MY DREAM BUILD… ULTRA-LIGHT "GO FAST" CAMPER.

pugslyyy

Expedition Vehicle Engineer Guy
Since this thread isn't about Earthroamer or a similar bespoke camper (i.e., a partly custom rig built by a company like Earthroamer for retail sale), what say we move the thread to the General Camper Discussion section? Just tidying up.

Yeah it's actually a "Not gonna be an Earthroamer" camper thread so that makes sense to me!
 

Clutch

<---Pass
I shot this feature for Offroad Magazine. This truck has a prerunner long travel suspension capable of going 45 mph through deep whoops. You won't find anything faster with a camper on it!

Plan B feature

That is one of my favorite trucks, so damn awesome... would like to replicate it with a Double Cab version.

BTW...I have always enjoyed your photos, see them quite a bit on Race Dezert.
 

Darwin

Explorer
This whole thread sounds like a troll, it should be moved to "fireside chat." The OP wants a Unicorn, something that would have to break the laws of physics to work. Accomplishing something that would meet most of his needs would require a great deal of money and time, by the time it's done, might be too old to use the thing, many longs hours behind a keyboard, while others are out enjoying the world expo style. What's the rush anyways? Arrive at the campsite 15 minutes sooner, when it cost you a mil to do it?
 

ZeneralGod

New member
After much deliberation and research, I have come to a few realizations.

The most effective way to realize this goal is to make the heavier part of the camper shell, the floor, overcab bed, door, wet-bath, water tanks, and nose cone, one single rigid molded shell of Arovex nanotube epoxy, reinforced at key points with judicious use of Omnia Scaffodeck, and Starfire Ceramic Forming Polymer. Floor hatch above the sunroof allows emergency egress from camper to cab. Carbon Fiber Dinette table will be able to be either (A) hung from the ceiling on webbing, or (B) attached to a portable tripod.

The walls and roof will be made entirely out of Several layers of composite fabric membrane "in tension" (Such as, for example, Birdair, Superfabric, Neoprene, Gore Tex, Spectrashield, Kevlar, Hushmat) over double welded titanium space frame. This allows the layers to be replaced as needed. I will make DAMN sure this is significantly bear resistant.

The cabinetry will be hanging style webbing shelving (like the kind outside-van sells), (attached to both the ceiling, floor and wall allowing movement at speed while minimizing noise) with push-button positive latch drawers made of coosa, plyboo or durapalm (and hanging countertop with integral molded sink made of Corian). There will be several attachment points built in to the titanium space frame with tie-downs for gear and to stabilize things while traveling at speed.

The Lithium Battery Bank will be Suspended from several points in the titanium space frame, and will be spring loaded to minimize jarring movement at speed.
Inverter will charge the batteries. Portable solar panels will be plugged in when camped.

I am one step closer to realizing my dream and the cost should be similar to what a full rigid shell would be, while proving 50% lighter.

I will happily move this thread to a better location if someone is kind enough to tell me how&#8230;
 
Last edited:

Clutch

<---Pass
This whole thread sounds like a troll, it should be moved to "fireside chat." The OP wants a Unicorn, something that would have to break the laws of physics to work. Accomplishing something that would meet most of his needs would require a great deal of money and time, by the time it's done, might be too old to use the thing, many longs hours behind a keyboard, while others are out enjoying the world expo style. What's the rush anyways? Arrive at the campsite 15 minutes sooner, when it cost you a mil to do it?

Prolly...

Shoot... wanna go fast "overland" buy a bush plane.

cruiser.jpg
 

Lorenz

New member
Looks like huge pain in the ******** to me...but some people are a glutton for punishment. :D



What a joke.

Obviously that was some kind of promo and not a typical weekend out in the bush. You could hear DSLR's clicking off at high speed in the back ground for the planned photo ops. That truck and trailer is ruined after a season of that stuff in brackish water. At minimum the under carriage of the trailer is a rust heap in short time from being scared by rocks and drug through water. The Torsion suspension on my cheap Hallmark trailer may be better suited that that leaf sprung setup?
 

pappawheely

Autonomous4X4
What a joke.

Obviously that was some kind of promo and not a typical weekend out in the bush. You could hear DSLR's clicking off at high speed in the back ground for the planned photo ops. That truck and trailer is ruined after a season of that stuff in brackish water. At minimum the under carriage of the trailer is a rust heap in short time from being scared by rocks and drug through water. The Torsion suspension on my cheap Hallmark trailer may be better suited that that leaf sprung setup?

It looks to me like the camper is just a hollow shell by the way it floats in the water and bounces in the rough.
 

scott7022

Nobody
While this is most likely not the best place for my first post to go. As in life; "Here hold my beer." I understand, perhaps the OP's idea in its infancy. I have been reading EP for years and years. I never chimed in before as I was taught if you didn't know shut your hole and learn. So first and foremost, thanks to all members for adding to the knowledge base I now enjoy and for the reality lessons. I have a confession, I am DODGE guy. 2005 SRT10 2012 Challenger.... But we can go on about torque, HP and that kind of crap forever. Fact, is the Ford Raptor is probably the coolest 4x4 production released. Sales, stares, re-release...Perhaps not the best 4x4 or the most capable 4x4 or even the best for this build design past the cool factor. But it does have that in spades. I looked into some of the building materials they OP is talking about. Truly bleeding edge stuff. As for Earthroamer. Bill is an awesome guy and the company design and plan is perfect. Build very cool trucks for people with money. A Canadian company made a counter sniper rifles like this back in the day. The only person that could miss with it is the jerk that could afford it. But seriously how many Earthroamers have you seen for sale with 90 000 miles? A bunch. How many parked on pads with 30amp shore power? They are awesome rigs, I considered one in 2009 or so for a good long while. Built it out using the handy exel price sheet. Imagined this and that like we all do, have done, and will do again. It is part of the hobby. Endless carts of parts we would like to use to make our dreams come true. Be honest! So I will not pee out the back door of my dream camper and into the wind of this dream build. Can he build a month long Expo Rig on a 1400 pay load Raptor and fly across the offroad wilderness at 125mph with his tail onfire? Perhaps only at White Sands. But has he introduced some very smart people some new tech? Yes. Is he frustrated by Earthroamers response? Yes again, just as I was. I approached Earthroamer around that time and before TechnoNomad did his LiPo4 battery build. I had researched the tech and wanted to add two D8 sized batteries and wanted to get a tech to install a modified charging system better suited to the batteries. Bill said, "No". The tech then was bleeding edge and an Earthroamer on fire by the side of the road was not something his brand needed. He didn't say as much. He just said words to the effect that the technology isn't proven and he doesn't recommend it and wouldn't add it to a build. Then running a large AC off a battery was impossible. Now it is easy. Having 1200 useable amp/hr's required a Unimog now a 3/4 ton! But production companies don't push design. Not if they want to remain successful. Baby steps to profit. Even today, the wealth of forum disinformation and repeated "facts" muddy the water of our hobby. I want to go with a large LiPo4 setup to build in redundancy and remove weight and one Expedition Builder, who I won't name as he is a great guy, but too busy to keep abreast of tech, suggested I look closely into low temp performance. He'd put them in but...Yes below 0 (metric) they don't like to be charged and they drop in available, power and it gets bad at about -20. So battery blankets, radiant heaters on temp switches with another one to disconnect the bank if the heaters fail to come on and a signal to make you aware. Simple fix. -20 and a house bank failure is a start the rig and access type of failure. I have picked most of the ideas and work around solutions from people like you reading and commenting on this forum thread.
I too want to build a Raptor off road vehicle. I am waiting for the new ones to come out as that will affect my decision in several ways. Price, weight, and available new options and equipment. Worth going to the new motor, and losing a little throaty cool points or...? In all seriousness the added range is the biggest factor as has been rightfully pointed out. Carrying Diesel in places that, while stealth, make DOT types crazy is an entirely different animal than petrol. I don't get the water issue past the desert use. Pump from source and filter. A hell of a lot easier than doing it while backpacking without power!! Perhaps it is perspective LA types feel the need to carry their own personal supply of drinking water at all times and being from BC Canada I just have to look to God. Well, and open my mouth. In a desert application three flats of 1 liter tossed in at the last gas station should be ok? The weight issue is the one I am struggling with. In BC they weigh RV's. I don't know how it goes currently as I have been away from my info source travelling the world for the past 2 years. But it used to be you went got weighed and were entered into the system. The only time you ever were directed to go through a scale again was if you got caught sagging. If you looked overweight or if you were towing a trailer. Past that you went on by. A few years ago, they focused and pushed some big 350/3500 single rear coal burners into the scales as it was discovered the bigger drivetrain made it easy to go over. But for the most part it was easy sailing. This is a good thing as no matter what you do to your truck door sticker GVW is it. Period, full stop. But I put in a two ton frame and 'Awesome Best Stage 9.5.3 Super Duck hunter' suspension and 12 piston Bembo space shuttle stopper brakes with Firestone moon lander air assist bags...Sticker says 5523 and your 5525 park it! This sucks.
It will be the challenge for what I want to do. But thanks to you guys I am slowly getting past those challenges. Why the power? Power is a great tool and to make it with gas requires cubic inches or pressure. Diesel is awesome, but I will be camping cold -20 -30, and perhaps -40 Metric! Yeah, yeah, I know additives...blah blah. I have enough tree killing friends and coal oil supplier workers in Fort McMurry that have cured me of the diesel heater, cook top, water, single fuel dream...Need any cheap Alberta oil field trucks? Gas is instant power, works easy underload while doing so and rolling down the road with +400 ponies at 65mph stresses nothing. Out of the box suspension and offroad capabilities is perfect for BC backroads. Light is important as it is wet and while that makes the mud that big heavy dinosaur devouring Dodges may love it also errodes forest service roads and trails. A week can spell the difference between heavy big super truck made camp or decorated 2000 feet of mountainside. I want to go light, agile, and capable. The added cool factor is nice too. So lightening the load and design napkin ideas are awesome and exactly what I wanted to read today. Camper interior design for ONE! Thats right ONE! Repurpose super cab cool black and red Raptor seats and move to the camper installed in such a way to allow crashing, for a night, with the roof down. Wet bath toliet (cassette/porti) without the privacy crap. Even in a 12 foot center Dry bath jacuzzi model we can still hear you! The door does what? The poo face is more disturbing than the other faces you make? And this is for one anyway! Remote three weeks, off grid, no geni expedition rig for filming. Light enough to pass inspection when stripped to the bare bones and made specifically enough to make one person happy, productive, and cool. Carbon fiber is light, and matches the interior of the Ford. Black Carbon cabinets with red carbon door fronts and stainless pop-pulls. Red bamboo flooring and black and red leather accents? A 27 inch 5k video editing platform and UltraHD tv, video/music library for stupid cold days. Each piece installed in the bare bones, fluid out preload configuration serves at least two functions. Get it weighed. Then go add some weight bags, compressor (air up and down capable), winches, lights, bump stops, and brakes and explore for a year and see what you brake before fixing "problems" not yet discovered. I don't know how many times I've read custom rigs that got later tweeks, and Tiger Customs that needed a rework after real world time. It is normal. Thanks for reading my first post, I hope you got a laugh or two and continue to help out in the generous way you all do!
 

Mat Mobile

Adventurer
I think I finally understood this thread. The title says DREAM build.... As in, you're never going to build this... You just day-dream about it. Kinda like fantasy football but for camping. This is the reason I haven't found the objective or the parameters (like number of passengers) for the build of this vehicle.

Am I correct or do you actually want to build this ZeneralGod?

Just trying to figure out if you're being a tease. ;)
 

superbuickguy

Explorer
There are three builds:
The one you built before
the one you're currently building
and the one that you will build (that solves all the problems of the other, prior builds)...

I've read the thread and gotten quite a bit out of it - and not just snarky people being snarky...
 

forty2

Adventurer
Would a Paperstone countertop/sink be lighter than Corian?
http://www.paperstoneproducts.com/information-landing.php

Looking forward to this build commencing...

I've installed it as countertop a few times. While Paperstone is lighter than Corian (~105 lbs per cuft to ~90 lbs per cuft IIRC), it's not a significant weight savings. I think using easily replaceable HDPE (~50 lbs per cuft) would be the tits for something like this. However, after revisiting the entire thread this morning I'm more inclined to believe the whole thing is pie in the sky anyway.
 

ArtRadical

New member
Hello,

Are you getting ready to get in line for a GFC Camper ( https://gofastcampers.com/pages/camper-landing )? If so, here's your chance to move up the waiting list at no cost to you.

I put my $575 deposit down on a GFC Camper back in December 2018. The Camper no longer makes sense for me so I'm offering up my spot on the waiting list. I'm not looking to make any money on the deal - just want to get my deposit back. I'm #457 (out of 677 currently) on the Go Fast Camper (GFC) "Leaderboard" for a new Camper ( https://gofastcampers.com/pages/leaderboard ). I've been in contact with GFC and they say transferring my spot is no problem (will send you GFC emails if interested and can confirm with them again w/ you in the loop if you're serious). At the rate they're producing Campers this could save you up to 10 months of wait time. The deposit would be applied to the full purchase price and you would still be able to configure the Camper to your specs (mid-size vs. full size, color, window, etc). Let me know if you're interested and we can figure out the transfer.

Matt
 

Amkesler26

New member
After much deliberation and research, I have come to a few realizations.

The most effective way to realize this goal is to make the heavier part of the camper shell, the floor, overcab bed, door, wet-bath, water tanks, and nose cone, one single rigid molded shell of Arovex nanotube epoxy, reinforced at key points with judicious use of Omnia Scaffodeck, and Starfire Ceramic Forming Polymer. Floor hatch above the sunroof allows emergency egress from camper to cab. Carbon Fiber Dinette table will be able to be either (A) hung from the ceiling on webbing, or (B) attached to a portable tripod.

The walls and roof will be made entirely out of Several layers of composite fabric membrane "in tension" (Such as, for example, Birdair, Superfabric, Neoprene, Gore Tex, Spectrashield, Kevlar, Hushmat) over double welded titanium space frame. This allows the layers to be replaced as needed. I will make DAMN sure this is significantly bear resistant.

The cabinetry will be hanging style webbing shelving (like the kind outside-van sells), (attached to both the ceiling, floor and wall allowing movement at speed while minimizing noise) with push-button positive latch drawers made of coosa, plyboo or durapalm (and hanging countertop with integral molded sink made of Corian). There will be several attachment points built in to the titanium space frame with tie-downs for gear and to stabilize things while traveling at speed.

The Lithium Battery Bank will be Suspended from several points in the titanium space frame, and will be spring loaded to minimize jarring movement at speed.
Inverter will charge the batteries. Portable solar panels will be plugged in when camped.

I am one step closer to realizing my dream and the cost should be similar to what a full rigid shell would be, while proving 50% lighter.

I will happily move this thread to a better location if someone is kind enough to tell me how&#8230;
 

Amkesler26

New member
After much deliberation and research, I have come to a few realizations.

The most effective way to realize this goal is to make the heavier part of the camper shell, the floor, overcab bed, door, wet-bath, water tanks, and nose cone, one single rigid molded shell of Arovex nanotube epoxy, reinforced at key points with judicious use of Omnia Scaffodeck, and Starfire Ceramic Forming Polymer. Floor hatch above the sunroof allows emergency egress from camper to cab. Carbon Fiber Dinette table will be able to be either (A) hung from the ceiling on webbing, or (B) attached to a portable tripod.

The walls and roof will be made entirely out of Several layers of composite fabric membrane "in tension" (Such as, for example, Birdair, Superfabric, Neoprene, Gore Tex, Spectrashield, Kevlar, Hushmat) over double welded titanium space frame. This allows the layers to be replaced as needed. I will make DAMN sure this is significantly bear resistant.

The cabinetry will be hanging style webbing shelving (like the kind outside-van sells), (attached to both the ceiling, floor and wall allowing movement at speed while minimizing noise) with push-button positive latch drawers made of coosa, plyboo or durapalm (and hanging countertop with integral molded sink made of Corian). There will be several attachment points built in to the titanium space frame with tie-downs for gear and to stabilize things while traveling at speed.

The Lithium Battery Bank will be Suspended from several points in the titanium space frame, and will be spring loaded to minimize jarring movement at speed.
Inverter will charge the batteries. Portable solar panels will be plugged in when camped.

I am one step closer to realizing my dream and the cost should be similar to what a full rigid shell would be, while proving 50% lighter.

I will happily move this thread to a better location if someone is kind enough to tell me how&#8230;
did you end up moving forward with a build or what did you end up doing?
 

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