"BIG FOOT 35"

or 

2006_06_13

or

"Various Modifications"

 

Just in time before I leave to the 4-wheel drive meeting in Boxberg close to Dresden some modifications were finished.

 

Beforehand I have to admit that I have severe problems with the power supply. The battery for the 12V circuit was charged by a DC/DC-Converter. But the charging characteristic was obviously not good (permanent charging with 2A = aproximately 50W). So the high end-battery, normally built for long-time use seems to be nearly gone already after 2 years. Therefore I am modifying currently the layout of the energy-system and aim to re-animate this and the other 6 batteries for 24V which seem to have suffered as well. Definetely due to my opinion not the very best job from Agtar, even though of tremendous costs.

Because I had removed the batteries I painted their box and the cover plates. Here a photo of the empty box:

 

Here a photo after the paint-job with re-built batteries. The cabling has been re-done as well to give a more professional impression:

 

The next action was a modification of the rear-protection because I regularly hit with it the ground when being off-road. So I dismounted it and removed the U-shaped vertical struts (the first one is already grinded off and lies on the vertical strut):

 

The vertical struts thickness was invreased by welding a 5 mm steel plate onto it to have a longer hole (explanation why this is required will follow later).

 

 

The frame itself I am not allowed to weld or I need a certificate from German TÜV (thanks to Pirx respectively Klaus Petermann for the warning). So I built a sideways-extension from 5 mm U-shaped steel. This moves the vertical struts further to the outside. In addition I added an 8 mm steel plate which reaches out to the rear. On top I welded on a 5 mm steel plate to increase the stability.

 

This shows the sideways-extension mounted to the frame. Note the original srew holes and the new ones on the outside of the extension match each other.

 

Now I mounted the vertical struts to the sideways-extension. On top it is fixied with a M14 srew plus self-securing nut. The two lower ones are a 14 mm diameter steel pin to which I welded on hand-grips. The pins have meanwhile a hole for a securing-chain (not shown on this picture):

 

Once the vertical struts had been mounted the horizontal strut was welded on.

 

Finally i drilled two 14 mm holes into the steel plate reaching out to the rear to achieve two different hight-adjustments for the rear protection:

 

And this is the steepest position but this does not allow trailer use. The changing can be done without use of any tools.

 

Finally: I built even 1 month ago a new holder for the radio and the 7"-TFT (for the rear-camera). The construction is made out of 2 mm steel, so it should be solid enough for that purpose! 
Or to paraphrase the film "Full Metal Jacket": "FULL METAL RADIO SLOT!!! HHHHRRRrGGGHHNLL"
The TFT is pushed against two brackets with a soft rubber and than fixed from two L-shaped steel plates which push it against the soft rubber. At the side is a on/off-switch for the rear-camera. The microphone for the free-speak system was re-located closser to the head positioning, you can see it at the side of the TFT.

What you can see here as well is the new colour of the ceiling cover. Because I took it out for isolation and other issues I already sprayed it in sand-yellow - the colour which finally the complete truck will have outside.

(Photos from the built unfortunately got lost somewhere in the big, big storage of the PC!)

 

Thanks a lot to Franz-Jakob and his family  for allowing me to do the steel work in his production facilities.