Four Wheel Camper ‘Project M’

[jadmt]

At the risk of coming off as a bit of a snob, I'll admit we ended up with a 2019 Airstream Flying Cloud 26RB Twin, which is a total mouthful. We picked it up in April of 2019 and really have loved the new digs after having dragged it all over the west these past 18 months or so. The plan for this past summer was Alaska, but that obviously got bumped due to border closures, but that's ok. This particular floor plan is perfect for us because of the large U-shape dinette that we sleep on each night. My daughter, six, gets the bedroom and she loves all the windows. It's also really nice to have a decent bathroom again, though we did install a composting toilet for more flexibility. I've upgraded to a couple of Trojan 6V batteries up front and added 400w of solar on roof so that we really are very self-sufficient and comfortable.

It was a BIG change over the little 17' Casita, but I loved our time in that small trailer. We went to the Casita after a year in a 43' diesel pusher that had WAY too many problems and limitations. We craved simplicity and the Casita taught us many valuable lessons in the beauty of getting by with less. We gave up a bathroom so that the kid could have her own bunk / space and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Looking back, I've clearly gone soft because I don't really know how we managed it for so long as a full-time home-on-wheels. I think it helped that my daughter was younger and quite a bit smaller. The Airstream, of course, is not perfect and some of the compromises are more painful than others (they aren't cheap and all the aluminum / single pane windows sort of suck in winter). Nonetheless, it is our happy home and we really enjoy the clean/simple aesthetics, the windows and feeling of openness, and the still-manageable size at 26 feet. For an RV, they are pretty well built, but these things still come off an assembly line where people should probably be paid a bit more for their time; mistakes are made and corners are cut. That said, all our problems have been things I could sort out myself (*knocks on wood lap desk), and that means a lot to me. In the year we owned the Class A, I think we lost a month or more to waiting for major repairs in various states.

I think that was probably way more of an answer than you actually wanted. Sorry about that - I'm just pretty passionate about travel and mobile living. We are going on our sixth year and are still excited about all the places we haven't yet explored. Cheers!

my wife wants a bambi in the worst way.

 

[Wallygator]

Yeah I don't care what market it's in.... $13K for the M is ridiculous expensive. For that price it should include a mattress, the cold pack, etc... YMMV.

 

[dnorrell]

my wife wants a bambi in the worst way.

Pretty sweet little rigs for sure! Do it

 

[bgraboyes]

So tell me, what am I missing, why would someone buy the project M?

I have an OVRLND and can shed maybe a little light. First is weight. long bed f150 at right around 350 lbs. Now of course this is a little bit cheating since i am building out some drawers etc that will weigh a bit more but will still come in way under the dry weight of a FWC. I will be able to build a drawer system for more storage and still have 6'6" standing room with a 10" (ish) drawer. I also really like that i have about 36" of vertical room in the cabover, meaning i can sit up completely in bed. The bed is also HUGE! Bigger than my home queen and no one gets pinned in since you sleep north south instead of east west. I also love being able to store a ton of ******** inside and still be able to get into the camper without having to take it all out. for example we do a lot of bouldering (climbing with big ole pads). The pads are huge and if we had a FWC, we would have to take em out whenever we wanted to get inside. With the ovrlnd, how we have it built, we can keep em inside and still be inside the camper. With my complete build, including propex furnace, stove, solar, battery etc, I will still likely come in a few thousand dollars cheaper with a more custom build. I havent seen many FWC Hawks, used, with everything i will have in my camper when complete, for less than 16k. and that would be a STEAL these days. Friend just bought a shell hawk for 18k and was looking forever for it so I think that's a more accurate estimation of cost. I will admit that dust is an issue but I am working on solutions to that, but it could be a deal breaker for some. It's more of a problem in my F150 than in my old tacoma (with gfc). the taco tailgate was easy to seal, but the f150 has been a nightmare honestly. In the end, they all have advantages and disadvantages and you just need to decide what's right for you.

 

[thesuzukimethod]

The wait for an OVRLND is not as long now since they hired more workers and ramped up production. I put my deposit down on May 3rd and it was complete last week: total of 6 months.

When I talked to them in July, they said it was 12 months, but they hoped it would be as short as 9 months.

 

[thesuzukimethod]

I still don't understand how they don't include the bed/mattress as standard equipment at their rather generous starting price point. Without the bed/mattress, I don't understand the point of the Project M?

The bed slide (platform) comes with, just not the mattress. they overcharge for the mattress anyway, so we are going to have a custom one made (for much cheaper) once we see how we want to lay things out. We were very much on the track towards a slide in, until we thought about how we actually want to (and do) use the truck. Maybe it's because we lived out of our Westy camper for a year (2 people, 3 dogs), but the M seems downright roomy. Couldn't handle how much lost space there was with a slide-in (not to mention the weight and the added cost). But we are more keen on the spartan gear. Plus if we don't like it....with demand as it is, I'm 110% certain I can sell this thing at a profit. That's not our plan, but it is a plan.

 

[NHBeast]

My Raptor has a payload of 1000 lbs. Project M weighs under 500lbs.
Add 15 gallons of water, small solar setup, cooler, camp stove, people, lightweight buildout, and some gear...there is the 1000lbs.
No dust issues with my Leer cap. Used pipe and foam insulation.
A Maxxair roof fan could be left on when traveling ...positive ventilation pressure?

 

[Wallygator]

My Raptor has a payload of 1000 lbs. Project M weighs under 500lbs.
Add 15 gallons of water, small solar setup, cooler, camp stove, people, lightweight buildout, and some gear...there is the 1000lbs.
No dust issues with my Leer cap. Used pipe and foam insulation.
A Maxxair roof fan could be left on when traveling ...positive ventilation pressure?

Yeah I'm thinking you are over unless you have some very light people. But it won't be over by much. Sounds like a fun setup

 

[LStU]

What's the easiest way to power the interior roof LEDs and two fantastic roof fans? I just picked up my Project M today. It has a black wire and yellow wire labeled for the LED and fans. I spliced a 12v plug to the wires and then plugged it in the 12v socket on my 1000w Jackery Power Station. Jackery showed 1 watt of use but no luck with the LEDs or fans working. Any suggestions? Should I splice it to the AC outlets instead?

 

[highdesertlandworks]

sorry no help on wiring issues, but would love to see some pics of your project M.. thX!

 

[skyfree]

What's the easiest way to power the interior roof LEDs and two fantastic roof fans? I just picked up my Project M today. It has a black wire and yellow wire labeled for the LED and fans. I spliced a 12v plug to the wires and then plugged it in the 12v socket on my 1000w Jackery Power Station. Jackery showed 1 watt of use but no luck with the LEDs or fans working. Any suggestions? Should I splice it to the AC outlets instead?

Maxxfans use black as the Positive 12V wire. Maybe fantastic fan does the same thing? Try reversing the polarity. You should have a fuse inline in case that is a short circuit.

 

[socceronly]

Saw one these the other day in Vancouver. The fellow showed me the inside, he really liked it because it can be converted from work -> camper instantly.

 

[jreddy]

Yeah I'm thinking you are over unless you have some very light people. But it won't be over by much. Sounds like a fun setup

I'm guessing over by quite a bit, actually.

 

[socceronly]

Are there any other topper campers like this that have vertical walls? I want to utilize the space inside better, and the ones angled in take space away for seating.

 

[Nvbrian]

Are there any other topper campers like this that have vertical walls? I want to utilize the space inside better, and the ones angled in take space away for seating.

Ovrlnd campers in flagstaff also has vertical walls