Foamie truck camper build!

Canvas covered foamies (Thrifty Alternatives...)

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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby alchemist77 » Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:12 am

I have read this build through. Thanks for the pictures and the steps. Really appreciate the continuing updates and story.

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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby rruff » Sun Mar 26, 2017 1:14 pm

seanc wrote:I have half a dozen or so curbside spots that I frequent. They are mostly in light industrial areas, ideally near an unsecured wifi connection.


:applause: That's cool! I did that for a few months in Santa Cruz about 20 years ago. Had a blast, and met some really "interesting" people. Mostly I camped in the wilderness over the west, and only went to town about once per week for supplies. Did it for 13 years, best time of my life! :thumbsup:
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby zuren » Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:44 pm

Very nice and innovative build! Certain aspects of my fullsize van are not working for road trips with our toddler so I have been contemplating switching to a 1/2 ton truck + light slide-in camper for family trips that also leaves the trailer hitch available. However, even basic shell, pop-top, slide-in campers (eg. Four Wheel Campers) are nearly 1000 lbs....too heavy for the payload of a crew cab, 1/2 ton truck. This idea nearly fits the bill!

I have a few questions:
1. Last update was March of 2017. Is this camper still going strong?
2. Please forgive me for asking if it was already posted, but do you have a tally of your build cost? Or do those who have built similar structures have an idea on material cost for the basic structure?
3. Has a pop-top design ever been attempted in a foamie? Examples - http://www.fourwh.com/, https://www.allterraincampers.com/
4. The cab-over section in this build was mostly for gear storage (from what I thought I read) but I'm curious about what it would take to make the structure strong enough to have a bed for 2 adults? I'm looking to sleep 2 adults up and have room for sleeping kid below.

And a general question regarding this build approach - Most of the commercially available "lightweight" campers I find are too heavy for a half-ton truck (if you also plan to have people, gear, and fuel in the truck) and/or run in the realm of $10,000. If you added a floor, reduced the number of windows, and eliminated some of the solid materials in favor of canvas with vinyl windows, I would have to assume that you would still be in the neighborhood of 400-500 pounds...which would be pretty awesome!

Thanks!
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby spacer » Tue Nov 07, 2017 11:07 am

I was just talking with a friend about truck mods on an old 2000 Sonoma I used to have... and what it might be able to handle (ended up talking about an ecotec turbo upgrade, but that's for another forum).
We were discussing adding weight to the rear, to help performance on the naturally unbalanced vehicle, and I got the idea of, rather than bolting in useless weight... how about something useful! I knew a standard camper would be too heavy, so I figured if foam works fine for teardrops, it oughta do pretty well for a slide-in camper, too... so naturally I came back to tnttt to see if anyone had done this.

Lo. And. Behold. :thinking:

I may have to go back to the drawing board with my teardrop plans. This looks to be so much better! :twisted:

(note: no, I wouldn't do any 'performance' driving with one of these... the idea just led this way. )
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby seanc » Fri Nov 10, 2017 12:57 am

Zuren - The camper Is still going strong. It's still my daily driver and I'm still living in it full time although that is changing shortly.

I'm pretty sure I spent about $1300 for the basic structure.

There are some pop top foam campers around here, and somewhere on the web I found a hard sided foam roofed pop top truck camper.

As far as engineering a strong cabover, I can't give you specifics. Mine is for gear, although I've laid up there when I'm not driving. it's certainly not impossible to make it both lightweight and strong enough to support two sleepers. If it were me, I'd make a modified foam core torsion box for the cabover platform

As a side note, I've discovered one thing not I would absolutely do differently is make the door wide enough to fit full sheets of plywood in the camper. After all, a.truck should still be a truck. (I can fit 1/4" 4' x 8' sheets with some twisting and bending.)
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby John61CT » Fri Nov 10, 2017 9:56 am

Anyone know of "poptop kits" for DIYers, maybe just the corner lift post mechanisms?
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby RJ Howell » Sat Aug 17, 2019 9:07 am

Nice build!

I'm approaching the last section of roof and covering the interior of mine. Time to get serious about how to do the bed. Like you, it's only a cap. Unlike you, I'm at bed-rail width. I also only went 12" over the cab/18" forward, always thought of that for light storage only.

Since mine is basically a sleeper, the width is great. Yet no spot to swing your legs, crawl in. To make that space, well, just makes the side beds too narrow. How did you get around this?

I think I see a rail(?) below your hatch entry.. Is there one and you climb over it? Also if so, why?

I also like how you used your aluminum angle at the hatch! Great idea! I have plenty around the shop. What did you end up using as glue?

If interested or can advise as I build, my thread is here: http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=71879
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby dbhosttexas » Tue Aug 27, 2019 2:37 pm

Thanks for posting this build thread. This build provides me with HUGE motivation for mine. I now have a MUCH better idea of what I want to do build wise.

I should note, my camping / camper appliances are all liquid / Coleman fueled. I got my hands on a little 3K BTU catalytic heater that is more than enough to heat the small space of a truck camper like this. Provide plenty of fresh air, and no CO danger... If you are interested in that method of staying warm, look for a Coleman 518B catalytic heater.

You could do a Buddy heater as well, mind you, they are known to have some reliability issues, but then again, they have some great safety features too!
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby John61CT » Tue Aug 27, 2019 5:40 pm

dbhosttexas wrote:I should note, my camping / camper appliances are all liquid / Coleman fueled. I got my hands on a little 3K BTU catalytic heater that is more than enough to heat the small space of a truck camper like this. Provide plenty of fresh air, and no CO danger... If you are interested in that method of staying warm, look for a Coleman 518B catalytic heater.

You could do a Buddy heater as well, mind you, they are known to have some reliability issues, but then again, they have some great safety features too!

Relative to others maybe, but that

> no CO danger

is foolish, foolhardy and irresponsible
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby dbhosttexas » Tue Aug 27, 2019 11:15 pm

John61CT wrote:
dbhosttexas wrote:I should note, my camping / camper appliances are all liquid / Coleman fueled. I got my hands on a little 3K BTU catalytic heater that is more than enough to heat the small space of a truck camper like this. Provide plenty of fresh air, and no CO danger... If you are interested in that method of staying warm, look for a Coleman 518B catalytic heater.

You could do a Buddy heater as well, mind you, they are known to have some reliability issues, but then again, they have some great safety features too!

Relative to others maybe, but that

> no CO danger

is foolish, foolhardy and irresponsible


You did read the part about providing sufficient fresh air didnt you?

You took my statement clearly out of context.
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby John61CT » Wed Aug 28, 2019 12:16 am

OK, but need to add a CO monitor / alarm in as well.

Really, vented designs like proper parking heaters are the way to go, and not just to reduce CO risks.
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby dbhosttexas » Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:20 am

John61CT wrote:OK, but need to add a CO monitor / alarm in as well.

Really, vented designs like proper parking heaters are the way to go, and not just to reduce CO risks.


Fair enough.

Just FWIW, I have used the Coleman Catalytic heaters indoors since the 1970s. Always, always always light them OUTDOORS as it WILL produce an open flame as it heats up and starts catalyzing, once the catalytic reaction starts, CO is so low as to be non detectible by most CO2 detectors.

Nothing in life is without risk mind you. We all know we should drink plenty of water, but it is also true that water to excess will kill you. Common sense should be more common...

Keep the heater far enough away from anything flamable due to the heat produced, provide ample fresh air, Coleman recommends 3 sq in, which isn't much at all. The OPs camper could easily make this by simply cracking, maybe 1/2" open one of the slider windows.

I would be MUCH more concerned about cooking in the camper. Again use common sense, and steer clear of bear country if you are keeping food / cooking inside.

And I just corrected myself. I had written CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) when I meant CO (Carbon Monoxide). I haven't had coffee yet...

And since the subject was brought up, in camping and vehicular environments, CO can come from a variety of sources, even if you aren't heating in the camper it is best to have a CO detector installed and working in the camper. Multiple sources say proper location is 5ft off the ground.

Another issue is if you have a propane in the camper. Propane is heavier than air, and quite flamable. A working propane detector should be installed close to the ground.
Last edited by dbhosttexas on Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby John61CT » Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:26 am

CO is not CO2

Also note a dusty environment reduces lifespan of the catalytic mat, and with Wave units anyway might as well buy a whole new one.
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby dbhosttexas » Wed Aug 28, 2019 8:39 am

John61CT wrote:CO is not CO2

Also note a dusty environment reduces lifespan of the catalytic mat, and with Wave units anyway might as well buy a whole new one.


Interesting. Just FWIW, I have several of the Coleman white gas catalytics, the first one I owned personally was bought on Ebay almost 20 years ago, it was made in 1969. I followed Coleman's maintenance directions for cleaning and maintaining the wick and catalytic head and it works better than the buddy heater, Coleman Propane Sport Cat heater etc... I have tried when I was fishing out propane. Never tried the wave heaters though... My Portable Buddy Heater lasted in camping, and my woodworking shop from 2005 to literally 2 weeks ago, and it worked great until the plastic handle gave out and it went crashing to my concrete shop floor as I was cleaning / reorganizing things. Yes I would blow it out with compressed air every so often, but no big deal.Just maintenance. Not sure about the Wave heaters.

I wish I could find the video now. There was a guy from the Coleman forum that was showing his 513B white gas heater in operation, in a fairly small space, using a CO Detector right above it, and no detectable CO, he lit a candle, and voila CO... Not saying there is none, just that it was so low it didn't register. And it depends on the model how much make up air is needed.

I would NEVER, and I have to repeat this loud, and often, NEVER EVER EVER use any fuel burning appliance of any sort in an enclosed space without sufficient make up air source, and a way for CO to escape. Life is far too prescious to take a dumb risk with. Likewise always be sure that flamable materials can NOT come in contact with a heater in operation. The newer ones like the Buddy heaters are great for tipover safety, but I don't think they do much for flamability of contact, say the corner of a sleeping bag comes into contact with the pilot or grid...
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Re: Foamie truck camper build!

Postby John61CT » Wed Aug 28, 2019 9:03 am

Yes many "no CO" devices are fine,

until they aren't
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