We purchased a 1978 Swedish military truck and converted it into a well equipped overland camper. It is the only one of its kind in NZ…if you have seen vehicles on the road that look like it they are the, NZ army purchased, Pinzhausers (they’ve more of a wedge nose).
Quick stats…1978 Volvo, 3lt , twin carb straight 6, Petrol engine, 4 speed H , 4 speed Low, in cab activation of all 4WD modes, portal axles, L4.24 m x W1.93 m x H2.13 m
Roll Bar Modification for Volvo C303
Apart from the strength and protection a roll bar gives the vehicle it was also crucial in our plan to add further modifications such as the light bar, roof tent and so on.
We researched dozens of C303’s online for ideas for roll bars as there were many ways in which it could be done. In our opinion the best one was the Volvo C303 that won the Paris Dakar rally in 1983.
Here are some of the examples of the roll bars including the Paris Dakar version.
Our final design protected the whole vehicle, it did not effect the visibility of the driver and it hugged the external line of the vehicle. The front and rear bumpers are extremely strong and well anchored to the chassis so we were able to attach to these.
We fabricated the roll bar from mild steel tube which was then powder coated. The roll bar was fitted with all of the accessories prior to powder coating so that the entry points for the wiring as well as the assembly holes were already drilled so that the powder coating provided maximum protection.
The roll bar was attached to the vehicle as before mentioned on both bumpers. Slight modifications had to be made to the rear light hoods.
The anchor points on the roof (one on each side) were attached to the internal steel framing for maximum strength.
All anchor points are bolted in place (not welded) so they can be removed should any work need to be done to the body or they get bent on some brutal track somewhere.
We were very happy with the results. The roll bar is very sturdy and looks great.
Roof Tent
We did a lot of research on what tent to put on the vehicle. See the image below where we placed a box on the roof to show us what a typical roof tent would add to the height of the Volvo. The height represents the tent height as well as the racking that would need to hold it. You can see a typical roof tent was just not going to be practical and would have looked weird.
Here are a few examples of C303’s with roof tents.
The Alu-cab roof tent that we decided on had a low profile and a hard top.
Alu-cab is a South African brand. It’s design comes from some serious safari applications so we knew it would be well made. As it turns out the design exceeded our expectations.
When we were using it in the 2020, 5000 km NZ summer trip we came across instances where the wind was gusting up to 45 knots and lasting for around 2 mins before becoming calm again. By moving the truck into the wind the hard shell deflected the wind to the point where we hardly even heard it.
There are many advantages to the Alu-Cab design. It opens in less than 30 seconds, no joke, you just flick the clips and it rises up. The steel micro awning poles slip in easily and you are done.
You can see in this picture that the tent sits low with much less wind resistance than a standard roof tent design.
The roof racking system we designed so the tent was as close as possible to the roof itself. The tent weights in at about 80kgs.
You can see above how we positioned the tent towards the front rather than the back as in most configuration (ladder would typically connects to the back and then up and into the tent).
We chose not to use the Ali ladder that came with the tent and instead fabricated a permanent ladder.
This allowed enough room for a deck area in front of the tent that is handy in terms of living space up there. You can kick your shoes off and even put a chair up there to enjoy the view. We added two pop up hand rails (500 mm high) for safety.
It is over 2.2 m high so it’s a fair way to fall so the hand rails give you more security when moving around up there.
The Workshop 1924 can custom build almost anything. If you have some ideas on what you need for your overlander then reach out to us. We’d love to be involved ph (09) 238 0138 or check us out on FB.
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