MicroCampers

[linuxmanxxx]

Switching to aluminum siding to add colors as well as weight reduction. Found if you delve into a business end of things that you have better access to glues and other things that you can't purchase without being setup for tax resale and so forth. Using a 3m green water based contact cement now that is working rather well and is very low odor and we are applying with a spray gun. Things just keep getting better and better in our microworld.

[linuxmanxxx]

I'm working with a metals vendor here in austin tx and trying to get them to start carrying the aluminum sheeting prepainted and offering online to sell to the TD community since the choices are so few and prices are just horrible online. Wish me luck.

[Wolffarmer]

Looking good Linuxman. While it is not my cupa tea ( to big for my TV ) it does look nice.

Randy

[linuxmanxxx]

Thanks changing from frp to aluminum we're looking around 900 lbs for the production model if not a bit lighter well under the 1250 the prototype weighed in at. That dang frp is some heavy stuff and glad to be getting away from it.

[wyldesyde007]

Switching to aluminum siding to add colors as well as weight reduction. Found if you delve into a business end of things that you have better access to glues and other things that you can't purchase without being setup for tax resale and so forth. Using a 3m green water based contact cement now that is working rather well and is very low odor and we are applying with a spray gun. Things just keep getting better and better in our microworld.

Just ran across your post and thought I would offer my 2 cents, I own a laminating company and we have been in the business of spraying contacts for 20+ years. Did you check specs on the water based glues? most of these glues are designed for indoor use hence the low emissions, they also have some issues with trying to bond metals and un-backed materials and there have also been issues with water based glues crystallizing and releasing the material. When we use water based contact we have preheaters that warm the glue up so that the water will "flash off" faster, if you don't take this step your could introduce corrosion or swelling in your materials, if your materials swell from soaking up the water and they later shrink it will pull the bond apart. Beyond that they just don't offer the peel/shear strength that solvent based stuff does pound for pound.

[linuxmanxxx]

The one we use is ok for outside use and the materials we are glueing have no problems with swelling and such during the flashing period of the glue which is about 30 min at the most (much faster in this texas heat of late). It is one of the rare ones I found that is safe for foam and has bonded both wood and aluminum to the foam with stellar strength and the little less shear strength is made up with how well it adheres to the foam core and the much more pleasant application experience. We are just using a cheap hvlp gun to apply it and its working fabulously plus its green tinted so it is easy to see the coverage.

Just uploaded a pic to my gallery of the almost completed production 1 model and you can see it is way better looking and higher quality than the prototype we built. With still doing a lot of redesign on the fly with a new trailer we finished this one in a month vs 3 months for the prototype and figure production will be much quicker as well.

[linuxmanxxx]

Production Pictures

[linuxmanxxx]

Final production with graphics and note the height behind the F150 Supercrew!

[linuxmanxxx]

Here's the trailer we're going to build a front loading sportsman edition to haul ATV or motorcycle and will sell for 8k loaded like the standard MicroCamper.

[linuxmanxxx]

Here's a pic during construction with my 5'10" son sitting up inside the cabin so you can get an idea of the large space inside compared to the traditional teardrop design.

[linuxmanxxx]

I would like to give some of our features to you that might help you decide if our product meets your needs or not. We are a kinda spinoff from the teardrop model but with some changes that I added to address the shortcomings of the teardrop layout for what I like.

We include a tent with every camper that attaches to one of the doors to provide an area for dressing, social area, or additional bedroom. With door left open the tent can be air conditioned as well as the camper due to the overkill size of the unit we use for cooling and heating. There are switched external gfci outlets to power lights in the tent and can be killed at bedtime within the cabin right along with killing the internal LED lighting.

Standard we also add features that are usually in high end campers such as 22" LED tv inside the cabin with an ipod docking sound bar for the sound and shelving in all corners for phones, ipods, remotes, and other things to keep handy. 4 outlets inside the cabin to power lights tv and accessories and 1 external gfci to power the tent and another to power the AC/heater unit. 2 dual plug outlets in the Galley for powering fridge, microwave, and any other appliances you might want to use while camping. Included in this galley are a 3.1 2 door fridge/freezer or a single door 4.1 fridge and a 700 to 1000 watt microwave as well. Part of the rear 2 ft galley section is an internal full height floor to ceiling closet and is next to the TV on the rear wall in the cabin.

The things different than a teardrop are the squared backend which affords for a much roomier cabin and no claustrophobic tendencies at all as well as a nice large fridge or thermoelectric coleman large ice chest in the galley area to keep a lot of stuff cold when out there many days at a time roughing it Wink and a lot of storage space underneath the complete cabin and is a 5' x 8' area 12" deep that is divided into 3 separate locked concealed areas that are completely trimmed in diamond plate.

A lot of the teardrops are quite pricey but this fully loaded version complete is $7000.00 plus tax. The size profile is 11.5' long 6' high and 6' wide and weight is 1400 pounds with a 3500 pound axle under it. Fully insulated and strong as I walked on the ceiling during build to prove the strength and I'm 190 pounds so with or without some rails you can put a lot on the ceiling as well. Has standard 14" vent and vent cover up front over the cabin for ventilation as well as aerating the cabin while rolling down the road and keep the cabin dry and fresh even if its raining.

[linuxmanxxx]

Would like some feedback on how many would be interested in purchasing the design layout for a microcamper as well as a build kit for doors/door frames to drop into the wall construction and save all the headaches we have already experienced and learned from building these.

[Wolffarmer]

It is not for my old bones.

Desertmoose is building a more traditional TD with under floor storage similar to yours so there is some people out there thinking about it.

For me though I need more vertical space. Don't need a standy but a crunchy. And it seems to me that people with a lot of toys to take with them will like the under floor storage.

And I would like mine lighter for the TVs that I like.

But maybe like in motorcycles. Every time Honda came out with a new bike that I hated. They had to build another fleet of ships to get enough of them to the US.



Randy

[linuxmanxxx]

http://youtu.be/0pOuqStizGY Here's a link to a video I shot of a walkthru of its features and don't be underwhelmed as its nothing fancy....no pyrotechnics or gimmicks were involved in the making of this video.

[linuxmanxxx]

2nd 4 x 8 model out and will do an identical 5 x 8 the exact same just wider.

Have the pickup model almost completely thought out and designed and will be universal to fit in all full size trucks regardless of bed length.

In talks to do some toy haulers soon to sell and rent in the Dallas area so things are looking up for us.