How Would You Spec It? Ovrlnd Camper

[PirateMcGee]

It's time to submit the options for my Ovrlnd Camper.

So what addons would you get and why?
OVRLND Custom Pop-Top Camper Shell – OVRLND LLC (campovrlnd.com)

What I'm thinking:
-Clear Vinyl Windows
-Rear Barndoors (half)
-Gas Lift Struts
-Anodized Skin

I already have a fan ready to go, will add solar myself along with roof rails off a junkyard vehicle. I'll also likely add a jerry can holder to one of the barn doors and a propane mount to the other.

 

[Delberto Montalban]

That's pretty much the things that I would want too. I'd do full barn doors and add windows in them- I'd want to be able to see if someone was creeping around the back end/see what I was up against if someone tried to break in while I was in it. I think there is also an option to get a headliner put in- I'd want that too, as I think it would be a pain to do it after the fact.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

^^^ This. I'm tired of bending over to climb "under" getting in the back of the truck. It would be much easier to climb up into the bed area. Would I miss the tailgate? Yes...for about a minute.

 

[dstefan]

I did:
- half barn doors, window on P side only and 3 hinges on D side door w/ no window. Installed some 8020 and hung Trasharoo from reinforced door. Will use for Maxtraxx when actively using and filthy and if I really need extra gas a 2 or 3 gal Rotopax. Otherwise Maxtraxx stay inside and reachable from the P side windoor
- Maxair fan
- two windoors
- had a 23Zero 180° awning shipped to Jay and he had it installed
- anodized exterior
- 2 extra inches in cabover height (Dont think thats possible now as Jays gone to a one piece formed cabover rail)
- Thermal pack
- Vinyl windoors (edit; no idea what autocorrect oddity put vinyl in there?!)
- Struts
-Solar gland and wires in roof

After about 20 nights use, VERY happy I got all of these. Plus the Bedrug (added separately, not an Ovrlnd option)

 

[PirateMcGee]

That's pretty much the things that I would want too. I'd do full barn doors and add windows in them- I'd want to be able to see if someone was creeping around the back end/see what I was up against if someone tried to break in while I was in it. I think there is also an option to get a headliner put in- I'd want that too, as I think it would be a pain to do it after the fact.

I love having a tailgate too much to do the full doors. It's one of the main factors on why I bailed on my GX460.
I'll be running a bedrug and seals so I'm not worried about dust.
Headliner will be a pain but I'll be installing poly iso insulation through out and neoprene tape on the studs so the headliner would have to come off anyways.

 

[PirateMcGee]

I did:
- half barn doors, window on P side only and 3 hinges on D side door w/ no window. Installed some 8020 and hung Trasharoo from reinforced door. Will use for Maxtraxx when actively using and filthy and if I really need extra gas a 2 or 3 gal Rotopax. Otherwise Maxtraxx stay inside and reachable from the P side windoor
- Maxair fan
- two windoors
- had a 23Zero 180° awning shipped to Jay and he had it installed
- anodized exterior
- 2 extra inches in cabover height (Dont think thats possible now as Jays gone to a one piece formed cabover rail)
- Thermal pack
- Vinyl windoors
- Struts
-Solar gland and wires in roof

After about 20 nights use, VERY happy I got all of these. Plus the Bedrug (added separately, not an Ovrlnd option)

Do you have any pics of the termal pack? There's nothing on the site. Trying to figure out if it's worth $800 vs a DIY option.

The 2 extra inches is still possible; you can either do the old or new design. I'll be going with the new design as I don't want the extra height.

How's the anodized exterior holding up?

 

[billiebob]

Definitely the 8" cabover plus the extra 2" height to fit the bedding.
The clear plastic windows and the flip up doors, both sides.

The fabric headliner looks like a nice finishing touch.
Gas struts are a no brainer.

 

[armoured]

Any major advantage to the new design vs old? Also gas struts are pretty expensive at $300. I thought it was only $175 but the quote has (2) of them.

I heard the new design is welded vs bolted? I'd rather go with the old design vs welded aluminum.

 

[armoured]

Also, my build:

 

[dstefan]

Do you have any pics of the termal pack? There's nothing on the site. Trying to figure out if it's worth $800 vs a DIY option.

This is the best shot I have on hand. The liner comes in four pieces, front, back and both sides. The material is a single layer brushed/felty material with little embossed pockets in it. It’s pretty effective. We mostly used it when we were working on the interior of the camper and had to have the top popped up in the Phoenix sun. Even in March last year the temperature would heat up quite a lot with direct sun on the tent walls. We have used it maybe 10 of the 20 nights we’ve used the camper in temperatures down to the high 30s, and it’s been helpful. The construction of it is very well-made. The Velcro is well attached, and there are nicely done cut outs that still allow you to open the windows if desired. The main downside to me is that you can’t leave it attached. However, it takes my wife and I about five minutes to put it up at night and take it down in the morning, after getting used to it.

How's the anodized exterior holding up?

The anodized has held up really well over 10 months parked outside in the Phoenix sun. The only exterior issue has been a some slight sun deterioration of the rubber gaskets around the widow latches — my fault as I over looked them in my initial 303 treatments.

I heard the new design is welded vs bolted? I'd rather go with the old design vs welded aluminum.

As far as I know, Jay has never done a bolt-on design. I’ve been in his shop three or four times and seen how he makes these. My camper, which is the old design, is impeccably welded. The thing is a tank. It doesn’t shift or move; there is nothing flimsy about it. You’d have to ask Jay about it, but it’s possible that the new design with the extruded Cabover beam utilizes some bolting as opposed to welding the entire long edges. You also may be thinking about the fact that the sheet aluminum on the outside is riveted to the frame (as well as VHB taped). I don’t know if he still doing that in the new ones or not.

I also exhaustively checked out Four Wheel Campers, and traveled to their factory as well. Jays design and construction is not quite as immediately pretty, but it seems more stout and better constructed to me. No wood, no particleboard no flimsy screws pulling out of particleboard (I actually had a dinette seat support pull out of the wall under me in a $50k flatbed FWC at the show room, and I only weigh 180 pounds).

Nearly 14.5k incl taxes. I'm starting to think this is crazy for a half shell camper.

Yeah, it can seem like a lot for a shell without a lot of glitz to it. I think it depends what you want out of your camper. I wanted something indestructible that didn’t have most of the interior room taken up with a bunch of built-in crap I didn’t want. You are also paying to have something very light weight that is not flimsy. I got mine for hard off road use. Everybody’s use case differs. YMMV, but for me it’s been worth every penny and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Also, my build:

Anodized Aluminum, awning, extra bed height, barn doors, 2x flips, front window, rails, fan, solar, struts, 3rd break, vinyl windows.

Nearly 14.5k incl taxes. I'm starting to think this is crazy for a half shell camper....almost the price of a brand new car. I'm prob gonna start rethinking some options and get it under a bit. Those AZ taxes really kill you at over 1k.....

Yah the taxes were a surprise cost. They hurt.

I'm really limiting my options to stuff I can't diy later. A lot of folks go with the windoors but I honestly don't see the utility on a full size truck because it's just too tall to reach in anyways and I'm 6'. Also actively avoiding windows as the condensation on them was pretty bad in my teardrop and I'll just swing a barn door when needed.

This is a helpful discussion. Very little chatter about these on the interwebs. Folks too busy using them!

 

[dstefan]

I agree on widows. The one rear one is useless and I have it blocked off for the sun, but can look out from inside if needed.

Windoors are another matter, for me at least. My layout has battery and solar etc against the cab bulkhead since I have a cable run from my starter to a DCDC charger that comes in through OEM grommets in the cab wall. I reach in all the time to connect my portable solar or to turn the system on or off. On the other side I have my Maxtraxx and shovel along with camp chairs vertically attached at the cab wall, I can easily get them in and out through the windoor. I’ve had stucks off-road where in and out through the rear of the bed wasn‘t feasible, so that’s influenced my layout somewhat. I‘m 6’1” and my truck is lifted 3.5” in the rear.

The tough thing about the diy camper approach is thinking through all the ways you might use it and all the major unforseen ways you may need to use it in the future.

For me the windoors save a huge amount of climbing in and out and are the #1 option I couldn’t live without. I once had a topper without windoors and hated it, which I’m sure is also influencing me.

Do you plan on building seating/cabinets/storage along the sides? Windoors can get in the way of that …

 

[dstefan]

FWIW, this shows the layout while it was under construction. The seats lift up for access

 

[PirateMcGee]

I agree on widows. The one rear one is useless and I have it blocked off for the sun, but can look out from inside if needed.

Windoors are another matter, for me at least. My layout has battery and solar etc against the cab bulkhead since I have a cable run from my starter to a DCDC charger that comes in through OEM grommets in the cab wall. I reach in all the time to connect my portable solar or to turn the system on or off. On the other side I have my Maxtraxx and shovel along with camp chairs vertically attached at the cab wall, I can easily get them in and out through the windoor. I’ve had stucks off-road where in and out through the rear of the bed wasn‘t feasible, so that’s influenced my layout somewhat. I‘m 6’1” and my truck is lifted 3.5” in the rear.

The tough thing about the diy camper approach is thinking through all the ways you might use it and all the major unforseen ways you may need to use it in the future.

For me the windoors save a huge amount of climbing in and out and are the #1 option I couldn’t live without. I once had a topper without windoors and hated it, which I’m sure is also influencing me.

Do you plan on building seating/cabinets/storage along the sides? Windoors can get in the way of that …

I'm going to be building one side out with my fridge/slide, stove, propane, propex etc. as a cabinet/sofa/futon thing for sleeping in case I'm solo and don't want to pop the top. Other side will be left empty as one potential goal is to be able to put a honda trail or monkey in the bed of the truck with the camper all closed up. I hunt quite a bit too and when hauling elk I need a lot of cooler space so the bed build out will be pretty sparse. I'll have to think more about the windoor. Might be worth it on the un-built side.

Did you use FRP on the walls?

 

[dstefan]

Personally, I think you might regret not having a windoor, but's it's always hard to say for someone else's use. You can always keep it closed, but it's a bear to add one later, if it's even possible.

No FRP, I used coroplast (essentially polypropelene corrugated cardboard if you're not familiar with it). My goal was to keep everything very lightweight, and I've worked with it before. Easy to cut with a utility knife and way tougher than you'd think (but somewhat flexible). I have a couple of drawers I've made of it too. Having air channels it's also slightly insulating and I've run some small gauge wires through the channels in a couple of places. I used VHB tape to put up 1/4" closed cell foam with a radiant barrier on both sides on top of the frame members (it's what looks like Reflectix on the ceiling), then the coroplast on top. Supposedly the closed cell foam is supposed to be R8, which I doubt, but it's way more insulating than Reflectix while still having the radiant barrier. I used self tapping lathe screws to anchor the coroplast to the frame where needed, or some very small 1/4" aluminum angle VHB'd to hold it in place It's worked really well. Putting the closed cell on top of the frame got rid of a lot of thermal barrier and kept an airspace that lets the radiant barrier work. I tend to worry more about the heat being from Phoenix . . .

No matter what you do, these campers are cold when it's cold out. I also have a Wave 3 heater, that I haven't really used, except to test it. Heat's up the place very well.