This bible for do-it-yourself builders by Ulrich “Uli” Dolde is a must-have for every household. On the Adventure Southside he will again give two lectures on self-development. We have listed some impressions of his own expansion work here as examples.
At the beginning there is the selection and purchase of the base vehicle, here a Mercedes Benz, later affectionately known as “the little star”.
The living case is often a disused army case. But it can also be a refrigerated box or something else.
Here is the wiring for the rear carrier.
The first step is to overcome it: the cut-out for the first window is sawn.
When installing the storage boxes
The drawers are assembled.
Installing the heater
The table is sawn
The kitchen countertop
Kitchen work area with access to the driver's cabin.
And the inner workings again at a glance
The first test drive shows whether you have done everything right.
That was in 2008 when Ulrich and Edith Dolde undertook their first eight-month trip through Southern Europe, Morocco and Western Sahara. They reeled off 25.000 km and gained a lot of experience with their truck, all of which has been incorporated into the book, which now has 600 pages. What has worked? What worked less well? How has the expansion developed over the past 13 years? What has been improved? what replaces In his lecture, Ulrich not only describes his expansion, but also the additions and optimizations he has made to his "little star". And in his "shit-happens-stories" he also gives an insight into the mistakes he made during the expansion.
In the meantime, the two have undertaken many trips with their star, including traveling to seven North and West African countries for five months in 2018/2019. Including mainly in Mauritania, Mali, Senegal and Gambia.