A lot of people say they find our little truck camper refurb project interesting. So I thought I'd share it in a thread here. A little about us: my husband and I are perpetual DIYers and creators. We've done quite a few projects together over the years. Big and small. This is our latest effort.
Found it on craigslist about 30 miles from where we live.
Paid $350. Previous owners had replaced some of the water damaged wood. All the original interior had been stripped out of it.
This is what it looked like the day we got it.
The inside walls had been covered in a combo of click together laminate flooring, treated lumber, and reflectix sheeting. We removed all of it. That left the camper stripped to the studs.
I understand this isn't everyone's cup of tea. That's cool. But we enjoy making things. We have the time and ability. The unconventional is our normal. This is right up our alley. We're building this camper out to serve as our off-grid travel rig.
We paid $350 for the camper. After all is said and done we'll have put about $3500 into it. We could've bought a more "ready" camper for this price. But it likely would not have had solar, nor the new components we're outfitting this one with. With this build we're spending very little $ (compared to what CAN be spent) and getting a camper custom built to suit us. WIN!
Truck: 1999 Ford F350 4x4
We're documenting the work on our YouTube Channel: Adventures of Sandra and Dave - Truck Camper Playlist
Replaced the old vent with a new 12v Fantastic Fan.
The new "escape hatch" can be seen in the above photo....plus you're seeing a lot of new framing. We added much to the structure and replaced some pieces that had water damage.
We patched all the penetrations on the exterior with galvanized sheet metal - riveted & glued - edges sealed underneath, behind, and edges. Before this the holes were covered only with eternabond tape.
All the edging was gone - the only thing cover the edges was eternabond tape. We added metal - screwed and glued and sealed underneath. You can also see one of the LED running lights we installed.
I'll add many more photos as soon as I resize them smaller to post here. In the meantime if you have interest in the project go check out the videos at the link above. We've come a long way since we got the camper. THANKS!!! Have a super great day.
Found it on craigslist about 30 miles from where we live.
Paid $350. Previous owners had replaced some of the water damaged wood. All the original interior had been stripped out of it.
This is what it looked like the day we got it.
The inside walls had been covered in a combo of click together laminate flooring, treated lumber, and reflectix sheeting. We removed all of it. That left the camper stripped to the studs.
I understand this isn't everyone's cup of tea. That's cool. But we enjoy making things. We have the time and ability. The unconventional is our normal. This is right up our alley. We're building this camper out to serve as our off-grid travel rig.
We paid $350 for the camper. After all is said and done we'll have put about $3500 into it. We could've bought a more "ready" camper for this price. But it likely would not have had solar, nor the new components we're outfitting this one with. With this build we're spending very little $ (compared to what CAN be spent) and getting a camper custom built to suit us. WIN!
Truck: 1999 Ford F350 4x4
We're documenting the work on our YouTube Channel: Adventures of Sandra and Dave - Truck Camper Playlist
Replaced the old vent with a new 12v Fantastic Fan.
The new "escape hatch" can be seen in the above photo....plus you're seeing a lot of new framing. We added much to the structure and replaced some pieces that had water damage.
We patched all the penetrations on the exterior with galvanized sheet metal - riveted & glued - edges sealed underneath, behind, and edges. Before this the holes were covered only with eternabond tape.
All the edging was gone - the only thing cover the edges was eternabond tape. We added metal - screwed and glued and sealed underneath. You can also see one of the LED running lights we installed.
I'll add many more photos as soon as I resize them smaller to post here. In the meantime if you have interest in the project go check out the videos at the link above. We've come a long way since we got the camper. THANKS!!! Have a super great day.
Painted the door YELLOW. Used House of Kolor auto paint that I had left-over from an airbrushing paint job.
Fabulous shot of the ceiling insulation. We waited to insulate the ceiling until we were done creating the roof penetration for the solar panels/electrical wiring. I don't have a lot of pictures of the wiring inside....we tried to keep it simple. It's mostly 12 volt but we do have the option to plug into shore power and have one outlet designated for that.
Putting in the paneling. Started with the ceiling. So much fun working over your head. Oh my aching neck!!! Glad it's done.
More paneling pictures. The seams will eventually get covered with trim. Had to size the pieces so as to facilitate installation.
Floor - simple 1/4" piece of pine plywood. Sealed with many coats of polyurethane. I've had pine plywood floor before in a house. It does fine. Gets scratches and dents...oh well. Can be sanded and refinished or gone over with something else. I'm kind of over the vinyl and fake stuff. I've used every kind of flooring known to man over the years. These days I like simple and no seams best. I also like materials that look like what they are...I have concrete floors in my house...but that would probably be a bit much for a truck camper!!!;)
Getting started on the inside cabinets, etc. We're using oak boards for a lot of the cabinet structure. These boards are salvaged from a huge, heavy park bench that was taken out of a mall that got remodeled. We've had them for years...good to finally put them to use.
For a long time we toyed with the idea of buying a sailboat and becoming liveaboards. But my husband has some health issues that may not allow for it. However, we've looked at a lot of boats. Our cabinet/interior for this camper are inspired a lot by the inside of sailboats. We're not going to have many "doors" or "drawers". It just seems like unnecessary weight and effort to build them. I like cubbies and bungee netting for rolling down the road. We also do not need much storage cause we travel with minimal stuff. We traveled for years in a Toyota Echo car....so this is camper equals a huge expansion in space for us.
More PICS to come....but for now I've got some other stuff to do. Thank you for having a look. Go check out our YouTube Truck Camper Playlist if you like vidoes. That's where I put most of my online efforts. Watching the videos supports our channel and we appreciate it. I hope you have a splendid day!
Camp Chef stove - We live in Texas with NO AIR CONDITIONING in our house. So we cook outside a lot in the summer to avoid heating up the inside of the house. (we live in a straw bale house we built & use passive cooling for average $35/month electric bills) - Anyway...we've been using this stove already. Works terrific. I like this thing cause we can use it in the camper...at home... when traveling we can take it out of the camper for outside cooking.
Whynter 12 volt fridge/freezer. 65 quart. - Also removable for use above and beyond the camper.
Video of the 12volt Whynter Fridge
The portable toilet. Will be used as needed. There will not be an indoor bathroom area in this camper. Sure, it's a nice luxury...but for us it is not a necessity. Certainly everyone has different standards of comfort they feel inclined to "need". The USA is the land of bathrooms! We've traveled a lot and never had a problem finding a place to take care of business.
Showers will be by solar shower bag or streams, lakes - soap and a little bit of water and cleanliness is assured. Video of Dometic Portable Toilet
Painted the camper using quality exterior house paint. Considered doing a different colors, keeping it solid - no stripes, adding different graphics....in the end just updated the colors a bit and kept the same stripes.
The original "Red Dale" decal was badly faded. I thought of scrubbing it off...but decided instead to touch it up, repainting it by hand. The original decal was colored a bit differently...but I did it this way. One of a kind. ๐
The roof appeared to be painted with latex paint. It was in poor condition. Big flakes sticking up...lots of bare metal. This was sanded and scraped and washed (A LOT) - then new elastomeric coating was rolled on thick. It's very rubbery and seems durable. Time will tell how it holds up. Video about coating the roof.
Insulating. We used fiberglass insulation that we had salvaged from a house we dismantled (there are many salvaged materials in this camper). We know about rigid foam insulation...that it's supposed to be better. But we already had the fiberglass stuff (so no $ spent). If we'd have really thought the rigid foam stuff was going to make for a phenomenal improvement in our comfort and life, we'd have used it. We didn't. We're very accustomed to living quite close to the natural temperature and climate of wherever we are. Not a big deal to us. The fiberglass insulation will be perfectly adequate. But it was NO FUN to install!! Glad that part is over.
The solar power stuff arrives.
Solar Parts Unboxing Video
Building a removable, tiltable rack for the solar...which is going on the roof of the camper. Building the Solar Roof Rack
More to come! Thanks for taking a look. Any questions...fire away!
