Building a camper

[Alexandre]

Hello I'm studying the process of building a 4x4 camper truck (mercedes, man, or iveco) based maximum weight 12000kg and I dont find much information about the thickness of the walls and ceiling. I'm a handyman and I have at my work everything I need to build one. So I have some questions.

Is it usual to build de base frame in aluminium or can also be built in steel?
Whats the thickness of the isolated walls?

Thanks in advance

 

[dlh62c]

Seek out a local builder of freight cargo bodies for trucks. They should give you an ideal in what it takes to build one. Regarding steel or aluminum, both will require something to prevent corrosion or rust.

 

[B-ranger]

Most (professional) builders use sandwich panels with a thickness of at least 5cm (+/-2 inch) walls and ceiling (8 or even 10cm is even better). Flooring: at least 8cm of isolation + a layer of multiplex.

construction: you will need to build a sub-frame to support the cell (the cell is never fixed directly to the chasis) that can be aluminum of steel, for large trucks (12 ton = large) most use steel.
Although steel is easier to work with and has exellent strength I would prefer aluminum for the cell-frame mainly because of the weight (lifting the center of gravity to high is never a good idea). Again most (professional) builders use sandwich panels for the cell and then there is no need for a separate frame.

An other very solid option is to buy a refrigeration container (20 foot will do) as a base as these people did: http://www.overlandadventure.be/truck.htm
the only disadvantage being the weight, lifting the center of gravity.

 

[sg1]

I would use steel for the sub frame because it can be repaired anywhere. To find somebody who can weld aluminum is more difficult especially in 3rd world countries. The sub frame should be attached with a 3 point flexible connection to the mainframe to allow the mainframe to flex without damaging the cell. If this is not done right you are in trouble on bad roads or off road. I have seen a lot of cracked sub frames or cells. Check the websites of the truck manufacturer. They usually have somewhere a website with all the specs for the manufacturers of boxes or containers for the truck.
Camper cabins in Europe are usually using sandwich panels. for a truck they typically are 2-3 mm fiberglass on the outside, 50-60 mm closed cell foam and 2 mm fiberglass on the inside. Simply glued together with Körapur and reinforced with fiberglass edges. Easy. Even I (I am a lawyer) could do it. A good supplier in Europe would be http://www.paneeltec.de/. If you can read German check out http://www.womobox.de/phpBB2/portal.php. There you will get any information you need if you want to build an overland vehicle from scratch.
Stefan