urbex
May 24, 2016Explorer
To those that have scratch built - would you do it again?
I've recently acquired a 2.5 ton flatbed truck that I originally was going to utilize for the TC plus being able to trailer my stupid heavy 4x4s around that would far over weigh my 1/2 ton truck. Then I began to think about putting the 4x4 on the flatbed, and picking up a TT while keeping the TC for the 1/2 ton.
Now I'm pondering again, this time about building a flatbed style camper to semi-permanently install on the truck, and putting the 4x4s on a trailer behind it.
This being something I'll scratch build out, rather than buy a complete camper. I've been pricing out flatbed campers, and they sure aren't cheap by any definition! Not that this is purely a financially driven decision, as I've browsed around the new camper lots and it seemed like every camper I stepped into, I only thought about how much I'd want to change to make it right for me.
I've rehabbed several campers, and have had several down to the bare frame work, so I feel that I have a pretty decent idea of what goes into building one. I'm also aware that this isn't going to be a $1,000 project any way you slice it, though I'm pretty sure I can build out something pretty nice using all brand new materials and equipment for far less than the $25K a place like Four Wheel Campers wants for theirs.
But financials aside, I think the bigger/better question to ask would be - to those that have scratch built these campers...would you do it again, or buy a complete camper instead? I'm hesitant to spend any real money on a used camper, as after having bought a couple that looked solid on the outside, didn't have any funky smells inside, etc that ended up having major issues hidden away...once I realized how much time and money went into fixing those problems, it seemed like I really wasn't that far off from just starting fresh and building my own camper out....
Now I'm pondering again, this time about building a flatbed style camper to semi-permanently install on the truck, and putting the 4x4s on a trailer behind it.
This being something I'll scratch build out, rather than buy a complete camper. I've been pricing out flatbed campers, and they sure aren't cheap by any definition! Not that this is purely a financially driven decision, as I've browsed around the new camper lots and it seemed like every camper I stepped into, I only thought about how much I'd want to change to make it right for me.
I've rehabbed several campers, and have had several down to the bare frame work, so I feel that I have a pretty decent idea of what goes into building one. I'm also aware that this isn't going to be a $1,000 project any way you slice it, though I'm pretty sure I can build out something pretty nice using all brand new materials and equipment for far less than the $25K a place like Four Wheel Campers wants for theirs.
But financials aside, I think the bigger/better question to ask would be - to those that have scratch built these campers...would you do it again, or buy a complete camper instead? I'm hesitant to spend any real money on a used camper, as after having bought a couple that looked solid on the outside, didn't have any funky smells inside, etc that ended up having major issues hidden away...once I realized how much time and money went into fixing those problems, it seemed like I really wasn't that far off from just starting fresh and building my own camper out....