2024 RAM CCLB flatbed + Overland Adventure Truck composite shell build thread

[janders]

Do you plan to tow anything with this rig?

Not really. Very very unlikely with the camper on. With the camper off, we'll make some dump runs with a utility trailer or the like but we didn't set this up for towing. If we were going to do significant towing, I would have opted for the Cummins engine. But for a whole host of reasons, we spec'd the truck with the 6.4L gas Hemi.

 

[andy_b]

Camper and kitchen look great. Don’t use wood for framing inside - many of us have had a lot of success with 80/20 to build out the interiors. Super easy to work with, saves weight, easy to take apart again for servicing.

 

[Mules]

My wife and I have this thing where we could go out and buy the thing we want and then use it and be happy but we always seems to choose the path with the highest amount of ass pain. When we had our house built we could have gone out to IKEA and plunked down cash on the barrel for a turn key kitchen. Instead, we cut down standing Doug Fir trees on our property, bucked and stacked the logs, milled them bitches, dried them for a couple years, jointed, planed and hand-built our kitchen cabinets out of our own lumber. We love our kitchen but holy ********, there's an easier path. We didn't learn our lesson. We taking that same path with this camper. We bought an empty shell and we're building out the interior, including the casework, electrical and plumbing systems because... reasons. At least this time, we're gonna buy the damned wood.

We looked at a lot of campers and man, there is some good campers on the market. We really like OEV and Alterra. FWC campers are great but pop-up campers always felt like being in a tent. We wanted a hard-side camper. We already know how tall it will be. We already know how top heavy it will be. Every decision we make in this build is trading one thing for another. We're optimizing for comfort at camp.

We really liked the form factor of Total Composites campers. Love the four season utility of the well insulated walls and how light they are. We looked at quite a few builders but once we met Quade from Overland Adventure Truck it was a pretty easy decision. Quade was so easy to work with and accommodated all of our custom dimensions. He's been doing this longer than most and really understands the build process.

Last summer, OAT switched their manufacturing from TC panels over to Cascadia Composites. The reasons Quade gave me was that the new panels are tougher (I got to beat the ******** out of sample in his shop with a hammer and didn't even make a mark) and higher R value. They are manufactured in Canada so they aren't subject to oceanic shipping and Chinese tariffs (although Canadian tariffs might become a thing soon). Plus, they aren't bright white so the camper doesn't look like a soda delivery truck. We put a deposit down at Overland Expo PNW in June and picked up the camper in December.

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Doing some story stick measuring of the camper interior dimensions to create an "as-built" 3D model
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Our asspain of a kitchen made from our own trees...
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Great shell! Can't wait to see the interior turn out like your stellar kitchen.

 

[janders]

We've got our interior design pretty much dialed in. We're actually starting on some of the casework now and pre-wiring some parts before we put them in the camper. Thought I'd share our design with y'all. Once we got the camper, we went through the interior with a fine-toothed comb and a handful of story sticks to take measurements as accurately as possible and then made an "as-built" 3D model. Once we had the as-built model, we started modeling out the interior components and how they relate to each other and the equipment they'll contain.


Top down


Starboard side view


Port side view



Aft view





Forward view

 

[janders]

Some detail on the interior






Ventilation details in the aft lockers






A view of the under galley lockers, water tank and pass-through locker that we can move stuff from the interior kitchen to cook outside.




Detail of the fridge cabinet with battery storage below and food storage above.

 

[janders]

Under the dinette just aft of the entry door on the starboard side is a pull-out drawer with a composting head inside.



Detail view of the galley. The cutout panels in the storage above the galley counter is where we'll mount electrical controls like a breaker panel and a Victron GX Touch 50. We learned after living on a sailboat that you don't want to mount equipment directly to cabinetry. Equipment fails, changes, gets upgraded and the holes never stay consistent. Better to have a removable panel that can be replaced as equipment changes.


We will both be working part-time and that will require working spaces. So we designed this removable counter top that can sit in place as an extension to the galley counter or mount higher to act as a standing desk or stow away during travel on the step below.

 

[simple]

Wow. That's a lot of detail. What modeling program did you use? Do you have a CNC router?

 

[janders]

Thanks! We use Fusion 360 and then dump it all out to our Avid 48x96 Pro CNC to do all the work for us. I wouldn't have taken on this project if we didn't have the CNC. That thing is a godsend.

 

[simple]

Thanks! We use Fusion 360 and then dump it all out to our Avid 48x96 Pro CNC to do all the work for us. I wouldn't have taken on this project if we didn't have the CNC. That thing is a godsend.

Nice. I used autodesk mechanical desktop for a few years, Inventor for 10 yrs, Solidworks for 15yrs. Fusion looks cool. I'll check it out.

Have you selected your plywood? What is the overall calculated weight of the cabinets?

 

[janders]

Nice. I used autodesk mechanical desktop for a few years, Inventor for 10 yrs, Solidworks for 15yrs. Fusion looks cool. I'll check it out.

Have you selected your plywood? What is the overall calculated weight of the cabinets?

We're using 1/2" plyboo. It looks great, has a nice edge finish so we don't have to do an edge treatment. And it cuts like a dream on a CNC.

I want to use Fusion to tell me how much the design will weigh but I have a lot of construction bodies that are throwing off the calculations. I need to do some cleanup.

As we build out, we're gonna keep track of our actual weight by heading over to a local CAT scale.

 

[janders]

Nice. I used autodesk mechanical desktop for a few years, Inventor for 10 yrs, Solidworks for 15yrs. Fusion looks cool. I'll check it out.

Have you selected your plywood? What is the overall calculated weight of the cabinets?

OK, did a quick back of the napkin calculation on cabinet weight using Fusion's built-in volume measurements.

Plyboo 1/2" 48x96: ~60lbs per sheet
Total estimated weight of designed cabinets: 515lbs
Dry weight of camper: ~1,200lbs
GVWR: 4,200lbs

So with a build weight so far of ~1,700lbs, we have ~2,500lbs left in the weight budget to accommodate:

• electrical system
• water & plumbing
• fridge
• all of our gear, clothes, food
• flatbed net added weight
• my fat ass and my wife's very normal and trim ass

We have plans for an upgraded bumper, winch and rock sliders. But we're gonna wait until we get farther down in the build to understand if we can take on all that weight.

 

[simple]

Looks like you have removed a lot of material in non structural areas to shed weight.

Could you also rout out / thin some of the panels down to 3/16" in unseen locations like the inside of the boxes or backs of doors? It would be like old furniture panel construction utilizing a solid frame with thin panels between only a little more tech.

This is an example of a basic panel but you could leave X bracing or ribs anywhere you need extra strength or thick material to hold fasteners.

 

[simple]

OK, did a quick back of the napkin calculation on cabinet weight using Fusion's built-in volume measurements.

Plyboo 1/2" 48x96: ~60lbs per sheet
Total estimated weight of designed cabinets: 515lbs
Dry weight of camper: ~1,200lbs
GVWR: 4,200lbs

So with a build weight so far of ~1,700lbs, we have ~2,500lbs left in the weight budget to accommodate:

• electrical system
• water & plumbing
• fridge
• all of our gear, clothes, food
• flatbed net added weight
• my fat ass and my wife's very normal and trim ass

We have plans for an upgraded bumper, winch and rock sliders. But we're gonna wait until we get farther down in the build to understand if we can take on all that weight.

That's cool. I looked up the weight of bamboo plywood and did a how many jellybeans in the jar guess and it was really close to your calculation.

 

[janders]

That's cool. I looked up the weight of bamboo plywood and did a how many jellybeans in the jar guess and it was really close to your calculation.

Nice one!

 

[rruff]

My wife and I have this thing where we could go out and buy the thing we want and then use it and be happy but we always seems to choose the path with the highest amount of ass pain.... We didn't learn our lesson. We taking that same path with this camper. We bought an empty shell and we're building out the interior, including the casework, electrical and plumbing systems because... reasons.

Oh trust me... buying the shell instead of making it from scratch avoided a whole lot of ass pain....