This whole build is amazing. Michael does amazing things ... and I'm all about the Snorkels. But as i was explaining to my wife. "We should quit calling them Snorkels and call them what they actually are ... a Raised Air Intake. Cuz I constantly have to explain to people, they aren't just for water, they are for dust. To get the intake up and out of the dust."
Thank you & you're welcome. Let me know if there's anything specific you want to see or for me to talk about and I'll make sure to get it into a future video for you
I’m not the kind of guy that goes into a lot of extra detail work on projects. This series is inspiring me to be better. Nice work and amazing skills!!!
I’m driving my Ecodiesel gladiator to the Arctic Ocean right now. Going from Inuvik to Tuktokyatuk today. Diesel costs 2.60 here, but I don’t have to buy it because I have a 40 gallon transfer flow tank in the back.
That is coming along great. It's one of the most extreme modifications I've seen to a Jeep so far. I like snorkels. They do provide cleaner air and protect the intake from water, they don't however protect the fuse box or battery. Also if your electric fan for the engine kicks on while its under the water it's toast. Then air hoses for axles, transfer case, etc. It's better to increase the overall height of the vehicle as all parts of the vehicle go up. You should still bring the air hoses higher. The snorkels are great addition though.
By far the best build ive seen so far… wish i could see it in person, about to do something similar to my gladiator… curious to see how the fuel cap got mounted
Sweet, I can't wait to see your Gladiator build. This will be on display at SEMA if you can make it. I have all the details on the fuel cap/filler, coming in a future video!
I'm so excited to see this coming together! It looks incredible and so functional! You might have talked about it elsewhere, but I'm curious about the decision to bond the camper to the freedom panels vs. just a bit further back on the main body of the hard top. You might not want to regularly take the panels off, but that would at least let you replace them if one got damaged, or if the hard top seals needed to be replaced. I'm also a bit curious about how the rain gutter works in a heavy rain. The wall of the camper is right behind the front door, so it seems like the gutter and camper could create a waterfall that would flow right into the cabin when you opened the door.
Putting the box further back would have made it smaller, and it would have meant filling in part of the rear door opening. For a ton of reasons putting it where it is made the most sense. Trapping the freedom panels is not something either Michael or I care about - I never once took them off on my Gladiator around Australia, and have no interest in that amount of dust inside my house and sunburn when on a trip for years on end. Our roof rack will trap them anyway. I'll show that next time.
@@TheRoadChoseMe For sure! I can imagine its even more difficult to estimate when you're creating a home for two people. Hows the progress on the layout coming along?
I'd love to see these kinds of boxes available for other vehicles- like trucks and cab chassis vans. Think a "full size" Toyota Sunrader type build, but on any truck the customer wants, or a custom RV van build, from a cab chassis...
That would be cool, but an absolutely insane amount of work to try and make a version for a ton of different vehicles. I'm certain it can and has been done, but the pricetag will be scary I'm sure
I definitely prefer the aesthetics of your build over down2mob's gladiator build. I think yours distributes the added weight much better. IF I had the $, I would be interested in your approach on a gladiator. IE, in addition to removing the bed, removing the back half of the cabin for a roomier camper box extending no further past the rear axle than the bed for better departure angle 🤔. Also, your video on why you chose the ecodiesel settled a lot of my concerns about that power platform 👌
One problem which Dan mentioned was that a wrangler isn't designed to flex but a gladiator is. The bed moves separately to the cabin. I'm not sure anyone knows what that does to the build to make something meant to be flexible rigid.
I’m not sure how the cab-to-camper trim piece is going to flex. It’s a tight tolerance and it appeared that you laid up the glass in a crisis-cross pattern that I think would make it quite rigid. Curious about your thoughts there.
Wondering if a rubber seal might be better. Unless the chassis is pretty stiff (and I doubt it is) something has to give there when the rig is cross-axled. Looking forward to seeing this in action.
@@TheRoadChoseMe I would definitely advise for the square design. If it opens on an angle, like your Africa Jeep, you significantly decrease the amount of floor space you can walk around in. If the construction is stable enough to handle some wind, then having the increased usable space is definitely worth it.
The trouble with the actuators is the have to be on the outside, otherwise they get in the way of the canvas. That makes me lean towards ditching them to keep it light and simple, so manual operation is what I'm going with
No, it clears the mirror by about 1/2 an inch. It's close, but basically identical to the version for the 3.6 engine (I just compared the two side by side)
Question. So I hear alot of people say even if you have a snorkel it’s pointless because you will get water in your exhaust, but from my understanding it’s really hard to drown a newer vehicle by the exhaust. Have you ever “water proofed” your exhaust? And I’d so how?
The back pressure from the engine keeps the water out while it’s running. Now if your engine stalls, that’s a problem, and it can be dangerous to try and restart.
It's certainly interesting. But I personally am not convinced that this is different enough to justify that amount of work, not to mention expense. We'll see.
Yes, absolutely. In the end Michael decided because these are prototypes to hurry up and get something that works and we can use. If they are functional and worth producing, the design can be evolved, and aero would be high on that list.
Yes, for sure. Still trying to find a great option that is a 270 batwing to cover the side and rear, but that isn't too heavy and is hopefully free standing.
It will likely bolt straight through the wall into the steel frame... or we'll use spreader plates and spacers to spread the load out on the wall. I'm half tempted to buy a generic one, then make my own carbon fiber poles and backplate to make it 2/3rds lighter...
Can you show the inside? I honestly think that all your work is time and money ill spent for the accomodation package. Where does a 6' tall person sleep?
Given the amount of work that has gone, is going and likely will go, the cost of production for regular folks will be prohibitively expensive. Only lottery winners will be able to get one...
The way these prototypes were built is not very feasible to mass produce. If it did go into production there would be a lot of changes to make it mass production friendly.
