Foamie Camper (Abbreviated) Build Journal

[StanDahl]

This came about after camping in the windy desert with my tent thrashing around, keeping me awake all night too many times. Since my overly ambitious teardrop design was becoming impractical (after Gus's health took a turn), I opted to build a truck camper. It didn't need a steel frame, and would be easier to store. Plus, I would be able to stand up in it. I know that campers like this aren't the usual fare here on the TnTTT, but nearly all of the ideas and techniques were picked up here on this site.

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In early 2015 I started on some Sketch-Up plans and after about a year of fussing with it, I got started building it in Feb. of 2016. I hadn’t considered building a “foamie”, since that sounded so ridiculous (for some reason this made me think of a trailer made from many cans of Great Stuff being sprayed over a frame and then sculpted), but after seeing what they are really about, and since my truck is a Ford Ranger with a little 2.3L engine, I knew that I needed something light, so I decided to go with a foamie design to minimize weight. Here is a very abbreviated build journal:

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Two benches for seats and beds, with the possibility of a table down the middle that will drop in and make for a large bed.

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[StanDahl]

The design is teardrop inspired, with curves and a galley in the back.

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A cabinet with sliding doors for the nose:

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I wanted a trolley top to add extra height in the rear to make it easier to get in and out:

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[StanDahl]

The body is made of mostly 1x pine and plywood with 2" rigid foam holding it together. All sorts of jigs were made to make various cuts and slots in the foam. George Coe provided the instructions and inspiration for most of the techniques I used in this effort.

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A set of four 5' long slots took about 3 or 4 minutes to cut. This wasn't the most exciting part of the build. Then there were deeper slots for the structural frame members.

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The cut-out for the Fantastic Vent Fan.

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[StanDahl]

The frame was inset into the foam and Gorilla glued for additional strength and rigidity. It’s not glued up here, the frame does sit deeper.

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The hot-wire jigs saved me from making a HUGE mess with a router.

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Here I'm adding blocks to the outside that go through to the wood frame. This is the backing for the awning rail so that it won't easily rip out in the wind. I added the fins because in the design phase, I didn't like the look of the trolley top by itself, maybe because it’s so tall.

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[StanDahl]

Much patching and sanding and filling and sanding…

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I tried to use George’s technique to roll the canvas down the sides. By the time I got to the second side I had a system nearly perfected, but it still had snags, not the least of which was the small amount of space I had to work with.

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I chose to use Wiley windows for their lack of moving parts, and just because I had never heard of them until I started researching this project here. I like that they are rainproof even when open, and can be lifted in their slots and even removed for maximum ventilation. Everything is soaked in epoxy (for some reason I splurged and bought CPES) and there are weep holes that allow water to drain out. There are screens on the outside.

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[StanDahl]

The dowels are there because I didn't add a catch on the sides to keep the wedges from falling out when underway. My window mock-up showed that these catches won't allow the window to open as far. I probably should have made some sort of compromise there...it's not the easiest system to use I've discovered, but it works, and and I can hang stuff on it, like my reading glasses...

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I made doors for the galley/chuck boxes. I drew up all sorts of designs for a latch, but ended up just making aluminum pins that go from the entry doorway into the frame so that there is no possibility of them opening when the door is closed. I don't want to scatter my camp gear all over the highway. The door latch is a replacement latch for an RV, and wasn't at all easy to put into a made-from-scratch door. I ended up having to add another 3/16" thickness to the outside to get it to fit better.

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I laid out a lot of canvas to ensure that water wouldn't leak in. Some areas that I though would be problematic are triple and quadruple wrapped. The Titebond, canvas and exterior paint will provide the waterproofing. I’m working now on a more aerodynamic cowling for around the Fantastic Vent. The entire body was primed with Glidden Gripper after this. As we all know, that Gripper paint is really great stuff, and can be used to glue things down as well.

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[StanDahl]

I built a couple of galley/chuck boxes, this one built around a 3-burner stove. I had forgotten about the odd hinge in the 443 stove, and it will need a boost to get up higher in use so that the lid clears the back of the box. It works fine with a "standard" stove model, but with extra weight over the 443.

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The jagged lines are for an adjustable leg. I initially figured that these would extend out from the rear of the camper (see the sketch above) and make for a v-shaped galley in the rear. I would need a lot of height adjustment in case the area wasn't level. I haven't made the triangles on that yet. I ended up making a full set of four legs for each box instead of just two.

Because of their length, the galley/chuck boxes have to have an accommodation for the wheel wells, as seen to the left of the sink. The sink is made from a stainless steel chafing tray. I cut a drain and used a flexible drain hose that can retract for stowing the boxes in the camper. I may end up adding a pump faucet at some point.

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I rolled the truck out before painting the exterior, and took a few photos. Sitting around, it had collected so much dirt that I had to hose it off before painting.

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[StanDahl]

I painted it with some high-quality, but cheap exterior "oops" paint from Home Depot, already tinted a military green. I also made a couple of lantern hangers that ride in the awning rails. There's a section of nylon rope with some sort of copper tubing bits that I found laying around in the garage that ride in the rail. That's my beater 228H that I keep outside for night work.

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That isn't supposed to be the final color, I'm thinking of going a lot lighter. The truck needs a paint job too, ideally they will be matched in some way, but color schemes aren't my forte.

There is a very light lithium deep cycle battery in there, and this is the Mark I electrical panel, which will likely be replaced later. There are a couple of cigarette lighter sockets with usb adapters so far. The orange wand is a 99¢ store LED lamp. A couple of those light up the interior nicely. There will eventually be a switch panel somewhere. I went with cigarette lighter sockets and USB, because it's a pretty versatile system these days. I can charge my phone, or a laptop/iPad, etc. I have an really cool (and expensive - it was a gift) GoalZero flashlight for outside/floodlight for inside that charges via USB (quickly) or sunlight (very slowly).

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Currently powered by 3 AA batteries, but soon to be wired in, are these Coleman LED lanterns. They make a nice mood light, and two strands of them will likely be the main lighting, as I have realized that a lot of light really isn't necessary.

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The interior will eventually be finished with birch ply, and a cabinet or two will be added. The shakedown trip showed that I don't need much in the way of interior storage, just a large shelf at the ends of the bunks by the door to hold a backpack will do, and a place to store cell phones and such will be handy.

[StanDahl]

The first road trip...

I got new tires for it, even though the old ones had good tread, they were 10 years old, and I didn't want that to be the reason I ended up on the side of the road out in the desert. The morning of the departure, I was still working on many details, including making the electrical panel, the aluminum pins for the galley doors, packing everything, etc. My old college roommate and I got under way and as I nervously drove off, I was watching carefully in the side mirrors for signs of the camper coming loose. It's only held down by four 1/2" bolts that go through a piece of fir in and through the stake posts. The truck handled very well, and had good power, at least on flat ground. We made it onto the freeway, and even got up to 70mph, although hills required downshifting into 4th and occasionally 3rd gear, which isn't a surprise for this truck. I can forget about using the AC on anything even slightly uphill. I checked the bolts at every stop and found no signs of loosening.

I'm going to try to weigh it one of these days, I'm guessing it will come in at around 500-600lbs. I can easily lift one end when it's not bolted down, and I can still pull it out by myself, although it's a struggle.

It got lots of looks on the road, I saw some people take pictures. I figure there were a lot of "what was that guy thinking?" comments, but I got some thumbs-up too. This might be one of the more unique campers out there!

Mid Hills campground, Mojave National Preserve:

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The 30 mile or so dirt road to the campground provided a new reason to be nervous, the jarring made me worry that the whole thing might work itself apart. The structure is pretty strong, it's a integral unit wrapped in canvas and glue, which helps add a lot to the strength. Everyone wanted to see what this thing was about... I was camping with a bunch of geologists I'd known in college, and a couple of professors too.

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All of this stuff fits in below the benches. I didn't use the legs, since the picnic table was handy. I used a 413F instead of a heavier 3-burner. I didn't want to chance beating up the 443 yet. The "modern" bent wire wind wing catches on the 413F and newer stoves is really nice to have instead of the wiggly wire arrangement. The lid stayed up the whole time in pretty gusty wind conditions. There's a flip-up table between the two boxes, and a flip-down lid on the left box.

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[StanDahl]

I was very happy with the first outing, everything worked very well. It started to get windy on Saturday, and blew all night. The camper kept me and my buddy warm while it was 28° F (-2°C?) outside (at least it was when we got up), and the wind didn't bother at all. All I had for stabilizers were a couple of jack stands in the back. I'd like to add some stabilizers to the frame, but I don't see any room underneath. I guess they're mostly for trailers and RV's.

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On the way home, there was strong wind, including cross wind for much of the way, but it held together. I stayed in the right lane with the trucks and didn't push it too hard. After two years on this build, I am very happy to be able to use it, and it's everything I had hoped it would be. Now I can work on finishing the details, like the wood paneled interior, cabinets and shelves, the lighting...etc.

They aren't completely finished yet, but here are some galley/chuck box details. Here's how they fit into the spaces beneath the benches:

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Here's the cut-out to accommodate the wheel wells, that made for some unusual drawers.

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[StanDahl]

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The legs slide into these slots. In the original design, they are adjustable to a small degree, one or both can slide up and down a bit, as shown below. My design (when finished) will allow for a much wider range of length. This was to be necessary if only using two legs with the other end supported by the rear of the galley opening on the camper. (I'm not done with the painting, and I need to shave the legs so that any leg will fit in any position.)

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A hardwood triangle will pop into the notches to lock them in lengthwise, but a butterfly nut may be necessary to keep the legs from popping out if the box is pushed from the side. (It was too hard to draw a butterfly nut, much easier to do a hex nut.)

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[StanDahl]

I've never considered using a sink before, but decided to put one on here to make hand washing less of a squatting-next-to-a-jug situation with a bar of soap stuck on top that the squirrels (or bears?) keep stealing... There will be a drain extension that will attach to the flexible drain and run into a pan or something. The drain exits out the side of the wheel well cut-out on the left of center (the drain is tucked over to the right as when it's stowed below the bench).

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A recent addition is an edge-banded extension that covers the gap between the flip-down lid and the top deck, and a classier latch than the hook and eye that I camped with (shown above):

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As intended, with a three-burner stove. (This 426A is very heavy.) The slot under the stove is unfinished. I will probably end up making my own silverware drawer and utility slot.

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[StanDahl]

Today I finished wiring up a strand of LED lights for the forward cabinet. These turned out to be mostly unnecessary, but I had a good time making them. I used a corrugated plastic political campaign sign cut into strips and had to wire up 3 separate circuits of 3 LED's and a 75ohm resistor each to convert the 13 volts coming from the battery to the 4v lamps.

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I discovered that I could slit the channels and tuck the wires inside, greatly de-cluttering the look of the whole mess.

These bulbs aren’t nearly as bright as the last ones I had, and I'm stuck with 50 of them that I bought to be economical…

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I wanted to hide the abrupt profile of the Fantastic Vent so I started working on a cowling, I hope Gorilla Glue sticks to painted canvas... The rear is beveled to coax water to flow into the drain slot. The side and upper level pieces have been cut and kerfed, they'll get glued in tomorrow, then the sculpting can begin.

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[StanDahl]

I forgot to show the slots cut for the electrical wiring, the center part of the cover piece has trimmed to allow a space for the wires:

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The slot can hold about 3 double 16ga wires, but probably that will be pretty tight. I've only needed two in one slot so far.

[GPW]

WOW!!! Super NICE job Stan !!!