30 replies to this topic

[Alley-Kat]

Thanks for the info on your Ranger.

 

Most of us that are Ranger fans, are looking forward to the re-start of production of the Ranger in the U.S. as indicated back in April, 2016 in a L.A. Times newspaper article...

 

"The UAW's new four-year contract with Ford, signed last year, guarantees new vehicles for the Wayne, Mich., assembly plant in 2018 and 2020 and a $700-million investment that preserves the plant's 3,924 jobs. Union members have said they expect the factory to get a new version of the Ranger small pickup and a new small SUV called the Bronco."

 

We're looking forward to this becomming a reality, not just some "story".

[MexiDan]

Some photos of the build (thanks to the guys at ATC for taking these).  Note the small "bump up" in the front to assure that the wheel will not ever hit the floor of the camper.

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[MexiDan]

A few more pics for today.

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[MexiDan]

Some shots of the inside during the build.  I had the propane box put toward the front to keep weight forward.  The grey rectangles are the painted "bump ups" so that the tires do not hit the floor.  Also can see the "temporary" electrical board for the solar system that I had ATC install.

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[MexiDan]

The final shell, ready to bolt on.

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[MexiDan]

Only took a couple of shots while they bolted the shell on in the shop.  Marty, his son and daughter-in-law came in on a holiday morning and finished the job in about 3 hours.  I will post some close ups of the bolt on system later this week when the truck is back from it's 20K km servicing at the Ford dealer.  I think we spent more time making certain we had the shell square on the truck frame than the actual drilling and bolting required.

 

Prior to leaving home I had bought a Thule bar and used an old faring from another style Thule along with a piece of Makrolon to build a faring system before I knew the exact size that I needed.  It worked pretty well for the  3000+km home (shown below during the first night of camping just east of Oakland Ca).  I have cut a larger piece of Makrolon and plan to bolt it on over the current one.  I think this will last me for a good number of trips before I do something a bit "nicer looking".

 

The center of gravity of the shell turned out to rest just about 1 to 2 inches behind the center of the rear axle, so should not bee too bad as long as I keep the bulk of the weight forward, which I plan to do.  The total weight is just over 600lbs, I will post the exact number once I have the camper home from the shop.

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[Squatch]

Love the Camper!

 

I thought my little truck had a lot of the bed behind the axle. WOW.

[BillM]

Wow, I'm jealous of your diesel truck, camper and MPG.  I've thought of doing something similar with my Frontier, the bed is really just added weight and wasted space since my camper is on all the time.  Looks like a great set up.  I'm looking forward to your interior build.

[MexiDan]

Love the Camper!

 

I thought my little truck had a lot of the bed behind the axle. WOW.

 

The "bed" of the camper is 78" long, outside to outside.  The original bed on these Rangers are about 62" from the back to the front of the bed, 85" with the tailgate down.

 

The center of gravity of the camper empty is about 1 to 2 inches behind the axle (may have posted this already).

[MexiDan]

Been busy with various things and have not done much with the camper yet.  Did make the fairing wider and taller.  It's too tall in this pic and I've since taken some off the top.  Also bought a tumba burro (bull pusher) for the front and headed to southern Quintano Roo for a couple of nights.  I have a Shady Boy awning mounted on the passenger side.  I've used these on past VW Eurovans and really like them for their light weight and fairly easy set up.

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