Enduro Campers - New Composite Wedge Camper

[BruLew]

I reached out to Enduro campers last week because I was interested in their Lobo Camper. I got a response over the weekend that we would talk Tuesday and just received an email stating that they are no longer taking orders on the Lobo and will focus exclusively on the SuperTourer.

From all that I have read both here and elsewhere online, they've spent a couple years in r&d and they've really only launched this past 12 months. Having an excellent product in launching in this market is difficult because the demand is through the roof. I get the impression that they've been inundated with emails (no phone number available) and they had to make a hard decision about where to focus. Sucks for me although it makes my decision easier with one less option but I was really impressed with what they were building.

The good news is if you're interested in a SuperTourer, then let them know and get in line. ✌?

 

[Hegear]

Hey guys, just picked up my super tourer a few days ago. First one after there prototype! Couldn’t be more impressed! Big shout out to Leif and Shaun, at Enduro. Your hard work paid off.

I have not had it on a trip yet but will be leaving next weekend for 7 weeks. I’ll start a thread then. In the meantime here a few photos for those of you have interest.

I’ll let the guys from Enduro know about this this thread as well so they can add a few photos.

no affiliation to enduro just a happy customer.

Lmk if you have any questions.

 

[Hodor]

Hey guys, just picked up my super tourer a few days ago. First one after there prototype! Couldn’t be more impressed! Big shout out to Leif and Shaun, at Enduro. Your hard work paid off.

I have not had it on a trip yet but will be leaving next weekend for 7 weeks. I’ll start a thread then. In the meantime here a few photos for those of you have interest.

I’ll let the guys from Enduro know about this this thread as well so they can add a few photos.

no affiliation to enduro just a happy customer.

Lmk if you have any questions.

I'm very interested to see the progress of this.

I contacted Enduro campers and have yet to receive anything back from them.

Their website has some minimal information about build design but overall seems pretty sparse.

My concerns with the supertourer are not having any isolation between the habitat and truck frame. Flexation and rough roads do wonderful things to boxes on trucks. I'm curious how they've mitigated the impacts of terrain changes over the lifespan of a composite walled camper. This design is a world away from a topper on a truck bed.

I'm also curious how fiberglass reinforced plastic paneling holds up to the stresses of overland travel. I know total composites, companies like OEV and bison overland use composites, but we the consumers can be getting very different products that are grouped under the term "composite construction" and they most certainly are not all the same.
Most of what I've read looks like you need backers and Additional support systems to maintain structural integrity on installations that are not mobile, and designing exo skeletal structures comprising of aluminum rails only solves half the issue.

Fiberglass reinforced plastic can't handle heat at all. Like not even a little bit.
It becomes brittle and can crack or fail with exposure to heat, the sun or other ultraviolet light, which means a coating must be applied and then maintained along with all the sealants and glues that hold together the structure.

According to the Enduro supertourer pages, they have composite panelling on the entire structure including the roof and floor. Structural monocoque means their is no subframe system, beams or underneath system other than the shell itself to support everything this is comprised of, and using fiberglass reinforced plastic with little to no signs of wear before failure seems like a sketchy idea to me, however I would love to be proven wrong, as this is a really cool design.

If this idea was executed in a welded aluminum or sheet metal frame I would have already put a deposit on one. Even better if we could have hard sided pop up walls and aluminum substructure

 

[Hegear]

I know they reinforce the floor areas and I think where it’s mounted to the frame. I’ll let the guys from enduro comment on the technical stuff. As my knowledge is limited.

I will say the construction outdid my expectations, I was blown when I saw it the first time. Only time will tell how well it holds up. 4 weeks on Baja roads should give a good idea!

A few interior shots.

 

[Hodor]

Did you have them customize anything other than the colors?

 

[endurocampers]

I'm very interested to see the progress of this.

I contacted Enduro campers and have yet to receive anything back from them.

Their website has some minimal information about build design but overall seems pretty sparse.

My concerns with the supertourer are not having any isolation between the habitat and truck frame. Flexation and rough roads do wonderful things to boxes on trucks. I'm curious how they've mitigated the impacts of terrain changes over the lifespan of a composite walled camper. This design is a world away from a topper on a truck bed.

I'm also curious how fiberglass reinforced plastic paneling holds up to the stresses of overland travel. I know total composites, companies like OEV and bison overland use composites, but we the consumers can be getting very different products that are grouped under the term "composite construction" and they most certainly are not all the same.
Most of what I've read looks like you need backers and Additional support systems to maintain structural integrity on installations that are not mobile, and designing exo skeletal structures comprising of aluminum rails only solves half the issue.

Fiberglass reinforced plastic can't handle heat at all. Like not even a little bit.
It becomes brittle and can crack or fail with exposure to heat, the sun or other ultraviolet light, which means a coating must be applied and then maintained along with all the sealants and glues that hold together the structure.

According to the Enduro supertourer pages, they have composite panelling on the entire structure including the roof and floor. Structural monocoque means their is no subframe system, beams or underneath system other than the shell itself to support everything this is comprised of, and using fiberglass reinforced plastic with little to no signs of wear before failure seems like a sketchy idea to me, however I would love to be proven wrong, as this is a really cool design.

If this idea was executed in a welded aluminum or sheet metal frame I would have already put a deposit on one. Even better if we could have hard sided pop up walls and aluminum substructure

Hi Hodor!
Apologies if we missed your email, happy to have a call or correspond by email but I'll answer some of you questions here and you are correct, the website is a bit sparse at the moment but we are currently doing some updates to the site.

Regarding FRP and our composite construction, we use a premium gelcoated 2.3mm FRP (fiber reinforced polymer from a top-tier supplier that is bonded to XPS foam under vacuum using a specialty 2,000 psi two part laminating epoxy from the marine industry. Gelcoated FRP has been used successfully in a variety of industries (including overlanding) and can definitely handle prolonged UV and heat exposure. (The quality and composition of the FRP makes a big difference and you are correct that FRP without the gelcoat would not withstand UV exposure). The wall panels are jointed and bonded together with the aluminum extrusions additionally bonded to the exterior. The strength and rigidity of the panels are more than sufficient without additional framing and have the added advantage of absorbing vibrations and flex - the amount of flex the panels and floor can handle before breaking is incredible, far more than welded aluminum (which can crack at the welds).

Regarding the floor, it is a laminated panel using the same 2,000 psi marine laminating epoxy with an extensive internal aluminum frame bonded into the panel (as well as some secret sauce). The internal frame aligns with the mounting points which use isolation bushings at the factory bed mounting locations. As fully-boxed frame trucks see minimal frame flex, we are not using spring-isolation mounts as the camper is able to flex as much as the frame and also limits camper sway. For trucks with significant frame flex we are using spring isolation mounts.

Let me know if you need any more info!

Leif

 

[Byrdseye]

Great looking rig, Hegear! I pulled the Super Tourer trigger for my Power Wagon right after I saw yours in person. Can hardly wait for the build process to start.
Have you had to make any changes to the rear suspension to handle the weight?

 

[Hodor]

Hi Hodor!
Apologies if we missed your email, happy to have a call or correspond by email but I'll answer some of you questions here and you are correct, the website is a bit sparse at the moment but we are currently doing some updates to the site.

Regarding FRP and our composite construction, we use a premium gelcoated 2.3mm FRP (fiber reinforced polymer from a top-tier supplier that is bonded to XPS foam under vacuum using a specialty 2,000 psi two part laminating epoxy from the marine industry. Gelcoated FRP has been used successfully in a variety of industries (including overlanding) and can definitely handle prolonged UV and heat exposure. (The quality and composition of the FRP makes a big difference and you are correct that FRP without the gelcoat would not withstand UV exposure). The wall panels are jointed and bonded together with the aluminum extrusions additionally bonded to the exterior. The strength and rigidity of the panels are more than sufficient without additional framing and have the added advantage of absorbing vibrations and flex - the amount of flex the panels and floor can handle before breaking is incredible, far more than welded aluminum (which can crack at the welds).

Regarding the floor, it is a laminated panel using the same 2,000 psi marine laminating epoxy with an extensive internal aluminum frame bonded into the panel (as well as some secret sauce). The internal frame aligns with the mounting points which use isolation bushings at the factory bed mounting locations. As fully-boxed frame trucks see minimal frame flex, we are not using spring-isolation mounts as the camper is able to flex as much as the frame and also limits camper sway. For trucks with significant frame flex we are using spring isolation mounts.

Let me know if you need any more info!

Leif

Excellent information, and exactly what I was looking to find out.

I've done some research today on aluminum composite panels and remain in the boat that aluminum panelling can have better separation from the elements outside.

Can you give us your opinion on why you believe FRP is a better product than aluminum composite?

And separately -
What is the idea if someone would like to do something like mount a spare tire on the rear of their camper?

I'm stoked to see this coming to market, and if I didn't think I needed so much exterior storage I would invest here - but I believe for my personal ambitions it's more likely I'll make a flatbed with boxes on it and some sort of wedge camper above that.

 

[Hegear]

Did you have them customize anything other than the colors?

I think quite a few things were custom for me although I’m not really positive what Enduro will be providing as standard equipment. I went with almost there options. Im a big guy so I think they widened the door for me and made a custom ladder thats can handle my 300lb weight. I also added extra solar and bigger battery system along with additional 50 amps of vehicle charging.

 

[Hegear]

Great looking rig, Hegear! I pulled the Super Tourer trigger for my Power Wagon right after I saw yours in person. Can hardly wait for the build process to start.
Have you had to make any changes to the rear suspension to handle the weight?

Thank you.

You can definitely feel the weight, and mine has airbags already on it. I have a whole thuren suspension kit hopefully showing up this week. On the rear thuren advised to stick with the stock spring with a 1inch puck and new track bar. I’ll let you know how it does once completed.

 

[Byrdseye]

Thank you for keeping me posted. I have a Thuren 2.5 system on the way as well.

 

[endurocampers]

Excellent information, and exactly what I was looking to find out.

I've done some research today on aluminum composite panels and remain in the boat that aluminum panelling can have better separation from the elements outside.

Can you give us your opinion on why you believe FRP is a better product than aluminum composite?

And separately -
What is the idea if someone would like to do something like mount a spare tire on the rear of their camper?

I'm stoked to see this coming to market, and if I didn't think I needed so much exterior storage I would invest here - but I believe for my personal ambitions it's more likely I'll make a flatbed with boxes on it and some sort of wedge camper above that.

The FRP vs. aluminum debate rages on! For us it comes down to weight, thermal performance, durability and surface finish. FRP (or GFRP as we prefer – Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) is significantly lighter than aluminum - our 2.3mm (0.09”) GFRP is 0.54 lbs/sf while 0.09” aluminum is around 1.3 lbs/sf. Reducing the aluminum thickness down to 0.04” or less would get you closer to a weight equivalency but aluminum that thin will dent very easily. GFRP has the ability to deform substantially and return to its original shape – you can hit our panels with a hammer (OK maybe don’t hit it as hard as you possibly can but it can take a solid blow) to no effect while 0.04” aluminum you can dent with light pressure, let alone a hammer blow. A camper as large as ours made with an 0.09” aluminum skin would simply be too heavy, even if it was just on the exterior.

The other reason is the low conductivity of fiberglass when compared to the highly conductive aluminum which results in better thermal performance. While the core material would still provide much of the insulation value of the panel, adding a conductive material would nevertheless reduce the thermal performance.

We are also able to receive our GFRP from our supplier with a high-quality, beautiful gelcoat finish already applied. Aluminum would need to powder coated, painted or wrapped and while these options are certainly possible this adds additional steps to the process. Repairing damage to the GFRP and/or gelcoat can be done by a marine repair center.

There’s obviously more to it than that and aluminum is still a great option for toppers. However, for a camper the size of the SuperTourer and our goals of low weight, optimum thermal performance and durability we are very happy with GFRP sandwich panels.

For a rear-mounted spare tire the best option is a custom rear bumper with uprights that hold the tire independently from the rear of the camper in a similar manner to most expedition trucks (Earth Cruiser, Nimbl, etc). We have a design for this but so far all of our customers are keeping their spare tire in the factory location since most full size trucks can accommodate up to a 35” tire (might have to deflate it a bit). While adding reinforcements to the rear for a tire are possible, we feel that a separate bumper is a better option and we are open to building such a bumper/tire carrier.

 

[trabs00]

Hey guys, just picked up my super tourer a few days ago. First one after there prototype! Couldn’t be more impressed! Big shout out to Leif and Shaun, at Enduro. Your hard work paid off.

I have not had it on a trip yet but will be leaving next weekend for 7 weeks. I’ll start a thread then. In the meantime here a few photos for those of you have interest.

I’ll let the guys from Enduro know about this this thread as well so they can add a few photos.

no affiliation to enduro just a happy customer.

Lmk if you have any questions.

Finished product looks awesome on your PW!
I was there to tour their shop and chat with the guys back when your camper was still a shell and that beautiful PW was sitting there sans bed.
Keep us posted, would love to hear your experiences, I am in the que for SuperTourer for my Tundra if will work for the CrewMax. Mine will have to be a bit different due to the 2nd gen Tundra C-channel frame (will need Spring isolation mounts) and short bed (no "garage")

 

[trabs00]

The FRP vs. aluminum debate rages on! For us it comes down to weight, thermal performance, durability and surface finish. FRP (or GFRP as we prefer – Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) is significantly lighter than aluminum - our 2.3mm (0.09”) GFRP is 0.54 lbs/sf while 0.09” aluminum is around 1.3 lbs/sf. Reducing the aluminum thickness down to 0.04” or less would get you closer to a weight equivalency but aluminum that thin will dent very easily. GFRP has the ability to deform substantially and return to its original shape – you can hit our panels with a hammer (OK maybe don’t hit it as hard as you possibly can but it can take a solid blow) to no effect while 0.04” aluminum you can dent with light pressure, let alone a hammer blow. A camper as large as ours made with an 0.09” aluminum skin would simply be too heavy, even if it was just on the exterior.

The other reason is the low conductivity of fiberglass when compared to the highly conductive aluminum which results in better thermal performance. While the core material would still provide much of the insulation value of the panel, adding a conductive material would nevertheless reduce the thermal performance.

We are also able to receive our GFRP from our supplier with a high-quality, beautiful gelcoat finish already applied. Aluminum would need to powder coated, painted or wrapped and while these options are certainly possible this adds additional steps to the process. Repairing damage to the GFRP and/or gelcoat can be done by a marine repair center.

There’s obviously more to it than that and aluminum is still a great option for toppers. However, for a camper the size of the SuperTourer and our goals of low weight, optimum thermal performance and durability we are very happy with GFRP sandwich panels.

For a rear-mounted spare tire the best option is a custom rear bumper with uprights that hold the tire independently from the rear of the camper in a similar manner to most expedition trucks (Earth Cruiser, Nimbl, etc). We have a design for this but so far all of our customers are keeping their spare tire in the factory location since most full size trucks can accommodate up to a 35” tire (might have to deflate it a bit). While adding reinforcements to the rear for a tire are possible, we feel that a separate bumper is a better option and we are open to building such a bumper/tire carrier.

Thank you.

You can definitely feel the weight, and mine has airbags already on it. I have a whole thuren suspension kit hopefully showing up this week. On the rear thuren advised to stick with the stock spring with a 1inch puck and new track bar. I’ll let you know how it does once completed.

Did you happen to get the final weight of your setup? I.e. CAT scale of truck without the bed and the truck with the SuperTourer installed?
Curious what it came out to with all the options.

I loved the look of your truck, actually made me stop to test drive a Power Wagon on my drive back to Seattle

 

[Hodor]

The FRP vs. aluminum debate rages on! For us it comes down to weight, thermal performance, durability and surface finish. FRP (or GFRP as we prefer – Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) is significantly lighter than aluminum - our 2.3mm (0.09”) GFRP is 0.54 lbs/sf while 0.09” aluminum is around 1.3 lbs/sf. Reducing the aluminum thickness down to 0.04” or less would get you closer to a weight equivalency but aluminum that thin will dent very easily. GFRP has the ability to deform substantially and return to its original shape – you can hit our panels with a hammer (OK maybe don’t hit it as hard as you possibly can but it can take a solid blow) to no effect while 0.04” aluminum you can dent with light pressure, let alone a hammer blow. A camper as large as ours made with an 0.09” aluminum skin would simply be too heavy, even if it was just on the exterior.

The other reason is the low conductivity of fiberglass when compared to the highly conductive aluminum which results in better thermal performance. While the core material would still provide much of the insulation value of the panel, adding a conductive material would nevertheless reduce the thermal performance.

We are also able to receive our GFRP from our supplier with a high-quality, beautiful gelcoat finish already applied. Aluminum would need to powder coated, painted or wrapped and while these options are certainly possible this adds additional steps to the process. Repairing damage to the GFRP and/or gelcoat can be done by a marine repair center.

There’s obviously more to it than that and aluminum is still a great option for toppers. However, for a camper the size of the SuperTourer and our goals of low weight, optimum thermal performance and durability we are very happy with GFRP sandwich panels.

For a rear-mounted spare tire the best option is a custom rear bumper with uprights that hold the tire independently from the rear of the camper in a similar manner to most expedition trucks (Earth Cruiser, Nimbl, etc). We have a design for this but so far all of our customers are keeping their spare tire in the factory location since most full size trucks can accommodate up to a 35” tire (might have to deflate it a bit). While adding reinforcements to the rear for a tire are possible, we feel that a separate bumper is a better option and we are open to building such a bumper/tire carrier.

I love your helpfulness, very thorough and well thought out design as well as execution. You guys are really bringing something special to the market with this and I wish you all the best with your products. Shell pricing for this is perfect sweet spot. I hope I start to see these all over the place. Well done.