue Wyoming sky…

The solar charging system was also on the list, and that meant fabricating an aluminum mount, pre-installing the panels (2 x 130W Kyocera mobile-rated units), hoisting them to the roof with the trusty Fiat tractor, and then screwing and gluing them into place with more Sika 252 adhesve…

The charge controller is a Trace C-40 (40 amp capacity) three-stage model with external display.  Once properly set, it keeps the 600 A-Hr absorbed-glass-mat (AGM) battery bank full without overcharging the cells.  (With AGMs, it’s extremely important to not overcharge as this will quickly ruin the expensive batteries!)  Below, you can see the batteries floating at 13.21 VDC with the panels supplying a modest 4 amps of current. (They’ll make just over 14 amps, together, short-circuit current, so the controller could handle another set with ease.)

And here I am, about to hook up the final four wires in the whole camper!  (They’re for the diesel generator’s remote start panel.)  You can also see the back of the finally completed electrical center…

Oh yeah, content that most serious work was  just about done, I began to peel the protective plastic off of the German Seitz insulated acrylic windows.  What a difference!  Clarity…

The following interior shots will help you see how it all comes together…

Once the tools were cleaned out, it was time for a little test run / scenic photo op as the clouds broke up to the west.  The bottom in the series was taken at our reservoir a couple miles away…

Wanna know how I really feel?

Look for the first official trip report next weekend, if I make it back.

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July 6 2009 by Darrin.

Sunday night here, and the AATREC is as plumbed as it can be.  We’re lacking one fitting to finish the gray water tank drain, but at the end of this week:

• the shower’s complete
• hot and cold water are running
• gray water makes it to the holding tank
• the toilet is ready
• the furnace is operational and tied in with the chassis coolant
• the Force 10 range is installed

Looking at the list, it doesn’t seem like much, but it was a solid week.  Anna and I even missed our Independence Day cookout with the Bulls.  Doug Bull was my high school band teacher in Baltimore 25 years ago.  (Damn - 25 years ago.  Did I just type that?  The gray in my beard says I did…)  We always go there and have a machine gun shoot (click for YouTube video) and BBQ, but not this year.  I really didn’t feel like celebrating anyway, for reasons I’ll avoid ranting about.  Suffice it to say we’ll all be celebrating May 5th soon instead.

After completing my 3rd camper, back in 2005, a friend remarked, “This took you a year and a half to build?  I don’t see six months of work here.”  Well, it could have taken just six months, except that virtually every piece has to be designed, and then hand built.  Where, for example, do you find a furnace control panel for a 2009 AATREC-FM204 with an Eberspacher D5 Hydronic furnace and three heater cores, constructed so that the furnace can be controlled by its own timer or a programmable thermostat?  What?  You can’t find that with a Google search?  Well, I guess you have to make one…

The panel in the above photos controls the diesel-fired furnace, which can be seen just behind the front tire (gray box) in the following images…

 The furnace and the chassis have a great symbiotic relationship.  Because the camper’s heating system is hydronic and uses the same type of fluid as the engine’s coolant, the systems are plumbed together.  When we’re driving down the road, we can warm the camper with excess engine heat in the same way your car’s engine warms the interior.  When we’re parked, the furnace can preheat the engine by circulating hot coolant through its water galley.  A simple ball valve allows the chassis and camper to be isolated when required.

Another noteworthy component of the system is the potable water heater, which also gets its heat from coolant.  It’s super-insulated and retains heat quite well, so after just one half hour of driving, we generate 6 gallons of 185º water that will stay hot literally for days!  That’s hot enough to peel your hide off, so it’s mixed in a valve to produce ~100º water.  For what it’s worth, 6 gallons of water at 185º will make 23 gallons at 100º when mixed with water at 70 degrees, so it’s plenty for a couple showers, dishes, etc.

Now we can dirty dishes too, as the Force 10 range was installed today.  I’m always a bit freaked out to cut into the counter top, but it came out great.  The Force 10 is a marine range and, unlike cheap RV appliances, it’s thermocoupled.  You simply cannot leave a burner valve open, leaking LPG into the camper.

As a little end-0f-week treat, I finished off Sunday by beginning to install my ham radio gear.  This Kenwood equipment has been passed from camper to camper over the years, and incorporates a TS-480HX 200-watt High-Frequency rig, and a TM-D700 dual-bander for 2M and 70cm.  I don’t know if I’ll have time to complete it, but thanks to Michael F. for the encouragement to be on the air by our departure for Alaska in five weeks.  Here are the control heads mounted - YES the shifter has plenty of room to clear!

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June 29 2009 by Darrin.

Friday night, Anna and I returned from Casper with the powder-coated parts.  I had a 25%-off coupon, but I’m thinking they must have tacked 50% onto the bill first.  The cost was beyond belief.  They must have been celebrating the passage of the new cap and trade bill in the House.

What a bunch of morons in DC.  The economy is in shambles (says Buffett, and he’s right) and we’re going to limit and punish industrialization by starting the balling rolling on a bill most of them never read.  Sure.  That’ll help.  I mean, “we have to do something”, right? That’s what they all say. If I behaved like the US gov’t, the next time I had a headache I’d take a hatchet and cut my freakin’ arm off.  My headache would likely go away for a bit, but only because my brain was distracted by the blood shooting out of my shoulder.   One more time…  Morons.  Narcissistic fools, and we’re all going to pay for it with a massive loss of freedom and income.  Can the Senate shoot it down?

An-eee-way,  I’m almost ready to consider painting stuff myself again.  But paint ain’t powder, and I can’t immerse the stuff in an acid bath either.  The powder DOES look good, there’s no question.  Here’s the tire lift mechanism without the tire carriage…

And the assembly completed with spares ready to go…

Also, the fenders and mudflaps are now installed for good too, so mud and cow-pies are of no more concern…

Wanna see how the tire carrier works?  Here’s a demonstration video I just posted to YouTube…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5H5kMUqfW8

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June 19 2009 by Darrin.

It’s still raining on and off, but the camper is safely parked with her tail snugged up to the workshop door.  There are are still a few things to complete externally, and the goals for this past week included mounting the fenders and fabricating a dual spare tire carrier.

Here’s the tire carrier, designed to carry two 11R22.5 tires on rims (some assembly required)…

And after a bit of CADD and that small detail of “required assembly”, the almost finished product…

The above photo does not show the completed carriage system for the tires, nor the upper support structure which locks the tires into place when the lift is raised.  The carriage is electric winch lifted and lowered, so the heavy truck tires only have to be wrestled around from a few inches off the ground.  When the tires are lifted up to the stowed position, they are locked tightly in place and cannot be removed unless the carriage is lowered.  Locking 5/8″ (~16mm) hitch pins hold the load in place and prevent theft (from hot-wiring the winch or cutting the cable).

 The entire system is modular and the carriage is built to accept a motorcycle carrier, extra toolbox, or anything built later to plug into it.  Below the carriage, there’s another set of receiver tubes which accept a tow bar I built previously when I conceived the system.  It’s lacking a couple pieces of triangulation, needed for towing.

 The fender mounts are also finished now, and secure a set of Minimizer 100 poly fenders to the bottom of the camper…

The above goodies are now safely at our powdercoater in Casper, Wyoming.  In a week, we’ll pick the pieces up and mount the components to the camper.  We’ll post something again next weekend (hopefully with video) when the stuff is installed and working.

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