Ford Transit chassis cab DIY composite camper

Jonnyo

Observer
After driving for the past 2.5 years a Ford Transit conversion and loving every minutes of it, i decided to take the plunge and take on the challenge to build a even bigger van for me, the wife and the 3 kids and the dog! We need more room! (kids age 4,5,7)

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Chassis
2019 Ford Transit cab/chassi 178 wheelbase, dually, with 6000lbs payload!
3.7 v6 engine and a very basic trim. it was used with only 44km on it. So used but brand new and very cheap!

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The goal is to build a motorhome at will allow for very light offroad, mostly forestry road/gravel roads. 4 seasons. I m alone building this so i dont have any help and i want to build this with normal material i can get locally and stay within my range of skills (basics).

I m very much following the same receipt as ryan and courtney did for there truck camper :
I also need to have this useable for the summer! it dosnt have to be finished but useable as a primitive motorhome as my little kids love camping!!!!

The van will get the simple 2'' lift and oversize tires and small upgrade of the suspension components but that is about it. Minimal work all to be done by me.

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Cabine: 16ft X 81'' X 83'' wide (expected weight of 1000-1200bs) lets see how much higher i end up!
Walls, Composite 4x8 panels 0.04 aluminum, 1.5 XPS foam, 1/4 Meranti plywood.
exobody frame of the cabine made of 3x3 0.125 aluminum angle welding together by me.
Subframe 2x1.5 0.125 aluminum tubing

the other goal is to keep this within a small budget so i will make a big effort to keep track of everything and see if i can stay close to the goal i fix. This mean a lot of decision will be taken base on price. Alibaba motorhome....
Chassis cab 26k CDN
Cabin with door and windows 8000$ CDN
Interior finish and truck mods 12000$ CDN
total 46 000$ CDN

Today was getting material,

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used door 250$
insulation 893$
plywood 280$
aluminum order pending 1853$

The next month will have very little update, it s gonna be the very long process of building about 16 composite panels one by one using PL premium glue and lots of pavestone weight on. But as the weather isnt great and all my build happen outside... this will give me a full month to get the panel done before i move outside to start working on the chassis and exobody. it s go time!
 

Jonnyo

Observer
it s been slow! i have order so many parts, suspension, fiberglass, epoxy, alumium etc. I got everything in the house/garage and been doing the very time consuming process of building 14X 4X8 composite panels. I m doing this as there as been too much snow and cold weather outside to allow me to start working on the truck. Spring is almost here and i will be able to do more fun stuff soon!

so far, 4 panels made, 10 to go!!! panels are all 4x8 0.04 aluminum / XPS 1.5''/ 1/4 birch plywood.

i m hoping to be done all panel within the next 2 weeks and that will coincide with spring break and i will be able to start working on the Van, suspension, subframe etc!!!
 

RAM5500 CAMPERTHING

OG Portal Member #183
Look forward to watching this build! Excellent!

One tip: Do NOT skimp on the door, especially since starting from scratch. Literally every single person i know that has skimped on the door has regretted it.

The cheaper aluminum frame doors cause massive thermal transfer and condensation/moisture build up. Especially since you mention wanting it "four seasons"

My homie @java may chime in on this! :)

Yeah, the good ones arent cheap, but this is definitely one of those "An ounce of prevention saves a pound of headache" things

My .02
 

java

Expedition Leader
Look forward to watching this build! Excellent!

One tip: Do NOT skimp on the door, especially since starting from scratch. Literally every single person i know that has skimped on the door has regretted it.

The cheaper aluminum frame doors cause massive thermal transfer and condensation/moisture build up. Especially since you mention wanting it "four seasons"

My homie @java may chime in on this! :)

Yeah, the good ones arent cheap, but this is definitely one of those "An ounce of prevention saves a pound of headache" things

My .02
1000000% this. Buy a good door. It's the one thing I really hate on my truck. to the point I may get a good one and infill the hole (my door is wider than the good ones...) and that will be a big crappy project.

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Jonnyo

Observer
Look forward to watching this build! Excellent!

One tip: Do NOT skimp on the door, especially since starting from scratch. Literally every single person i know that has skimped on the door has regretted it.

The cheaper aluminum frame doors cause massive thermal transfer and condensation/moisture build up. Especially since you mention wanting it "four seasons"

My homie @java may chime in on this! :)

Yeah, the good ones arent cheap, but this is definitely one of those "An ounce of prevention saves a pound of headache" things

My .02

what would you suggest or consider a good door? the one i source so far is insulated but it as the aluminum frame and from my experience build small teardrop trailer, it will freeze inside and be cover with a small layer of ice during winter time.... done this....was no easy! and i love winter camping.

this is the teardrop i build for me and my wife...before the 3 kids!!!!

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java

Expedition Leader
Tern overland has composite frames door. I would go that way. I'm well aware of frozen frames

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Jonnyo

Observer
Updates? Hows it going???


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i started the project and me and my daughter builded 10X 4x8 composite panel!

Then, came a amazing opportunity to buy a home on acrage and sell our current house. So the last 6 months have been a insane crazy time and we have moved into a 3 acres home with a giant (to me) 900sft triple garage that will be my fun project shop.men cave. So the build will resume in october and i can work all winter long inside with the kids and have hopefully the camper usable for next spring. But for now, i m still in finishing small reno work around the new place and making sure we are up and running 100%. but it s a small delay that will pay off big time.... winter is cold here and working inside will be so much fun vs outside in the snow and cold!

my new fun work/project shop; 900sft garage is a dream come true!!!Screenshot (27).pngScreenshot (26).png
 
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Terra Ops

Adventurer
Nice garage! Did you use epoxy or Premium PL to make your panels?

"it s been slow! i have order so many parts, suspension, fiberglass, epoxy, alumium etc. I got everything in the house/garage ...."
 

Jonnyo

Observer
me and my kids did lots of test peices similar to you and both PL and epoxy did well but

i went with PL premium between the wood panel and foam and used epoxy between the foam and aluminum sheet. Reason for this is simply that the epoxy was so much easier to spread on the aluminum vs the pl premium so i had better succes not getting any gaps.
 

The Artisan

Adventurer
Look forward to watching this build! Excellent!

One tip: Do NOT skimp on the door, especially since starting from scratch. Literally every single person i know that has skimped on the door has regretted it.

The cheaper aluminum frame doors cause massive thermal transfer and condensation/moisture build up. Especially since you mention wanting it "four seasons"

My homie @java may chime in on this! :)

Yeah, the good ones arent cheap, but this is definitely one of those "An ounce of prevention saves a pound of headache" things

My .02
Make your door out of the cut out, frame it in broke steel on the door and frame. I used a commercial lock and recessed handle, also used an alum roto hinge. Client has been using the pod for a year and a half now, no issues
Kevin
Screenshot_20210919-105645_Gallery.jpg
 
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java

Expedition Leader
Make your door out of the cut out, frame it in broke steel on the door and frame. I used a commercial lock and recessed handle, also used an alum roto hinge. Client has been using the pod for a year and a half now, no issuesView attachment 682788
Steel frame will still sweat tho no? Inside picture?

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