CAMPER BUILD

I wanted to share my camper build a few years ago for the purpose of giving ideas to others who may be thinking of such a build. So I will share most of the construction.

My goals were an innexpensive build, lightweight, and as confortable as could be in a small build. A vehicle I can run to shows with and easily camp on site. A tiny palace on wheels. 
           
It was a fast build that went together in about two weeks. I have built like this several times before so I remembered many techniques and didn't need to start from scratch.

It was constructed from three used aluminum toppers. You will see the primary one up on top. The rest were torn apart for parts. Used toppers is one of the cheapest ways to get bulk aluminum stock to work with. I purchased very little new aluminum. 

[Note: some of these photos were taken over a year or two and the decal trim and rear window changed over that time. Today it is mostly clean white.]

We'll start with where we came from. Here is the old Nissan that was simply worn out from the wear.

   
It worked well for a few years but Nissan's little trucks have many problems with weight.The primary issue is first gear is not low enough for a pickup actually doing anything. It will not start on any hill with a load. I replaced a clutch a year because of this major gearing issue. It is a toy truck for city people.

So it was time for a much stronger Tundra.

This photo was taken when it was about a year old.

Now lets get to the beginning. Where does one start on such a project? I started with one really good used topper. It was only a year old and hardly used ...

Changes I made to it were to remove the front and rear walls. I spun the topper around so back was front. I liked the overhang on the rear over the back door. And a straighter fron worked for the nose cone better. Paint??? The red has to go. It is really hard to stick paint on aluminum painted toppers. It just doesn't want to adhere. I finally figured out to use auto paint primer in a spray can. It sticks to anything and bonds well. From there it was exterior paint with a brush.

The next step I built the lower curtain wall to raise this topper up. Sorry, I don't have photo's of this process. It is basically box construction with aluminum stock. I made L brackets to bolt, screw, or rivet all junctions by sawing up L stock into short segments.

Here is the base curtain wall with the formerly red topper set above...

I salvaged windows from the lower part from used toppers. The sheeting was from a windowless custom used topper I stumbled upon. But sheet aluminum can usually be found inexpensively if you call around to all metal fabricating shops in your area.

Next photo is one of the tests of how the lower wall works on the truck. With great difficulty I rounded the front corners to help with air flow.

It looks like it would work perfectly. So on to building the nose cone.

This was the hardest part. Many issues here. First off was strength.

WARNING !!!

The welding on toppers is not designed to hold any kind of weight on the front or back wall!

They barely tack the welds. A nose cone will simply tear the front off of the camper if you don't fix their weakness problems. I reinforced every one of thier seams on the front of the topper and added framing to the roof bridging the front roof rib to the second roof rib. Extra triangle pieces were added to all of the corners. The nose cone on mine is primarily held by hanging off the roof. Yes the side triangles help a little.  But that roof framing has to be strong.

For the nose cone I used many of the entire sections of the front and back walls of the toppers. It seemed like a good starting place and less work although clunkier looking. But nobody can see up there anyway.

I added a floating bar across the front of the nose cone because I need a place to stand to access the kayaks on the roof. It isn't smart to stand on the truck roof. It tends to break windshields. (I wonder how I learned that?)

Insulate the floor and this entire area well. Caulk well. It tends to sweat and mold easily with very little air flow up there.

Next I assembled all of this onto the truck. I glued and bolted all of this permanently to the truck bed. Could you make it removable? Well I imagine so. But I did not want any issues of strength or leaking for the seams. So glue and way too many stainless bolts was my approach.

(Note that photo must be during one of my test sessions. The nose cone has vanished? oops)

The next choice I really like. The interior design will have a large table on the passenger side that drops into a bed at night. The common camper drop down table approach. When lying in bed looking at a wall of aluminum it gets claustrophobic. So I took a large window and placed it on that lower wall. It lets a little bit of light onto the table during the day but primarily something to look at other than a wall. It opened up originally for extra air flow at night. But all of the hardware failed after a few months. So now it's glued shut.

Here the nose cone and most of the truck sheeted. For sheeting the aluminum was glued to the frame to help with sound and a tiny bit of buffer for condensation, and I used self tapping sheet metal screws. Hard to find. They are hiding in lumber yards in a little plastic tub. Self tapping saves a zillion on drill bits.

Now on to the rear wall. For the door many years ago I made a door out of an opening rear window on a topper. It has been moved to three toppers now. Although note..... the hinge on those rear windows is not designed for vertical use. Over time it likes to slide down the rail. This year I finally mounted regular hinges on the door.

Also on the rear wall I originally had a lower window for more night ventilation. But I ended up scrapping it.

I bolted and glued the wall to the bed and floor to add to the strength. Note if you like a third brake light up on the top of the center top of the camper this is a good time to tag into one of the tail lights.  I have wondered if I should have overhung the bumper and made it longer it back. Perhaps. It's an idea. But for me moving up from a barely six foot bed tiny Nissan to this 8 foot big truck bed I thought lets make it simpler and just leave it. This was a palace in comparison.

Here the back is sided and ready for the door. Almost done.

And here is a year later shot of the back of the camper. That 25 year old door can use some new sheeting sometime.

Why did I pick a topper with these giant opening side windows?

I spend all of my time in nature. I need a view. The giant opening windows allow alot of air flow!!! Yah. It really makes a difference on hot days and muggy hot nights. I put in a 1x2 frame around the inside of the windows and mounted window screens to it. Simple to do.

Interior:

An 8 foot bed was far more space than I have ever had before. The loft is long term storage and clothes. I put a 16 inch counter across the front wall with shelves below.  Then on the passenger side is a bench front and back with a table that drops down. On the drivers side front corner I extended the front shelf down the sidewall for a desk. A nice place to set things at night and extra table space. The rear drivers corner is the kitchen. I have a baby sink I found on line fitted to a gas can below I can easily dump out. Gas One kitchen stove for propane cooking. Below the counter I just bought a large Quasinart counter top oven. 12 inches deep for pizza or making pies, cookies. Really sweet and it fit in the space well. Heat is Cozy Cabin boat heater with a stainless one inch flu out the roof top. A simple nice heater. Love it.

That about sums it up.

Overall it is maybe 500 pounds. Not sure on weight exactly but I put it on the truck myself walking it over and lifting half of it up. So it's light for sure. It is tall but not too bad on the wind. I added Helwig over springs. I may add air suspension bags but dragging me feet as they cost a bit for this truck. I run 10 ply tires which are likely not needed but seem to help stability. V6 Tundra has no problem with power or speed. It's a workhorse of a truck.

Here are a couple recent interor finished photos.

Stained Glass ??? Well yea. It needs to feel like home. It is actually vinyl that sticks to glass you can find sometimes at Home Depot in rolls if you ask them where, and easily on line.

Kitchen is small but functional. It could have been larger without that other side window. But I like the extra air flow down low. The sink is under the cutting board. I just used cloth for hiding the cabinet shelves for the moment.

Home Sweet Home away from home.

So what would I do better next time?

1. I set in a plastic bed liner to seal up the floor and side walls. I should have put pink insulation or something behind it.

2. I pressed in one inch insulation between all the framing. Plenty of insulation... BUT the ribs get cold and sweat when heating the truck. Condensation nightmare. It needs another layer over the ribbing as well. Half inch to inch would be plenty. 

3. This is a giant change. .... But I really consider what it would take to make a flat bed instead of building on the pickup bed? There is at least six inches of wasted space in those lower fenders that sure would go to good use inside. It would be easy to bump the flat bed out six inches or so on both sides making the camper wide enough to sleep sideways allowing for more interior lay out options. (Like making a step in side door behind truck passenger door and laying the table/drop down to bed across the back wall with a giant picture window. Like my old Toyota tent camper was layed out. It would also be easy with a flat bed to add a foot or more to the rear. Keeping in mind to keep the back of the camper light with build weight and inside storage. Next truck I'll likely do the flat bed. But this one I needed fast and quick.

4. What else? .. ?? .... ???

Well in three years or more of use I am very happy with it. It is five feet inside. Not bad to walk around. Plenty of height for seating. I like the lower older trucks so it's not so tall making it insane to put kayaks on the roof.

It is nearly perfect for my needs. Happy Trails.