2022 Ford F550 - DIY - Adventure Expedition Vehicle Build Thread

[Vance Vanz]

Carbon Fiber Pass Through Door - Dry Fit, Edge Layup & Body Work

...................... Crickets?

Alright, time to get back on the horse. Let's get this thread somewhat updated.

Part of getting the fairing/body work on the outside of the camper complete, and the build ready for exterior/interior paint, included the pass through door and enclosure panels for the grey water tank.

Cut and shaped the door to fit, with about an 1/8" gap around the edges


Now let's get the edge work done (same process as the edges on the interior CF cabinets)


Good old salmon colored pooky. I love me some body work . I had to build a little jig to block sand the thing (keep it from dancing around the table).


Check that one off the list

 

[Vance Vanz]

Camper Fairing/Body Work - Bottom Exterior - Complete

Although this was definitely not as bad as the interior, getting all of this bodywork dialed in took some time. It started to wear on me pretty bad again towards the end.


Some close ups of the details



I can guarantee that this build/project will be the last time I do any fairing/body work again 😩😆!

 

[Vance Vanz]

Mud Flap Brackets - Design & Fab

Now that the body work is done, it is time to make sure that I don't miss any of those pesky little details and projects that need to be complete prior to paint/coating. This is also when I'm on the phone, pretty much part-time throughout the week, trying to lock down a paint/coating shop-AGAIN.

The front fender liners come down a bit past the back-bottom-edge of the front fenders, so I wanted to match this look/style on the rear of the camper. I made some aluminum brackets to match this profile. The slight angle/ bend on them will allow the mud flaps to sit at a 90 degree angle from the bottom edge/profile of the camper (the details).


Rear wheel well on the camper


The front fender liners will also have some small angled brackets mounted to them, so the front mud flaps will come down at a 90 degree from the bottom edge/profile of the truck.

Moving onto the roof.

Note: All major openings and large drilled holes through the camper walls/core will get cored out and re-filled with epoxy, or CF cloth/epoxy will be applied to the edge of the core foam. I'm going to make the entire core on the camper sealed from the outside environment (with epoxy). Yes, this will be some added work and time, but this thing is going to last a lifetime.​

Mounting holes in the roof for the AC unit: cored out, filled with thickened epoxy and re-drilled.

​

 

[Vance Vanz]

Pass Through Flange Install & Random Projects

Finally getting around to sealing and riveting the pass through flange to the cab:

Sanding & prep


Sealing & riveting. Another one of those projects I did late at night and by myself. DON'T do this by yourself; I guarantee it will be a PITA. I also added an additional (2nd) row of rivets along the bottom edge of the window area, to catch the top edge of the factory structural support that spans across the entire back wall of the crew cab (spanned the entire width of the cab before I cut a big hole right in the middle of it 😁). I wanted to add some additional tie-in/structural strength to the whole assembly.


After sealing and riveting everything, I masked and taped everything off again, so the rivet heads and seam sealer could be painted. I didn't want the seam sealer to be exposed to UV before the outside gets coated and/or painted. These are the things that you don't anticipate and can just start eating up so much time on the project. Death by a thousand cuts 😫🤪!


"Don't forget to coat the back side of the CF blank-off/filler pieces you added/bonded to the back wall of the wheel wells."


"Also don't forget to coat the entire thin bottom-back side-edge on all of the fairings on the camper (that basically goes around the entire camper), because the paint/coating shop will probably not see/take the time to catch those kinds of details." More masking, taping rolling and time spent to get all of those details done 😕.

 

[Vance Vanz]

Pass Through / Crew Cab Painting

So everyone knows that my original intention for the build was a white composite kit box for the camper. That is the main reason why I bought a white truck, so I would not have to paint anything on the truck, or paint the entire truck. Now I'm starting to pay the price for that kit box debacle 🤬. A price I will continue to have to pay for awhile on the build. I will also provide some additional info related to this (future post) that may save someone thousands of dollars on their build. Unfortunately for me, chaaaaa chiiiiiing, out of my pockets ☹️.

Painting the crew cab area, so any white areas that could/would be visible are black. All pass through additions and back crew cab area will be black.

 

[Vance Vanz]

Truck Front End Painting

So, most of this was simply painting any remaining white visible components/areas on the truck. The part that really sucked, and I will get to in much more detail in a separate post, was fixing issues with DBL Designs work. Don't get me started on DBL Designs right now 👎😡.

This took some time to get prepped........ and a bit of patience too.


Plasticing and taping the cross member, so it could be circumferentially painted, was not fun. It needed to be done though; no stone unturned!


This is the section (both sides) that is cut out and a new piece is installed for the singles-conversion.


Getting some primer down


All cleaned up


This should be that last of any visible white on the truck that will need to be addressed before paint/coating.

 

[Vance Vanz]

The Most Gratifying Thing on The Build

I think I did this right after finishing the body work on the outside of the camper. I needed something to lift my spirits and this definitely did................., for about an hour !

Before


After


Ooooooooooooooooooh, that felt sooooooooooooo good 🫠!

 

[rruff]

Why not make a replacement for the front axle/ quick release that would have a Eye-nut clamping the fork blades together, then make a 2 hook bracket on the wall for them. That way you just "hang" the bikes by the eye-nuts? The fork offset, head tube angle of the frames (or the dissimilarities of) won't be an issue.

So... a standard thru-axle mount that attaches to a bar that has the eye-nuts on it? That would take care of the angle issue. Would still need to move the hooks up and down if you want the tire secured on the floor, but Ltrack would work for that. The rattle clearance would be less than desirable, but the frames will need to be laterally secured anyway.

I was thinking of a bushing that would do the same... but maybe since the frame needs laterally securing anyway, just support the fork the same way? Using the fork axle as a means of support doesn't make sense once it's turned 90 deg. Have the weight on the rear tire, and secure the frame and fork blades both to the side wall.

But... since two overlapping bikes need to be secured to the same wall, that means long offsets for one of them. I'd be inclined to keep the forks mounted the normal way, or 180, and cut down the bars so they fit...

 

[Deleted Member 183]

Just let the bikes hang! Not touch the floor. That way the 2 bikes "nest" well together, given that the fork rake is similar or equal regardless of the bikes size and then you don't have any problems with different sized or wheel based bikes.

It have worked well for me over the last >25 years... To each their own. Good luck.

 

[rruff]

^Experience certainly helps! Got a photo? Lateral support?

I have a feeling that VV's bikes are high $ and he wouldn't want them touching or banging into anything.

 

[Vance Vanz]

If I'm visualizing your description correctly, you'll need to get the angle exact on the fork mount, and it will be bike specific. Maybe if there was pivot between the mount and track? Extra lateral support would be needed too, because the fork mount won't provide that.

Hey rruff,

Yes, the angle will be specific for the fork mount off of the wall, always 90 degrees. The fork mount I'm using has some height to it, and with the additional height of the mounting track and hardware, the height of the entire assembly should be about the same as if the front tire was attached to the bike, for my bike (If all of that makes sense). But, yes, it will be bike specific. Any additional spacer, if needed, will be minimal.

Basically, the rear tire/entire bike will sit at a 90 degree angle off of the floor and the fork mount a 90 degree angle off of the side wall. This will put all of the weight of the bike in a vertical plane and on the back tire, mounted/secured in the bike tray. "All of the weight" is relative as my bike is carbon fiber . It's somewhat similar to how they/I used to mount bikes in campervans/my campervan in the garage area, under the bed- fork mount to an L track. They don't even strap the back tires down. Mine will be similar, but just in a different plane and orientation, while also having the back tire secured.

As far as the lateral support, potential forward and backwards movement of the bikes within the locker, I don't think I will need it, but we'll see . The bikes are pretty light and everything will be solidly mounted to track and mounts that are way overkill for the application.

All of the track on the floor and wall will also allow for adjustability (being able to move/slide the mounting hardware) for different bike sizes (Medium to XL adult bike sizes)

FYI, adding more information than you asked about in order to address other questions/possible other questions

 

[Vance Vanz]

Just let the bikes hang! Not touch the floor. That way the 2 bikes "nest" well together, given that the fork rake is similar or equal regardless of the bikes size and then you don't have any problems with different sized or wheel based bikes.

It have worked well for me over the last >25 years... To each their own. Good luck.

Hey DM183,

Thanks for the idea .

Unfortunately, I need these things not to move at all. I'm one of those weirdos that can't stand to see anything swinging, especially if it will also possibly create a hint of one of those horrific things called a squeak, creek, or sound in the camper when I'm driving 😝.

I know, I got problems!

 

[Vance Vanz]

Painstaking Task

So I just finished going through the first 20 pages of the build thread, changing all of the images from "attached" images to "full" images. Now you don't have to go down and click on the images one by one to see the pictures.

If anyone (probably those new to the build thread) sees something off or weird related to the images, just let me know. After 20 pages and who nows how many posts and hundreds of images within all of the posts, my brain and patience are fried.

For and To everyones continued build viewing pleasure, cheers 🥃🍸.

 

[Deleted Member 183]

I'm one of those weirdos that can't stand to see anything swinging, especially if it will also possibly create a hint of one of those horrific things called a squeak, creek, or sound in the camper when I'm driving

Bungee cords and select pieces of foam pipe insulation are your friends!

Or, do as I do... Just use bikes with titanium framesets. No muss & no fuss!

 

[rruff]

As far as the lateral support, potential forward and backwards movement of the bikes within the locker, I don't think I will need it, but we'll see . The bikes are pretty light and everything will be solidly mounted to track and mounts that are way overkill for the application.

If you turn your bars 90 deg, then the fork mount will inherently lack lateral stability... it will pivot around the axle. Yes it will be clamped, but there won't be enough friction there to stop the bike from moving.

As I recall the bikes are mounted to the sides of the compartment... one on each side and overlapping? Maybe something that comes out from the side walls and constrains the saddle laterally would be enough.... or opposing straps, or something...