Truck camper build.

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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby RJ Howell » Sat Aug 29, 2020 6:58 am

I know you want roof-top solar, yet why not ground based? Still could use the roof to transport.. I used to carry a 130w panel that was ground based, I didn't wish to park the camper the sun for the solar! It worked well for us. I've gone to DC/DC charging now and no longer carry any solar, but I also don't stay put for more than a couple days.
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby RJ Howell » Sat Aug 29, 2020 7:11 am

What I like most of this roof design is there's no separate sections to be fussed with! It all goes up together! Con is the weight and friction of the slides as they raise, meaning it probably needs those struts to get it up.. and it has to be retracted from inside (might be able to raise outside..). This is one of the reasons many of the 4wd campers are going with vinyl sides, weather/water proof and flexible.

My duck cloth sides are not the best solution, yet I could (with struts) open and close from outside. Same could be said for separate panels. Extra con to separate panels would be setting up/breaking down in the rain.

I'm happy with my duck cloth sides, especially now that I've re-treated the cloth! That first tropical storm showed the weakness (wicking at the base), now that doesn't happen!!
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby dbhosttexas » Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:54 pm

Okay I know it has been a LONG time since I updated this. I ended up with some major home repairs that were required. Fridge went out, HVAC died etc... so things got delayed, BUT... Here goes where I am.

#1. Moog HD coil springs replaced the Rancho springs to get back the payload package springs that didn't carry over.
#2. 5.4 3V bulletproof build in progress.
#3. Fender trimming msotly done and sealed.
#4. Power system, stand alone started, eta to completion this weekend. Finalizing design to integrate into the camper.
#5. Making headway to getting approval to remove the truck bed. This is a result of a wind storm and some slight damage to the existing bed.
#6. Borrowed labor education ongoing for aluminum welding. One of the fellows from my small group at church is a welder that specializes in aluminum for the petrochem industry and is teaching me at my brain dead pace.
#7. Full testing and workout of my carry over equipment.


In the soft pop up vs fixed roof idea. A pop up is preferrable for mobility and, well bridges. A fixed roof or hard side pop up is preferred due to insualtion value. I do currently have a pop up trailer as well, and honestly don't like the soft sides from an insulation standpoint in July. HOWEVER there are ways to insulate, especially when the soft fabric part is much smaller as in a pop up truck camper vs a bunk end. The sewer on the design team as it were thinks we can basically make a thinsulate sandwich with layer of waterproof cloth, radiant barrier such as Attic Foil which I have some to spare for a project like this, then thinsulate, then an interior layer of cloth. Sewn, seam sealed and waterproofed.

The hangups so far.

#1. King bed is an absolute must, If I can get it to supprot the weight, I want to basically do a slide out half over the cab arrangmenent. This causes a problem with say using an 8" memory foam mattress I end up with a 16" thick folded bed before the roof can be folded down. Need to figure this out, but I know I will get it.
#2. I have gone from just being indifferent to my Tailgator generator to downright distrusting it after it failed to start during the Texas Freeze in February. I am now in a must upgrade to a 4 stroke inverter genrator mode. 2kw. Need to pick one up so I can design its enclosure.
#3. Giving serious consideration to a 270 degree awning, but I want to be able to enclose it Doing my research now. The extensible pole DIY awning is lightweight, easy to build, and can be easily configured for enclosure. But those are just straight out awnings not one that make a corner...

Overall I am going slow, and careful so that I can be certain I am not overloading the truck. And it works the way I want it to.

On the question of permanent vs portable solar. Not sold either way, but it is less intrusive to have roof top solar VS portable when needing to power up at Walmart. HOWEVER, Wlalmart is an on the way place, not even the majority of the journey place, and with alternator charging probably not needed.
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby RJ Howell » Fri Apr 02, 2021 6:45 am

I fund this guy on another forum and like how he built the cabin. That flair of only 6" per side makes a big interior difference. A little more engineering, but I would do this if I re-built.
https://expeditionportal.com/forum/thre ... st-2874853

I still love the lift top, but I mounted too light a clasp on it. It blew open on me in high winds in the Shenandoah Valley! I repaired on the road (ratchet strap), but need to go Heavy Duty clasps!! Diffently go vinyl for the soft side, my treated cloth failed in a tropical storm and was not a good night... Holds up very well for all else. My top is shallow, so with my 10" foam mattress, I have to remove it to close/lift and latch. Not enough room and my head gets squished... Makes good good argument for lift assist pistons!

Good to see ya back and well!
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby dbhosttexas » Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:33 am

Spent some time today going over my options again in Sketchup. The easiest, quickest, and make the wife happiest design utilizes the current truck bed, a small overcab for light item / clothing / privy tent storage, extends over the extended tailgate to use that additonal 2.5 feet for floor so I end up with just under 9' of floor space, and rig up some sort of folding bed , sort of like a jacknife couch, but that would go against the back of the truck bed against the cab as it were. so it is transverse along the truck bed, folding out to a king size width is the problem. It's just BIG. If I split the mattress into 3 segments and and them more or less scissor flop around to fold up and make a couch that deals with the mattress, but that leaves the frame to deal with.

Like your pop up bed replacement rig, I am looking more and more seriously at a pop top to get the standing room I need. Pretty sure I don't want an additional 4+ feet above the truck bed height going down the road. Just from a wind resistance standpoint it just doesn't sound good.

Ugh. Too many choices!
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby dbhosttexas » Fri Jul 23, 2021 11:12 pm

Not sure if I mentioned this, but I finally got to looking at that Bronco rig. Holy swiss cheese batman that thing is AWESOME!

My love of full size Broncos however makes me want to cringe at the thought of that cut up body... I can only hope it was smashed up out back.

I am getting to more and more doubt I will be able to get away with a flatbed conversion, so I have been going down the route of a camper shell. There are several approaches I can take. For starters I can do an aluminum hi top cap and short queen with no real footprint modification. Easy peasy and can get done quickly, but wife would gripe.

I can do a North South shortened king with a wide cap and bed over the truck bed, I would need to fold it up like a trifold in order to accomodate any bump / slide out, or just build the bump / slide out as a permanent feature which might just be a LOT easier to design, Again using the tailgate to gain that 2' of extra floor space. Okay not quite 2' but close...

East / west bed configuration means the cap must be wider, and only buys me a couple of inches, but the might be important inches.

I could also split the mattress and have a folding configuration that puts the bed into troop carrier couch configuation. Not sure I like that plan.

I have no plans for an overcab sleeper, but am open to standing height, with a short overcab similar to the canopy you built for soft goods storage, although I think I want the roof of the truck available for a roof rack / cargo basket. Not certain at this point.

Honestly, if I could just go with a short queen, this would be a done and over deal. I even have a line up on the perfect canopy for it. A Hi top aluminum contractors cap with side access. The side access panels can fold up and open, and a plywood support plate can slide and and be fixed to the T frame to support the AC unit...

Not sure if you caught it, but I picked up a Camplux 5L for the water system. Tested it out. Documentation is terrible, but if you know the first thing about plumbing you can get it to work pretty well. It makes water hot VERY fast even at the lowest setting. Of course the water was pretty close to hot to begin with. Trying to figure out a mount box config for the Camplux. Something I can stow it in, drop in place and use quick connects to make my hose connections and take a shower... I have the pump, power rig for the pump, intake hose, and output hose for the pump sorted. Pump power is a 15' wire lead of 14 ga, black and red bound side by side so no loose wire, marine grade 12v plug, and I will remove the ring terminals from the other end,a nd use heat shrink crimps to make my connections, and follow up with some silicone sealant to insure no moisture intrusion / connection corrosion. Even though I have the 42 gallon tank, I am leaning toward using the Aquatainers anyway. Might rig up another pump rig to bring fresh water from an outside source and run it through a filter rig, but I am thinking the AquaTainers will offer me the best ability to refill wherever I can, including places where I can use a water bandit and a short length of hose....
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby dbhosttexas » Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:04 am

So to put this back on track some updates.

#1. I toyed with the concept of using a pop up camper frame and build a large foamie squaredrop camper. I obtained a free to me 86 Palomino pop up in oddly good shape with some serious electrical and plumbing problems. But all the fabrics are awesome so we are there... The camper otherwise is on spot on shape, but really doesn't fit what I want off road mobility wise. Already have a 96 Coleman Niagra that we use from time to time, but again not liking giant soft sided bag that we can not AC in the Texas summer heat and humidity...

#2. My wife has come around on the concept of flatbed conversion and camper build. On the caveat that we get her a decent full suze SUV, looking into a newer model Tahoe LTZ 4x4 for her.

#3. Been working on, and discarding, starting over, discarding, starting over etc... camper designs..

#4. Moved forward with building up various systems, water heating, fuel distribution, 12v power supply not dependent upon the vehicle etc...

#5. Worked on honing the overall out of hte camper camp. So kitchen and ensuite are more or less fine tuned, although kitchen is quite bloated and need to pare it down a good bit.

Going over RJ Howells build thread for ideas, and design concepts. For some reason I thought his flatbed and camper frame was aluminum not steel. It's all good thoough. LOTS of ideas coming from there, lots of questions... I am thinking about for my build...

#1. East / West king bed configuration. IF I can con my wife into going with an overcab, I am in fantastic shape. That would require enough headroom to be able to sit up in bed, and an easy way for a short woman to climb up into the thing...
#2. WIth the east / west configuration, wider rear boxes This should allow me to have a 20lb BBQ tank instead of the more expensive, and not exchange friendly 5 to 10lb models.

The basic box is easy enough to design. The big questions I have is..

#1.How best to integrate a 5K BTU window AC?
#2. How to deal with water storage. We discussed that in the plumbing thread. I am sticking with the 4 7 gallon aqua tainers for potable water, and very short term sanitation water, for longer duration a multi bucket system for locally sourced water with bleach drops and filtration. See my thread in the plumbing section for more details.
#3. Not a huge fan of the awning design, but I understand why it is set up that way. Trying to figure out the best way to get folding hard sides instead. I do want awnings, just lower down to make it easier to set up / take down.
#4. Interior finish. My wife would want the camper pretty inside. Probably end up cladding the interior with thin cedar beadboard from my local lumberyard. Pretty good for bug resistance to boot.
#5. Start thinking about designing in a vented permanent mount location on the passenger s side of the truck for the shower heater. Would need to figure out how to click it together as it were for the quick connects. Probably bypass the Gasknect at that point...

If I can set it up, and leave the plumbing set up, I would be happier using propane. But that leaves the issue of certain appliances, most notably the Buddy Heater. Do I REALLY want to leave the portable buddy set up all year long? How do I get a shut off valve to that line that I can trust?
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby dbhosttexas » Thu Aug 12, 2021 2:09 pm

I may have just sort of answered my own question but need to figure out adapters. On the question of connect / disconnect of propane appliances without leakage of gas.

The appliances that will need to be adapted are...

#1. Coleman 2 burner propane camp stove.
#2. Mr. Heater Portable Buddy heater.

The Joolca Gasknect.

However there is a problem...

Stove and buddy heater use the throwaway fitting, not the, what is it 3/8" flare of a standard BBQ fitting.

The adapter I am considering looks like the right stuff but I don't know if this website is worth trusting.
https://propanewarehouse.com/shop/campi ... ale-flare/

The gasknect...
https://www.joolca.com/products/gasknect-couple-set

So assuming I can trust that vendor, or find a trustworthy vendor, I have that problem solved.
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby dbhosttexas » Tue Aug 17, 2021 10:08 am

Ran across this young gents truck camper build, and I figured I would post it here... I am giving SERIOUS consideration to framing using aluminum to keep weight down. I've heard the arguments about the aluminum brazing, including stregth tests, and I believe it would be more than sufficiently strong, especially if I use it for framing of a foamie build.

https://youtu.be/jKWV5iNEmFk

Not planning on an aluminum skin, but instead most likely PMF, again the intent here is to oncentrate on aluminum frame, foam void fill, PMF skin.
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Re: Truck camper build.

Postby dbhosttexas » Tue Aug 17, 2021 12:05 pm

RJ Howell wrote:I know you want roof-top solar, yet why not ground based? Still could use the roof to transport.. I used to carry a 130w panel that was ground based, I didn't wish to park the camper the sun for the solar! It worked well for us. I've gone to DC/DC charging now and no longer carry any solar, but I also don't stay put for more than a couple days.


I believe I have mentioned it here, I am on CPAP therapy, so yeah, charging every couple of days is critical. I am trying to avoid going with a big generator to keep fuel usage as low as possible. Pretty sure solar that would run an AC, even the lowest amp draw 5K BTU Unit I could find is going to be a tall order. Probably need 1KW of solar. Panels are improving, energy density per panel is getting better, but still huge space user.

Still not convinced of the pop up arrangement, looks complex, hard to build, harder to seal, and harder yet to insulate. I can solve the second and third issues by doing folding hard sides, but that leaves the hard to build... Not impossible though.

I like the humpback tail idea where you bump out the cabinets on the back...

I've seen a couple of builds that look good that keep the truck bed intact using contractor caps. I am still considering that route for ease of build, but building wide. I really don't know...

For now, I am just doing pavement, some gravel and my old Malibu to get to where I am going with a tent. It's okay but I would rather spend less time setting up / tearing down, and having a more comfortable place to sleep...
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