So if anyone was following my design and setup that I started in March 2022.
I’m sorry, I got to this stage above and stopped because of my Brain injury causing me extreme fatigue!
Then changing my medication, cause more extreme fatigue, once this is under control, the medication stop being available and then it’s all over again with changing medications, dosage etc to be able to live close to normal life as I can.
Anyway, during this stage, I came up on a small design issue, that I was not happy with! and I have been trying to solve it for months.
Just before Christmas 2022 I came across a two year old video series on YouTube by Overland Bound in the USA.
Two things in this video series helped me no end!
First was to use lightweight small square box section tubing! in the past I had over built my last rear bed set up using 40×40 mm thick wall tube square tubing because it was freely available and super strong!
In fact, too strong! and too heavy!
This substantially cut down the performance of my last Jimny Gen3, which I did not realise until I had removed it and driven it to Auckland to sell.
So instead, after watching the video series, I’m using 20 mm² box section with the wall thickness of 1.6 mm.
I have could used thinner wall square tubing! also known as furniture tubing and available in smaller square section, like 19.1 x 19.1 wall thickness of 1.2mm. But this would have cost over a $100 more in steel tubing alone, plus substantial freight costs.
Second was the fixing of the front part of my bed section that is going to covers the passenger seat, and is removable for daytime, driving mode.
In the past, I built some sections of steel for the platform to bolt onto and this would take 10 to 15 minutes to install each night in the morning to remove again, plus also more weight.
So, in the video series, a chap called Parnell designed and made some 3-D machined attachments, and these are now available through Overland Bound webshop.
I feel the price is very reasonable and have ordered a set for myself but because of the Christmas period and holidays it’s gonna be a few more weeks of waiting.
This is going to help a fast and quick transition between my bed setup and day driving mode, and an easy setup is going to be used a lot more.
In the photo above it shows me testing out the fit, working out if the height and placement are right for me? also working out small details like the hinge placement for the rear bed section to open and clear the internal plastic moulded sections when opening and closing.
I also needed to work out for the bed space for my dog and myself was going to work for me.
You will not believe that the plywood framing underneath the floor section of my waste bed system weighs more, then using square box section of light weight tubing!
So using the steel 20×20 mm with a wall of 1.6 mm is going to save over 1 kilogram in weight.
More updates to come in the near future.