Safari Pacific MX2 Build

[schanusa]

Thanks everyone!

Looking good.

Make sure you take lots of photos on your expedition, we all want to see what this truck can do.

You can count on that. I'll be filming the trip as well with a HD video camera.

I love these updates. Any idea of when your global expedition will kick off?

I'm scheduled to leave this summer. I have to hit certain weather windows for each continent. Leaving summer time lets me basically follow summer down south then back north and so on.

 

[kroussinoffroad]

i got to see R.J.'s truck in action this year at the bark river off road races. pretty amazing stuff what those truck's can handle. the pro 2's are definately my favorite.

 

[Sebi1987]

where you get this german fuel can?

very nice ranger.everything is great, but i like the rearbumper with tire carrier the most. i will built something similar because i dont have a spare tire this moment...

 

[r1ch999999]

Have you considered a propane conversion? Or is that still not available enough to work? I was thinking that if you had a propane tank you could use it for aux. fuel and for cooking, cut down on the number of tanks you have to carry.

 

[88_Eddie]

i'm speechless.......this thing is awesome. when does the 4wd conversion take place?

 

[schanusa]

where you get this german fuel can?

very nice ranger.everything is great, but i like the rearbumper with tire carrier the most. i will built something similar because i dont have a spare tire this moment...

Thanks! I got them a couple years ago before the ban. They were shipped in from Switzerland, NATO spec.

Have you considered a propane conversion? Or is that still not available enough to work? I was thinking that if you had a propane tank you could use it for aux. fuel and for cooking, cut down on the number of tanks you have to carry.

Propane in large quantities may be a problem. I've been told by other travelers that propane isn't always available and I'll have to have a fitting for each country. A lot of international travel kind of goes back to old school stuff.

i'm speechless.......this thing is awesome. when does the 4wd conversion take place?

Thanks! I'll be doing the conversion after I finish the first leg of the trip. There isn't much time to finish it before my weather window.

 

[r1hatman]

Wow, $400.00. I like the way you think. Here all this time I thought you were just independently wealthy!

 

[schanusa]

Wow, $400.00. I like the way you think. Here all this time I thought you were just independently wealthy!

$400 for what? I'm confused

 

[r1hatman]

I saw in your post where you spent around 400.00 for the fab work.

 

[schanusa]

I saw in your post where you spent around 400.00 for the fab work.

Oh yeah. Sorry short term memory problems....lol I ended up going over that amount mainly due to the body filler issue. Paying someone then having to redo it and all. I haven't added all the receipts up yet, so I'm not sure how much I've spent on this build. Definitely in the few thousands area by now.

 

[schanusa]

Not much has been happening on the build lately. Most of the past few weeks have been doing general maintenance and repairs such as; chasing a coolant gremlin, turning rotors, repacking bearings and so on.

Tough, I have put together some photos from the test trips during construction.
Gallery page is here: http://www.safaripacific.com/adventures.php?x=2010_global&page=5

 

[schanusa]

With gear weight being an issue for fuel range, getting unstuck and generally being a pain. I decided to have a go through with all of my gear to make sure there's nothing I don't need or something I've missed. First I empty out the truck laying everything on the floor.

Then opening up all the bags, containers and what have you on my kitchen equipment.

After checking everything off I repacked everything into the kitchen drawer. The only thing I've missed here is dish soap.

Next I move on to the cab interior gear. The two yellow cases hold my cameras and my laptop. The black case is currently empty, though is for random bits we may need and to function as our washing machine. The two sleeping bags are primarily for sound deadening in the cab. But they also can be used if the weather gets colder than expected and to keep gear "out of sight".

 

[schanusa]

I load the fridge and cases into the extended portion of the cab. Jackets and other small items fit nicely on the National Luna power pack.

Next I stuff one sleeping bag behind the boxes and power pack for noise proofing. Then the second sleeping bag is laid over the cases.

When the truck will be left alone the sleeping bag will be pulled to hide the bright yellow cases. Yeah, I didn't think of that when I bought the cases.

On to the recovery gear, tools, spare parts, fuel cans, sleeping gear and all the rest.

 

[schanusa]

Since we'll be carrying tons of gear in a small space I have to meticulously pack away every piece. Even the chains are packed as tightly as possible.

The first layers are placed in the lower storage boxes. This will be the gear not used nearly as often.

The second layers are all the gear that will be used almost everyday. For starters the toilet, glass cleaner, air hose and fuel filler.

Although currently empty, the top right drawer will be used for dry or canned food storage and hold the stove itself.

 

[schanusa]

Now all I have left are the larger items left. If you look at the original gear shot you'll see how much by comparison was stuffed into the composite drawers. Most of this gear will be set around the drawers. The Hi-Lift and Maxtraxx will be attached to the exterior of the truck.

The fuel cans are set behind the drawers first. Then all the rest gets places along the sides.

My mind is a little more at ease knowing I have all the equipment I need. I would like to shed more of it, though I'm pretty much down to the basics.
The squeegee is probably the only piece that's really not necessary.