I actually finished the unit 6 weeks ago but we have been to
cape Melville via
Chillagoe and Palmer River Goldfields for 4 weeks, so it was
well and truly tried and tested as we returned via Battle
Camp.
I was originally going to build it out of steel tubing but held off, not wanting it to be too heavy.
While I was still thinking about it Melissa posted their system on this site, (post 21628) the basic outlay was the same as my idea but it was the alloy qubelok system that they used that gave me my weight saving solution. So another big thanks to Melissa as I stole a few other of your ideas as
well.
I also changed a few things like using alloy checker plate instead of ply, only a few dollars more but is thinner (extra packing space) and also lighter but just as strong, I also used 80-100kg hettich rollers on the bottom 2 draws. The top one alloy checker sliding on alloy angle with a thin smear of grease as it only carries light stuff anyway.
As you can see by the photo the bottom draw has the base plate on top of the frame, as this is the draw that carries the cans and other heavier items, what you can’t see is the cross brace in the middle for extra strength, the second and third draw I put the base under the frame so as to gain an extra 25mm in depth, and keep lighter stuff in these ie. cooking utensils, plates, cups etc.
The fridge is an engel 40lt with a black widow slide bolted straight to the frame.
The
water tank is constructed out of food grade stainless steel and holds 55ltrs and gravity feeds through ¼ inch hose to the ball valve tap at the rear, have no problem getting all water to flow out quite strongly except for the last ½ lt or so, problem solved by blowing into the filler pipe, and this slight pressure gets the remainder out in about 5sec. also have a thin plastic tube on drivers side for a level, re photo.
The side compartment front and top covers lift off easily via simple door clips (thanks again Melissa!) for easy access to tool roll, spares and recovery gear.
The fold down table is construction ply with stainless glued to the top, carpet underneath and an alloy backing.
The whole deal without the
water tank came in at under $500.00, and approximately 4 weekends, including 2 long weekends and also after work during the week in labour, the tank wasn’t cheap as the food grade stainless was $300 a sheet, a mate who owns a specialist welding firm made it for me at “mates rates” and I got away with $550 total. I wouldn’t like to guess at the normal price as there are quite a few hrs involved.
I have only loaded a few photos into the rig
pic as I don’t have a web site and hope this helps a few people in giving some different ideas into building their own. I can email more photos if interested.
If anybody has any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask, and I will explain as best as I can.