C5500 TopKick 4x4 Crew Cab Build

[NeverEnough]

So it seems like you're pretty mechanically minded?

You obviously didn't see me trying to help my son replace the heater core on his 86 4Runner this weekend!!!!

But time is a limited resource I guess. If you can afford to pay someone to execute your vision, maybe your time is better spent doing something else?

Not sure if it's time better spent, at least from an enjoyment point of view. I love getting my hands dirting (except ripping dashboard apart to replace heater cores). Just glad things worked out this year to let me do this project. And it's keeping a couple of guys busy for a few months that are WAY better at their craft than I could ever be, even if I had the time.

 

[alaskaboy]

steps

The nice thing about inside steps is they are always ready to use. Is the wifey going to jump out and attach ones that are stowed away? You'll never drive away with them let down, or worse, during an emergency deployment . All at the cost of floorspace of course.

I think there is a place for two or three interior steps and either an optional step stool that won't rip off an attachment point, or a truck supported conventional RV step.

 

[NeverEnough]

Steps Continued

The nice thing about inside steps is they are always ready to use. Is the wifey going to jump out and attach ones that are stowed away? You'll never drive away with them let down, or worse, during an emergency deployment . All at the cost of floorspace of course.

I think there is a place for two or three interior steps and either an optional step stool that won't rip off an attachment point, or a truck supported conventional RV step.

Automatic RV steps are certainly convenient, and interior steps definitely reduce the size of the assembly required to get to the ground. And the space they take up on the inside can be mitigated by a hinged floor panel for the stair well.

Here's the Kwikee version. LCI/Stromberg Carlson make a similar unit:

http://www.kwikee.com/Series25.html

I've owned, and broken, both. The assemblies are exposed to the worst of the corrosive effects of the road, and not built that tough to begin with. And they're really designed with RV parks in mind, rather than backcountry campsites.

For me the ideal step assembly could handle a 12" variation of height while keeping the treads level. In addition, it would transfer some load to the ground. Automatic or assisted deployment and retraction would be a plus, and it would be good to either have it store enclosed, or up and away from road spray.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

I've seen a few truck campers that have the steps I linked to a few pages back and they keep them in a storage box. When they pull over to camp or use the camper, they hook the steps where the door is.

This keeps them out of the elements while driving but they stay hooked up while camped.

I'd stray away from anything automatic (Auto Steps) as it's just another system to fail or keep up with.

 

[Lynn]

Hope you don't mind me sharing my favorite stair designs. If you are already familiar with these, let me know and I'll delete the large images to keep from complicating your thread.

egn's self-leveling and retractable/stowable stairs and platform. Actually, I think pretty much everything about egn's rig is really cool:

The steps detach and fold flat, and then are stored in that slot that's visible just in front of the platform. The platform slides in.

Introduced in this post, and

Explained in this post.

 

[Lynn]

Basinranger's setup is really cool, too. Complete with detachable hand rail:

Detailed in this post.

 

[jesusgatos]

I like the two-rail parallelogram-style step ladders much more than those flimsy accordian steps. Really like the way the ladder Lynn posted sits right next to the truck. There was another cool staircase posted on steelsoldiers recently. The thing I really like about it is the staggered landings. Depending on how long and wide you make something like that, could serve as a nice patio too.

 

[Lynn]

And don't forget Wot1.

Those stairs actually went up through the floor into the living space, but not too many rigs have a floor high enough to walk under...

 

[Terrainist]

That's one of the reasons I like this place, the ideas. Your rear bumper assembly, something I hadn't thought of. Round... have to consider it.

 

[NeverEnough]

So many choices....

This is a huge help to see how you've been solving the step problem for your respective campers. I've not looked too carefully at the scissor steps, but Peter's set from Step Up look fairly beefy and their website has additonal options, including customization.

Jack's rear-bumper step also looks bomber.

One of the problems I have to overcome for my build is that I've got to attach the steps to a composite camper box, rather than to the subframe, which is permantly attached to the truck. Attaching a cantilever load in the area of the side door has me concerned, which is why I wanted to pass some of the load to the ground. And because of my wonderful "removable camper" design, I'm very limited in where and how steps can be deployed (aka painting ones self into a corner).

Jack, I'l PM you about an idea on a possible tweek to your assembly that might work with my box. Alternatively, I could shorten the rise for my inside steps to make room for compartment for the scissors. As long as I could reliably land them on the ground and provided they're beefy enough, they could be a viable option.

Simplest would be a fold-down ladder step, but I don't want it hanging off the side of the camper, which is already a rotund 102" wide. I would have to create a door alcove, which would then limit my door outswing to 90 degrees.

 

[NeverEnough]

Subframe almost done!

Jose is just about done with the heavy work on the no-so-heavy subframe. A few more struts, cuts, and welds. He started on the spring bolt assemblies today as well. The subframe/bed sits on 1/2" rubber cushions along the length of the sill. There will be 4 sets of spring bolt mounts and one fixed mount at the very rear.

The camper is 17' long, which makes the whole rig under 30', which is 11' shorter than my Funmover, but it still looks "ginorous", as my boys would say.

Here's a shot of the 3/8" 6061 bed that supports the bulk of the composite box. The cutout is for the composite camper's battery box, which will hold 4 AGM 200AmpHR batteries. Jose will add supports and a pan to the cutout so the weight of the batteries (480lbs.) will be carried by the subframe while the camper is attached. I didn't want such a concentrated load under dynamic conditions carried by the composite box. The only time the camper will bear the load is in static conditions while separated from the truck.

D&A still needs to fabricate the hitch assembly, reattach the bumper/winch, fabricate the camper's rear tube frame, and fabricate the panel door for the crawl-through. Once the camper box is fit, they'll do any final tweeks and paint the subframe.

The custom fresh water and holding tanks are also just about done. I'll post some photos of those when I pick them up.

 

[NeverEnough]

Master Aluminum Fabricator

Here's aluminum fabrication at it's best (courtesy of our data center operations director- he downs 6-10 cans of Dew a day!):

Merry Christmas!

 

[IdahoIV]

That is a great looking truck! I am very interested in this build as one day I would like to live on the road and you are giving me tons of ideas!! Thanks for the awesome thread!!

Marry Christmas to you as well, that is a crazy tree!! :Wow1:

 

[Lynn]

Dood!

I used to drink about half that much Dew per day, and once I got 'dried out,' I discovered that my hands didn't shake any more.

Cool tree, though!


Merry Christmas!!

 

[NeverEnough]

O Tannenbaum

So Reed finished up his tree, which is more than I can say for Jose and my subframe..... He's actually getting very close. I'm going over on Monday to see the progress.

But you gotta love the "angel"- complete with a 40W bulb in the bottle (properly ventilated, of course).

I don't know if Reed's hands shake or not, but with the odd hours he has to keep, he can drink whatever he wants as long as he can still pass a drug test!