Building a climbing truck
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It sounds like you're already a little far down the road on this project for my suggestion, but I'd like to suggest Unistrut, or other extruded aluminum type product. It's pretty light, very strong, fairly easy to work with and won't rot or rust. There's lots of different sizes to choose from as well. It can be bolted directly to the vehicle in a number of creative ways. A Google search of Unistrut or extruded aluminum rails will give you lots of results. You can get it at Home Depot, or buy used bits of it off craigslist like I did for $1 a foot. Here a site with a good example: tannerbolt.com/JQMobile.asp… |
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Sean, I actually liked into that, but couldn't figure out a way to get it to work with my design plans, I'm pretty close to done now, just with for the trick cap to get in, and finishing touches to be made. And this thread isn't solely for my use, it can be read in the future to inspire another climbers plans |
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Luc Ried wrote:Has anybody felt it necessary to use poly? Or has normal bare wood done the trick?Use water based poly or dewaxed shellac if you really want to put a top coat on. Don't use regular oil based poly. It will smell for a long time. Personally, I wouldn't use a top coat, especially if it's all plywood; I'd just sand all exposed surfaces to around 120-150 grit and leave it. |
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I plan on sanding with at least 150 grit, thank you for answering that question, I had assumed the smell would be unbearable for a while |
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I put a coat of minwax polyurathane on the underside of my frame and coated the plywood sheets as well, it had a slight smell but wasn't unbearable by any means. I didn't let it fully cure before I threw it in there either. |
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Jay Samuelson wrote:I put a coat of minwax polyurathane on the underside of my frame and coated the plywood sheets as well, it had a slight smell but wasn't unbearable by any means. I didn't let it fully cure before I threw it in there either.You might be used to it by now but the fact is that oil based finishes in general and low quality oil based finishes in particular (like minwax) contain very high levels of V.O.C's and are comprised mostly of chemical driers that will continue to off-gas for weeks. To clarify my earlier advice: If you really want to put a top coat on, use a low V.O.C. finish without the long off-gas cycle like water based poly or shellac. Your lungs, brain and the environment will be better off. And again, if the question is, "does this NEED to be finished?", in my opinion, it does not. |
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It's easy to go down the rabbit hole with this stuff, especially if you're a gear junkie. This site has a ton of info on expedition vehicles- essentially the rich version of dirtbag vehicles. Lots of good ideas though that can probably be scaled back some or adapted. |
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Built
07 Tacoma build Slide over deck for double bed with custom cushion. Fold up Table Tons of under deck storage. 12V electrical system (2-10amp batteries wired in parallel) Blue Sea Fuse box 12V squirrel cage fan 12V LED lighting x4 400watt Inverter Solar panel/regulator Pulls out when parked 6 GAL water tank under deck 12V water pump Marine access door panel Bored out frame, really only cut 3 lbs (not worth the trouble) All in all the holes seem to have saved between 12-15 pounds and every pound counts. I cut more holes out, on every piece, and came no where near cutting 15lbs. Odd. Totally not worth the time, or effort IMHO EDIT POST |
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mucci wrote: 07 Tacoma build Slide over deck for double bed with custom cushion. Fold up Table Tons of under deck storage. 12V electrical system (2-10amp batteries wired in parallel) Blue Sea Fuse box 12V squirrel cage fan 12V LED lighting x4 400watt Inverter Solar panel/regulator Pulls out when parked 6 GAL water tank under deck 12V water pump Marine access door panel Bored out frame, really only cut 3 lbs (not worth the trouble) All in all the holes seem to have saved between 12-15 pounds and every pound counts. I cut more holes out, on every piece, and came no where near cutting 15lbs. Odd. Totally not worth the time, or effort IMHO EDIT POSTFirst of all, awesome setup, second, I did weigh the wood I cut out afterwards, and it weighed 13.4 pounds. With that said, I dont believe it was worth the time and effort I put into that part of the project |
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Luc, I just realized your frame is about 2 times the size. What type of wood did you use? |
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I used 2x12s for the frame with around 100 holes cut out of the final design, and the plywood is slightly less than ½ inch. If I had some more funding and time, I would have went for square tube aluminum frame, which would have weighed next to nothing |
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Heres a photo of my dual battery setup for my 2011 Toyota Tacoma. I am using Intelligent Battery Systems Dual Battery System. IBS-DBS. There are two Optima Yellowtop group 34 batteries in the battery tray. Here are a few links. |
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I have absolutely no electrical knowledge whatsoever. I dont know if thats relatively easy, however, it looks complex and impressive to me.. |
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Luc Ried wrote:I have absolutely no electrical knowledge whatsoever. I dont know if thats relatively easy, however, it looks complex and impressive to me..Isolators have been in use for 50 years. The IBS system automates the coupling and uncoupling of the chassis and auxiliary battery. If you're going to run a large inverter off multiple batteries without a secondary source of power (generator or solar) an isolator is mandatory to avoid killing your chassis battery. |
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Greg Petliski wrote: As a climber you obviously enjoy being outside, so look at your truck merely as a bed and a storage unit, not a place to hang out and invite company over. Sounds like you are in tune with this already. I lived out of a van for a while, before I climbed but while I hiked and backpacked, and if the weather was nice, I'd be sleeping on the ground outside anyway.Yeah, it was actually a typo and I was responding to another comment. I have a 6'6" bed, so I'm solid in that front. I plan on spending many nights out in a hammock or a sleeping pad And to Ray, I could have went that direction, however I'm using direct solar power to a solar generator, I dont have too much to run really, but thatnk you for the explanation |
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Luc Ried wrote: Yeah, it was actually a typo and I was responding to another comment. I have a 6'6" bed, so I'm solid in that front. I plan on spending many nights out in a hammock or a sleeping pad And to Ray, I could have went that direction, however I'm using direct solar power to a solar generator, I dont have too much to run really, but thatnk you for the explanationThe beauty of the isolated auxiliary battery is that you don't really need the solar panel. Since you're running the truck's engine anyway you use the alternator to charge the batteries. In this set up, solar panels are less efficient. |
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Full disclaimer here, this is posted by a person who works at the company, Decked, that manufactures this product. But I came across your thread looking at the DIY world of truck bed organization and drawers and wanted to make the Mountain Project community here aware of this product. |
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Wood is now inelegant? |