Questions Concerning Building a Truck Camper

[kraythe]

Greetings,

I am new to this forum and was referred here from a metalworking site so I hope you will excuse any silly questions.

I am in the planning stages of building a truck camper to slide into my 2011 F250 Powerstroke Short Bed. I have arrived At the conclusion that I need to build after owning two travel trailers. The problem with the trailers is that they can never go where I go in the backcountry hunting and exploring. What is more, it makes it tough for me to bring along pack animals if I have the trailer. So I sold the trailer and am planning to build a truck camper that has a but of ruggedness and internally is a but like a hunting cabin.

I am thinking of an aluminum frame with an aluminum skin, inside would be knotty pine wood panelling and a decor reminiscent of a hunting cabin. For heat I would use a Kimberly Wood Stove which is a gasified stove. The walls would be the aluminum studs with the skin riveted on then spray in foam used to fill the gaps between studs then a layer of foam and then panelling over that.

The questions come in the area of the frame. I want to use aluminum for weight reasons but I am not an expert welder so I thought about using aircraft construction techniques like those used for homebuilt planes. I was thinking a riveted frame using 1" square tube with 1/8" wall. I would also want to mount lift jacks so the camper can be lifted off in the field. Finally I would like to have stable enough camper anchors to handle moderate 4wd driving on rutted roads (not necessarily rock crawling type but that would be nice)

The questions.

Do you think a riveted frame with blind rivets and 1/8" plate for gussets would be strong enough for the application?

Is my tube sizing going to be sufficient to make the camper rugged and strong without having to put in 5000 spars?

Would it be better to use square tube and blind rivets or c channel and solid rivets on the frame? If the c channel then how big?


Thanks for your time.

 

[krj]

Check over in the 'Pop Up' section. Numerous build threads & a lot more DIY going on over there.
Keep us posted, it would great to see a Hard Side build thread.
Good luck.

 

[Overland Hadley]

There are several companies building welded aluminum framed campers, (Four Wheel Camper, Hallmark, Host, etc.) but I have never seen a riveted aluminum frame. Not saying that it can not be done, I just have not seen one. Wish I knew more and could be of help.

Sounds like a good project, will be interested to see what you find out.

And welcome to ExPo!

 

[Photomike]

I would also look over on RV.net.

I remember a build a while ago that was done with metal but cannot remember what site it was on.

We were just talking about building a TC on RV net. For your purpose I think that a build may be the way to go as you are going for a different look and use, and you can do the welding. Overall building from scratch is not the best way to go as costs can add up fast for the accessories (water heater, fridge, windows, etc.) and the time is a killer.

Make sure that you do a build thread, I would love to see it.

 

[uriedog]

I like the idea. But I would weld over rivets.

I have spent allot of time over the last 6 months rebuilding a 1983 Valley camper. I am happy with how it turned out, but it almost would have been easier to buy a beater camper for $200 take out the fridge, furnace, and heater and scrap the rest. Then build one new from the ground up.

 

[benjamin]

This is a pic of the interior my Avion after I had gutted it............................



The "C" channel frame is 1 1/2" , the exterior skin is .025 al. held on with bucked (solid) rivets and the interior skin (again .025 al.) is pop rivetted in place.
Everything is attached with rivets, no welding !

It was built in 1969 which should give you an idea how rugged it is.

 

[kraythe]

I have to say I love the construction techniques used in the avion and they are 50+ years old and still going. That says a lot. What is the wall thickness of the C channel and are the members welded together or riveted? Thanks a bunch.

 

[benjamin]

I'll have to dig out my calipers, but in the meantime an educated guess would be .060 and they sit in a U-channel on each end.

Everything is held together with rivets of one form or another.

The foam insulation adds quite a bit to the rigidity of the structure and really stiffens the exterior skin.

 

[kraythe]

I'll have to dig out my calipers, but in the meantime an educated guess would be .060 and they sit in a U-channel on each end.

Everything is held together with rivets of one form or another.

The foam insulation adds quite a bit to the rigidity of the structure and really stiffens the exterior skin.

Would it be possible for me to impose on you to take some closeup pictures of where the joints are such as the beams that hold the windows and the skin rivet work. I am very interested on how they made connections, especially any connection that connects two C channels.

 

[benjamin]

Would it be possible for me to impose on you to take some closeup pictures of where the joints are such as the beams that hold the windows and the skin rivet work. I am very interested on how they made connections, especially any connection that connects two C channels.

The only thing holding the ribs in place is the skin and there's nothing tying the ribs together other than what I added as in where the rooftop a/c sits.
Construction is much simpler than you can imagine.
The top and bottom of the windows are supported by a piece of .025 bent into a U and not tied into the ribs.

You have to look at it as whole rather then indivisual pieces.




Unfortunately at this point it's insulated so detail shots won't be possible.



As you can see both sides of the windows don't always fall on a rib.

 

[kraythe]

interesting. So the skin is holding the structure in place. Is there any framing up around the round portion of the trailer up front or is it basically all just riveted sheet together? Also what is the thickness of the skin if you have the ability to measure it somewhere? I have debated this type of construction but I havent made any decisions yet. I have also debated a much stronger framed structure. Do you plan to add lift jacks to the camper? If so what will you tie them into? Also finally what does the support framing underneath look like ?

 

[kraythe]

Nice. Can you tell me how thick the skin is? I have thought of this construction method. Also any idea about the base load bearing structure of the camper?

 

[benjamin]

interesting. So the skin is holding the structure in place. Is there any framing up around the round portion of the trailer up front or is it basically all just riveted sheet together? Also what is the thickness of the skin if you have the ability to measure it somewhere? I have debated this type of construction but I havent made any decisions yet. I have also debated a much stronger framed structure. Do you plan to add lift jacks to the camper? If so what will you tie them into? Also finally what does the support framing underneath look like ?

No framing at the front or rear, the pie slices (corners) are quite rigid.
The exterior skin is .025.

The lower support is composit, plywood, foam and plywood with additional bracing within the sandwhich.
The lift jacks mount under the wings.



No idea what you mean by "base load bearing".

 

[redthies]

"Airforums" is an Airstream trailer based forum. More builds/rebuilds going on over there than you could ever believe. It would be a good resource too.