VanIsle_Greg
I think I need a bigger truck!
After a lot of work and a long delay (about 4 months), I have decided to post up my custom pop-up camper build thread. This has been a lot of planning, a lot of layout effort and a lot of Amazon shipments. Oh and of course a lot of building. My inspiration for this camper is the 4WC Four Wheel Campers lightweight units, which I guess in a lot of ways is similar to the mass market campers out there from Palomino, Starcraft and others. The difference with the 4WC campers is they seem to be more "built for purpose", that purpose being a lighter and leaner camper for backcountry exploration. In my case, this is a slightly stripped down version in that it is missing the furnace and a few other options. I should also add that many of you here on ExPo who have done home builds also inspired me.
My camper platform vehicle is a 2014 Ram 1500 Sport 4x4. This is a stock un-modified fairly pedestrian rig at this point, but is well up to the task of hauling this lightweight camper. The truck has the 5.7L Hemi V8 and a full tow package along with 3.92 gears making it a very capable towing/hauling rig. It is however only a 1500 1/2 ton, and not really designed to be a "camper hauler". With that in mind my camper design and build was to be lighter weight to fit well within the capabilities of this truck, but still be useable and well built. I had already added AirLift air bags to the rear suspension, these are the coil insert type not the full lift bags. They are good for up to 1000# load (tongue weight or bed weight) so we will see if they are good enough or if I will need to add in full airbags in the rear? TBD.
The build really came about after months of looking for a used (new to me) 4WC camper online. I met the guys from AT Overland last year (2017) at the BC Overland Rally, and talked a lot with Mario about the campers they had on display. After much drooling, I came to the realization that I wanted one, but was short about...well, short about all of the funds to buy one. #SadFace I was at the event with my custom built Jeep XJ and CDN M101 trailer with an RTT and kitchen and so on, but had already picked up the Ram as a daily driver and tow rig for our family RV. I had the truck and the plan, I just needed the funding. Much searching later, I realized that I was not going to find what I wanted for the budget I had in mind, and if I did, it was probably going to be a much older unit and probably 3000 miles away from me. So much for that idea... plus any good ones sell in like 4.5 seconds.
My friend Mike said over tea one day..."lets build one". Mike is a builder/fabricator/designer of custom off road stuff for himself and a host of others. He builds bumpers, racks, trailers, campers, boats and is a master in the woodshop. His last 4 or 5 projects have all been custom off road Teardrop Trailers. He is capable, and was apparently motivated to do the job too. "Ok" I say. The trailer went up for sale... and sold to the first person to look at it for full asking (I knew I was asking too little for it). Funding in place... the parts buying started and so did the build.
Design:
- Light weight and fitted to my Ram 1500 short box Crew Cab (5.7' bed)
- Pop-Top with fabric/Canvas sides
- Queen bed and a second bunk in an east/west config
- Decent storage
- LED lighting, battery for a 12v system
- Needed to include on board water with on demand HOT!
- 20LB propane storage (11LB in a pinch)
- Cool (had to be cool)
Build Materials:
- Steel frame (skeleton) made up from .120 wall for the main supports and .100 wall for the spreaders and less structural supports
- Wood skins in and out with a combination of 1/2 for floors and structural locations and 3/8 for non-load bearing and finished walls
- Natural brushed aluminum (raw) outer skins
- Decent amount of windows BIG windows, all from Vintage Technologies
- Aluminium trim and bits all from Vintage Technologies as well (black to offset the raw aluminum)
- Boxes and boxes of Sika Construction adhesive!!
- 3/4" foam insulation
Frame build:
Frame is 1x1 steel. Lots of pics of the cutting, welding and test fitting process. Mike built this all in Autocad to try to build it light enough to be manageable but strong enough to be a tough build and last forever.
Propane bottle in pic is only a 5 LB.
Tank in approx location.
Bench and corner braces for lift points. Soooo much better than those mass produced units with wood framing...heh
Lots of steel bits.
Additional crossbar in the floor where the water and battery sit. Battery is a group 24 AGM sealed unit and the water tank is a locally sourced (Trotac Marine) marine 13 gal unit.
Test fit with only tack welds in place... a case of measure 12 times weld hopefully once. I should note that Mike welded and fabbed the frame. I am no welder. lol
I managed to get a pic of the elusive Mike in this one. Though he won't be happy about that! Shhh
My camper platform vehicle is a 2014 Ram 1500 Sport 4x4. This is a stock un-modified fairly pedestrian rig at this point, but is well up to the task of hauling this lightweight camper. The truck has the 5.7L Hemi V8 and a full tow package along with 3.92 gears making it a very capable towing/hauling rig. It is however only a 1500 1/2 ton, and not really designed to be a "camper hauler". With that in mind my camper design and build was to be lighter weight to fit well within the capabilities of this truck, but still be useable and well built. I had already added AirLift air bags to the rear suspension, these are the coil insert type not the full lift bags. They are good for up to 1000# load (tongue weight or bed weight) so we will see if they are good enough or if I will need to add in full airbags in the rear? TBD.
The build really came about after months of looking for a used (new to me) 4WC camper online. I met the guys from AT Overland last year (2017) at the BC Overland Rally, and talked a lot with Mario about the campers they had on display. After much drooling, I came to the realization that I wanted one, but was short about...well, short about all of the funds to buy one. #SadFace I was at the event with my custom built Jeep XJ and CDN M101 trailer with an RTT and kitchen and so on, but had already picked up the Ram as a daily driver and tow rig for our family RV. I had the truck and the plan, I just needed the funding. Much searching later, I realized that I was not going to find what I wanted for the budget I had in mind, and if I did, it was probably going to be a much older unit and probably 3000 miles away from me. So much for that idea... plus any good ones sell in like 4.5 seconds.
My friend Mike said over tea one day..."lets build one". Mike is a builder/fabricator/designer of custom off road stuff for himself and a host of others. He builds bumpers, racks, trailers, campers, boats and is a master in the woodshop. His last 4 or 5 projects have all been custom off road Teardrop Trailers. He is capable, and was apparently motivated to do the job too. "Ok" I say. The trailer went up for sale... and sold to the first person to look at it for full asking (I knew I was asking too little for it). Funding in place... the parts buying started and so did the build.
Design:
- Light weight and fitted to my Ram 1500 short box Crew Cab (5.7' bed)
- Pop-Top with fabric/Canvas sides
- Queen bed and a second bunk in an east/west config
- Decent storage
- LED lighting, battery for a 12v system
- Needed to include on board water with on demand HOT!
- 20LB propane storage (11LB in a pinch)
- Cool (had to be cool)
Build Materials:
- Steel frame (skeleton) made up from .120 wall for the main supports and .100 wall for the spreaders and less structural supports
- Wood skins in and out with a combination of 1/2 for floors and structural locations and 3/8 for non-load bearing and finished walls
- Natural brushed aluminum (raw) outer skins
- Decent amount of windows BIG windows, all from Vintage Technologies
- Aluminium trim and bits all from Vintage Technologies as well (black to offset the raw aluminum)
- Boxes and boxes of Sika Construction adhesive!!
- 3/4" foam insulation
Frame build:
Frame is 1x1 steel. Lots of pics of the cutting, welding and test fitting process. Mike built this all in Autocad to try to build it light enough to be manageable but strong enough to be a tough build and last forever.
Propane bottle in pic is only a 5 LB.
Tank in approx location.
Bench and corner braces for lift points. Soooo much better than those mass produced units with wood framing...heh
Lots of steel bits.
Additional crossbar in the floor where the water and battery sit. Battery is a group 24 AGM sealed unit and the water tank is a locally sourced (Trotac Marine) marine 13 gal unit.
Test fit with only tack welds in place... a case of measure 12 times weld hopefully once. I should note that Mike welded and fabbed the frame. I am no welder. lol
I managed to get a pic of the elusive Mike in this one. Though he won't be happy about that! Shhh
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