pods8
Contributors
Setting up a dedicated thread for this. I'm breathing new life into a project (this first started as an overhaul for a flatbed but I shuttled trucks and now its being reconfigured).
This mostly custom build contains the DNA of a 1982 grandby (I reused the main beam channel) but have otherwise opted to build the majority of it out of fresh aluminum that doesn't have screw holes, staple dents, and adhesive stuck to it.
As we all know these projects can take some time and life gets busy, my goal right now is to make a steady push to ideally get a shell completed. Fingers crossed.
Initial design choices for reference:
-It'll have a queen bed cabover with a king size slide out
-After some consideration I cut down the length of the frame I had fabed up to better fit a 6.75' superduty truck bed.
-Initial interior planning is with a front dinette in mind, primary uses likely would include myself and 2 kids along so it needs to be a wider dinette.
-This is not intended to be a luxury camper with all the bells and whistles, I want a agile warm/dry camper that is comfortable inside with heat and a stove, I'm planning to include a sink but won't die on that hill. The stove and sink are covered SMEV units.
-I am not doing a fixed water tank, it creates needless hassles to fill/drain/winterize. I'll have removable water jugs for fresh and gray water.
-I already have an atwood 8012 furnance so planning to stick with that and propane vs a diesel heater (my truck is gasoline also).
-I have an ARB compressor fridge that I'm using as a baseline but haven't written off getting a built in fridge, it doesn't affect my initial shell build plans so there is time to keep pondering that.
Hmm I think that's the main points.
Here is a mock up of the hypothetical interior that would dimensionally fit.
I cut off the rear wall, made it taller for the Ford bed vs flatbed, and added additional framing while I was at it. Last thing I want to deal with is cracked welds in the future and don't really care if I have a few pounds of extra aluminum in it.
Refitting rear wall after cutting 4.5" off the length of the frame. It seems minor but it'll fit more flush with the taillights vs overhanging the bumper a bit. Also this makes better use of 24' aluminum tubes when building the roof.
The camper is in a carport off my garage, I've got the rear wall welded back on. I need to rework the bottom of the front wall still. I need to rework the passenger side a tad for the propane/furnace protrusions. I plan to double up some of the framing on the side and front wall as well before moving onto the floor pack. The original roof is strapped to the frame right now to give the cabover some structure while I'm working on it (till the cabover bottom gets installed) but I plan to build a new one from scratch.
This mostly custom build contains the DNA of a 1982 grandby (I reused the main beam channel) but have otherwise opted to build the majority of it out of fresh aluminum that doesn't have screw holes, staple dents, and adhesive stuck to it.
As we all know these projects can take some time and life gets busy, my goal right now is to make a steady push to ideally get a shell completed. Fingers crossed.
Initial design choices for reference:
-It'll have a queen bed cabover with a king size slide out
-After some consideration I cut down the length of the frame I had fabed up to better fit a 6.75' superduty truck bed.
-Initial interior planning is with a front dinette in mind, primary uses likely would include myself and 2 kids along so it needs to be a wider dinette.
-This is not intended to be a luxury camper with all the bells and whistles, I want a agile warm/dry camper that is comfortable inside with heat and a stove, I'm planning to include a sink but won't die on that hill. The stove and sink are covered SMEV units.
-I am not doing a fixed water tank, it creates needless hassles to fill/drain/winterize. I'll have removable water jugs for fresh and gray water.
-I already have an atwood 8012 furnance so planning to stick with that and propane vs a diesel heater (my truck is gasoline also).
-I have an ARB compressor fridge that I'm using as a baseline but haven't written off getting a built in fridge, it doesn't affect my initial shell build plans so there is time to keep pondering that.
Hmm I think that's the main points.
Here is a mock up of the hypothetical interior that would dimensionally fit.
I cut off the rear wall, made it taller for the Ford bed vs flatbed, and added additional framing while I was at it. Last thing I want to deal with is cracked welds in the future and don't really care if I have a few pounds of extra aluminum in it.
Refitting rear wall after cutting 4.5" off the length of the frame. It seems minor but it'll fit more flush with the taillights vs overhanging the bumper a bit. Also this makes better use of 24' aluminum tubes when building the roof.
The camper is in a carport off my garage, I've got the rear wall welded back on. I need to rework the bottom of the front wall still. I need to rework the passenger side a tad for the propane/furnace protrusions. I plan to double up some of the framing on the side and front wall as well before moving onto the floor pack. The original roof is strapped to the frame right now to give the cabover some structure while I'm working on it (till the cabover bottom gets installed) but I plan to build a new one from scratch.