Truck Convertion Part 2
June 2024
new look for rafiki
We had long wanted to decorate our vehicle with designs. So we met several times with Fabian from Promolution. We brought the ideas, and Fabian turned them into a fantastic result. Designing was one thing, but the bigger challenge was our paint’s rough texture, which caused some films to fail. Thanks to Fabian’s great help, we found a suitable film for uneven surfaces. On a beautiful sunny day in May, the films were finally applied. We are so thrilled with the result; now it looks even more like an expedition truck! Rafiki is happy.
May 2024
Felt attachement
Felt is a great way to beautify the cab of our camper and at the same time create more coziness. With felt from Filz-Asmussen, working with it is a breeze. It adapts well to any shape with its elasticity, forgiving even small mistakes. So far, we have covered the back wall and installed a box behind the seats. Now we are looking forward to covering the rest of the cab with felt! Stay tuned for the endresult.
April 2024
tire change
The old fire truck tires are being removed and new 385/65R22.5 construction profile tires are being installed. Additionally, we are saying goodbye to the dual tires at the rear and replacing them with single tires.
March 2024
Gas installation
Cutting, rounding, and bending pipes, attaching the clamps with cutting rings, pressure regulator, manual changeover valve, floor penetration, and power for the spark. Learned a lot of new things and it works!
February 2024
scratch areas for Nala and Simba
To make the journey as comfortable as possible for our two lovely cats, Nala and Simba, we have installed various scratching posts for them. Additionally, we have a sack for them to relax in, and of course, they need access to their litter box.
January 2024
the glas wall for the shower
To prevent water from the shower from splashing onto the bed, we are installing a glass panel in between. To protect the glass panel, a rubber U-profile is attached. After that, it is embedded together with the glass into an aluminum H-profile.
December 2023
current status of the interior work
Here is our current progress on the interior construction. A lot has happened in the last 14 months, and we have made a big step closer to our goal. Once the interior construction is finished, we will get to work on the exterior of the vehicle. We are so excited and can hardly wait until everything is finished!
November 2023
preparation in the tropical institute
As intensive preparation for our work with 4by4care in remote regions of the world, Anna attended the 8-week intensive course IZGG (International Cooperation and Global Health) at the Swiss Tropical Institute. She successfully completed this course with a CAS certificate. The course covers various topics such as religions and society, development cooperation, water supply and hygiene behavior, specific diseases in the tropics, travel medicine, tropical medical parasites, child health in low-resource countries, and much more. Additionally, during the course, Anna gained insights into the various laboratories of the Swiss Tropical Institute, attended an event by cinfo, and visited the venomous animals section of Basel Zoo behind the scenes.
October 2023
wedding of rafiki
We had waited a long time, and finally, the day had arrived. Today, our wedding was supposed to take place. No, not the one with rings and a wedding dress, but the one with screws and sealant. Our expedition vehicle’s wedding.
Around noon, we arrived at our vehicle builder with our robust GFK cabin, our bride, where our 32-year-old Mercedes Benz 1222 fire truck was already waiting. It looked like a groom in his new suit, freshly painted and polished.
The forklift carefully lifted the cabin from the trailer and slowly placed it onto the chassis. We held our breath as we watched the two parts come together. It was like magic when they touched and locked into place. We cheered and clapped as the forklift driver Otto signaled to us that everything fit perfectly.
Now we just had to screw and wire the cabin to connect it with the chassis. This was a tricky job that required a lot of skill. We helped our vehicle builder wherever we could, and after a few hours, it was done. Our wedding was complete.
We thanked Otto for his great work and support. He had helped us realize our dream of having our own beautiful expedition vehicle.
We climbed into our new home on wheels and set off. We were overjoyed and could hardly believe our luck. Today, we had not only realized an expedition vehicle but also found a new life partner.
September 2023
Solar system - Photovoltaics
On our roof, we are installing 8 x 150 Wp solar modules (photovoltaic modules). For this, we glued, screwed, sanded, cleaned, attached, and wired them. We tested the modules on an autumn afternoon with angled sunlight, achieving an impressive result of 630 W charging power.
August 2023
painting the truck
From red to gray! We matched the color of the red driver’s cab with the living quarters. First, we had to scrape off the reflectors and clear the roof, which had the blue lights, speakers, and fire truck horn attached. Then we sanded, cleaned, and masked everything. And the driver’s cab was ready to be painted.
JUlY 2023
First Tv coverage
A big day for us! The first TV report is being recorded by our local TV station ‘TeleBasel’ and will be broadcast on ‘punkt6’ in the evening. Here you can find out more about our project
June 2023
painting the outside of the living area
For the painting of the living quarters, we chose a matte gray with a slight texture. This allowed us to carry out the painting in our own hall without needing a specially dust-free paint booth.
As preparation for the painting, we first cleaned the living quarters, masked the windows, sanded, and cleaned the walls with nitro.
Now we have mixed the two-component protectors with the hardener and the color and shook it well before we could start painting. After that it was an easy process of spraying the whole outside. Thanks to Fabio for the great help
May 2023
the chassies recieves underfloor boxes
To make the most of the limited space and to have even more storage for medical supplies, our chassis will be fitted with various underfloor boxes.
About us
We travel through Africa in the expedition vehicle we converted ourselves and deliver medical supplies to small clinics.