Steve Smoot starts his camper

[StPatron]

Nice job on the window cut-out and window selection, Steve.

Sorry to hear about your encounter with the rusty nail,,,, ouch.

[steve smoot]

It's looking good, Steve. Are you making an exact replica from Andrew's design library?

No, it's similar, but I have made a lot of changes...The lift up top will be the same width as the camper body, and I am not making the curved piece in front of the lift top. Plus it's 8' long and 6' wide and framed more like a truck camper than Andrews design.

I hope to work on it some more next week. I am gluing blue foamboard between the studs now and hope to skin the rest of body with 1/4" luan next week. I will be out of town a few days later this month, so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for viewing my posts.

Steve

[steve smoot]

Nice job on the window cut-out and window selection, Steve.

Sorry to hear about your encounter with the rusty nail,,,, ouch.

Thanks for the kind words. I knew better than to wear Crocs on a dang jobsite. I am a retired GC and this ain't the first nail that I stepped on...

[mikeschn]

My TV is a Subaru Forester, and it's only rated to 1500 pounds, plus we live in the Blue Ridge mountains. I can not get home without going up hill...
[/b]

I thought the tow rating on a Forester was 2400#.

Mike...

[steve smoot]

My TV is a Subaru Forester, and it's only rated to 1500 pounds, plus we live in the Blue Ridge mountains. I can not get home without going up hill...
[/b]

I thought the tow rating on a Forester was 2400#.

Mike...

Hi Mike,

The newer ones are rated at 2400 pounds, but mine is a 2001 and it was rated at 2000 pounds..

I know that we have towed stuff way over the rated limit, but I'm not comfortable when trying to stop. I seem to get pucker marks in the upholstery.

Steve

[bc toys]

how you venting the a/c your bed is going to get really hot

[steve smoot]

how you venting the a/c your bed is going to get really hot

The bed has 2x2's on 12" centers. I will add 1-1/2" of foamboard to the underside of the platform. I will build a duct/box on the rear of the AC and vent the exhaust thru the side. Also, I am adding a vent in the floor for fresh air to cool the AC. This is how others have done the same thing and they say it works fine.

Thanks for your comments.

Steve

[steve smoot]

Well, yesterday I finished installing the foamboard and skinned the outside with 1/4" luan plywood. Don't look too close cause it's what you call a Half-A__ job. I went a bit too fast...looks kinda' like a patchwork quilt.

[Cliffmeister2000]

Well, yesterday I finished installing the foamboard and skinned the outside with 1/4" luan plywood. Don't look too close cause it's what you call a Half-A__ job. I went a bit too fast...looks kinda' like a patchwork quilt.

I don't see anything that won't be handled by the finish!

[steve smoot]

Well, yesterday I finished installing the foamboard and skinned the outside with 1/4" luan plywood. Don't look too close cause it's what you call a Half-A__ job. I went a bit too fast...looks kinda' like a patchwork quilt.

I don't see anything that won't be handled by the finish!

several of the jobsite sayings we used...

* it's good enough for who it's for..

* I can't see it from my house..

and, my all time favorite..

* quick, cover it before the flies blow it..

seriously, the FRP or plastic laminate sheets will cover it nicely...thanks for words of encouragement Cliff.

Steve

[Cliffmeister2000]

My dad used to say, "A man riding horseback on the freeway will never see that!"

[steve smoot]

Well folks, I have not worked on the camper in a long time, too much going on and lack-of-funds...

I know I told you guys about our dog Zena. She had surgery twice in 24 hours about three weeks ago. She is doing better now, but we are out another unexpected $3200...

I kept looking at the red HF frame and it was already lookin' more pink than red, so I sprayed that sucker flat black in honor of CD. Yea, the pictures look a bit fuzzy, but it's really the over spray. Now, I like it much better.

Guess I need to spray the axle. That dang red is still showin' up

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Guess I need to spray the axle. That dang red is still showin' up

I kept the red axel to show my trailer's proud HF heritage

[myoung]

Steve,

Your design looks like a 3/4 scale version of mine and reversed. I am looking forward to seeing how you resolve the issues related to the pop-up. That seems to be an area where ingenuity is required. Nice to see someone blazing a trail.

[bobhenry]

Steve:

Have you hitched it up yet?

The reason I ask is it ought to be heavy enough now to notice if there is any flex in the tongue. I took "Nobody's" idea and extended, and reinforced the tongue as he had done. I was getting a uncomfortable amount of flex in the stock tongue.

The extra 18" of length made it tow and back up SOOOO much better also!









I wanted the extention to run clear to the rear so I could use the rear tube for a class 2 (1 1/4") drawbar reciever. My welder disagreed so we stopped it just in front of the centerline of the axle.
However he did surprise me with a real nice custom made 2" rear reciever which I now have installed