Carbon Fiber Tacoma Bed Replacement Camper - Build Thread

[Antwon412]

I know you’re a long way from done, but what do you think you would sell these for if you made them?

I do like it a lot. Although my current camper has the tilted inside as well and I’m actually looking more for the four-wheel camper type, it’s a purely vertical wall for more interior room.



But this is amazingly nice!

 

[Leighsjor]

I know you’re a long way from done, but what do you think you would sell these for if you made them?

I do like it a lot. Although my current camper has the tilted inside as well and I’m actually looking more for the four-wheel camper type, it’s a purely vertical wall for more interior room.



But this is amazingly nice!

As a rough estimate the shell only without interior will likely be in the $35-40k range.


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[Leighsjor]

I had debated a lot about the placement of the door for this camper. I really liked the idea of a side entry door, but there's a few negatives about it that I just couldn't get past including head clearance when you enter due to the slanting walls, as well as inhibiting natural flow of the interior layout. I really like that the rear door, in combination with the departure angle, make it so you don't have to duck at all when entering the camper. It also makes it more possible to layout a nice symmetrical and functional interior.

One of the primary reasons to go with a slide in camper or a bed delete camper such as this is that it's much easier to seal the elements out of the habitat compared to working around a tailgate and bed tubs that leak like a sieve.

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I designed the door frame to have a large flange that works in conjunction with a bulb seal to seal out the elements.

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The door itself is built using two 45 degree support brackets and custom welded inner and outer frame.

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In the first picture here you see the outer frame getting bonded to the two panel cutouts after getting sprayed with primer, and in the second main frame is getting bonded to the body of the camper.

Here's a video of the door functioning after getting everything mocked up for the first time.

https://youtube.com/shorts/0m3x2ayN_rE?feature=share
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As you might see in the video I decided on a type of full width waterproof hinge and I'm super happy with it so far as I'll be able to leave the rear door open in the rain without water pooling and dripping through the hinge itself.

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[Antwon412]

Any thought of making it hinge the other way and have steps built into it? Flip it down and be able to walk right inside the camper.

 

[Leighsjor]

Any thought of making it hinge the other way and have steps built into it? Flip it down and be able to walk right inside the camper.

I did consider the concept, but ultimately decided against it. I try to keep my designs as simple as possible with as few moving parts as possible and I didn’t see enough benefit in it. It’s easy enough to add a step in another way. I’ll likely be adding a step to the receiver hitch.


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[jackoftheforest]

I did consider the concept, but ultimately decided against it. I try to keep my designs as simple as possible with as few moving parts as possible and I didn’t see enough benefit in it. It’s easy enough to add a step in another way. I’ll likely be adding a step to the receiver hitch.


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This. Is. Awesome.
Great build, I'm impressed by the level of precision.
Did you always plan to make it a business venture, or did that evolve en process?

 

[Leighsjor]

This. Is. Awesome.
Great build, I'm impressed by the level of precision.
Did you always plan to make it a business venture, or did that evolve en process?

As with most things I’ve built it usually starts with wanting xy or z thing for myself. Then at some point I inevitably realize the project will cost to much to make sense just for myself and that’s when I justify selling a few of whatever I’m building. But to answer your question, yes, that point was pretty early on in this process.


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