NOW FOR THE LATEST INTERRUPTION TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING.

Last this week I had a question for bimobil and, it winds up, they had a question for us.  In-between the exchanges, our man Karsten forwarded a few photographs of our vehicle.  It doesn’t take much to get Ann and me excited about the thought of being on the road again!  (I hope that gave you an ear worm!)

In one of our earliest discussions, we asked Karsten about tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS).  Beast had one (so I could monitor tire pressures while we were on the road . . . a great safety feature) built into the vehicle system, but Iveco had not implemented them on the Daily . . . yet.  He suggested we wait until the vehicle is delivered (at the time they still were building 2020 model year vehicles and ours is a 2021 model year).  He said that installing a TMPS is one of the upgrades Iveco has been considering.  I just remembered the question last week and decided to follow up.  Nope, not an added feature yet.  I’m glad I asked because he also noted the operating parameters for the TMPS (it has to handle very high tire pressures - 9 bar [you can do your own calculations to psi]), which means your average run-of-the-mill TMPS, even fairly expensive systems, won’t cut it.  Basically we need to go top of the line, and pay for it accordingly.  Ouch!  Not surprising, but . . . I guess I’m not buying Ann that bottle of 18-Year Macallan for Mother’s day.

The first of the images is an exterior from the passenger’s rear corner and it’s quite revealing. Most obvious is that they’ve added some of the external accessories to the vehicle.  It’s pretty hard to miss the two pairs of sand tracks mounted on the rear of the vehicle.  Although the bimobil won’t be that much heavier than Beast was, she is rated for 50% more weight and that greatly exceeds the weigh capacity of our beloved MaxTrax.  So bimobil ordered us some high quality German-made aluminum sand tracks (good for mud and snow as well!).  In-between the mounting rails, you can also see that they’ve already added the graphics onto the vehicle shell.  There will be more about that space between the tracks later below.

Other details that were missing from the earlier images include the fact that they’ve installed the HartGlas windows and added the exterior lighting to the shell of the cabin.  Looking down the passenger side of the vehicle you can also see the retractable steps below the entry door, and the large dining window/wall that raises as well as the lower storage unit that opens to storage beneath the cabin floor.

In the image above and below, you get a good look at the protective rail that runs along the top edges of the  cabin.  Given the added height above what I was used to with Beast, I’m going to have to be careful about running into low-hanging branches.  The rails will hopefully excuse the periodic misjudgment in height, something that happened a couple of times with Beast.

From the lower image you can see more of the rear/driver’s side graphic, as well as the windows for the two bunk beds and the one above the kitchen counter.  There’s also the open storage door for the space below the lower bunk and one farther forward that’s closed.  The closed door also accesses the area beneath the cabin floor.  Just beneath that, you see our over-sized fuel tank, which will double the range of the vehicle between refueling, but will also double the cost of filling her up.  And at European diesel prices . . . I’m not looking forward to the cost of refueling a near-empty tank.

If you look carefully, you can see that some of the edge detail finishing needs to be completed.  We still have over a month to go, so we can’t expect everything to look fully finished.  And if you look off to the wall on the right, it’s comforting to know that bimobil has Stormtroopers guarding our vehicle.  I would have preferred some Jedi knights, but I’m sure blasters will keep most people from messing with our rig.  

While the next image doesn’t look like much, it’s actually quite informative and points directly to the question Karsten had for us.  Despite the fact that the refrigerator we’re getting in the bimobil is nearly 50% larger than the one that was in Beast, the freezer was just as small.  So we decided that we would get a separate refrigerator/freezer and locate it in the storage area under the lower bunk (it may have been Simon, our first bimobil contact, who suggested it).  Anyway, we went for a highly energy efficient and highly rated cooler, selecting a size large enough to store a week’s supply of goods, but not so large as to not fit in the space.  Despite our best efforts at estimating the actual size of the unit (the more energy efficient the unit, the larger the shell around the cooling box itself) we miscalculated.  We had wanted the refrigerator to mount crosswise under the bunk to maximize the remaining storage space under the bunk.  Karsten’s e-mail basically notified us we were a few centimeters too large - in part because of the space needed to properly secure the unit (this is an off-road vehicle, something we can never forget when storing items) and partially because some of the controls for the unit are not on the top of the unit.  He wanted to know where we preferred to mount it since we couldn’t have it the way we’d originally intended.  Since we want to be able to access it from the inside of the cabin, Karsten suggested we mount it as far forward, with the hinge pointing towards the front of the vehicle, so we can easily open it up and reach inside.  Problem solved.  Basically, it’s going to be where you see it in the photograph below (oriented as shown on the box), except pushed up against the interior wall. 

You can see a few other things from the photograph below as well.  Of particular note is the odd blue and black thing hanging onto the right inside wall of the storage area.  That’s our ARB on-board air compressor for when we need to air our tires back up after driving on sand, etc.  It’s basically the same model as we had for Beast, except it is the in-vehicle as opposed to mobile version. It’s incredibly durable, so much so that you can mount it under a vehicle, exposed to the elements, if necessary.  I feel better having it mounted in a dry, interior location.  When operating it is, in a word, noisy, so I suspect no one is going to be asleep in the bunk once we fire that baby up!

Two more things can be seen in the picture above; well, one seen and one not seen.  First is the regular spare tire mounted underneath the rear of the vehicle.  The spare location and the device to lower it was a bimobil design that Iveco decided to borrow (thus establishing an excellent rapport between them!).  The second spare tire (necessary for the extended trips in the middle of nowhere we hope to be able to take) will mount on the back of the vehicle between the two sets of sand tracks.  Again, bimobil has designed a removable tire crane and mount that bolts into the chassis for that purpose.  Fortunately, I have not had to take up weight lifting - those 35” tires are quite heavy.

Not seen, and what will be located in the space that allows you to see the spare in the photograph above, are the under cabin storage lockers.  Those waffle plated lockers will go all around the underside of the vehicle and will afford us even more storage space for things like motor oils and tools that we don’t want stinking up the cabin.  .

The last photograph takes us into the cabin.  Oh my, how that has progressed!  Off to the right, in the distance, you can see the giant skylight over our bed (which will give us access to the roof) as well as the small cabinets in the sleeping area.  To the left of the headrest, you can see the refrigerator and gas oven.  And, of course, the plethora of kitchen cabinetry for various goods.  Sitting on the kitchen counter is one of the cabinets for the bathroom, which they must still be working on.  

You can also see the headrest and passenger seatbelts for times when more than two of us will be traveling.  Also, you can tell that the dining area isn’t completely done yet (I suspect so they can access below the floor and get to things like power banks, electrical units and the gas heater).  Conceivably, we can travel and sleep 6 people in this vehicle, though I doubt we will.  As spacious as this rig seems compared to Beast, 6 on a long trip would make it feel quite cozy.

That’s it for this interruption.  We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.