Expedition truck cabinets..

[Dusty.House]

Couple thoughts- google “ultralight plywood”. There are some really good and structurally sound lightweight plywood options.  Also- go to orange aluminum's website.  There are lots of aluminum options that aren’t as beefy as the extrusions with the t-slot.  80/20s Ready Frame line is similar to what orange aluminum sells. Orange also sells parts to build road cases that are used in film and music travel. Very lightweight and sturdy.

Thanks!

I've used Orange Aluminum before and they are definitely on my list of options, I'll check out the road cases, that could be interesting.

For lightweight plywood, I find it easily in the EU (these trucks are a lot more popular there) but have struggled to find any locally!

 

[Packard]

the pvc that hd sells is not the solid heavy pvc cheese is talking about. its more of a foam type pvc like its been aerated with a smooth outer skin.  Not exactly sure how to describe it but its no where near 100# per sheet. also I would not use for shelving the stuff sags. I have used the 3/4 variety and it is not nearly as sturdy as ply.  You can build a cabinet out of it however.

The “expanded” PVC that Lowes and Home Depot sell can be cut and machined like wood, but do not hold fasteners at all.  The sell aluminum extrusions that allow joining, but direct PVC to PVC is not strong at all.  You can glue sheets with special adhesive that partially melts the PVC and allows the two pieces to “weld” together.  It is light, but lacks good impact resistance.  You can easily drive a hunting knife through the stuff.

There is a place for it.  It never rots and is impervious to water.

Look here for how to join sheets.  (This works for plywood also and can make a very strong joint.)
https://www.google.com/search?q=alu...corner&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

 

[afish]

I cant speak for the hd/lowes specific stuff but I have used some tjat I got from someone who imports the stuff which is the same type and confirmat screws work great/best in the stuff. However as I said I was using 3/4 not 1/2

 

[woodbutcherbower]

Those Leyland DAF T244's are great base vehicles according to my buddy - and it looks like you're doing a stellar job so far. I found this guy on YT who's fixed up a 4320, it might give you a few ideas.

Kind regards from the T244's country of origin (with some minor input from the Netherlands  [big grin])

Kevin

 

[Dane]

I’m sure you can get the ultralight in the Seattle area- I first heard about it from Ron Paulk who is from the area.  He was building his Paulk workbenches or his trailer cabs out of it.  One of his videos is about it.  I was also looking at this manufacturer:https://ultraplyxl.com/ultralight. They will let you order straight from the website, which is rare.  I’m sure shipping is a bear, but maybe if you’re ordering enough sheets, it would make sense.

 

[Dusty.House]

I’m sure you can get the ultralight in the Seattle area- I first heard about it from Ron Paulk who is from the area.  He was building his Paulk workbenches or his trailer cabs out of it.  One of his videos is about it.  I was also looking at this manufacturer:https://ultraplyxl.com/ultralight. They will let you order straight from the website, which is rare.  I’m sure shipping is a bear, but maybe if you’re ordering enough sheets, it would make sense.

Awesome thanks, I didn’t know he was from this area! I probably need ten sheets so it might work out ok…

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[Dusty.House]

Those Leyland DAF T244's are great base vehicles according to my buddy - and it looks like you're doing a stellar job so far. I found this guy on YT who's fixed up a 4320, it might give you a few ideas.

Kind regards from the T244's country of origin (with some minor input from the Netherlands  [big grin])

Kevin

Thanks, I’ll check that video out, I do follow a whole bunch of people building similar trucks but haven’t come across this one yet.

And yeah it was built in the UK before being shipping to the British military base in Canada. I wasn’t planning to buy a British one but I got it for cheap and being British it seemed like the right one to buy!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Dusty.House]

I’m sure you can get the ultralight in the Seattle area- I first heard about it from Ron Paulk who is from the area.  He was building his Paulk workbenches or his trailer cabs out of it.  One of his videos is about it.  I was also looking at this manufacturer:https://ultraplyxl.com/ultralight. They will let you order straight from the website, which is rare.  I’m sure shipping is a bear, but maybe if you’re ordering enough sheets, it would make sense.

Doh, they are based in Florida, about the furthest possible to ship them

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[mino]

@ OP
I would look for some light ply and rather use 3/4 for the construction pieces. Check videos by Ron Paulk who has a couple where he was recommending special light ply for his Paul workbenches.

I think it was mostly poplar ply, but there are some other options I believe he mentioned.

Also, make a decision, from the get go, if you want the cabinets to strenghten the chassis (se they should be fixed to it way more than justt o hold in place) OR you want them to *not* support the car chassis, in which case you should plan for the chassis to move a bit vis-a-vis the cabinets and leave some space between.

I’m using something similar, a British military T244. It’s 31-years old, electric only for lights with a Cummins 5.9L.
...

Sorry, to rain on your "parade", but not those are not similar. Not even close.

What you got is "militarised" commercial truck. IMO way better for (normal) expedition use than that URAL. Unless you plan to traverse Siberia, that is.

---
Those Urals are, literally, comparable to a "truck on a tank chassis" and were purpose-built for off-road use. The "built like a tank" is not a metaphore here. And by "tank" I mean those 40+ tonne things, not those flimsy APCs which DM calls "tanks" in news.
It is a truck designed in the 70s with pretty modern tech (as in metalurgy) and with a "money no object" approach for usage by military where there are no roads. There is pretty much nothing in the western world (China included) which comes near (the insanity) how these Urals are built. They are the embodiment of both what was so wrong (absurd economy) and so great (crazy tech) about the Soviet Union at its peak.

Bear with me, above is not a compliment, just a description. Those are trucks which officially specced for loads in the 10 tons neigbourhood have all the load-bearing components designed-for 40+ tons loads. As in, for more than you can even theoretically load on them. The whole chassis and the drive train is on par with a modern heavy APC like the CV90, in many ways it is stronger. And that installed on a vehicle 1/2 the weight. ...

Frankly, I am not sure I would want this for my expedition truck. It is just-too-much-steel to truck around with you. The empty truck is 2x the weight of a "normal" truck at a comparable usable volume. And the gas consumption matches that .. But it is indeed the truck you want when roaming around 100 miles from any civilization in the middle of a snow storm with all sattelite networs being blown up during that WW3 a couple weeks before ...

To add my comment:
An excellent expedition truck basis are the Czech(oslovak) Tatras. They have a backbone chassis with independent suspension hanging off it which allows for no-flex of the back cabin and a very comfortable (thus fast) ride off-road. When configured with just the leaf springs (air suspension can be hard to fix in the middle of nowhere), they are close to the Urals in reliability when out there, specially with their air-cooled diesels. They are way more comfortable to Urals and way better off-road to most western truns. With parts available and reasonable running costs. The biggest boon though is the fact a no-chassis design of the Tatras with everything "hanging" on the backbone tube. That  makes it possible to install the main cabin pretty low (no clearance between cabin and chassis frame needed) and direct-connect it with the driver cab. That is very useful as you do not have to leave the (security of) the vehicle when going between the cabins. This is generally not possible on most expedition truck conversions as the traditional truck frames flex, preventing a fixed connection of the cabins.

Tatra GTC, an 1980s take on an expedition Tatra:

A more modern take (the front cabin is additionally suspended, that is why it moves against the back cabin, the older versions do not have a separate driver cabin suspension):

Sorry for OT.

 

[Cheese]

Back in the late 70's early 80's I designed some equipment made from a sheet that consisted of an aluminum skin on both sides with an aluminum or paper honeycomb structure in the middle that provided strength/support. It was incredibly stiff considering it's thickness and it was obviously very light.

This stuff would be ideal because it was light, strong, corrosion resistant and can easily be cut with a current track saw, 40 years ago that wasn't the case. It was then assembled with a 3M gun dispensed adhesive, maybe an epoxy?

 

[rvieceli]

There are some interesting composite materials available that you might want to look at. Aluminum skinned with a composite core. Generally called Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) Some brand names are Dibond and Alubond. You'll see them used in modern buildings sometimes.

I think that 3A composites makes a bunch of stuff. It's lighter than the same size of aluminum.
https://www.display.3acomposites.com/home/
https://alubond.com/

Ron

 

[Cheese]

The Alubond that Ron mentions seems to be very similar to the aluminum skinned honeycomb material that I used 40+ years ago. That it's recommended for yacht interiors...well that says a lot.  [smile]

I do know that Festool and Mafell offer saw blades and saws to process Alubond.

 

[Dusty.House]

@ OP
I would look for some light ply and rather use 3/4 for the construction pieces. Check videos by Ron Paulk who has a couple where he was recommending special light ply for his Paul workbenches.

I think it was mostly poplar ply, but there are some other options I believe he mentioned.

Also, make a decision, from the get go, if you want the cabinets to strenghten the chassis (se they should be fixed to it way more than justt o hold in place) OR you want them to *not* support the car chassis, in which case you should plan for the chassis to move a bit vis-a-vis the cabinets and leave some space between.

Thanks, I will definitely look at what Paul did, when I last watched his videos I was building benches, so didn't think to look him up in this regard.

These cabinets will not be structural, the habitat is mounted to the chassis using a 4-point torsion system. So, any flex in the chassis is isolated from the habitat. The habitat sits on a steel frame and is made from a custom made 80/20 compatible exoskeleton, with embedded 2.5" sandwich panels with a combination of FRP and aluminum.
 

 

[Dusty.House]

Sorry, to rain on your "parade", but not those are not similar. Not even close.

What you got is "militarised" commercial truck. IMO way better for (normal) expedition use than that URAL. Unless you plan to traverse Siberia, that is.

---
Those Urals are, literally, comparable to a "truck on a tank chassis" and were purpose-built for off-road use. The "built like a tank" is not a metaphore here. And by "tank" I mean those 40+ tonne things, not those flimsy APCs which DM calls "tanks" in news.
It is a truck designed in the 70s with pretty modern tech (as in metalurgy) and with a "money no object" approach for usage by military where there are no roads. There is pretty much nothing in the western world (China included) which comes near (the insanity) how these Urals are built. They are the embodiment of both what was so wrong (absurd economy) and so great (crazy tech) about the Soviet Union at its peak.

Bear with me, above is not a compliment, just a description. Those are trucks which officially specced for loads in the 10 tons neigbourhood have all the load-bearing components designed-for 40+ tons loads. As in, for more than you can even theoretically load on them. The whole chassis and the drive train is on par with a modern heavy APC like the CV90, in many ways it is stronger. And that installed on a vehicle 1/2 the weight. ...

Frankly, I am not sure I would want this for my expedition truck. It is just-too-much-steel to truck around with you. The empty truck is 2x the weight of a "normal" truck at a comparable usable volume. And the gas consumption matches that .. But it is indeed the truck you want when roaming around 100 miles from any civilization in the middle of a snow storm with all sattelite networs being blown up during that WW3 a couple weeks before ...

To add my comment:
An excellent expedition truck basis are the Czech(oslovak) Tatras. They have a backbone chassis with independent suspension hanging off it which allows for no-flex of the back cabin and a very comfortable (thus fast) ride off-road. When configured with just the leaf springs (air suspension can be hard to fix in the middle of nowhere), they are close to the Urals in reliability when out there, specially with their air-cooled diesels. They are way more comfortable to Urals and way better off-road to most western truns. With parts available and reasonable running costs. The biggest boon though is the fact a no-chassis design of the Tatras with everything "hanging" on the backbone tube. That  makes it possible to install the main cabin pretty low (no clearance between cabin and chassis frame needed) and direct-connect it with the driver cab. That is very useful as you do not have to leave the (security of) the vehicle when going between the cabins. This is generally not possible on most expedition truck conversions as the traditional truck frames flex, preventing a fixed connection of the cabins.

Tatra GTC, an 1980s take on an expedition Tatra:

A more modern take (the front cabin is additionally suspended, that is why it moves against the back cabin, the older versions do not have a separate driver cabin suspension):

Sorry for OT.

It's all relative it's more like the Ural than the Ford Expedition that was mentioned, but agreed it has different design requirements than the Urul. Like the fact these trucks get ~12 mpg (based on 17k miles in Africa using the same truck).

I agree that a DAF (and various version of the US FMTV) are much more suitable for this sort of build.

 

[Dane]

I’ve used Dibond/Alucobond for cabinets along with the aforementioned orange aluminum square extrusion and it’s pretty light and super durable.  You can buy small sections of the aluminum composite panels on eBay to see what it feels like.  I found going to a sign making supply store to be the least expensive way to buy it.  They usually have a bunch of different grades.  It’s the same thing street signs are made of.  You could also take a look a the photos of the now defunct Livin’ Lite Quicksilver tent campers.  I had one and that’s what I built the aluminum cabinet for- basically following the designs they used in the original campers.  Those things were bulletproof.

 

[peter halle]

Back in the late 70's early 80's I designed some equipment made from a sheet that consisted of an aluminum skin on both sides with an aluminum or paper honeycomb structure in the middle that provided strength/support. It was incredibly stiff considering it's thickness and it was obviously very light.

This stuff would be ideal because it was light, strong, corrosion resistant and can easily be cut with a current track saw, 40 years ago that wasn't the case. It was then assembled with a 3M gun dispensed adhesive, maybe an epoxy?

I once read an article in Fine Woodworking on the honeycomb aluminized sheets.  Expensive but as you wrote light and strong.  The article was about its use in helicopter cabins.  Interesting to read about the procedures with filling cells and potting fasteners.

Peter

 

[Mini Me]

I will repeat what I wrote earlier, corrugated roads will destroy a conventional cabinet build, been there and done that. In Oz caravans simply fall apart because they are dragged along hundreds of kilometres of corrugated road and simply disintegrate along the way. I would consider bonding the material used into one piece cabinets and use no fasteners at all or very few.=AustralianImages

 

[WastedP]

Back in the late 70's early 80's I designed some equipment made from a sheet that consisted of an aluminum skin on both sides with an aluminum or paper honeycomb structure in the middle that provided strength/support. It was incredibly stiff considering it's thickness and it was obviously very light.

This stuff would be ideal because it was light, strong, corrosion resistant and can easily be cut with a current track saw, 40 years ago that wasn't the case. It was then assembled with a 3M gun dispensed adhesive, maybe an epoxy?

In the mid-90's, I would go to Boeing Surplus in Kent to buy scrap aluminum bits for snowboard projects.  They had some of that aluminum honeycomb, as well as some skinned with carbon fiber.  It seemed pricey at $40-$50 per pound, but a piece four feet long and six inches wide weighed mere ounces and could hold my entire weight without deflection.

Paperstone and Richlite are both manufactured in the Puget Sound area.  I have tested Paperstone in four-season conditions and it is wholly unfazed by anything.  I wouldn't run fasteners with the bias of the ply, but against the bias you can drill and tap holes for fasteners.  It's not ultralight, but it is super strong and that might make it easier to use a thinner, lighter sheet.  Richlite recommends a slightly flexible two-part epoxy, but I have not tried it.  I have used two-part polyester, biscuits, and mechanical fasteners with success.  Some fabricators I have talked to are using solid surface adhesive, but I am of the opinion that it's too brittle to stand up to expansion/contraction or any other movement.

 

[Packard]

Before I retired, Penn Elcom was a customer of mine.  They are a super distributor of hardware used for making “roady” music cases and flight cases.  I have not looked at their catalog lately, but they used to market a fiberglass laminated plywood sheet for use with their hardware. It is all super-heavy duty stuff. 

Even if you don’t use their sheet goods, some of their hardware may be of interest to you.  They have warehouses in California and Pennsylvania (headquarters).

I only dealt with the president of the company and the operations managers in both offices.  I have no contacts for you in sales. 
https://www.pennelcomonline.com/?Pa...MIqJ3Cqvz0-wIVSMDICh2FdA5mEAAYASAAEgLVb_D_BwE
https://www.google.com/search?q=penn+elcom+online&client=firefox-b-1-m&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwihhrmq_PT7AhXYFlkFHe76Ax0Q_AUoAnoECAIQBA&biw=1121&bih=712&dpr=2

The apparently have added CNC milling capabilities.  They have a drawing program for designing your own milled panels.  In theory, you can order pre-cut panels and simply rivet the pieces together.