Our custom true flatbed truck camper build thread

[Jfet]

Ok, I am going to collect random thoughts and progress pictures and put them here in a thread.

Goal: Construct a true flatbed camper with cabover, no slideouts but full 8 foot floor width inside. This will mount on a 2006 Isuzu NRR truck with a GVWR of 19,500 pounds and a current dry weight of 8700 pounds. The truck has a 20 foot flatbed that is 8 feet wide. The camper will take up 11 feet of the flatbed and the remaining area will be home to a future garage for our toys. We will install a hitch so we can pull our 17 foot Montgomery sailboat (trailer + boat is about 2200 pounds). The camper and garage will be removeable so the flatbed can be used for other purposes, or in case the truck needs extensive shop repairs down the road. Or if we are in Alaska and want to go pick up 3 cords of firewood or something 🙂

Here is a picture of the truck with some important dimensions:

[mountainkowboy]

I would love to find a 4x4 like that little flatbed. would like one a bit longer though, so I could run a bed style fuel tank and a "cab sleeper" like thing for the dogs.

[btggraphix]

thorsmitersaw wrote:


where do you look for them? I cant find any on craigslist that are in 4 wheel drive. Are there any with crew cabs?

The expo in Flagstaff would have been a great place to look for them in person (there were a bunch of them there and all sorts of things were for sale.) I'd also start following the expeditionportal forum in their for-sale sections. People there are pretty hawk-eyed for chassis like these. They found the posting I put up for Don's old Dodge/Outfitter combo within 8 hours of my putting it up on CL and before I got a chance to post it on the portal myself.

[thorsmitersaw]

jroddick wrote:

Jfet wrote:
We thought about getting a 4x4 Fuso, but they just started making them for the US market.......Then of course there was that $50,000 vs $14,000...

What! No, they've been importing them since at least 1991. Mine cost me $2500........

where do you look for them? I cant find any on craigslist that are in 4 wheel drive. Are there any with crew cabs?

[Rbertalotto]

I always wanted one of those Fusos, but then we bought one as a 2WD box truck for a company I owned. Extreme reliability and a great truck. But WAY under powered. Floored it would go 50 mph up hill and 70 down with a big load.

Engine

Model 4P10(T5)

Type DOHC, 4-cylinder, 4-stroke cycle, water-cooled, turbocharged, intercooled diesel with 4 valves per cylinder

Displacement 183 cu. in (3.0 L)

Max. output (SAE, gross) 161 hp @ 3,400 rpm

Max. torque (SAE, gross) 295 lb.-ft. @ 1,300 rpm

Put a Cummins 5.9 in it and then we'd have a TRUCK!

[jroddick]

Jfet wrote:
heh heh jr...our camper would look awesome on that 4x4...it would have the space of a class C and the turning radius of a smart car.

You might have a little trouble keeping the front wheels on the ground with that camper.

[Jfet]

heh heh jr...our camper would look awesome on that 4x4...it would have the space of a class C and the turning radius of a smart car.

[jroddick]

Jfet wrote:
We thought about getting a 4x4 Fuso, but they just started making them for the US market.......Then of course there was that $50,000 vs $14,000...

What! No, they've been importing them since at least 1991. Mine cost me $2500........

[kereams]

You will not have any issues in cold weather. What you have done is very similar to what Chalet does insulation wise (although they vacuum bond). I do a LOT of cold weather camping and I never have a condensation or sweat problem. Last winter I did about 30 nights while skiing, sometimes down to single digit temperatures. The winter before that, same thing. Never an issue.

[Jfet]

joe123 wrote:
Do you camp in cold weather? If yes what are you going to do about cold transfer through all of the metal, years ago a friend had a western wilderness camper that was metal framed when hunting in cold weather you could see every piece of metal by the sweat marks on the walls.

All of the metal studs are separated from the interior walls by at least 1 inch of R6.5 polyisocyanurate foam with a vapor barrier. In general the walls, floor and roof have 2 inches of R13 polyisocyanurate insulation.

[joe123]

Do you camp in cold weather? If yes what are you going to do about cold transfer through all of the metal, years ago a friend had a western wilderness camper that was metal framed when hunting in cold weather you could see every piece of metal by the sweat marks on the walls.

[Jfet]

zman-az wrote:
This is an awesome build. I wish I would have seen it earlier. One thing that concerns me on your build is the overhead bunk. Don't know if it is strong enough in the long haul. I have a 4 wheel truck camper, granted its a popup but I like the way they placed that large alum bar for the bed way back into the camper. You may want to consider doing something similar if you still can. Maybe you can fit some 6" x 1/8" flat bar on the inside for some added strength. BTW, your welds are awesome.

Thanks zman. We did run the two bottom beams of the overhead bunk into the 2nd stud of the main cabin and we have triangle bracing. You can see some of this in the earlier pictures and CAD drawings. There is also some rigidity provided by the aluminum skin plus the internal 5mm plywood skin. I can hang by the outside end of the overhead bunk and not cause any sag. Will this be enough when on the road? Not 100% sure. We have considered adding some form of dampener support between the Isuzu cab and the overhead bunk if needed. What I may do is mount a force/distance sensor on the cabover and log some data on a few drives. If I see that the cabover is bouncing up and down 3 inches, then seriously think about adding a dampener/support somewhere.

[recycler]

that ancor wire looks interesting..to bad i already wired mine with romex..you could run the wiring through cabinets like northwood

[zman-az]

This is an awesome build. I wish I would have seen it earlier. One thing that concerns me on your build is the overhead bunk. Don't know if it is strong enough in the long haul. I have a 4 wheel truck camper, granted its a popup but I like the way they placed that large alum bar for the bed way back into the camper. You may want to consider doing something similar if you still can. Maybe you can fit some 6" x 1/8" flat bar on the inside for some added strength. BTW, your welds are awesome.

[Jfet]

69 Avion wrote:

kereams wrote:
I personally would stay away from Romex or any solid core wire as it might be difficult to keep tidy and route where you need. I would follow the manufacturers recommended awg and use THHN.
Keith

I agree. I would use stranded THHN and if room allows I would pull it through some of that flexible plastic conduit.

hmmm would rather not have to put conduit in the walls...is that standard practice in truck campers?

Ancor does make some ultra flex stranded flat 14-3 120V cable (black white green) http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|328|49758|316477&id=105919

[69_Avion]

kereams wrote:
I personally would stay away from Romex or any solid core wire as it might be difficult to keep tidy and route where you need. I would follow the manufacturers recommended awg and use THHN.
Keith

I agree. I would use stranded THHN and if room allows I would pull it through some of that flexible plastic conduit.