Going OFF GRID In A 7.5 Tonne Truck | WE’RE DONE (with step one) | Horsebox Conversion Project
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- S01E05
We're Pete and Hayley, a husband and wife duo from the south of the UK, on our exciting journey towards self-sufficiency and off-grid living. Our first project is to convert our rotten, old Mercedes 7.5 tonne Horse box truck into our dream tiny home.
In this episode, we unveil our beautifully restored, clean and FRESH-SMELLING cab and officially move on to phase two of our truck camper conversion; BOX DEMOLITION!
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These episodes keep getting better! The worst part of this episode is when it ended. 😢Hayley's got some serious glue skills!
Good quality videos very much enjoying them making progress
That’s great thanks for watching ! 😁
Re getting out a damaged screw. I use a thick rubber band put over the screw head. The rubber fills the head of the screw. Make sure to use a thick band, I got a big bag of 2 inch bands from Amazon.
I'm very impressed by your work, good luck, 👍
That’s such a cool hack! I’ve never heard of that one before. If I use it I will give you a shoutout! 😁
Some plastic dressing on the cab plastics it will look brand new inside after all that scrubbing. Great build will keep on following ❤
I came across an old double decker bus on a farm. That would be so cool to build a tinyhouse with.
Absolutely fabulous viewing and you made a fantastic job with the cab renovation..roll on next week for the next installment.
Guys slow but steady! Locked in for the rest of this build 👍👍👍
It’s coming together! Thanks for joining us 😁
Great job.
Try one of the numerous “back to black” products on the cab plastics. Might save you taking them out again.
Just what I was going to suggest.
Hi folks. A few things to watch out for when u start screwing things together. Know where ur cables runs and air lines etc run. Before Screwing into them. Also don’t let aluminium come into contact with steel as it will erode away in a few years. Replacing that checker plat could be hard in the rear as the side will be sitting over it. But it needs replaced with hard boards that are used in trailer floors. Pluse look up rive nuts or captive nuts. Basicly drill a hole and then put a captive nut into it and bolt it up and the nut clamps to the hole. Why not put carpet on the cab floor to insulate and kill the sound
Look out for two truck air seats. Get them second hand in a truck scrap yard. Real comfy when driving
Hi Marcus, thanks for your comment. We are dismantling the whole box and putting it in the bin... aside from any materials that are still good for reusing, like the aluminium we found under the rubber. We don't want to use any wood in the construction of the new box, instead we will opt for aluminium and composite panels 👌
@@RoadToOffGrid that sounds like a lot of work and hard to do right. I used to work for a buss builder back in the day. We did steel floor frame with hard board on top for the floor. Then aluminium frame for sides and roof. Aluminium sheeting and bounded glass windows. The glass windows gave it most of the strengthen. But the hardest bit was getting it all square until all the windows and roof were bonded. Would it not be easier and cheaper to buy a second hand body.
Yes it would definitely be easier and cheaper to get a used box… but it wouldn’t be ours! We really like the idea of designing and building our own and all the challenges and things to learn along the way
HI, nice project - but don't be afraid to pull things apart, you can waste a lot of time on things that, in real terms, can simply be by passed or cut out. Take the partition in the box as a good example, why bother with all the cutting etc? Are you planning to reuse it? If not, then why not simply cut it/smack it out and move on? I spent four years rebuilding a vehicle, its a learning curve but one of the biggest things I learned was that nuts and bolts can be cut off and then replaced, threads can be cleaned out or simply re-cut. Do not waste an hour trying to remove a screw or bolt, just pull the panel off with a crowbar and move on. You are building a great project, great to watch, crack on and get on the road :)
Thanks! I think we’re being cautious because we don’t want to hurt ourselves. There’s no way we could have removed that wall in one piece but I think as our confidence grows we will get things done quicker 😁👍
Just needs a Pink Floyd sticker on the windscreen 😜..
😂
How wonderful to see the before and after of the cab - all within a month - looks amazing! Way to go guys!
Thanks ☺
You should sell that rubber for stables expensive rubber is
Good progress. Congratulations on completing step 1. Nice to see the number of subs growing steadly.
Thank you very much! 🙏
Re floor mats, you can get sound deadening panels or rolls that, even when the whole panel isn’t completely covered, prevents vibration and reduces noise. Then add a layer of car carpet (using old ones as templates) and you're done. If it's all sesled the condensation shouldn't get through. A vapour barrier might help between metal and first layer of covering.
if your never going to use the ashtray you could find someone with the skills to re purpose the slot to fit a double din radio with built in GPS. "Trucking Sounds" might be able to do it
Thanks, we'll look into that!
If you're not happy with the look of the dashboard, you could cover it with alcantara fabric
That’s a cool idea I’ll look into that thanks
It was probably a recovery truck from factory if it had no driver seatbelt. A few trucks of that era didn't have driver ones and were exempt as recovery vehicles. Hopefully easy to refit one
We'll move one of the passenger belts across I think
LOL, the door is dragging on the ground in the opening card
Well spotted! 😂
Step 1 ✔️ Cab looks as good as new 👌
Enjoying your videos!! Careful with stainless bolts, will start corroding and get stuck without proper treatment (ie galvanic isolation paste)
Keep an eye out for water leaks coming into the cab, great stuff 👍
Im all for this build...keep going 🙌🏼
As your truck was manufactured with seatbelts you are required by law to reinstall them, just because the last owner removed them doesn't mean you don't have to have them.
Your truck is 'R' registration therefore it was manufactured in 1997, the seatbelt law was implimented in 1983 and vehicles over 3.5 tonnes were been required to have seat belts fitted to the driver’s seat and all passenger seats since October 2001, though that applies only to vehicles first registered from that date and there is no requirement to retrofit to older vehicles. The Road Traffic Act 1988 requires that if a seat belt is fitted for any seat then it must be used.
The situation is slightly different with smaller goods vehicles under 3.5 tonnes as, while the fitting of seat belts in them is a longer-standing requirement (as far back as 1967 in some cases), it applies only to the driver’s seat and the passenger seat furthest away from the driver.
Hope you guys read this as you really don't want a ticket and or points on your licence when you first go on the road.
Thanks for your comment - we have since discovered that the truck never had a driver's seatbelt. It has two for the passenger bench, one of which was the 'backwards' one that we re-attached in the video. Nevertheless, Pete isn't very keen on driving without a seatbelt so we will probably move one of the passenger belts over to the driver's side before we hit the road.
Many people use old furniture/removal trucks because with a horsebox you often have a lot of equine urine damage , and chipboard works like a sponge
This is true, ours is no exception. Although it hasn’t affected the chassis. Once the box is off the rest should scrub up nicely 👌
Armorall do a great range in wipes to keep your cab mats looking good. Just cut throught the steel with your grinder and knock that internal wall out. As you are not keeping any of it, doesn't matter. Cracking progress.
Thanks 🙏I see your point about grinding the wall down but we want to sell all the steel for scrap so the ply has to come off of it some time 😫
Good job guys! Really enjoying the build. You are still going faster then we are ;-)
Thanks! 👍 What are you converting?
@@RoadToOffGrid MAN Doka fire truck to travel with 3 small kids.
th-cam.com/video/q6wbHPxZFr8/w-d-xo.html
greetings from Ireland WOW the cab looks amazing well done
Greetings! Thank you so much 😁
New box I hope? Horse urine destroys everything and you would never get rid of the smell 🙂
Looking forward to future episodes 👍😁
New box definitely! Wood is a terrible material for vehicles 😖
If it seems small you could always put in an elevator bed system
There are a few things, install stick-on sound dampening in the cab, and for cab parts, 1st gen. Mercedes Sprinters are your source
Good to know, thanks 🙏
Plasti coat will be good to paint the dash board .
Enjoying the video's
Please to hear hayley i mentioned about sound deadning .but means ripping up all floor again lol.just hope that chequre plate at back not hiding rotted floor .your video's getting great guys
Thanks! And that's ok, the floor mats come up easy 😉👌 Oh, the aluminium plate certainly is hiding a rotten floor, you can see it from under the truck 😅
Great work guys, that can looks superb 👌
Thank you! 👍
You will be able to sell those partitions and probably the windows aswell
Maybe think about getting driver and passenger air suspended seats, it would make it much more comfortable
Sounds perfect 👌
Get a lump hammer on that wall 👍🏻
Brilliant. I’m hooked
Thanks for joining us!
I drove one of these lorry’s in the mid 90’s with a curtain side body on. Does yours have the stop button under the drivers seat and a dog leg first gear? (Mine was an L reg so a bit older than yours) I loved it out of all the trucks I went on to drive, the best.
Very cool. No ours doesn’t have those features.
Back to black cleaner will bring up the plastic and rubber mats
Should have simply bought a 12t euro 5 (ideally euro 3 or 4) Daf or a Mercedes Atwgo with a fridge body on it and preferably rear air suspension.
These mercs are basic, but what you will find is keeping it running in the long run will be a headache due to parts availability. Not everything basic is good in this day and age.
Funnily enough we actually went and looked at a daf and merc fridge box thinking it would be a great starting point. We made a short video about it. Unfortunately all the fridge boxes within our budget were rotten. They often go bad from water ingress… they get a bit stinky too!
Enjoying this guys. Keep it up 👍
Thank you so much 🙏
Great job ! Have you thought about a crawl through from the cab ? A giant accordion?
Yes! I think it's a must 👌~ Hayley
Be careful with what your cutting with older vehicles they can contain asbestos and some of those boards look very old
Thanks, the horsebox was fitted much later in its life, after the asbestos ban... we think... we'll be careful 😅
So are you using that box on the back or replacing it ,if your replacing why dont you just undo the body bolts and get it lifted off rather than removing everything
Replacing it but we don't have the means to lift it off. We would rather dismantle it and reuse what we can, sell off what we can't for scrap and bin what little is left.
Whay dont you just bult off the box from the frame less work. Then shopp it upp in pices
But you do a great job best regards tobias
We are going to take all the wooden panels down first and then chop the frame up 👌
You order a fully build box or build one yourself?
Cab looks a kot better. Well done!
We're going to build it ourselves... somehow 😅 Thank you, it smells a lot better too 🙏
Why don't you do away with the horsebox and fit a caravan body a nice one
It's a great idea but we'd like to go fully custom 👌
@@RoadToOffGrid get a box 📦 and a caravan body;)
Have you still got that rubber matting? Do you fancy selling some?
We have still got it, yeah. Do you want to drop us an email? hayley@roadtooffgrid.com
Are you gone keep the old box or buildt a new?
Good work best regards tobias
Build a new one! The old box is completely rotten 🤢
Are you going to use the windows in the new box ?
No, we'd like nice new double glazed ones.
@@RoadToOffGrid don’t blame you , hopefully you’ll get a good price for them at the scrap yard 🤞
yours will be pre seatbelt laws which came in 2001.
Oh! I thought that happened in the 80's. Must have been different for commercial trucks. It can't be exempt though right? Surely, we should fit one when it goes back on the road?
I checked - "There is no requirement on operators under the Road Traffic Act to retrofit seatbelts to older vehicles that did not have them fitted when manufactured (those first used before 1 October 2001)." 🤷♀️
Lee Timothy Harris Margaret Johnson Elizabeth
baking soda is an alkali, which of course will not damage freshly painted metal (NO). Next time, pay attention to sealants or other, more suitable things
This is a very interesting point that we hadn’t considered! I’ve been doing some research and I think it should be fine. The pH of baking soda is mildly alkaline, around 8 to 9, which is too low to cause significant corrosion in most metals. Additionally, in the superglue and baking soda mixture, the baking soda becomes encapsulated during the reacting so the metal is actually largely protected by the hardened glue, further reducing any risk of corrosion.
@@RoadToOffGrid it will work and will be better than open corrosion as it was before. Just give you another point of view on this lifehack.
Also will be cool if you can weight truck before and after, to calculate aditiinal weight. This information is main part of story for traveling, but almost nobody shows it.
Keep in mind weight reducing while building (cabinets, kitchen and other wood structures)
Note my 94 has no seat belts.
Oh interesting! Does yours have the same style of OBD reader as ours too?
@@RoadToOffGrid ?
Ours has a round 6-pin socket below and to the right of the steering wheel for reading fault codes but we don’t know what to plug into it to read them. Just wondered if you had any info
@@RoadToOffGrid Oh sorry I thought your 814 was older and had the 6 cylinder Engine, so yours is a late version and has the 4 cylinder Atego Engine I would say.
Mine although a later type has had a swap to Cylinder.
You have to remember the amount of horse pee = rotten floor
Yes, the floor is rotten 🤢 But that's OK because we're removing the whole box.