I probably picked a bad spot the have to end but I had to get to bed.
My wife and I made a list for what we would like for camping, this is most of the key things.
1. Me, I want to come home for work on a Friday and say lets go camping, we would need to grab some clothes, throw some food into the cooler and be on the road in 20-30 minutes.
2. Her, she wants a toilet. That could be as simple as a portable one in one of those small shower/toilet tents.
3. Both, quick to setup and take down.
4. Both, cost. Don't want to spend a lot
5. Me, shower of some type.
5. Her, table and chairs. We alway take chair but the ones we use now are a backpacking type which are nice when you don;t have any place to sit, not the greatest to really get comfortable. On our last trip half the places we camped didn't have a table. My knees like cooking at a table.
6. Me, plenty of water storage. We live in the desert, we alway take extra water with us. Three times now we came across people needing water. Not life and death but we had plenty to share.
7. Her, a place to get ready at night and in the morning. Must be a girl thing.
8. Both, Covered place to get out of the sun, wind, and sometimes rain. Tarp, canopy
There are a few other things but I can't find the list now. but this cover most of the important things. If this was a smart list and could talk it would have said "Hey dummy you need a teardrop camper". Once I saw the off road TD and started to look into TD's it covered most all the points on my list. And even few that weren't on the list. Last year in Colorado we went to three campgrounds we have been wanting to stay at but they had hard-side restrictions due to a bear attack a few weeks before. And I have heard this is happening more in bear country.
I can find few reason not to go with a TD. How can this be because they don't make sense? It just goes to show that as life goes on what was the wrong answer 15 years ago could be the right answer now. And in 10 years maybe a fifth wheel RV. I don't see that happening.
So I have been looking for as much info I can on TD's. This site is love/hate. It can be madding with all the old threads with broken links, but some of the build threads a great. It is cool to see people that probably haven't used a hammer for something other than hanging a picture build a TD, to other with mad skills, tools and workshops. Having looked at the Moby's and a few other off road TD's and the $15k and mostly up price range I have decided to build. My wife knew I would build from the start even if those were in the $8k range. She know me to well.
Things I know already.
Timbern axel. 10" breaks, wheels will be same as the Jeep with 31" tires with room to go up to 35's when and if I do the Jeep.
width will be to fit a twin XL mattress which will be around 60" wide
Height inside around 52-54" I want to be able to sit up and it will work with 60" Baltic Birch
length will be just under 10' to work with the BB.
Water tank, pump, galley sink, shower, hot water.
Galley with stove, storage for cookware and food. Cooler will live in the back of the Jeep.
Roof fan, probably no AC if you need AC it's probably to hot to camp, or go where is's cooler like the mountains.
12v for most everything with LEDs, two batteries, maybe a few 120v outlets, shore power, more for charging batteries when at home.
Alu skinned.
Not sure yet
Benroy or Grummen, I could use some help here. Wife wants more of the traditional teardrop. And I agree.
Canopy or some type of tarp that could also include a place for toilet and shower. I'm sure there are some cool ideas out there just haven't seen it yet.
Wood or carpet interior.
Buy or build doors.
How big of water storage.
I am thinking 1.5" stick framed walls with spray foam insulation. I haven't seen anyone do this. I still need to think this through. I would like more than the 3/4" foam like most people do.
There is a lot more but I'm running out of time again
I have a few projects to finish up before the summer heat gets here, although today was 97 degrees I think summer is here now. I hope to have stuff all ready to go once the temps start to not be so hot in the fall. I'm looking at a knee replacement in June so I will have time to work on details then.
Todd