four wheel camper rebuild

[rlargarticha]

haven't been on here for a while. originally got into expedition portal with a small cheap utility trailer project. since then I have rebuilt a 6x8 tent trailer and recently got into a four wheel camper project. full rebuild with custom floor plan. will post pics soon:sombrero:

 

[rlargarticha]

 

[rlargarticha]

some pictures of the camper and how I had it set up before tear down

 

[kaelc]

Nice, I have a Fleet for sale about the same year, an 84?

Do you have stock rear suspension?

 

[rlargarticha]

Nice, I have a Fleet for sale about the same year, an 84?

Do you have stock rear suspension?

Im not sure what year it is, and the rear of the truck is bagged. just curious to what you are asking for it? just got into these.

 

[bruue1]

cool man, looks like a decent project, have fun

 

[rlargarticha]

Have the camper totally stripped and in the process of cutting and rewelding the base to fit snug in the bed

cool man, looks like a decent project, have fun

thanks bruce!

 

[bill harr]

Going to be following your build. Nice to make it just the way you want it, for how you use it. You are off to an great start. I am almost done with my build one more cabinet to go.

Bill

 

[rlargarticha]

Just got back from picking up my sheet metal so my pocket book is hurting a little. Got to watch them cut it out and press it. Liked the lance patter a little bit better so i borrowed it... haha dont tell any of the fwc guys.

Going to be following your build. Nice to make it just the way you want it, for how you use it. You are off to an great start. I am almost done with my build one more cabinet to go.

Bill

congrats on the camper Bob! II'm pondering cabinet door layouts so I'll have to check out your thread

 

[1stDeuce]

Should be interesting to see your build progress!! I'm excited to see how the cabinets come out looking... One thing I noticed about your layout that you might want to consider changing is that you have both the battery and the water toward the middle of the camper, which is behind the axle of the truck... If you can move those up under the dinette seating, your truck will appreciate it!

Any thought to what you're going to do with the soft walls? (New, make your own, or re-use?)
Chris

 

[rlargarticha]

heres how my brothers truck is set up. mine was very similar. he was able to put a 30 gallon tank underneath his.


here is the new wider front aluminum box and floor. in most places there is less than an inch of room. its going to be tight taking on and off but I am literally gaining square feet compared to the set up before. (similar to the picture above)


the side of my bed is 18" high but the base of the camper was only 16 and some change. dropped the floor and rear door (so its flush) down two more inches. very happy to have a 2 inch lower profile on my vehicle, 2 inch higher roof inside, and get rid of the ugly 4 inch spacer from underneath the camper.


the side door for the propane was missing a lot of structure, and was actually causing this camper to fall apart. I ended up raising the door one inch and adding a bar across where the door used to be. I also welded in a new top bar for the propane door.
I was very disappointed in how poorly fwc built this camper. many main joints in the camper were left unwelded completely on all four sides while others were just tacked, which led to the camper falling apart on my last trip .I had addressed the issue of the camper having several unwelded joints to four wheel campers while requesting a price on the lifting walls and roof fabric. got a email back wit a quote of 900 on the lift, and 400 for the fabric..... questions about the welds were ignored.

Should be interesting to see your build progress!! I'm excited to see how the cabinets come out looking... One thing I noticed about your layout that you might want to consider changing is that you have both the battery and the water toward the middle of the camper, which is behind the axle of the truck... If you can move those up under the dinette seating, your truck will appreciate it!

Any thought to what you're going to do with the soft walls? (New, make your own, or re-use?)
Chris

I did take that into consideration. I think am going to put the water tank up front, trash the dinette idea (one side is pretty much unusable) and go with a shower in the rear. I am going to rebuild the lift walls

 

[rlargarticha]

gap is going to be less than half an inch above the bedsides after plywood is added. excited for less wind resistance by having the camper lower. was pushing 16 mpg last trip well see if any improvements are made next trip

wood base is all 3/4 thick. all contact points have construction adhesive and screws every 3-6 inches. picked up Loctite's 8x and it is amazing. beats any other adhesive out there

 

[1stDeuce]

Awesome work! IMO, no camper is perfect, so it makes sense to make one more useful for you! I keep thinking about picking up an older FWC too, but I have enough work into my current camper to not want to get rid of it. Eventually it'll rot and sag enough I'll have to, but until then, I'll use it, and once that happens, I'll probably use parts of it to turn a FWC in to a better one!

As for the welds, I know FWC used to tout the "Flex frame" design... Perhaps not welding it fully kept it flexible enough to work with older trucks that had a LOT more frame flex than the ones we're now used to. If they made it rigid, it would have broken apart, rather than flex when bolted to a flexy truck. ?? Regardless, I can understand that didn't have an answer for why your camper was welded the way it was when it was built 30 years ago...

Speaking of welding, are you TIG'ing things together, or using a MIG welder? Just curious. <Edit - Nevermind. I see the TIG voltage pedal and electrode in the corner of your last working pic.
Keep up the good work, and the reports!!

 

[bill harr]

My Hawk has 1/2" clearance at tail gate, tight but doable. Easier to load by my self than have the wife help.

Note pic's do not show.

gap is going to be less than half an inch above the bedsides after plywood is added. excited for less wind resistance by having the camper lower. was pushing 16 mpg last trip well see if any improvements are made next trip
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wood base is all 3/4 thick. all contact points have construction adhesive and screws every 3-6 inches. picked up Loctite's 8x and it is amazing. beats any other adhesive out there
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[rlargarticha]

My Hawk has 1/2" clearance at tail gate, tight but doable. Easier to load by my self than have the wife help.

Note pic's do not show.

yeah i agree i tend to try to load the camper myself, im thinking since its so close it will almost just guide it strait in. Pictures fixed

Awesome work! IMO, no camper is perfect, so it makes sense to make one more useful for you! I keep thinking about picking up an older FWC too, but I have enough work into my current camper to not want to get rid of it. Eventually it'll rot and sag enough I'll have to, but until then, I'll use it, and once that happens, I'll probably use parts of it to turn a FWC in to a better one!

As for the welds, I know FWC used to tout the "Flex frame" design... Perhaps not welding it fully kept it flexible enough to work with older trucks that had a LOT more frame flex than the ones we're now used to. If they made it rigid, it would have broken apart, rather than flex when bolted to a flexy truck. ?? Regardless, I can understand that didn't have an answer for why your camper was welded the way it was when it was built 30 years ago...

Speaking of welding, are you TIG'ing things together, or using a MIG welder? Just curious. <Edit - Nevermind. I see the TIG voltage pedal and electrode in the corner of your last working pic.
Keep up the good work, and the reports!!

Yeah its a tig welder. That makes sense with the flex frame, looks like there's my answer. you should make the jump to the fwc. I couldnt beilive how light they are. I move it around and flip it upside down by myself as it sits.