C5500 TopKick 4x4 Crew Cab Build
- Thread starter NeverEnough
- Start date
hdemetrious
Adventurer
Well done
Ford Prefect
Expedition Leader
You know the Eco Roamer did not paint the body of the truck the same as the coach... Yeah a little too late with that one... oh well.
I am sure that the color will come out just fine...
If you check out the overlander meets in Europe, and the GXV and ER trucks here, many of them around the world have very similar wraps. If you are planning to travel outside of the country in it, perhaps a nice wrap of the Delicate Arch would go over well for you, showing you are from Utah, and also being as it is a well know land mark around the world.
I personally love the wraps I have seen with the nature scenes, or there was one with a guy wrapped up like a Bedouin leading a camel, loved that one!
The super thing about it too is that if it gets damaged you can take it off, or if you get sick of it you can swap it out for a fair price as compared to paint.
Just a thought for you.
It looks really great on the truck, can't wait for happy family photos around Utah!
I am sure that the color will come out just fine...
If you check out the overlander meets in Europe, and the GXV and ER trucks here, many of them around the world have very similar wraps. If you are planning to travel outside of the country in it, perhaps a nice wrap of the Delicate Arch would go over well for you, showing you are from Utah, and also being as it is a well know land mark around the world.
I personally love the wraps I have seen with the nature scenes, or there was one with a guy wrapped up like a Bedouin leading a camel, loved that one!
The super thing about it too is that if it gets damaged you can take it off, or if you get sick of it you can swap it out for a fair price as compared to paint.
Just a thought for you.
It looks really great on the truck, can't wait for happy family photos around Utah!
NeverEnough
Adventurer
Tallest point of body, the cabover, is 12'3" when on the truck. It has a low profile roof vent in the center that sticks up 1.5" and that pop-up section is 5.5" higher than than the main body. The low-profile roof-top A/C is the highest point and is 12'6".
Two things drove my overall height, which is more than I wanted but 5" less than my previous rig: dimensions required to make the big rear slide-out room work (it has a 6'4" ceiling), and enough underfloor space to create the structural strength I needed for a frameless box. It's hard to see now, but the camper body is a monocoque structure strengthened by internal boxes.
Fun job applying the exterior Scorpion coating the past two days. One more session and it'll be done. Due to the short pot life of the material, it takes three guys to do this kind of square footage. One to mix the four-part recipes, one to feed the hopper and hose, and one to run the gun.
Here's Girard in his super-suit loading up the next batch:
Even with the truck up on jacks it's still a pain running the gun underneath the body.
Tracy shooting the Scorpion with the hopper gun in the wheel well.
By the time it's all on, we'll have sprayed almost 200lbs. of coating material on the exterior surface areas.
After the morning session, it was time to head out with the boys to Ferguson Canyon for some shady top-roping on the granite. Way more fun than painting!
thetonka
Observer
13' is the top limit for scary clearance in my opinion. My hauler is over 13'5" at the peak, and I still get nervous going under some overpasses. One campground we go to every year I have literally 3" of clearance at the roof over the check in point and the speed bump right under the only point in the roof that I can clear makes it really tough. Too fast over the bump and the trailer will bounce and that 3" clearance is not enough.
NeverEnough
Adventurer
I don't think my boys have ever seen a pole saw, but maybe I should store one on the roof, just in case!
12'6" isn't outrageously tall for a coach, but it way over the limit for many backcountry roads. This rig was not designed for international travel, or it would have much tighter dimensions in height and width, not to mention a different chassis.
As for $$$, out of pocket will be over $175K, about $30K more than I had originally budgeted to for the chassis, labor, and materials. Doing anything for the first time is expensive, and the costs (and timeline) would decrease on a repeat of this particular exercise.
And thanks for the compliments. I'm still holding my breath to see how it performs in the field......
12'6" isn't outrageously tall for a coach, but it way over the limit for many backcountry roads. This rig was not designed for international travel, or it would have much tighter dimensions in height and width, not to mention a different chassis.
As for $$$, out of pocket will be over $175K, about $30K more than I had originally budgeted to for the chassis, labor, and materials. Doing anything for the first time is expensive, and the costs (and timeline) would decrease on a repeat of this particular exercise.
And thanks for the compliments. I'm still holding my breath to see how it performs in the field......
Ford Prefect
Expedition Leader
Two questions...
Any thoughts on making the plans open source?
How much would you have saved had you not gone to all the effort of the slide outs?
Thanks for sharing!
Any thoughts on making the plans open source?
How much would you have saved had you not gone to all the effort of the slide outs?
Thanks for sharing!
NeverEnough
Adventurer
My opinion may differ from others in this area, but I don't consider these types of plans (at least the dozens of working drawings and schematics I've used throughout) to be very practical as "open source" documents. Just like software, it's usefullness as open source material is a function of it being written and documented anticipating that others will use it. Outside of dimensional data, my stuff is not going to be that helpful without me standing right there.
As for the cost impact of the slides: HUGE. I burned up hundreds of hours of time and materials getting it right. For example, I had to invent, prototype, and refine all sorts of stuff like this:
I haven't quantified the cost yet, mainly because I don't want to know. Just the cost of drill bits and saw blades has been staggering. But now that it all works, I'm glad. It's cool to have a rig that travels at less than 30', but provides more living space than my former 41' rig.
The body coating finally wrapped up today. We had to wait on more tint, since we ran out last weekend.
My brother expressing his joy at not having to be covered in any more sticky goo....
Here's a rare shot of the underbelly of the beast, with the battery umbillical, all masked, hanging down. The genset intakes and exhaust are on the left, the black/grey water empty port on the right.
With the exterior coating finished, we can finally pound out the interior finishes and get windows and doors mounted. Yip skip!
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Wow.
I'm impressed by so many different things. The build has obviously been done right. Frankly though, what I'm more impressed with, is the amount of time you're able to spend with your kids doing awesome stuff. I get 3 weeks off a year and never feel like I have much to show for it at the end. I suspect there is a connection between your means to build such a rig, and your means to enjoy the important things in life as much as you appear to do.
Kudos.
I'm impressed by so many different things. The build has obviously been done right. Frankly though, what I'm more impressed with, is the amount of time you're able to spend with your kids doing awesome stuff. I get 3 weeks off a year and never feel like I have much to show for it at the end. I suspect there is a connection between your means to build such a rig, and your means to enjoy the important things in life as much as you appear to do.
Kudos.
Johnston Robare
New member
Let me echo everyone else in saying that this is an amazing build! :drool:
I feel your pain on the color selection process. Whenever I imagineer a rig, it comes down to White vs Sand. Fortunately, "pixel paint" is free, so I usually choose sand. :elkgrin:
I feel your pain on the color selection process. Whenever I imagineer a rig, it comes down to White vs Sand. Fortunately, "pixel paint" is free, so I usually choose sand. :elkgrin: