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:
06Fargo wrote:
Good looking setup Jfet
Little Japanese Truck, too bad you could not get something with a bit more " grunt" You are limited in the US in that regard. This is an Isuzu FTS 800, with an Off Road 30,000lb GVWR
Idaho is very pretty. Finally got to use the canoe and kayak free camping on Johnson Creek. It is pretty easy to unload them using the 8 foot ladder we keep behind the truck cab. We put the ladder on the ramp door which puts the top of it above the garage pod roof. From there it is pretty safe and easy to take off the watercraft.
We finally sold the house and set off on our cross country adventure!
Moses Lake sand dune area was VERY crowded Thursday, with everyone reserving 8x the area of their camper using tape or flags. Really there was nowhere to park so we headed on to Fishtrap BLM land (about 7000 acres). It is very nice and quiet here for Memorial Day weekend, only one other tent/car camper couple who seem to be mountain biking.
I have unloaded the garage pod in this picture and setting up the motorcycles for a morning ride. It is 68 degrees and sunshine here in Eastern WA.
Moses Lake sand dune area was VERY crowded Thursday, with everyone reserving 8x the area of their camper using tape or flags. Really there was nowhere to park so we headed on to Fishtrap BLM land (about 7000 acres). It is very nice and quiet here for Memorial Day weekend, only one other tent/car camper couple who seem to be mountain biking.
I have unloaded the garage pod in this picture and setting up the motorcycles for a morning ride. It is 68 degrees and sunshine here in Eastern WA.
Down to one week until we set off for full time truck camping.
We packed up the truck with just about everything, including the kitchen sink and for the first time took out the sailboat (which was a good test of the trailer hitch we welded up from scrap metal LOL). She is heavy but seemed to ride well pulling the boat. We are right at capacity with a few hundred pounds to spare. Front axle has dropped below 6000 pounds as I knew it would. Sailboat and trailer were 3200 pounds (it has a 600 pound lead keel). Going to be a slow go, but we are in no rush.
One slightly heavy thing we added was a 3 axis cnc milling machine to the garage pod workbench. I still need to do a bit of wiring on the controller but figure I can finish that in some tranquil setting.
We packed up the truck with just about everything, including the kitchen sink and for the first time took out the sailboat (which was a good test of the trailer hitch we welded up from scrap metal LOL). She is heavy but seemed to ride well pulling the boat. We are right at capacity with a few hundred pounds to spare. Front axle has dropped below 6000 pounds as I knew it would. Sailboat and trailer were 3200 pounds (it has a 600 pound lead keel). Going to be a slow go, but we are in no rush.
One slightly heavy thing we added was a 3 axis cnc milling machine to the garage pod workbench. I still need to do a bit of wiring on the controller but figure I can finish that in some tranquil setting.
