McZip
Wisconsin
New Member
Joined: 11/17/2008
View Profile
 Offline
|
carringb wrote:I think that's a great plan. I've considered it myself.
Don't forget you can also make it more capable my sending it to QuadVan for 4x4.
Thanks for the Quad Van link. I reseached making it 4wd and assumed that Quigley did "all" the 4WD conversions. Glad to see there is an alternative. I will contact them. They offer some nice features like larger brakes and wheels. I see they the one that were doing the Chinook 4WD conversions.
|
McZip
Wisconsin
New Member
Joined: 11/17/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
itsalleasy wrote:I guess I question why you feel a vehicle like a limo shuttle bus designed to run on smooth roads will be any better for your use than a motor home? An E350 is the same chassis used for Class B and C motor homes. You need to look at vehicles designed for off road use if you do that type or rving instead of trading one version of a street vehicle for another.
Please take look at the Turtle Top Site for "all steel" role bar construction and compare that to how a traditional Motor Home is constructed
itsalleasy wrote:I think you are going to be really disappointed in the HVAC system if I understand your plan. Shuttle buses run almost non-stop, easy to keep them at a comfortable temperature because the engine is running anyway. Running an 8 cylinder engine all night to keep warm and cool is a real loser for fuel costs and the engine. Idling, even fast idle, with no real load for hours at a time is hard on them and an expensive way to make power. You will be running an engine with 7 or 8 times the displacement as a generator that has twice the power output.
How many times does anyone in Class C really run their genset all night to keep cool? In summer we travel north, in the cooler months we go south. I can buy at a lot of fuel to run the main engine for the cost and weight of propane and genset and their sub systems.
itsalleasy wrote:Batteries are a terrible energy storage medium when you consider the weight and volume especially in a mobile installation. You never really got into how you planned to cook, heat water, but any resistive load kills batteries extremely quickly. Propane is much more efficient if you consider the energy stored, weight and volume.
Cooking will be done with a mirowave. We are on the go a lot from place to place so the batteies will have a lot of time to charge.
Hot Water is made from the main engine using a a heat exchanger.
After we stop, keep the engine running long enough to attend to needs that require hot water. For our needs, I don't think the engine will be running while stopped longer than an hour each day. If my calculations are right that about a gallon of fuel per day while stopped.
|
McZip
Wisconsin
New Member
Joined: 11/17/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
just me wrote:Contact Earth Roamer. His vehicles are designed to do off road excursions and is designed around what you are asking for and thinking about. And your type of usage. He will custom build, but incorporate your wants.
Do a search for his units. I think you will be impressed.
I know Earth Roamers are fine units but really how many times are they used to go truly "off road" ... I'm considering adding 4WD but in past with some planning and watching weather most unmaintained roads that can handle a Class C sized unit can be driven on with 2WD.
Plus the Turtle Top cost far less than a Earth Roamer or a premium Class C.
|
pnichols
Santa Cruz Mountains
Senior Member
Joined: 04/26/2005
View Profile
|
McZip,
Just about what you're talking about can be bought ready to go but it's not cheap. However, you can study their website carefully and see what they have so as to see where to start for a DIY project RV.
It's called the Earthroamer expedition vehicle:
http://www.earthroamer.com/tab_xpedition_vehicles/xvlt1_overview.html
Here's some highlights, but you have to read carefully all their current information to get a real feel for what the vehicle is. They may have changed systems a little from what I list below from memory:
- All diesel based sourced from the main/large truck's tank.
- Can use biodiesel or regular diesel.
- Diesel stovetop cooking.
- Diesel heating.
- Huge AGM coach battery bank.
- Huge solar capacity (relative to the vehicle's size)
- No onboard propane at all.
- No onboard generator at all.
- Double truck engine alternators for overcast day AGM battery bank charging, if necessary.
- Water filtration system for drawing and purifying water from nearby sources such as lakes, streams, etc..
- No black tank toilet water system .... chemical toilet.
- And ... the Holy Grail of RV vehicles ... coach air conditioning powered from it's AGM battery bank.
- All marine grade system components.
Phil, 2005 E450 Itasca 324V Spirit
|
carringb
Corvallis, OR
Senior Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
 Online
|
itsalleasy wrote:Running an 8 cylinder engine all night to keep warm and cool is a real loser for fuel costs and the engine. Idling, even fast idle, with no real load for hours at a time is hard on them and an expensive way to make power. You will be running an engine with 7 or 8 times the displacement as a generator that has twice the power output.
I'm don't have the diesel, so I can't comment on it's consumption. But the V10 uses .6-.8 GPH at idle, where an Onan 5kw uses 1.5 GPH. So the V10 uses less fuel, and is quieter than an Onan.
Bryan
2000 Ford E350 DRW Wagon (14-pass all captains chairs)
V10 w/ Banks PowerPack, Diablo Predator, 4.56 LS, 230,000+ miles
Had: Weekend Warrior 41' FSW (still looking for its replacement)
|
|
|
carringb
Corvallis, OR
Senior Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
Online
|
McZip wrote:carringb wrote:I think that's a great plan. I've considered it myself.
Don't forget you can also make it more capable my sending it to QuadVan for 4x4.
Thanks for the Quad Van link. I reseached making it 4wd and assumed that Quigley did "all" the 4WD conversions. Glad to see there is an alternative. I will contact them. They offer some nice features like larger brakes and wheels. I see they the one that were doing the Chinook 4WD conversions.
Normally Quigley only does new chassis. They have a special right now to convert existing chassis. But QuadVan primarily does completed chassis, which allows them to tune it for the final configuration.
|
pnichols
Santa Cruz Mountains
Senior Member
Joined: 04/26/2005
View Profile
|
"Onan 5kw uses 1.5 GPH."
That's a little high. The Onan 4KW consumes 0.7 GPH full load, so the 5KW should not be double that:
http://www.cumminsonan.com/rv/products/gasoline
Here's another power solution which would be real good to see in an RV soon ... the ulimate, IMHO, because who wants to camp in the sun if they have a choice (two can be paralleled):
http://www.jmbadditions.com/newfuelcell.php
|
tonyandkaren
pennsylvania
Senior Member
Joined: 05/15/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
We've tossed this idea around too because we also wanted a tougher motorhome and specific things that aren't usually included in standard motorhomes. We finally decided on a custom class C and are in process of getting a small motorhome built on a 4x4 F450 chassis.
Let us all know how your project turns out!
|
carringb
Corvallis, OR
Senior Member
Joined: 07/28/2003
View Profile
Online
|
You right. I double checked. The Onan 5500 uses .9GPH. I must have been thinking of a different one i was looking at (Generac maybe?).
|
Vulcanmars
Naples, FL
Senior Member
Joined: 10/18/2004
View Profile
Offline
|
I think it would work for your needs. I oversee the maintenance of a local fleet including about 20 shuttle type units. the Turtle Tops have done well built on Fords w/7.3L and the V10. We did not have any 6.0/6.4L.
We also had some Chevy/Durumax combos but they have had a lot more issues.
Mars
06 Rage'n FA3005
04 V10 F250 SDCC 4X4
Pullrite SG 16K
1st TH 02 Keystone Tailgator
|
|
|
