I Need A Road Trip

[mextripper]

Every now and then I get the itch to go roll in sand at a beach or camp in the desert, or head to the mountains close by and hang with the coyotes. Always better to drive but with the work schedule, heading out on a trip in a jet makes more sense considering time constraints. I'd much rather be in the truck with my better half next to me and a load of fun things in the back, but then we're talking extended vacation (or time with no job). Baja usually has the strongest pull for me, or Cozumel if a plane trip is necessary. I actually lived in Todos Santos BCS for 6 months in between jobs about 8 or 10 years ago, nothing but surfing, eating fish tacos and stuffed papas rellenas, and of course lots of drinking. Good trip in the F250, never has let me down yet and still ready for more adventures with 132k on it. Have done 50+ trips in Baja, mostly surfing back when I lived in LaJolla when I was younger. Local mountain trips from home here in the Denver area keep us busy on weekends. About 8 months ago I got the wild idea to build my own slide in camper after looking at 30 plus trashed, horrendous, heavily used manufactured slide in models, a Baja run is on the not too distant horizon. A grand idea, I have lots of spare wood and plywood laying around, 3 to 4 months tops and I'll have a nice little camper, ready to go camping, simple, effective, Spartan yet functional. A brilliant plan, mulled carefully over with assistance from several bottles of Abbey. I am now on month 8, but still progressing and learning more than I ever wanted to know about how to build your own camper. Hopefully it will be useable by late Spring. Anyway, I wanted to post a few pics for anyone similar to myself and crazy enough to go do it, loads of fun and more reasons to stay out in the garage longer, ci or no ?
For the record;
1.) It's definitely overbuilt
2.) The weight of it is still surprisingly not very heavy, doesn't even move the suspension on the rear of the F250 at this point.
3.) Will have double bed up top, two beds on the benches, both long enough for an adult, fridge, heater, stove top, bathroom, vent with reversible fan, LED lighting, good doors and windows.
4.) It's basic, functional, can haul two kayaks and 4 surfboards on top, 2 adults and two teenage girls and a dog. Comfortably.
I'm sure after camping in it for a while, we'll want to build another one, with changes and upgrades, we'll see. Or possibly buy a school bus.
I applied the first coat of epoxy resin tonight, glass goes on tomorrow, then paint, then windows and doors, and then I sit in it with the heater for the rest of Spring doing the interior.
See pics in Member Albums section, will post more as I get time...

*ALSO; frame is 1x3 and 2x4 over the cab where the bed is, lower box is 7/16 plywood, skin is Luan 5mm underlayment board with 1 coat epoxy resin and 1 coat 3.25 glass cloth from Raka...

 

[bajadulce]

Looks nice! You have the luxury of a little more wiggle room with weight than I do in my toyota.

Fun experiences. You must have some great memories of your 6 month stay in Todos Diablos Good times!

Like yourself, In my 20's (tho this was back in 1994), I had an engine fall out of a VW camper in the hills above Loreto. Had the car towed to C.d. Constitucion and found a local family to watch over it till I could find time to fix it. In the meantime, found some kids for hire willing to haul all my surf gear + some rudimentary camping equipment (stove, pots, pans, 5 gal propane tank, lantern, water jugs etc) out to Conejo fish camp. I borrowed some supplies from the fishermen and built a little 3 sided shack out of roof paper and sticks right there on the point. Somehow 4 months whizzed by and it is without doubt one of my fondest memories. I remember the ritual of drinking a beer before 10AM because this was the only time it was cold! To be young again!

Gluck w/ your camper and look forward to reading more. Looks like you have a quite a bit of a head start.
Steve

 

[mextripper]

Steve;
I did several Baja runs in my Toyota and Nissan also in the late 1980's and early 90's, definitely a lot less of a hauler than my F250! Good trips though, regardless of what you're in..
A.

 

[mextripper]

MUY IMPORTANTE !
It would be a whole lot easier to lay your panels flat on a work table, apply the fiberglass and add the resin on with a squeegee, let it dy, then mount the panel to your camper.
My roof was easy pouring the resin on and working outwards with a squeegee, side panels were a nightmare, lots of drips and resin up my sleeve. Still chasing bubbles on the side panels 4 hours afterwards, roof is near perfect.
Squeegee = good.
Live and learn....

 

[BigTex]

Mextripper - I really like your camper, and I'm contemplating building my own. I've looked through your album to get some build ideas. I like that it's lighter weight, as I'd be putting it on an F150 supercrew. I've got a question on securing it to the truck. I've never been around a slide in camper in person, but from the pics on here, I see the truck usually has some kind of anchor point attached. In a DIY situation, what are you going to anchor to on the truck, and where are your anchor points going to be on the camper? Or, is it heavy enough it won't move without being tied down?

 

[mextripper]

I've got a couple of options, Happijack is about the best most secure I've found. I also might make a trap door on each side in the front inside, attach a good sized eyelet bolt and then use a turnbuckle to attach to the hooks mounted in the front inside corners of the bed, same for the back except you don't need a trap door to access. I'll post pics soon, headed for the mountains this weekend. I'm leaning towards a Happijack used on Craig's List for $200...

 

[mextripper]

ALSO; a quick update, the camper is fiberglassed except for the panel directly over the cab of the truck. Will do that one outside,might flip the camper on its side to make it easier than doing it upside down...
More pics soon...

 

[magentawave]

Anything new with your camper?