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Ideal height for truck Ideal height for truck
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Heavy Overland Vehicle Tech Tech issues, tips and hints, prepping for travel
OVER 3500kg vehicles, e.g. Tatra, Unimog, Iveco etc.
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 3 Sep 2015
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Thanks nick for the feedback do you have any photo's of your truck. I am really in a strange predicament with this body. I am really 50:50 on it. And it's really strange as I am never undecided on anything. If I had the 2cm above my hair I probably would be ok. But I only have about 1 in the centre and it's so frustrating.
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  #2  
Old 7 Sep 2015
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truck height
hi there we had our truck at 2.7m high and found this to be a good height for south america, the width of a truck does not normally stop you going anywhere its always the height, and remember overlanding is all about seeing new sights and meeting new people, so hot countries you will be outside most of the time and when you are inside your truck you are mainly sitting down so height is not so important, we have seen many a big truck all over the world where the owners turn up and stay inside their truck to avoid the locals,
just my opinion
enjoy the build
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  #3  
Old 7 Sep 2015
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If you are really concerned about height then use the cab height as the datum , and make the rear body so that its a raising upper section , that drops down for travel , to that height sort of like an outside pop top. coaches , which operate all over the world are usually between 3.5 and 4mtrs OAH . This is the sort of thing
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  #4  
Old 7 Sep 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by monster View Post
hi there we had our truck at 2.7m high and found this to be a good height for south america, the width of a truck does not normally stop you going anywhere its always the height, and remember overlanding is all about seeing new sights and meeting new people, so hot countries you will be outside most of the time and when you are inside your truck you are mainly sitting down so height is not so important, we have seen many a big truck all over the world where the owners turn up and stay inside their truck to avoid the locals,
just my opinion
enjoy the build

Hi Monster, thanks for the input, its all building a good case. I totally agree about overlanding is seeing new places. And thats why I am building a truck rather than using the overland Landrover that I have.

See dtd-overland for those trips. What I want to do on the next trip is Scandanavia, and potentially a bit of winter travel. Its not always about the temped climates. I want to see the extremes too!

Totally get you about spending time indoors too. After travelling in Morocco I see how hot it gets inside. Would not want to be in one of these when its that temp! I think I have a route forward with the cab situation. The cab that is on it at the moment will be coming off I am 90% sure of this.

I have potentially found a refrigerated body its about 8ft in heigh (will be reducing the height to around 7ft) this will keep the entire height of the truck under 4m (about 3.5) and only a ft above where it currently sits now. But will have alot more freedom to expand my design upon it.

Watch this space... and the blog on the webpage above.
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  #5  
Old 17 Oct 2015
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Originally Posted by Geoisbest View Post
Thanks nick for the feedback do you have any photo's of your truck. I am really in a strange predicament with this body. I am really 50:50 on it. And it's really strange as I am never undecided on anything. If I had the 2cm above my hair I probably would be ok. But I only have about 1 in the centre and it's so frustrating.
Shave your hair off?!?

Just regarding centre of gravity, taking a Mog U1300l for instance, the bare truck chassis with cab is about 5500kg, and its normally a max 7500kg truck. Two tons of payload which will mainly be on the floor (water, batteries etc) and I don't think adding a bit to the actual box height will affect the stability too much. It will look and feel wobbly but big tyres on long travel suspension on a flexy frame will do that. Putting heavy stuff on the roof would be another thing though!

The wife and I are not tall, and the box we hope to make soon will perhaps be 1900mm externally. I would rather avoid hitting things while driving than consider resale in the future. No holes in the ceiling either, 60mm walls and ceiling like the posh truck campers from Unicat etc. Supposedly with that much insulation you can open the windows in the morning, let the cold morning air in, and when its really hot outside at midday it will still be cool inside if the blinds have been drawn to keep the sun out. Maybe

We'll aim at 3.5m and end up a bit over probably, big tyres being the culprit I'm sure but big boots are essential . Our now sold Mog based camper was 3.9m and was a bit too tall for driving, but lovely for living inside for months on end.

Good luck
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  #6  
Old 18 Oct 2015
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Just whack in a pop top to give yourself another 2' of clearance when the top is up. Downside they can be a bit leaky if not fitted well.
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