Anyone built their own Living space box that replaced the truck bed?

[jfman]

Hello guyz and gals,

Sitting in a hotel in Peru nearing the end of my year long motorcycle trip thru the Americas.

Been thinking about building a rig when I get back home. (I need something to keep me sane for regular life)

Anyway the concept that appeals to me the most is one where you buy a full size truck, remove the bed and build a living space in lieu of the truck bed. Probably one with a sleeping quarters above the cab.

So here goes: Where can I find good information on building the box?!? I am very handy with wood but I never built anything that had to take the abuse of traveling in rough terrain in all kinds of wheater.

Can someone point me to a thread detailing building techniques for tough yet lightweight camper enclosures?

I also want to learn about mounting this to a truck frame so it can deal with the flex of the chassis.

Thanks you all!

JF from Montreal

 

[s.e.charles]

you probably won't find all you need in one thread, so the best advice may be "start reading!". some build threads are heavily into mechanics. some into carpentry and fiberglassery. read for not only what did work, but for what didn't, and why.

my start, low these many years ago, was Holly Beck's Supercamper. https://thesupercamper.blogspot.com/ good or bad, it provoked me to thought. save your pennies and time for it will consume much more of each than you will ever plan (or intend!) whatever innovative ideas you come up with, research them and realize someone has probably done it before. there's much to be said for simple. not cheap or slipshod, but simple. try not to get swept up in the "I might need that sometime" mindset. if you get things to a point of useability, your use may well dictate which things to add and which to leave out.

if you have been two-wheeling life for a year, I imagine almost anything which doesn't require constant balancing will appear a luxury, so you will be much happier with less complexity.

 

[rruff]

Anyway the concept that appeals to me the most is one where you buy a full size truck, remove the bed and build a living space in lieu of the truck bed. Probably one with a sleeping quarters above the cab.

I did it 17 years ago, and I'm doing it again. Your more efficient designs are going to be foam and fiberglass, but you can use marine plywood to skin the foam if you wish. But... you are going to want a fiberglass exterior coating anyway. You can make them quite light. Mine should weigh ~700 lb for the shell and the bed being removed is ~400 lb, and it isn't as light as it could be. I'm doing wet layup on flat panels which will then be connected and the edges finished. The panels have some wood inside (edges, around holes, plus 4ft "stringers") but mostly 25psi XPS. The front cab-over part will be a separate piece that is curved from the sides and top. It's for storage on mine, the bed is in the rear.

My previous camper was hard mounted to a '84 Toyota truck, and it worked fine. If you get a pickup with a stiff boxed frame I wouldn't worry about a pivoting mount. The Tundra frame isn't so stiff so I'm mounting it with polyurethane cab mounts. to provide a little flex.

There are many build threads on this forum. I haven't really gotten mine going yet...

 

[TexomaPowerboater]

https://killeen.craigslist.org/rvd/d/2002-chevy-silveradox4-pop/6582678270.html

 

[ckupq]

This is cool, but a horrible use of the outside cabinets.

 

[Mundo4x4Casa]

JF, JR here; aka: el jefe. Some very good advice above especially about keeping it simple. There are myriad ways to go with this project. We came from a camping/adventuring/Jeeping/Rock Crawling mindset/background and once the kids were out of the casa, settled on a Lance Lite camper on an overly prepared diesel truck. In this case, the 'project' was mostly about preparing the truck for long term travel/living, not the camper itself. Coming from a lifetime of 'projects', fabricating this and that to off road vehicles, the simplest solution to long term travel over terra incognita was to apply known technology traveling/adventure rig.

We purchased the lightest (1842 pounds/wet), least tall (6 feet, 4 inches inside headroom), narrowest (86 inches wide without jacks) camper that would fit on a short bed truck. It was 3 years old when we bought it; used 3 times and was the stripped down model with no air conditioning; no microwave; no oven and small tanks. For $6500, USD, we've enjoyed over 200 nights in 'the box' and the rig has paid for itself over and over again. I am very hard on that old Lance taking it where few adventurers would dare and it has held up marvelously and not pulled itself apart. Dodge has a very rigid frame, compared to an older Ford, especially on a short bed and a 3 point attachment scheme is not needed even after doing this;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bfj5y93wsd7vfkw/jefe does sand hill at dry wash of the devil Anza.m4v?dl=0
A couple things for you to consider are, 1. Obtain a diesel truck that was built before 2007 or so, depending on when the mfgr. added the smog devices like soot bags or D.E.F. tanks to the exhaust. Our 2001 can run on Mexican or Sud Amerika diesel without incident. 2. Be sure to have a manual transmission, preferably a 6-speed for longevity. The last thing you want to have is automatic transmission woes south of the border. 3. Be sure to have a casette toilet system, not a wet or dry bath with black tank. Actual dump locations are few and far between. 4. Keep everything light and low. 5. Install solar panels. We have 200 watts which are plenty for our needs.
This will save you a lot of grief and give you more time to enjoy the ride. Go to Truck Camper Adventure magazine online to get some great ideas.

 

[vintageracer]

This is cool, but a horrible use of the outside cabinets.

Why?

 

[jfman]

if you have been two-wheeling life for a year, I imagine almost anything which doesn't require constant balancing will appear a luxury, so you will be much happier with less complexity.

After tenting and hoteling for a year what I want is something that does not need to be "set up" to sleep in. I want to dry camp, no showers etc... just a bed above the cab, and two chairs and a table that fold out of the way to eat. I want the whole space to able to be rid of all fixtures in less than 10min for when I would need the rig as a mover or a toy hauler.

I also want other things that complicate the build. 1. Cutaway cab 2.full opening in rear so I can use it to haul a dirtbike or two. 3. Maybe a pop top (not the whole roof but rather a center section that pops up.


Being a cheap ass, and living in montreal, I was thinking of buying a used Maranda/Fibrobec/Spacekap utility box, cutting out the bottom parts that are "indented" to fit a truck bed, and builing it back out with alu diamond plate to a have a full floor. Then buying a used fiberglass tonneau cover for a small truck to make a pop top out of it.

Another option is building a cab from scratch.

No sure

I first need to learn how they must be put together to stay together.

 

[chilliwak]

I built a canopy but it sits on top of the truck bed...



It is made from a wood and steel stud construction with a thin aluminum skin glued on...



It opens up at the back for easy access....

 

[s.e.charles]

...



It is made from a wood and steel stud construction with a thin aluminum skin glued on... ...

very artfully done. what year is the HO you started with?

 

[chilliwak]

very artfully done. what year is the HO you started with?

Well thank you sir. The HO (high output) motor is an aprx 1967 327 c.i. 11 to 1 pistons and special valve seats so you can run propane. The other HO is an exceptional specimen that certainly lives up to the HO (high output) configuration.
I hope this answers your questions. Otherwise I would be happy to give you more info. Cheers, Chilli...