The TARDIS - A Four Wheel Camper Build

[Overland Hadley]

Spent a while working in the camper today. The outside temp was in the single digits and I was impressed with how comfortable the camper was. I had a small electric heater going, it puts out less heat than my Wave 3 will so it should be nice and toasty when finished.

Took the wall panel off the drivers side wall to work with the wiring. Main goal was to get the 12v house wiring ready for the fuse block. Also ran some wires up to the bed area so I can have a 12v outlet in the cabover. My wiring for the camp lights runs down the passenger side wall, so I did some work to get a switch on that. Picked up a single pole switch and some more wire this evening, hopefully I can get the switch in tomorrow.

Drivers side wall.

Also got one of the mounting brackets done for the Lagun table. It looks like it will work good. I have a second bracket that I think I will mount on the drivers side.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Also wanted to mention that I am very happy with the Polar Pack. The trapped air on the sunny side was much warmer and the air on the shady side was much colder than the inside temps. So it is working good as an insulation for the pop top. Glad I ordered it with the camper.

 

[DesertBoater]

Having searched a bit, with no luck, I was wondering if you have found a supplier of access hatches sized to fit where the fridge vents go. 9x19 - ish. Any ideas? I've looked at jamestown distributors, west marine, rv suppliers, etc with nothing that size. Any chance in your research you've found anything of that nature?

Thanks,
West

 

[Overland Hadley]

Having searched a bit, with no luck, I was wondering if you have found a supplier of access hatches sized to fit where the fridge vents go. 9x19 - ish. Any ideas? I've looked at jamestown distributors, west marine, rv suppliers, etc with nothing that size. Any chance in your research you've found anything of that nature?

Thanks,
West

I can not think of anything.

Sounds like you are looking in the right places. Also try doing a few google searches, there are some small shops out there that have some interesting things that the big places do not carry. You could always custom make a hatch opening, or fill in part of the opening and have a smaller hatch. Might also be worth giving FWC a call and see if they know of anything. Hope your search is fruitful.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Well, I wind tested the pop top.

I, by mistake, left the top up the other night and it was exposed to more than four hours of winds that were exceeding 50mph! The wind was hitting the camper side on, so it was taking the full force of the wind.

Thankfully I have nothing to report, nothing happened. And sometimes that is just what you want.

 

[Jeff Wanamog]

50 mph. Thats pretty good. I have been in mine out in our high desert when I thought it was going to flip the entire truck. Don't know how fast the wind was though.
You should be inside one in the wind. Really not that bad because the sides are stretched so tight.
Now, wait til your in a hail storm and your deaf the next morning! One of the reasons I carry ear plugs with me.
I see you figured out the light switch.
Jeff

 

[pods8]

Having searched a bit, with no luck, I was wondering if you have found a supplier of access hatches sized to fit where the fridge vents go. 9x19 - ish. Any ideas? I've looked at jamestown distributors, west marine, rv suppliers, etc with nothing that size. Any chance in your research you've found anything of that nature?

Thanks,
West

Just like RV windows I think the major suppliers just make them to size. However I'm not sure who the major suppliers are. I'd just call some RV manufacturers and ask them who supplies access hatches to them. If you call some of the ones that cater to the expo crowd and ask nicely you may be able to get them to order you one for a fee.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I took the camper off the truck today.

I needed to move some stuff and this is one reason why I like the FWC, a few minutes of work and my off road camper vehicle (OR-CV?) is back to a work truck.

I made a set of sawhorses that are sized so that when I lift the camper off the truck I can slide the horses under and only need to drop the camper a couple of inches. Less up and down means less work means less time. I bought a set of brackets, just wanted to be sure that there was zero chance of failure over the long term. LINK These are made by a contractor in Las Vegas and they are super strong and heavy duty. They are also available on Amazon, but currently they are cheaper on ebay. I plan to buy more of these brackets for future sawhorse needs.

The camper is sitting with 100% of its weight on the sawhorses, the jacks are just resting on the ground to add to the stability.

I think I noted this before, but I am so glad that I went with the four corner jacks instead of tripod jacks. With the corner jacks you can jockey the camper around a few inches to aid in lining up the camper with the truck. (At the rear of the truck bed there is only half inch of clearance on each side.) So at first I bemoaned spending the extra money on the corner jacks, but now I am very happy I did.

Now I need to figure out how to temporarily power the camper while it is off the truck so I can continue working on the 12v system.

 

[pods8]

Now I need to figure out how to temporarily power the camper while it is off the truck so I can continue working on the 12v system.

Just pick up a small 12v deep cycle and call it good depending on your amp hour desires you can find something for between $15-50bucks.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Just pick up a small 12v deep cycle and call it good depending on your amp hour desires you can find something for between $15-50bucks.

Do you know where I could find a plug that would convert the plug FWC uses to a normal 12v socket plug? Not sure what to search for even. Thanks.

 

[pods8]

Do you know where I could find a plug that would convert the plug FWC uses to a normal 12v socket plug? Not sure what to search for even. Thanks.

I'm sorta unclear what the question is. For starters take a picture of whatever FWC plug you're talking about, I don't know what they're currently using. Second question is why are you trying to get to a 12V socket plug with it?

I assumed you wanted to power up the lights in your camper and such via the camper fuse block.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

So these campers dont come with a Shore Power Plug out of the fuse box??

 

[pods8]

So these campers dont come with a Shore Power Plug out of the fuse box??

He's got a shell so no it wouldn't have that unless you added it I believe.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

WOW, I thought at least a simple 110volt hook up would be standard

I'd have that installed ASAP for when working at home or when shore power is available

 

[Overland Hadley]

Do you know where I could find a plug that would convert the plug FWC uses to a normal 12v socket plug? Not sure what to search for even. Thanks.

Oaky, got things figured out a bit. The connection that FWC uses is a 3 pin trolling motor plug. (Thank you google.)

So I am going to order a plug to fit the plug coming out of the camper, and then use a cigarette lighter plug to plug into my Xantrex Power Pack which I sorta forgot I had. Should work just fine.