GEO-cab German Carbon Fiber Truck Camper

[gregmchugh]

Looks like a new option coming to the US

German Carbon Fiber Camper Trucks From GEO-Cab Are Coming To America

GEO-cab is the US distributor for German-based GEHOcab and will offer a range of Badger camper conversions for mid-size and full-size trucks.

www.motor1.com

Elevate your Lifestyle

Custom High-Tech Carbon Fiber Campers for 4x4 Pickup Trucks and SUVs. Explore the nature in style with camping in this light weight offroad capable RV.

www.geo-cab.com

Badger XT Show Vehicle

We are happy to announce that we will bring the GEO-cab Badger X as a show vehicle to the US in 2021. Please join us on the journey of this build and follow our process. We will update this website...

www.geo-cab.com

The German website

Design expedition vehicles with beautiful alcoves

Our designer expedition vehicles, built as lightweight carbon monocoques, create comfortable living spaces with modern interiors and plenty of light.

www.gehocab.com

 

[calicamper]

Carbon fiber will be $$$$ but super lightweight and strong as heck.

 

[Blowby]

Great looking vehicle, and with a nice modern design!
The Europeans seem to be way ahead when it comes to modern interior design.
When you look at the majority of US made RV,s they still have styling from the 70's.

 

[calicamper]

Great looking vehicle, and with a nice modern design!
The Europeans seem to be way ahead when it comes to modern interior design.
When you look at the majority of US made RV,s they still have styling from the 70's.

They are still trying to make them look like a 70’s ranch house ?

 

[gregmchugh]

Carbon fiber will be $$$$ but super lightweight and strong as heck.

$130k to $236k for just the camper depending on size. Plus cost of truck and integration of camper to truck.

 

[calicamper]

$130k to $236k for just the camper depending on size. Plus cost of truck and integration of camper to truck.

Yeah thats allot of renting epic private houses with a lear jet on call trips ?.

 

[Victorian]

Just another rendering that is getting tons of media attention. Creating the real thing is another story.

 

[gregmchugh]

Just another rendering that is getting tons of media attention. Creating the real thing is another story.

Not total vaporware, they did build one on a VW Armonk...

 

[jeno]

Looks like they have built at least two Amaroks:

 

[gregmchugh]

Interesting videos, looks like no pass through and black tank instead of cassette toilet. Not a lot of inside or outside storage that I see.

 

[rruff]

Carbon fiber will be $$$$ but super lightweight and strong as heck.

Yes on the $$$ (probably)... but in the grand scheme of things it shouldn't. I'm making parts of mine with carbon. 60" 11oz cloth was $18/yd. 3 layers of that comes to $3.60/sq ft or $7.20/sq ft for both sides. An entire big camper like that might have 350 sq ft surface area, so even with reasonable excess ~$3,000 for materials... (vs ~$1,000 for FG)... a pittance.

Carbon is a bit lighter (~15%, same thickness) and a little stronger in tension vs FG, but by far the biggest difference is stiffness. In my testing it's 2.5-3x stiffer ...which is what I expected based on specs. On most parts of a camper though a foam core fiberglass panel is already way stiffer than it needs to be. Really nothing to be gained there. I'm only using it in the floor/base because I have no subframe and it's 3 point mounted, and I thought FG could be too bouncy unless I made the floor extra thick. Really, I just wanted to try it...

In my informal "whack it with a mini-sledge" testing, carbon has a significant downside. It doesn't take impacts as well as FG. It isn't a huge difference, but noticeable. I think taking impacts is a pretty important feature for camper skins. Due to carbon being only a little stronger and way stiffer than FG, this means that FG will deflect >2x as far before it breaks.

Bottom line is... don't get too excited about carbon...

 

[rruff]

$130k to $236k for just the camper depending on size. Plus cost of truck and integration of camper to truck.

That would be pretty cheap compared to Nimbl and EC Terranova... the low number that is.

 

[gregmchugh]

That would be pretty cheap compared to Nimbl and EC Terranova... the low number that is.

If they can come up with something light enough for smaller vehicles then they might have a good option.

Not something to my liking, on the scale of function vs style this is too much style for me. For their price on larger trucks I would go with EC or Nimbl.

 

[rruff]

If they can come up with something light enough for smaller vehicles then they might have a good option.

Weight will depend on what is included. Carbon won't make any difference. They can probably get under the GVWR of the HDP F150 if they really try, but for the US market it would make more sense to start with a 1 ton. Makes me wonder if they've checked the market well... is the F150 available in other countries?

 

[pugslyyy]

Always cool to see other folks building expedition vehicles in the space. I wish there were some specs on capacities, weights, etc. In the US it is just really difficult to build on anything other than a 1-ton because the payload just isn't there in the more compact vehicles.

For example, a high spec double cab Tacoma (4WD, V6, TRD, etc.) has a cargo capacity of around a thousand pounds, but we carry 600 pounds of water (75 gallons) and 120 pounds of batteries (400Ah) in our builds. The math just doesn't add up.