Ocelot shell build ideas

[Tilldawn]

Hi,
I'm in the planning stages with Marty to build an Ocelot, 78" across. I'm putting it on a 2012 Tundra double cab with the 6.5 bed and Marty is going to shorten it to about 75" so I can close the tailgate. I had a 2016 Hawk with all of the bells and whistles that I bought with the truck. I just sold the Hawk because there just wasn't enough room inside of it and I don't need the water system or cooking stuff inside.

What I'm looking for are ideas and ideally pictures of other builds where there's a bench across the front under the cab side window or a smaller bench seat there and another bench that goes along the passenger side that's the heights of the side box to make a L shaped sitting area where, down the road I can mount a Lagun table,

Any other things that you can think of that I would want to have added when it's being built would be appreciated. I don't do a lot of off roading with the rig and I travel mainly in warmer weather with my 110 lb Doberman and my two smaller dogs.

Thanks,
Dawn

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Hi Dawn, I have a Cougar shell that Marty built for me, and I really like it. Not knowing what I wanted on the inside, I asked to have a furnace, stove, and a tee fitting to add a catalytic heater if so desired. Additionally, I have a solar system with two batteries, and had the water fill door & drain, plus the external shore power connection all stubbed in. So far, I’ve only added a power cord to the inside so I could run a small heater if so desired. A mistake I made was not asking for a counter top on the driver side. I miss the work space. I also asked Marty for a driver side 7 Pin electrical connection, as I my hard side camper that is configured like that.

I recommend you consider where you have things like the thermostat, solar controller, and ACR/fuse located so you don’t have to move things if you want to build out. I like your idea of the L shaped sitting area, but maybe consider having some type of a couch that could be used for stealth camping. On both sides of my shell, I filled in the notch over the wheel well with a box to store things like fly rods and hiking poles. If you’re going build stuff on top of the side box, you might think about not having that carpeted, as it’s nasty to have to pull out. Get the widest door you can if you’re moving gear/stuff and dogs (I have two German Wirehairs with a combined weight nearing 170 pounds.) in and out.
If you want to chat, send me a PM with your phone number, and I’ll answer and questions you might have.

ATC is a great choice, Marty and team are wonderful to work with.

Edit: I’m assuming you’re going to store stuff in tubs on the side box. I use footman loops and straps to keep them in place. Strapworks in Eugene is a good source for those things.

 

[ski3pin]

Perhaps you can get some construction ideas from what I've posted on our blog -

Our All Terrain Camper

Best of luck with outfitting and setting up your new camper. Please ask any questions that may come up.

 

[drumwood]

I second the idea of L shape seating, with bench under cab window.

I built out my Bobcat shell similar to ski3pin, with a side dinette and Truckfridge under the cab window.

https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/14579-bobcat-prototyping-build/

I may have (definitely) stolen some of his ideas. Except I have the smaller, 45L Truckfridge. As it turns out (more coincidence than design), the Truckfridge is the same height as the side dinette seating, so we have something like an L shape between the side dinette seat and the Truckfridge. We use it a lot. It has turned out to be very handy. We not only sit there (great for getting dressed without the table in the way), but we can sit cross-wise in the side dinette chair and put legs out straight across the Truckfridge. My wife as knee issues and that is her most comfortable position.

 

[Vic Harder]

My wife and I don’t like the typical narrow “galley” in most camper builds, so didn’t build a permanent set of seats and our table swings out of the way. Lots of room to manoeuvre and get dressed, etc.

 

[Ronin]

Here's pics of my Panther shell build.

 

[Tilldawn]

Hi Dawn, I have a Cougar shell that Marty built for me, and I really like it. Not knowing what I wanted on the inside, I asked to have a furnace, stove, and a tee fitting to add a catalytic heater if so desired. Additionally, I have a solar system with two batteries, and had the water fill door & drain, plus the external shore power connection all stubbed in. So far, I’ve only added a power cord to the inside so I could run a small heater if so desired. A mistake I made was not asking for a counter top on the driver side. I miss the work space. I also asked Marty for a driver side 7 Pin electrical connection, as I my hard side camper that is configured like that.

I recommend you consider where you have things like the thermostat, solar controller, and ACR/fuse located so you don’t have to move things if you want to build out. I like your idea of the L shaped sitting area, but maybe consider having some type of a couch that could be used for stealth camping. On both sides of my shell, I filled in the notch over the wheel well with a box to store things like fly rods and hiking poles. If you’re going build stuff on top of the side box, you might think about not having that carpeted, as it’s nasty to have to pull out. Get the widest door you can if you’re moving gear/stuff and dogs (I have two German Wirehairs with a combined weight nearing 170 pounds.) in and out.
If you want to chat, send me a PM with your phone number, and I’ll answer and questions you might have.

ATC is a great choice, Marty and team are wonderful to work with.

Edit: I’m assuming you’re going to store stuff in tubs on the side box. I use footman loops and straps to keep them in place. Strapworks in Eugene is a good source for those things.

Thanks so much for the info. Do you have any pictures of your inside build? I'm also interested in the external shore power being stubbed in. Since I'm getting a shell I assumed there wasn't going to be any place for external shore power to connect. All I really need it for is the occasional use of a small electric heater when it's not that cold at night. I'm planning on getting the 30" door. Marty said he is now installing round top doors so that's exciting, as long as they're water tight that is.

 

[Tilldawn]

My wife and I don’t like the typical narrow “galley” in most camper builds, so didn’t build a permanent set of seats and our table swings out of the way. Lots of room to manoeuvre and get dressed, etc.

Wow, your build is incredible. If only I had more than basic wood working skills. I like the idea of the pop up seats but have doubts that they would hold my butt up, lol. I absolutely love all of the drawers, not to mention your power set up.

 

[Tilldawn]

I second the idea of L shape seating, with bench under cab window.

I built out my Bobcat shell similar to ski3pin, with a side dinette and Truckfridge under the cab window.

https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/14579-bobcat-prototyping-build/

I may have (definitely) stolen some of his ideas. Except I have the smaller, 45L Truckfridge. As it turns out (more coincidence than design), the Truckfridge is the same height as the side dinette seating, so we have something like an L shape between the side dinette seat and the Truckfridge. We use it a lot. It has turned out to be very handy. We not only sit there (great for getting dressed without the table in the way), but we can sit cross-wise in the side dinette chair and put legs out straight across the Truckfridge. My wife as knee issues and that is her most comfortable position.

I like the way you have your passenger side benches set up. I'm hoping to have something similar built but would love to have enough room for my 12v fridge to sit just inside the door, on the passenger side. My thought after having the Hawk was I'd like to be able to access the fridge from outside the truck. That's one of the reason's I would like to leave the tailgate on. I'm thinking that I would be able to pull the cooler out and set it on the tailgate when I'm set up in the same spot for several days. I'll just need to work out where I would plug it in when it's out there. Since my truck is a 4x4 and I had Deaver spring put on the rear with a 3" lift the tailgate is about 36" off of the ground when open. Going up and down the steps to get stuff out of the fridge gets old pretty quick since I'm using a Little Giant 4 step stool to get up into the camper. Even if I have to keep a small step in front of the cooler when it's sitting on the tailgate it seems like it would be easier to access since I do all of my cooking outside. The only thing I'm not sure of is how much room there is in the area by the door on the passenger side with the Ocelot. Especially if I have it shortened to allow the tailgate to close. I may end up having to change where it sits or where I have the passenger side bench built.

 

[Tilldawn]

Perhaps you can get some construction ideas from what I've posted on our blog -

Our All Terrain Camper

Best of luck with outfitting and setting up your new camper. Please ask any questions that may come up.

This information is invaluable in helping me visualize how they're made and what the interior looks like. I had some hesitation over the old school two piece roof and all of the screws but in doing some research I have realized that as long as you take care of it, it's really not a problem. My Hawk was the one piece aluminum roof but had a slight crease in it from front to back right behind the front passenger clasp. I assume the previous owner tried to lift the top without undoing that clasp first. It didn't affect anything and never leaked so I was ok with it. There are so many options for the inside it's a bit overwhelming but I'd like to keep it simple as to have the most interior room. I'm planning on using the yellow top, stackable bins on the drivers side with a counter top built over the top of that area. I found a couple of pictures from an Ocelot that was listed for sale as an example. I just need to dial in what the best dimensions will be.

 

[Vic Harder]

2 thoughts on your desire to access the fridge/cooler from outside:
1) The closer the fridge is to the back of the truck the more the stuff in it will be subjected to bumps and other motions. Think "back of the bus". We had a few "fridge surprises" that got me to move the fridge to the front of the camper. No more issues with stuff spread out all over the inside of the truck or fridge since that move was made
2) Cooler on the outside.... no bears or such where you camp?


Vic

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Thanks so much for the info. Do you have any pictures of your inside build? I'm also interested in the external shore power being stubbed in. Since I'm getting a shell I assumed there wasn't going to be any place for external shore power to connect. All I really need it for is the occasional use of a small electric heater when it's not that cold at night. I'm planning on getting the 30" door. Marty said he is now installing round top doors so that's exciting, as long as they're water tight that is.

I can get you photos after I clean things up, it’s still messy from my last trip. If the electrical connection is all you want, I suspect Marty will put it where it would be most convenient for you. Be aware you will have to connect the interior wiring. I knew Marty received received the first batch of round top doors, and I agree that water tight is most important.

 

[Tilldawn]

2 thoughts on your desire to access the fridge/cooler from outside:
1) The closer the fridge is to the back of the truck the more the stuff in it will be subjected to bumps and other motions. Think "back of the bus". We had a few "fridge surprises" that got me to move the fridge to the front of the camper. No more issues with stuff spread out all over the inside of the truck or fridge since that move was made
2) Cooler on the outside.... no bears or such where you camp?


Vic

Good point about the fridge bounce. I wish that there was a way to be able to access it from the outside but you can't have everything. The Tundra's double cab back seat door doesn't open wide enough to put it on a slide in there. I may be able to put it there and access it without pulling it out but that would involve moving dog crates every time I get to camp. Also, the cab of the truck will get hotter than the inside of the camper. Right now I'm writing all of the positive's and negatives down with different options. And I definitely do camp around bears as much as I dislike them so that's another valid point.

 

[Tilldawn]

I can get you photos after I clean things up, it’s still messy from my last trip. If the electrical connection is all you want, I suspect Marty will put it where it would be most convenient for you. Be aware you will have to connect the interior wiring. I knew Marty received received the first batch of round top doors, and I agree that water tight is most important.

Thanks, pics would be great when you get a chance.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Dawn, here’s a shot of the passenger side. The driver side is similar except for the furnace in the back corner. Pretty simple.

 

[Tilldawn]

Dawn, here’s a shot of the passenger side. The driver side is similar except for the furnace in the back corner. Pretty simple.

Thanks, this is just what I'm looking for. I like the front access to the storage. Did you build it or did Marty and his team?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

I built that with 1/2” ply and the aluminum angle. Sorry about the blue paint, I couldn’t find the Seal Gray that Marty uses. Note the straps holding the containers. They’re secured by footman loops top and bottom.

If I did it again, I’d probably hinge the front instead of the cubby holes.