62 replies to this topic

[HIKEMT]

Right on, if I was sticking to a traditional slide in I'd likely be looking at a floor plan like you have. The flatbed opens up the option to but the dinette in the back and not have to step over the lower bed to get to the top.

When you getting the new unit?

Ordered late December, hoping to have by April. Really looking forward to camping out of something bigger than a truck topper this year.

Back when I was looking at a camper for my stepside p/u one of the options I looked at was a flatbed. I decided against it for that rig but think it really opens up interior layout and exterior storage options. One nice thing about your rear dinette and side door is that they eliminate the through traffic that mine has.

If you don't use a standard camper this might not apply but I thought this was a great storage feature that we miss with factory beds.

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[brianjwilson]

I like the layout you have so far. It looks really simple and functional. The rear dinette should help keep the weight forward too. I envision it with the fresh water tank under the fridge, batteries in on the floor left of the water tank, dual 20lb propane tanks under the counter in the front. A section of counter top could bridge between the counter and the fridge. You could easily run a ducted 18k btu furnace close to the floor and run ducts to the water tank, dinette and some aimed up to the cabover.

Something else to think about is a simple 7 gallon portable water container for the gray water. I know some places are picky about people dumping water on the ground, so a portable jug would be an easy gray storage that you could dump anywhere, or yet another place to store 7 gallons of clean water if you don't need the gray water.

I would put some though into the full height door before you commit to it. I think you would sacrifice the structural integrity too much. I have seen some palomino pop-ups with the two-piece full height doors and after time the walls tend to fold in or out, and the top doesn't come down and seal correctly. In fact I know I have seen several pictures of four wheel campers where the aluminum frame broke above the door even.

[pods8]

I envision it with the fresh water tank under the fridge, batteries in on the floor left of the water tank, dual 20lb propane tanks under the counter in the front. A section of counter top could bridge between the counter and the fridge.

Other than switching the propane and water tank that is generally what I'm thinking right now. I was potentially thinking with the propane being under the fridge I could have a sealed off access hatch from the inside but still have external vents (need to verify the legality on that). It would allow access to the compartment when something other than propane is in the one spot along with the ability to deal with swapping propane tanks/turning them on/off, etc. and being shielded from the weather.

Something else to think about is a simple 7 gallon portable water container for the gray water.

That is where I'm leaning now. I'd still likely put a Y valve or something in the line to either go to tank or to an external drain. I was thinking a tube out of the front of the camper going down between the flatbed and the truck would be inconspicuous (but a wet spot under the truck might catch more attention...)

I would put some though into the full height door before you commit to it. I think you would sacrifice the structural integrity too much.

I've been stewing over the door thing a lot and still don't have a great answer. The main issue I run into is since I'm doing overlapping hard sides I can't just do a typical 4' door and still be able to access it when the camper is down. One thought I did have is if I did a split vertically hinged door like sonke's rig (if you aren't familiar the picture is below). The bottom door would still be able to open with the top down so you could slip through the ~20" gap there but its definitely a compromise.

[pods8]

So another thought running through my head is about stealth camping / solo camping with the top down. On my current hawk there have been times I wouldn't have minded being able to access the faucet and stove to make a quick boiled water meal. I'm thinking the top down interior height on this will be in the 50-54" range and potentially a 40" counter height, so that will likely give me access to the sink (as long as I don't have cabinets on the topside coming down and covering it). Also it would give me access to the stove but not enough clearance to actually fire it up. I was curious for the stove if I used a partner stove (or similar) in a recessed box for normal cooking and then I could yank it out in these situations and use it on a short stand on the floor (and also the ability to take it outside).

Are there any combustion differences between the normal indoor propane stoves and something like a partner? Obviously with both some ventilation through the camper is needed.

[ntsqd]

From what I recall of the tuning of the MicroSol (I was the mechanical, not the combustion engineer) if they burn w/o yellow flame (blue only) then you're in the "good zone", but NOx may still be a problem.

[Overland Hadley]

From my research the jets in the SMEV units burn 30% less fuel, thus emitting 30% less fumes, while still producing an extremely hot flame.

This is what made me decide to go with a SMEV hob instead of a Partner stove.

[pods8]

From my research the jets in the SMEV units burn 30% less fuel, thus emitting 30% less fumes, while still producing an extremely hot flame.

This is what made me decide to go with a SMEV hob instead of a Partner stove.

Yeah I know the SMEV claims better numbers (and in my opinion its less stinky than the atwood wedgewood stove I replaced with it). What I'm curious though is if the partner burns any differently that an atwood/suburban cook top. I'll probably shoot them an email in the future it I want to pursue that route further.

[pods8]

Did a "rough" model of my truck and the potential camper exterior shell. Pardon the crude shaping and rendering of the images.

Side shot to show the overhang verse windshield. I want a wider bed that a full (48") but going to a queen (60") would really overhang past the window aerodynamics. Right now I could fit a 54" wide mattress but I might be a tad too long still.


Frontal shot:


Angled shot:


Another angled shot with the roof turned off. Door size/style is TBD, I just showed an opening for clarity that is where the door would be.

[pods8]

Not a ton new in terms of design wise going on for me, I'm just running various ideas through my head trying to refine things. I originally was thinking of just using stock 20lb propane tanks for their availability, familiarity, cost, etc. However I'm giving those clear view fiberglass propane tanks some more thought now, I didn't realize they were translucent at first and just though folks were talking about them for the weight savings only. Which wasn't justifiable for the cost in my mind, however seeing how much propane you have visually is pretty nice.

I got my test supplies in last week and got my first taste of working with epoxy and foam board to make up some core sample pieces, so far so good. Hopefully this weekend I'll get time to layup the fiberglass fabric layers over them to see how I feel about that work. Additionally I'm trying out two different fabric weaves to see how they lay up and each test pieces has a variety of different radius corners. Overall this should give me a good representation of what each fabric is capable of in terms of layup. I can then take that information forward in how the shell is designed.

From there I'll do an interior mockup as DD did to see how it really feels spacially, I'll probably utilize cardboard as much as possible to save time/cost/waste.

[pods8]

I made up some test parts that would have about the worst case curves I'd need to deal with I think. The smaller one I went ahead a quickly faired/finished (I'd take a bit more time on a final product but it was good enough to fill in the weave and seams). I was just using a squeegee and noticed it difficult to try and work some of the air bubbles out of the fabric on these parts because it would drag the fabric some and disrupt the inside corners and edge wraps. I think I'll need to pick up a laminating roller and see how well they work for working out air bubbles without dragging the fabric around.