Colorado slide in camper build
- Thread starter Canlib
- Start date
Whew! Seals are done and the electronics are sorted. Just waiting for limit switches and it's done. For anyone using actuators, buy the ones with position sensors and a synchronizing module. Yes, you can do it with PWM controllers but it's complicated. Managed to balance all four actuators to within 3mm.
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tomadcratebuilder
New member
Have you done anything to address to weight? A AAL or Deaver pac can add 750lbs or more to the load ability, maybe add Timbrens.
I'm waiting until it's on the road and I can see how it feels. If I do anything to upgrade the suspension, I'll go OME. I was happy with their shocks on my Liberty.
zgfiredude
Active member
Holy Mother of Scaffolding Batman!! LOL
Andrew_S
Observer
YES! Awesome work. It feel like it was yesterday we were standing in my garage talking about this. Good on you for following through and coming out with an absolutely mint camper in the end. The finish work on the interior is unreal. I'm taking notes over here.
Now for the million dollar question, would you do it again?
Now for the million dollar question, would you do it again?
Andrew_S
Observer
^ So awesome, I love those little side slider windows on the tilt-up walls - we were just saying how nice some air flow up front would be.
I totally spotted this in the wild - somewhat - New Denver or Silverton - I can't quite remember which town. We were passing through yesterday and I was like holy smokes there it is!
I totally spotted this in the wild - somewhat - New Denver or Silverton - I can't quite remember which town. We were passing through yesterday and I was like holy smokes there it is!
Fantastic build !!! Keep up the great work !
It is a pretty sad state of affairs that they won't make the frame (which is the very foundation of a truck) strong enough to even do light duty truck things. It's pathetic actually.
I think that the ZR2 we have on order only has a weight rating of 1170 lbs. 4 big guys and it's at capacity with nothing in the bed. Laughable.
On a side note: I read and researched the pic online of the new generation Colorado ZR2 that finished and won with the bed at an obscene angle. It instantly looks like the frame bent but the article also said that the bed mounts are what failed, not the frame. But I have also seen 2nd generation Colorado's that have bent the frame.
So either way I would be extremely cautious and careful when driving wash board roads. If we were going to put a slide in, on the truck, I think that I would seriously consider strengthening the frame. Warranty will be voided anyways if you do what the manual tells you not to do. But you can have great peace of mind by strengthening it.
It is a pretty sad state of affairs that they won't make the frame (which is the very foundation of a truck) strong enough to even do light duty truck things. It's pathetic actually.
I think that the ZR2 we have on order only has a weight rating of 1170 lbs. 4 big guys and it's at capacity with nothing in the bed. Laughable.
On a side note: I read and researched the pic online of the new generation Colorado ZR2 that finished and won with the bed at an obscene angle. It instantly looks like the frame bent but the article also said that the bed mounts are what failed, not the frame. But I have also seen 2nd generation Colorado's that have bent the frame.
So either way I would be extremely cautious and careful when driving wash board roads. If we were going to put a slide in, on the truck, I think that I would seriously consider strengthening the frame. Warranty will be voided anyways if you do what the manual tells you not to do. But you can have great peace of mind by strengthening it.
DRAX
Active member
The frame-bending issues, at least with the Colorado/Canyon, have been due to extremely hard hits while carrying or towing a load off-road. Sometimes it happens because someone isn't using common-sense and just sends it, other times it's just someone being caught out by a sudden whoop/dip. I've seen it happen both ways. The frames are absolutely strong enough to handle truck things, my truck has handled quite a bit (including an unexpected, large dip while towing a boat that I thought for sure bent my frame and I was afraid to look) and hasn't suffered any frame issue.
However, since buying our off-road trailer and planning on doing some long-distance overlanding I wanted to be proactive. So, to help in this area I had these installed - https://www.badlandindustries.com/product-page/2015-20-colorado-canyon-frame-stiffener-brace-plate - to stiffen up the area around the oval. Apparently that is there as part of the crumple zones and is intended to bend in the event of a rear-end collision but is also bending when subjected to hard vertical hits that bottom out the suspension.
Regarding the ZR2, the lower payload is a compromise resulting from having the ZR2's suspension. This is nothing new for any off-road focused truck, heck I can remember specing out some 1/2-ton trucks that ended up with less than 1,000LB of payload capacity and Gladiator Rubicon's with the EcoDiesel with barely over 1,000LB of payload (less as you add options, of course). 1,170LB payload isn't peanuts for a 1/4-ton truck. It's not the best, but it's not the worst either.
That 3rd gen with the tweaked frame was the result of a hard, incorrect landing towards the end of the race. 100% wasn't the bed mounts, it was the frame. The rear hitch and bumper are frame-mounted and both are still properly aligned with the bed meaning it was the frame, not the bed, that bent. GM also said it was the frame.
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Too bad we didn't connect. We lived in the New Denver area for a long time and still have a house there. Looks like you had a good Slocan lake trip!