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:
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:
Managed to get the 0.063" aluminum skin on the garage pod, also the plywood roof and the 0.040" aluminum continuous roof coil in place.
Still need to make the ramp door and cut out the opening in the aluminum for the teardrop trailer type door (you can see the place for it in the 2nd picture).
Work on the main camper has stopped for now until we get the garage pod somewhat finished and painted, but we did get the floor tile, some cabinetry, and sofa installed. I will get some pictures of that up soon.
Still need to make the ramp door and cut out the opening in the aluminum for the teardrop trailer type door (you can see the place for it in the 2nd picture).
Work on the main camper has stopped for now until we get the garage pod somewhat finished and painted, but we did get the floor tile, some cabinetry, and sofa installed. I will get some pictures of that up soon.
A weekend of tack welding and we managed to get the full frame of the garage pod together (sans ramp door).
It is hard to glean a lot of information from the pictures because of the cramped build space, but there are some interesting features.
1) We of course went with the same socketed quick connect system as we did in the living pod so the same jacks can be used to load/offload either pod.
2) We decided to weld in shelves on each side of the garage that hang down 2 feet and extend for almost 18 inches. This will provide a ton of storage space for gear and tools. It also adds strength to the walls and roof system to have the shelves part of the welded frame.
3) In a similar manner, we welded in a workbench across the entire back wall (8 feet long, 2 feet deep). This will provide a good surface for various future projects and maybe a small cnc mill/lathe.
4) In order to have some access to the pod without opening the ramp door, we added a small door meant for teardrop trailers (36" high) on the passenger side. It does have the advantage of fitting under the shelf system.
It should make a very useful storage garage for our motorcycles and gear and also provide a good area for metal/woodworking while on the road.
Next job is fully welding all of the joints, then the process of installing the aluminum skin and roof.
It is hard to glean a lot of information from the pictures because of the cramped build space, but there are some interesting features.
1) We of course went with the same socketed quick connect system as we did in the living pod so the same jacks can be used to load/offload either pod.
2) We decided to weld in shelves on each side of the garage that hang down 2 feet and extend for almost 18 inches. This will provide a ton of storage space for gear and tools. It also adds strength to the walls and roof system to have the shelves part of the welded frame.
3) In a similar manner, we welded in a workbench across the entire back wall (8 feet long, 2 feet deep). This will provide a good surface for various future projects and maybe a small cnc mill/lathe.
4) In order to have some access to the pod without opening the ramp door, we added a small door meant for teardrop trailers (36" high) on the passenger side. It does have the advantage of fitting under the shelf system.
It should make a very useful storage garage for our motorcycles and gear and also provide a good area for metal/woodworking while on the road.
Next job is fully welding all of the joints, then the process of installing the aluminum skin and roof.
Started construction Friday on the garage pod!
I had forgotten how quick you can get a structure formed with steel after the pain of working with wood. Tack, tack, 20 seconds later you need a sledgehammer to break it apart.
Here in about a day we went from a pile of steel to a fully tack welded base frame for the garage pod, completely level and diagonals matching to within 1/64".
We decided to make the garage pod 10 feet long instead of 11 feet. This way it will only overhang the flatbed by 1 foot which should be visually and structurally reasonable (and save weight). It is going to have a full ramp rear door and a passenger side teardrop trailer type mini door (for occasional access when you don't want to lower the ramp). We are also making the garage pod 1 foot shorter in height than the camper pod and will have a roof rack for kayaks and such on the garage pod.
I had forgotten how quick you can get a structure formed with steel after the pain of working with wood. Tack, tack, 20 seconds later you need a sledgehammer to break it apart.
Here in about a day we went from a pile of steel to a fully tack welded base frame for the garage pod, completely level and diagonals matching to within 1/64".
We decided to make the garage pod 10 feet long instead of 11 feet. This way it will only overhang the flatbed by 1 foot which should be visually and structurally reasonable (and save weight). It is going to have a full ramp rear door and a passenger side teardrop trailer type mini door (for occasional access when you don't want to lower the ramp). We are also making the garage pod 1 foot shorter in height than the camper pod and will have a roof rack for kayaks and such on the garage pod.
