by dbhosttexas » Tue Aug 04, 2020 6:22 pm
Holy cheese whiz Batman!
See that is the sort of build I WANT to do, but SWMBO still thinks my now 16 year old F150 should be a shiny street driver. I don't think she quite understands...
Her requirements are actually a HUGE part of why I am needing to do a cap build instead of an overlander.
I'm slowly working on her for that. I think once we get her a nice new(er) SUV, she will relax a bit on the truck...
Should I get the go ahead for an overlander build, here are the big things I want to do design wise.
#1. Complete the base truck build out. This means swapping the Rancho coils for Moog HD springs to get the nose out of the weeds, Getting my body shop BIL to trim the back sides of the fenders so rubbing with the 35x12.50/17 LTs is no longer an issue at full turn / compression. 4:56 gears, LS up front, selectable locker out back, fresh engine, and make sure everything is sealed up blah blah blah. You get the idea... I only have 2.5" of lift. And want to keep it that way. I am overlanding, not rock crawling. Any terrain that will require more lift and tire, will be too risky with a camper on the back, and the length of the rig etc...
#2. The overcab sleeper would be designed, and the width of the whole thing would accomodate a king size bed in the overcab. And it MUST support a lot of weight. Part of the reason behind travel is weight loss. I don't know why, but I lose weight when I travel. But as it is, neither my wife nor I are in a good weight range and need the camper to support us...
#3. The pop up would be thickly insullated. A huge part o the reason for going with foam construction is the insulation value. I camp / travel where it is HOT. I remember my Dad had a Starcraft pop up camper in the 1980s that was a hard side pop up. I am considering a design like that, but need to consider how to insulate the hinges etc...
#4. Dedicated storage, maybe lockable roto packs on the outside, for at least 10 gallons of fuel for the truck, generator and appliances.
#5. 5K BTU window unit AC in the back wall, so the door would be on one side instead of the center. Maybe... If I can source an AC narrow enough maybe?
#6. I am planning on using a Coleman dual fuel stove / appliances. I need to get a cold winter to test my ancient Coleman Catalytic heaters on Regular Unleaded Gas. May gum up the wick, may not. Need to test. It was free anyway so... And I don't necessarily have an issue with using Coleman Fuel / Naptha if I have to. My travels will take me accross the US and Canada (plenty of Coleman Fuel at Walmart, Bass Pro Shops, Cabelas, etc...) and Mexico (most general hardware type stores carry Naptha in 4 liter cans for stove use and paint stripping... I am just not wanting to go with Propane. But I digress...
#7. At least 28 gallon fresh water capacity. My black tank is limited to 5 gallons (port o potty) But I can extend that somewhat I.E. I am not too shy to dig a cat hole and poop in the ground. My wife is a different story...
Mind you, if I were starting off with a Super Duty, Diesel, I would be shopping for Diesel appliances and calling that part done...
So maybe I can just I dunno. Leave a bunch of salty sand in the current bed to convince my wife we need to get rid of it...