Bison Overland Flatbed Camper Build…Das Gnomenhaus!

[Mack M]

I'm not the thread owner but am currently in process with Drew to get a slide in shell built, and I have to say he has been great to work with.

So am I, I pick up my slide in from Drew in about 2 weeks. He is a great, down to earth dude that is passionate about his product. I was looking at some other composite options and glad I went with Bison. Will see how much I like it once I pick it up.

 

[VerMonsterRV]

So am I, I pick up my slide in from Drew in about 2 weeks. He is a great, down to earth dude that is passionate about his product. I was looking at some other composite options and glad I went with Bison. Will see how much I like it once I pick it up.

We're scheduled on the 20th to pick ours up 😃.

 

[Mack M]

We're scheduled on the 20th to pick ours up 😃.

Nice! Might run into you there.

 

[Mack M]

Picked mine up last weekend. It was a great experience with Drew.

 

[Spencer for Hire]

I just got my finalized plans from Drew over at Bison. The footprint is basically gonna be 8 feet wide by 9 feet long with an additional 16 inch departure angle. Plus an interior height of 7’ because, after all, palatial garden variety Gnomes are really very tall. Having an aluminum bed made by a local guy who professionally builds and fixes aluminum boats. The reason why the camper is so large is because I’m going to mount it on my current truck which is a 2021 F350 DRW. Sure, I’d love to mount it on a F350 to an F550 SRW and go with that, but I’m working with what I have already and I mostly plan on towing my Honda pioneer side-by-side along with me to really get into the deep backcountry areas for further exploration. My Bison, Overland will basically be my base camp. It’ll have a wet bath and many other amenities. These are the basics minus a couple of Max Air fans and solar, water tanks etc…The entrance door actually comes in through the shower stall to conserve wall space.

Is this a Total Composites shell? Thank You

 

[Skinhyfish]

Picked mine up last weekend. It was a great experience with Drew. View attachment 839988

Looks good. What motor you have in that ford? How is it doing with camper?

 

[Mack M]

Is this a Total Composites shell? Thank You

No, it's a Bison, not Total Composites. Bison's panels are made in Texas, TC's are made in China, and they use different extrusion methods.

 

[Mack M]

Looks good. What motor you have in that ford? How is it doing with camper?

Thanks, it's the 6.8. Does just fine. Coming across Kansas on I-70 in crazy wind, it was staying in 8th most of the time. Really like the motor, tons of low end torque. Love pushrod V8's. It's the 'Godzilla' 7.3 but with 6.8 liters of displacement due to a slightly shorter stroke. Also doesn't have a forged crank, and the trans is lighter duty. But I've driven both, and it's tough to tell the difference, after all, the 7.3 only has 25 more HP I believe and not much more torque either. Really sucks fuel though. Across Kansas in the wind I averaged 9. Best I saw with the camper was about 13. Unloaded it will get 15-16 at 75 mph. Also get way better mpg at home in Colorado than down at sea level in the thicker air.

 

[Skinhyfish]

Thanks, it's the 6.8. Does just fine. Coming across Kansas on I-70 in crazy wind, it was staying in 8th most of the time. Really like the motor, tons of low end torque. Love pushrod V8's. It's the 'Godzilla' 7.3 but with 6.8 liters of displacement due to a slightly shorter stroke. Also doesn't have a forged crank, and the trans is lighter duty. But I've driven both, and it's tough to tell the difference, after all, the 7.3 only has 25 more HP I believe and not much more torque either. Really sucks fuel though. Across Kansas in the wind I averaged 9. Best I saw with the camper was about 13. Unloaded it will get 15-16 at 75 mph. Also get way better mpg at home in Colorado than down at sea level in the thicker air.

I’m In CO.. looks good. Have to keep me posted on how you like it