31 replies to this topic

[takesiteasy]

Pods8, great to see a post from you. Every now and then I wonder about your other camper build. Glad to see you are still kicking. Love to see the pictures of the "cookie crunchers" too. That's what it's all about. Good luck getting out camping and have fun!

[pods8]

Hi Pods8

I have to ask....

Did you fasten the Grandby to your truck deck directly thru the bottom of the camper ?

I have been pondering whether that would hold up as well from a structural point of view.

I have in mind doing that with a Hawk.

David Graves

No it's just sitting there (had a strap over it to take it home). I need to add on eye bolts to the camper as normal, I have eyebolts on my bed to match (rear ones are off right now) from when I had the hawk.

[pods8]

See my post in the camping and outdoor gear forum. This is Amazon Prime Day, and I picked up a $300 plus Fantastic fan for $210! Also I have a water tank out of my 79 Grandby you could have for the cost of shipping.

I have fans, tank, heater, stove, etc all in boxes for the project camper I can borrow from.

[pods8]

Got out for a short trip with the crew (wanted to do a longer trip but life...).  Did have some humor when a 40lb sleeping bag containing a 5.5yr old dropped onto us in the middle of the night (disclaimer: no children were harmed in this adventure, parents are cushioning).  We had tried sleeping the 4 and 5.5yr old up top and parents on the couch since we put them to bed sooner. 

 

Current progress:

-Wire in my batteries quickly

-Add jack brackets so I can get this off my truck when needed

-Add eye bolts to tie it down

-Rig up wooden bed support since original stuff is gone, not pretty but functional

-Install one of the fan vents I have so we can get some airflow

-Patch front liner temporarily (its cracked up some, I ripped out the foam and applied gorilla tape on the inside for now, new liner to come).

Probably some more little things.

 

I need to rebuild or replace the door sooner or later as its flimsy also I will make a replacement side liner as well, need to figure out the window construction details and ponder longer term plans.

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Looks like you are coming along with the project.

Frank

[pods8]

Figured I'd poke my head in here for a worthwhile update, not planning for step by step stuff, life is busy and complex but rallying at the moment on the camper front so I'm gonna ride that wave.

 

Ran the 82' for a while and then the floor was deteriorating, pulled that off the truck to use as a donor frame.  Picked up an 86' cheap and been running that one since (using a fair bit solo, or with a kid or two, occasionally full family but its cramped obviously) so its been nice having something.

 

 

With life busy, I traveled ALOT for work in 2019, etc. my plans for the aluminum flatbed build kept sliding, I'd practice on TIG time to time but never got the GO spark.  Well with COVID shutting down work travel I decided to capitalize and picked up a load of 1x1x1/16 box tubing before the heavy stay at home orders hit and have been making some decent progress (wrapping up side walls, front/rear/floor are functionally done, need to add some minor things but the bulk is done).  Have the top perimiter and roof left in terms of framing so now I don't feel bad about posting.

 

For the cost of fresh aluminum tubing (and how much nicer it welds) I'm mostly using fresh aluminum and the old frame as a template for some things.  I'll be using the orignal C channel slid forward for a 60" cabover with (3)1x1 box tube stacked on top, this is both to gain back the 3" taken out of the side wall to lower the camper to my truck cab height since the flatbed his higher than factor bed and also that will add alot of the needed structural integrity to the extended cabover.  For the roof I'm debating building a new full roof level and stacking my new roof onto the original for a 2" thick roof (that would mean the trim only comes up half the height on the exterior but not sure if thats an issue or not since its over top of the wrapped roofing aluminum and just calked at the top for visual purposes, can't readily see a problem but who knows).

 

The design is flat bed, rear door, front 48" wide dinette with the remainder on each side behing counters (stove/heater/power center/fridge on one side, sink/water/lots more storage on the other).  Inside the box framing all the parts are in there if I want to convert the body over to fit a standard truck later, IE I'll need to gut the interior but I can cut welds/frame members off in the right spots and the remaining framing is all set for the step ins with the caveat I'll need to add 3" height to the center to the floor section.

 

Closing on a house later this month and moving late may/early june for some extra fun, lol but the frame is easy enough to move and the new place has 3 car garage and RV pad so I'll have room.  Maybe it'll help me find some of the components for building a camper I KNOW I have somewhere... ha!

 

[Boonie]

Another Colorado builder! OK, Pods8, if I understand your concept, you are eliminating the existing wood floor pack, extending and adjusting a new aluminum frame down to a new flat bed floor, such that the cab-over just clears the top of your truck cab (minus 3"). Then adding 3" to top rail so that existing "canvas" pop-up fits standup height, and adding new cabinets split left and right? Sounds similar in concept to my Jeep built, so I will be watching. Keep the posts coming.

 

Boonie

Edited by Boonie, 28 April 2020 - 06:58 PM.

[pods8]

Yep, back on the camper build bandwagon after a ton of lost effort/material cost with my composite build attempt.  Decided to just stick with tried and true aluminum frame construction instead (wish the smaller invertor tig machines were more readily available back in the day would have been way ahead of the game by now, lol...).  Changed up the layout from my original side entry plan to a rear as this fits stuff better (I can shove some kids bikes in the full length isle way, etc.).

 

I'm more or less building a new camper only using that aluminum channel from a grandby (I may use some parts of the original roof frame also).

 

The body will be a new box that is 80" wide and 89" long, the floor has 1x1 box as well, the underside will be clad in 3/4" plywood still, then foam board in the floor frame gaps, then 3/8" (probably) plywood interior floor.  The new front and side walls are 42" tall and the rear 50", the Existing C-channel will be placed on this box extending out 60" along with a stack of three 1x1 tubes (adding 8" to the sides) and these box tubes will extend all the way back to the rear wall.  In the gap behind the channel a vertical brace or two.  Aside from structural addition the three 1x1 box tubes were more to preserve head height in the camper with the top down and also to fit the door height.  I will be sewing new a new vinyl sideliner (the overall camper will be longer and it was old/crappy anyways), I'll likely add a bit of height to the sideliner as well to have a bit more space when up in the cabover bed.

 

I didn't pay much for either of the campers I have now so I don't feel bad about mainly just using the C channel from the more beat up one, custom ordering that piece would have likely cost just as much.

 

P.S. I see you're in Brighton, I'm moving over to Thornton.

[pods8]

Here's a screen shot of the evolving design, I still need to shuffle the propane access and heater a bit but the rest of this wall is what I'm building.  As I add things like a plate to mount the 120V connection I'll update it in the model, just rolling forward on the parts I know I don't plan on changing to make progress as I sort out other details.

 

(The front is obviously radius but I didn't bother to model it that way).

[klahanie]

Welcome back pods8 ! Good luck with your new project. Glad to read you're continuing on, sounds a great way to be spending time right now.