brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
I downloaded google sketchup a few days ago and started playing. I drew up a design for a slide-in pop-up camper (similar to four wheel camper) for my 06 F150 crew cab 5'7" bed.
I would like some opinions on it. And yes I know it would be heavy!
-- Skip ahead to photo's if you're easily distracted like myself --
So I've always wanted a four wheel camper, but the more I look at them, the more I want to build my own. I know four wheel campers have a huge following, and they must make a good product, but there are a few things I don't like...
First is the price. I think I optioned out a hawk at some $18k iirc, and could buy a very well equipped hard sided camper for that or less. I have mixed feelings about used rigs unless I got the "right deal".
Aluminum siding. I can't fully explain why I don't like it, I just don't. I've also often seen cracks in the aluminum siding on four wheel campers. This may be partially due to excessive flex in the trucks with weaker frames. I've also seen many bent roofs. There are few windows in the hawk, I plan to camp top-down some and want to be able to see 360 degrees around the rig. The cabinetry seems somewhat disorganized in their layouts. The lower half of the camper seems poorly insulated. Again I plan to camp top-down in cold or severe weather so insulation is important even with a pop-up.
I really dislike the bed setup in four wheel campers. The "extended" cabover is 48", and still requires a slide-out of sorts for a normal sized bed. I don't like how it eats up space in the camper when in use.
Most of these things are sacrifices for a lightweight camper, but I still like the idea of building my own how I want it.
In the end I want something that fits the truck very snug, and makes use of space as efficiently as possible.
So I set out wanting to make something that is no more than 12" higher than the cab, no wider than the widest part of the truck body, and extends no more than 1' or so past the rear bumper, and doesn't decrease the departure angle (not much anyway). I wanted atleast 3 deep cycles, 3cf fridge, furnace, water heater, 20-30 gallons of fresh water, and possibly a/c and generator.
I wanted to be able to camp with the top down on occasion, likely just when I'm without the wife. But also possibly when the weather is extremely cold or windy, or maybe when I'm traveling and getting quick sleep beside the road or in a parking lot.
In the rear left portion of the camper is room for a honda eu2000 generator. On the bottom rear right is a 30 lb propane tank.
In the center is under floor storage, or likely grey water.
The construction would be an aluminum frame, possibly laminate siding. Not sure yet. If I do this it probably won't be for a year or so anyway.
Dimensions;
Exterior floor length 7'3"
Exterior width 6'8"
Exterior height (bed to roof) 4'10"
After the bumper, there is a 12" long section that drops down 9" from bed height, or about halfway down the rear bumper.
Floors and walls are planned 2" thick.
The bed is 6'4" by 4'6".
Fresh water storage is 35 gallons if I calculated right.
The cabinets on the drivers side would have sliding doors to maintain easy access top up or down, especially with the couch/bed deployed. There are two large drawers below the fridge.
The cabinet behind the couch would hold the a/c in the higher section, and have a drawer and cabinet on the lower section, possibly with access from the right exterior.
The cut-out below the couch is for a porta-potti.
The entire space under the couch is open storage.
On to the pictures...
Keep in mind this is my first time using sketchup, so some of the framing is incomplete (rear lower section). I also didn't figure out the lighting stuff so much.
The F150 used was a sketchup model I downloaded, not my drawing.
I would like some opinions on it. And yes I know it would be heavy!
-- Skip ahead to photo's if you're easily distracted like myself --
So I've always wanted a four wheel camper, but the more I look at them, the more I want to build my own. I know four wheel campers have a huge following, and they must make a good product, but there are a few things I don't like...
First is the price. I think I optioned out a hawk at some $18k iirc, and could buy a very well equipped hard sided camper for that or less. I have mixed feelings about used rigs unless I got the "right deal".
Aluminum siding. I can't fully explain why I don't like it, I just don't. I've also often seen cracks in the aluminum siding on four wheel campers. This may be partially due to excessive flex in the trucks with weaker frames. I've also seen many bent roofs. There are few windows in the hawk, I plan to camp top-down some and want to be able to see 360 degrees around the rig. The cabinetry seems somewhat disorganized in their layouts. The lower half of the camper seems poorly insulated. Again I plan to camp top-down in cold or severe weather so insulation is important even with a pop-up.
I really dislike the bed setup in four wheel campers. The "extended" cabover is 48", and still requires a slide-out of sorts for a normal sized bed. I don't like how it eats up space in the camper when in use.
Most of these things are sacrifices for a lightweight camper, but I still like the idea of building my own how I want it.
In the end I want something that fits the truck very snug, and makes use of space as efficiently as possible.
So I set out wanting to make something that is no more than 12" higher than the cab, no wider than the widest part of the truck body, and extends no more than 1' or so past the rear bumper, and doesn't decrease the departure angle (not much anyway). I wanted atleast 3 deep cycles, 3cf fridge, furnace, water heater, 20-30 gallons of fresh water, and possibly a/c and generator.
I wanted to be able to camp with the top down on occasion, likely just when I'm without the wife. But also possibly when the weather is extremely cold or windy, or maybe when I'm traveling and getting quick sleep beside the road or in a parking lot.
In the rear left portion of the camper is room for a honda eu2000 generator. On the bottom rear right is a 30 lb propane tank.
In the center is under floor storage, or likely grey water.
The construction would be an aluminum frame, possibly laminate siding. Not sure yet. If I do this it probably won't be for a year or so anyway.
Dimensions;
Exterior floor length 7'3"
Exterior width 6'8"
Exterior height (bed to roof) 4'10"
After the bumper, there is a 12" long section that drops down 9" from bed height, or about halfway down the rear bumper.
Floors and walls are planned 2" thick.
The bed is 6'4" by 4'6".
Fresh water storage is 35 gallons if I calculated right.
The cabinets on the drivers side would have sliding doors to maintain easy access top up or down, especially with the couch/bed deployed. There are two large drawers below the fridge.
The cabinet behind the couch would hold the a/c in the higher section, and have a drawer and cabinet on the lower section, possibly with access from the right exterior.
The cut-out below the couch is for a porta-potti.
The entire space under the couch is open storage.
On to the pictures...
Keep in mind this is my first time using sketchup, so some of the framing is incomplete (rear lower section). I also didn't figure out the lighting stuff so much.
The F150 used was a sketchup model I downloaded, not my drawing.
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My only point of reference is that I just dropped an 8' noncab Alaskan (1300 lbs approx) in the back of Dodge/Cummins W250 and was amazed the difference the weight & shift in CG had on the truck's feel & road manners. 