Our custom true flatbed truck camper build thread
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โFeb-18-2013 03:21 PM
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 ๐
Here is a picture of the truck with some important dimensions:
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Truck Campers
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โJan-05-2015 04:43 PM
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed
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โJan-04-2015 09:09 PM
I am coming to the end of a big project, awaiting the final shipment of a few things, slowed because of the holiday shutdown. But I do have a couple of projects already in the planning and napkin sketching phase. While you certainly have a product you will use for years, it is evident there is a lot of enjoyment and pride going into the building of this project.
Happy Travels.
b
09 Lance 1191
1,560wSolar~10-6vGC2-1,160AmpH~Tri-Star-Two(2)60/MPPT~Xantrex 2000W
300wSolar~2-6vAGM-300AmpH~Tri-Star45/MPPT~Xantrex 1500W
16 BMW R1200GSW Adventure
16 KTM 500 EXC
06 Honda CRF450X
09 Haulmark Trlr
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โJan-04-2015 08:29 PM
bka0721 wrote:
What are you using for keeping the sliding doors in place and locked from opening? Sliders "rack" unless the spring tensioner is set tight, but that inhibits sliding, but set at a medium and then bouncing over bumps n' things might skip the track. Like on a ski lift these applications have a roller on top and bottom of the top track. Is this what you have done?
Also, with work of this quality, you must be already thinking of the next project. Any hints?
b
Hey, yes, good call there on the sliding doors...I knew I couldn't get anything past you! We do have spring tensioners in the top which go up into the groove and make the door impossible to bounce out (you have to compress them quite a bit to remove the door). I have some semi complicated mechanism in mind for locking the door position on the track but haven't built it yet, so right now they are free to slide back and forth. I adjusted the friction fairly tight for now and they don't slide during normal driving but I will be adding the lock mechanisms before we start our travels.
Next project...hmmm, let us finish this one first! ๐
I didn't say anything about a hydrofoil amphibious camper...
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โJan-04-2015 08:20 PM
Also, with work of this quality, you must be already thinking of the next project. Any hints?
b
09 Lance 1191
1,560wSolar~10-6vGC2-1,160AmpH~Tri-Star-Two(2)60/MPPT~Xantrex 2000W
300wSolar~2-6vAGM-300AmpH~Tri-Star45/MPPT~Xantrex 1500W
16 BMW R1200GSW Adventure
16 KTM 500 EXC
06 Honda CRF450X
09 Haulmark Trlr
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โJan-04-2015 06:53 PM
The garage door which functions also as a ramp and porch is constructed of 2x1 steel tube with ladder rungs of 1x1 steel tube. It will have 3/4" marine plywood inlaid onto the ladder rungs to act as the ramp floor. The outside of the door will be 0.063" aluminum skin panels just like the rest of the pod. Total door thickness is still just 2.125" including the skin because the plywood is inlaid. It is one of the more complicated steps (building the door) because we have to calculate for hinges, locks, gaskets, etc.
I have also included a few pictures of the interior, although we have not done much on that the past few months because we need to get the garage pod done to the point it can leave our garage. We did install a two seat recliner sofa and made a pretty nice sliding panel door system for the closets that are formed by the portion of the cab overhang. We tried a few things for doors but ended up going with really nice maple plywood called ApplePly. It has 13 layers, is expensive, but looks damn good. The edges of the ply look so nice and uniform (with hardwood inner plys) that we stain them and leave them exposed as an architectural detail. The plywood is amazing straight and stable. We are likely to use it for some cabinet doors in the kitchen (earlier plan was to have doors custom made).
The track for the closet slider doors was a interesting idea we had. We wanted the doors to be able to slide past each other and thus needed twin tracks. I was not happy with regular sliding door tracks and so went with 1x2 8020 aluminum extrusion that has t-slots. I already knew 8020 had nylon sliders that would go in these slots, so we simply attached the sliders to the ApplePly doors and presto, rugged, dual slide closet doors. We will use solid walnut trim molding to hide the slides and edges. Still a lot of trim work left to do.
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โDec-30-2014 09:26 AM
Definitely will try the camper and garage pod on the Isuzu NRR and see how things sit. The time and effort that have gone into the camper and garage make the truck itself a small part of the build if we did have to switch. It would take less than a day to do a complete switch including the under truck boxes and backup camera system if we were to find a 20 foot flatbed GMC T-7500 (they do exist but always seem to be on the other side of the country).
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โDec-29-2014 09:14 AM
Also, running a heating element device works well when doing it on paper, but reality is this element will impact your SOC (State of Charge) of the battery/s. Thusly, the ultimate health and longevity of your battery bank. Even though a micro wave and other power heavy devices are for brief times, a Space Heater, does not. There are so many variables in maintaining batteries and solar harvesting I would not suggest this as an alternative for heating when off the grid. My battery banks are, 1,460 AmpH (combined) and 1,860 watts of solar (combined) and I would never subject my batteries for more than a few minutes of this steep draw of amps. Theory and reality always have a huge collision, when they meet.
b
09 Lance 1191
1,560wSolar~10-6vGC2-1,160AmpH~Tri-Star-Two(2)60/MPPT~Xantrex 2000W
300wSolar~2-6vAGM-300AmpH~Tri-Star45/MPPT~Xantrex 1500W
16 BMW R1200GSW Adventure
16 KTM 500 EXC
06 Honda CRF450X
09 Haulmark Trlr
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โDec-29-2014 06:21 AM
2005 C4500/Kodiak 4x4, GVWR 17,500
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โDec-29-2014 05:36 AM
bigcitypopo wrote:
By chance have you thought of adding a battery rack to that pod. It seems you could had 6-8 6volts there toward the front of the pod thus placing the weight almost over the axle.. It might give Ya a good boon docking edge... Prewire it for solar. And your set... Then should you ever need to off-load... The unit is self sufficent with solar and a batt bank should you need to run an inverter or such.
Yes we thought initially about adding a 2nd bank of batteries in the garage pod (the living pod already has a small battery bank) but I am starting to have overall weight concerns even on the rear axle. I think when the garage is loaded on the truck behind the camper and we have our two motorcycles in it, the overall weight will be around 16,500 pounds. The GVWR of the truck is 19,500 so that only leaves 3000 pounds for gear. Considering we have more storage than a small house on this thing, 3000 pounds is not much.
I am looking at the Isuzu FTR,FVR,FRR series (or GMC T7500) which is the slightly heavier duty version of this cabover (26,000 GVWR). It seems they stopped importing them into the USA in about 2008 (probably because of the new diesel emission requirements) so they are harder to find. They would give us about 7,000 to 8,000 pounds for gear.
Or we may just try to keep the gear down to a minimum and get by with the NRR we have.
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โDec-28-2014 09:38 PM
2014 Keystone Springdale 294bhssrwe - Hensley Arrow!
The best wife, 2 kids and a bunch of fun
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โDec-27-2014 11:57 PM
2005 C4500/Kodiak 4x4, GVWR 17,500
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โDec-27-2014 03:53 PM
BoonHauler wrote:Jfet wrote:BoonHauler wrote:
I'm curious to hear how the furnace is working out for you? .......and wondering if you used the 1000 btu a foot method of sizing?
With as efficient of an envelope that you have I'd have to think that rule of thumb just wouldn't be very accurate. That's for tent trailers and alike.
Furnace! It has been 90 degrees during the day and 70 degrees at night.
Based on how well this thing is insulated, I think the near 20,000 BTU furnace will be overkill if anything. The tiny 500 watt AC certainly manages to keep the inside 25 degrees below the outside.
This fall we will know more about the furnace as sometimes it dips into the 20s during October.
I'll stay tuned......just wondering why you chose the 18k.
Jfet ..... Just a friendly reminder we're still waiting for your furnace review ๐
I'll be ordering mine pretty soon......
2014 BoonHauler 3614
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โDec-27-2014 01:16 PM
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โDec-27-2014 12:40 PM
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โDec-27-2014 08:45 AM
More pics. More detail. Soon, right?
b
09 Lance 1191
1,560wSolar~10-6vGC2-1,160AmpH~Tri-Star-Two(2)60/MPPT~Xantrex 2000W
300wSolar~2-6vAGM-300AmpH~Tri-Star45/MPPT~Xantrex 1500W
16 BMW R1200GSW Adventure
16 KTM 500 EXC
06 Honda CRF450X
09 Haulmark Trlr