A new hope ... (build journal and component reviews)

[cug]

I find power tools to be the bane of the customer experience. We always pay the price for their use.

So true, and they really don't make the job much easier, but they always make it less "intentional".

35 years ago, I trained to be a mechanic, first thing was: no power tools on any soft materials, air tools only when losening wheel bolts. Rest: hand tight, then torque wrench on correct setting.

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[MattK]

So true, and they really don't make the job much easier, but they always make it less "intentional".

35 years ago, I trained to be a mechanic, first thing was: no power tools on any soft materials, air tools only when losening wheel bolts. Rest: hand tight, then torque wrench on correct setting.

A powered ratchet? Fine. Those usually aren't "torquey". But impacts and stuff like it are so gnarly. I have only used them a handful of times at friends houses who have them and half the time I've stripped or sheered off the bolt head. I'm just not used to them. Hand tools for me!

That was obviously a bad spot to use a power tool that you posted. They should know better. Probably some combination of being in a hurry, or not paying attention or a Friday afternoon job.

 

[cug]

Probably some combination of being in a hurry, or not paying attention or a Friday afternoon job.

I would have thought the same if it wasn’t for the fact that whenever we looked at stuff from the install that wasn’t in plain sight, it was often subpar or botched. I don’t think this was just Friday afternoon or Monday morning … I think it was just someone who didn’t give a shit.

 

[cug]

So, now it's all about putting a kit back together. Although it's more like a 5000 piece puzzle.

Over the last few days we've put blue threadlocker on hundreds of bolts, cleaned up mistakes, and now started putting stuff back into the truck:

We've gotten a bit more done today, but I don't have a photo of it. Mostly putting things together for the most complex part. Tomorrow morning, the rest of the electrics go back in, then the bench, then the toilet. Then all that's remaining is putting the galley pieces in and hooking them up.

We have four more days to our deadline. Right now, I'd say it's a 50:50 chance that we'll make it.

 

[aFatBird]

And shit you find when you let professionals install stuff:

I'm beyond pissed. It's coming to a point where everything we touch that is normally out of sight, we find some shit either from AluCab or TinyRig. This seems to have been someone who's utterly incompetent working in a shop - probably using power tools on everything from 316 stainless to soft plastics ... on the same power setting ...

My own experience with tiny rig is that they are super happy to sell you something but will ghost you for months when it's warranty or an issue on their part. Took 2 months and 4 months to respond to me when I needed stuff done for warranty.

 

[cug]

Hmpf. Not great. I don't expect anything from them anymore. We've found too much they didn't do as expected, so I wouldn't go near them anyways anymore. They did have a good reputation when we went there, last year.

 

[cug]

Electrics are installed and reasonably clean ...

The bench frame is also back in, electrics are mostly hooked up, maybe 80% or so.

Tomorrow: finish electrics, hook up toilet fan, drill hole into camper for exhaust, mount the rest of the bench and close that side with all lids and panels (which are now all removable with the 8020 in place, that was one of the big improvements).

The rat's nest of wiring will get cleaned up when we attach the panels and have everything in it's proper location. The area under the tank is all ziptied now, the rest is due tomorrow, as the first action item.

Down to 42 remaining tasks on the list ...

 

[cug]

I hate making irreversible changes to the camper …

Although We did cover it reasonably well.

 

[cug]

Testing the water system for leaks:

And the electrical subpanel is also installed to control the heater, water pump and travel oven:

Labels still missing, but we'll get to them ...

We missed our deadline, which was yesterday, but water and subpanel wiring took way longer than I hoped.

Tomorrow we'll install all the seating panels, the backrest/storage box, as well as the passenger side mosquito netting, then we'll be done with all major items. There are some small areas left that'll get fabric covers, but they are neither absolutely necessary, nor lots of work.

 

[chorky]

Hmpf. Not great. I don't expect anything from them anymore. We've found too much they didn't do as expected, so I wouldn't go near them anyways anymore. They did have a good reputation when we went there, last year.

Is that in regards to alucab or the installer?

 

[cug]

Is that in regards to alucab or the installer?

Installer.

 

[cug]

I hereby declare the build DONE.

There are a few small and non-critical optimizations we might do over the next few days, but on the whole, it is done.

At some point, I'll do a walk-through video with all the details, but that will take some time since I am not in the mood to do anything on this build for a while. Other than using it of course.

 

[cug]

Two impressions:

 

[chorky]

so what was this deadline you needed to meet for? Are you shipping it overseas?

 

[cug]

We are leaving on a long(ish) trip soon and need some time for testing and packing. We have some bookings, so the trip is mostly planned around certain times in certain places. We are butting up against winter on that trip, so moving it out wasn't an option, and we absolutely need a bit of downtime between the build and leaving.

E.g. my back is killing me from crawling into all these tight spaces in the camper and putting in wiring, zipties, water lines, loctite, and whatnot. I'm just not as young as I sometimes think ... like, you know you're getting old when you wake up with pain in places that didn't hurt the evening before ...

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