2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)
- Thread starter Chadx
- Start date
seahaul
Active member
Chadx Thanks is for the reminder about the shunt. I have the half receptical in mind also but there is one under the sink too that would always be shore power, to spilt it I would need to run another run of loomex which is not a big deal. The filax would be exactly what you suggested. The big fancy Victron charger inverters do this automatically.
Nice, Seahaul! Our early July trip, from the US to Canada, has been canceled due to border access, unfortunately. A few years ago, we took our FWC through various parks (Kootenay, Banff, Jasper, etc.) and also off the beaten trail a bit. We'd planned another Alberta/BC trip, this time with the CAMPX, but it's a no-go. Post more CA trips over the summer so we can live through you. Ha.
Roof rack install.
End sections bolt on with provided hardware (bolt, washer, locknut). L Track fittings shown still in bag.
Overland Explorer branding, in end supports, is a nice touch. As is one extra each of bolt,washer,locknut. A shame more things don't come with extra pieces to account for loss or damage by the home installer.
SAE 5/32 hex and SAE 7/16 socket is all you'll need.
Sampling how fittings will sit while still on the shop floor.
As with all L Track fittings, these line up with the round openings to drop into the L track and then slide 1/2 notch over so the round tabs of the fitting are locked down by the L track teeth.
Underside of fitting disc shows how it will lock the fitting into into place.
Disc installed which then prevents the fitting from sliding.
Minor item I ran into were that the tapered head bolts holding the L track onto camper don't quite sit all the way down into their countersunk L-track recess, so when the fitting is slid into place, it is stopped just short when it bumps against the bolt head.
This causes contact points circled in red so the roof brackets would not slide down over the bolt. No worries. A couple quick touches of the grinding stone on the fitting and all aligns well.
Fitting foot lightly ground (shiny silver part touching the L track bolt head). Took off 1mm or slightly less and only off of one of the two on each bracket. That allowed everything to line up and smoothly drop into place.
End sections bolt on with provided hardware (bolt, washer, locknut). L Track fittings shown still in bag.
Overland Explorer branding, in end supports, is a nice touch. As is one extra each of bolt,washer,locknut. A shame more things don't come with extra pieces to account for loss or damage by the home installer.
SAE 5/32 hex and SAE 7/16 socket is all you'll need.
Sampling how fittings will sit while still on the shop floor.
As with all L Track fittings, these line up with the round openings to drop into the L track and then slide 1/2 notch over so the round tabs of the fitting are locked down by the L track teeth.
Underside of fitting disc shows how it will lock the fitting into into place.
Disc installed which then prevents the fitting from sliding.
Minor item I ran into were that the tapered head bolts holding the L track onto camper don't quite sit all the way down into their countersunk L-track recess, so when the fitting is slid into place, it is stopped just short when it bumps against the bolt head.
This causes contact points circled in red so the roof brackets would not slide down over the bolt. No worries. A couple quick touches of the grinding stone on the fitting and all aligns well.
Fitting foot lightly ground (shiny silver part touching the L track bolt head). Took off 1mm or slightly less and only off of one of the two on each bracket. That allowed everything to line up and smoothly drop into place.
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seahaul
Active member
Will do! We just did a trip to Vancouver Island and back. Stayed in the Camp-X on the road and the boat on the Ocean! The boat isn’t fancy but the camper is !!
Brackets and roof racks in place.
I don't plan to leave the roof racks on fulltime. I'll only install them when needed and I currently have nothing to haul up there. One item discussed with the tech at BigSkyRV and Steve during his CAMPX install was the idea to have an additional section of L track in the middle of the camper. I've forwarded that on to Arnold and Mark at Overland Explorer. Currently, the four L track sections are at the far ends of the camper so the span between the roof racks is quite long (from the very rear of the camper all the way to the front of the cabover); That is longer than most cargo that would be carried up there. Having additional 1 foot sections in the middle, or better yet, 2 or 4 foot sections in the middle, would allow the owner to either add a third roof rack crossbar in the middle, or move one of the two crossbars closer together to allow more cargo carrying options.
One can mount the brackets to face both forward, both backward or one of each. Not sure the intent. I'll have to look at pictures for those that had them factory mounted, but I don't think there is a wrong way. It's up to whatever looks best to the owner.
I don't plan to leave the roof racks on fulltime. I'll only install them when needed and I currently have nothing to haul up there. One item discussed with the tech at BigSkyRV and Steve during his CAMPX install was the idea to have an additional section of L track in the middle of the camper. I've forwarded that on to Arnold and Mark at Overland Explorer. Currently, the four L track sections are at the far ends of the camper so the span between the roof racks is quite long (from the very rear of the camper all the way to the front of the cabover); That is longer than most cargo that would be carried up there. Having additional 1 foot sections in the middle, or better yet, 2 or 4 foot sections in the middle, would allow the owner to either add a third roof rack crossbar in the middle, or move one of the two crossbars closer together to allow more cargo carrying options.
One can mount the brackets to face both forward, both backward or one of each. Not sure the intent. I'll have to look at pictures for those that had them factory mounted, but I don't think there is a wrong way. It's up to whatever looks best to the owner.
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We were going to do Vancouver Island last fall, but did Orcas Island instead because we didn't have much time to plan and wanted to do so for a Vancouver Island trip. Our Orcas Island trip had us literally mopping up 1/4' of standing water out of the FWC cabover from condensation (not a leak), wringing out our mattress, and wiping water off everything each morning and wringing out the towel over and over. Cool temps, rain every day. No matter how we vented, we were damp for 7 days straight. That is when we knew we had to find a different camper solution. Enter the CAMPX. So far so good, thought to be fair, the real test will be another trip to somewhere with similar weather conditions, but on the coolest nights so far, the only place a CAMPX can get any condensation is on the aluminum extrusions and hinge brackets, but that has been very minor and the Thermalbreak foam tape has totally prevented condensation on the main extrusion. Zero condensation under the mattress, on the ceiling, soft side, walls, etc. In the FWC, even in dry Montana air, every cool morning we'd have to wipe up under the mattress and flip our foam/memory foam mattress up to dry. Became just part of it. Have never found anything under the mattress in the CAMPX so have stopped checking. Just the nature of the two construction methods. Pros and cons to each, but in some environments, aluminum frames and the inherent thermal bridging are just going to be problematic.
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seahaul
Active member
We got dumped on a few times, both there and back. We are only getting condensation on the roof extrusion, worse above the bed. Other than that we were dry like you explained and the humidity was high and we were only at about 5-8 deg C. I think another narrow thermal break on the roof would solve the issue. I am amazed at how well the little Truma heater works to keep everything cozy.
Those two extrusion where the softwalls are attached are in my experience the only place where some condensation developed. I fixed that by putting thin strips of closed cell foam on them at least where the bed is. Mark found them for me.
Agreed. My 2020 came with the "Thermobreak foam kit" option on the lower extrusion so zero condensation there. The upper extrusion is narrow. It and the end hinge brackets are the only place where there is thermal bridging and only place we've noticed any condensation and it was minor. So nice to NOT mop up pools of water in the morning. Love this thing more every outing. Pouring rain here for the last three days and we are heading out for two days. Snow warnings in the passes. Will be another good test.
sg1,
Are you still enjoying your CAMPX? (which, I believe, was the very first production unit, correct?) Any changes or upgrades that you've done? Always looking for ideas and fun to hear what everyone else is doing.
Fun story; I sold a pair of oversized dual sport footpegs last night to someone on Craigslist. We decide to meet at a gas station close to both of our houses and each describe our truck and say we have a pickup camper as part of our descriptions. (You can guess where this is going...). He pulls in and has a 2019 CAMPX on his truck. It was the one that BigSkyRV had wrapped in the digital camo. So we talked campers more than we talked footpegs and dual sports. I mentioned this thread so hopefully he'll signup and post. As I drove away, I regretted not asking if I could take a pic of both our rigs sitting there.
sg1,
Are you still enjoying your CAMPX? (which, I believe, was the very first production unit, correct?) Any changes or upgrades that you've done? Always looking for ideas and fun to hear what everyone else is doing.
Fun story; I sold a pair of oversized dual sport footpegs last night to someone on Craigslist. We decide to meet at a gas station close to both of our houses and each describe our truck and say we have a pickup camper as part of our descriptions. (You can guess where this is going...). He pulls in and has a 2019 CAMPX on his truck. It was the one that BigSkyRV had wrapped in the digital camo. So we talked campers more than we talked footpegs and dual sports. I mentioned this thread so hopefully he'll signup and post. As I drove away, I regretted not asking if I could take a pic of both our rigs sitting there.
seahaul
Active member
Cool, you should have totally taken the pic! We are heading towards Manitoba tomorrow or Friday, mostly a road trip to a friends cabin but will camp on the way.
Have you thought of doing any bonding to exterior such as fuel carriers or maxtrax mounts? Wonder what they use for bonding?
Yes it was the first full size prototype. I talked Mark into it and when I convinced a friend to buy a unit he build them. Based on our experience and input some modifications were made for the production units. Most importantly the roof is a lot lighter now and we found some other areas where weight could be reduced. The units are now about 100 lbs lighter even though they have a fridge which I didn't want. I use my chest style fridge which is a lot more efficient than the front door ones. It is not perfect but I am still convinced that it is the best quality unit available in North America.
When the Covit restrictions are more manageable I will probably get a HBE. Wife wants a washroom.
Regards Stefan
jmnielsen
Tinkerer
Been waiting for someone to do a thorough write up like this! It is much appreciated.
I've had my eye on these for some time now, I only have two hangups:
1. Convincing the wife we need one (currently have a 99 hallmark ute).
2. The majority of our camping will be around home (Eastern Nebraska) and it gets HOT and HUMID, so we need AC. Last I checked that wasn't an option with the Camp X.
I've had my eye on these for some time now, I only have two hangups:
1. Convincing the wife we need one (currently have a 99 hallmark ute).
2. The majority of our camping will be around home (Eastern Nebraska) and it gets HOT and HUMID, so we need AC. Last I checked that wasn't an option with the Camp X.
4xpedition
Member
Just thought I would share here. You might be interested in following along.... Part 1 of my epic adventure to Bozeman, Montana to have the Overland Explorer Camp-X slide-in expedition camper installed on the new 2020 Ram 1500. Check it out by clicking the link below.