Introducing the “NEW” Alu-Cab Canopy Camper

[MR E30]

Exciting to see lots of details about other setups.

I built mine out over the course of 2 years, and I wanted to go truly lightweight, which meant no drawers or slides of any kind.

You can ditch the 40 series 8020 for the interior. Little 1" 10 series is more than strong enough.

If you have the option to ditch the backseat and fill it with stuff, like we did, then you free up so much space in the camper.

My wife and I have been living and working full-time in our 6ft Tacoma for a while now, and this is what our camper interior looks like on the day to day and while driving:

Back Door Camper Interior by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Back Door by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

The list of things that we have is extensive, and it is all packed in there so well. I'm talking 335ah of battery, 20 gallons of water, 5 gallons of propane, 7 gallons of extra fuel, diesel heater with 2 gallon tank, 24/7 in-motion internet access anywhere on earth, backup cellular internet, AC/DC power, the ability to perform almost any maintenance/repair on the truck, to perform any service on a mountain bike or our adventure bike (R1250GSA). We each have full backpacking setups, the ability to descend hundreds of feet of vertical canyon walls, a dealership level diagnostic tool/computer, the list goes on and on.

My philosophy was to use the structure that was already there, adding as little extra framing/structure as possible, to get the job done. One of us can have a pot of water boiling on the stove, the awning deployed and the bed setup/opened in ~90 seconds.

Give it a lot of thought and you'll find success building exactly what you need to fit your comfort level and use case.

 

[Dave in AZ]

@MR E30 love the pics. Also great info on the 1" aluminum. Where did you put the 2gal diesel heater tank? I've been looking at a 2gal aluminum round one to strap on a back pillar... thx

 

[MR E30]

@MR E30 love the pics. Also great info on the 1" aluminum. Where did you put the 2gal diesel heater tank? I've been looking at a 2gal aluminum round one to strap on a back pillar... thx

The tank lives in between the cab and the head wall of the camper.

Random Over Weeks by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

I used (3) M5 bolts, as a sort of stud, through the camper headwall, and then secured them in place with nuts. This keeps the studs in position when I loosen the (3) additional nuts that hold the tank to those studs.

I used the 10l tank that came with my heater to get the job done. I have to pull the silver table in the photo above, and then the tank just barely angles its way into the space back there. Once around the upper corner of the cab there is a lot more space to move it around.

I can fill it directly from a stations pump, but I usually carry 3.5 gallons in a Rotopax and then transfer it via a bulb style pump from the Rotopax into the tank.

 

[Dave in AZ]

@MR E30 thx. Good spot for it.

 

[cug]

You can ditch the 40 series 8020 for the interior. Little 1" 10 series is more than strong enough.

That's 100% accurate. 40 series is waaaayyyy overkill for an interior build. We are using 25 series (same size as 10 series, just metric). All the 80/20 visible in my photos is 25 series. Most of the wood visible is either 6mm or 9mm Baltic Birch. So, it's surprisingly light. No, it's not really super light, but it's lighter than you'd expect looking at it. Somebody using E rated 37" tires on a Gladiator has already added half the weight of our furniture just in tires if they came from OEM 33".

Interesting about the spice containers – do they stay in place on a washboard road? We have the same containers, but have them packed away in a small bag.

 

[cug]

One of us can have a pot of water boiling on the stove, the awning deployed and the bed setup/opened in ~90 seconds.

Oh, and I love this comment. It was also one of our desires to get to this point that everything we do regularly can be done quickly and easily. Open roof, deploy awning, turn on inverter, pull out electric kettle and plug in, fill with water, get going ... 90 seconds sounds about right ...

The nice thing with our more RV like setup is that we can also do the same in rainy/windy conditions: pop the roof, get in the camper, turn on inverter, and so on. And it'll be reasonably comfortable with seats, tables, save cooking without open flame, etc. We've used this in cold conditions as well as on campgrounds that were wasp infested ...

 

[MR E30]

That's 100% accurate. 40 series is waaaayyyy overkill for an interior build. We are using 25 series (same size as 10 series, just metric). All the 80/20 visible in my photos is 25 series. Most of the wood visible is either 6mm or 9mm Baltic Birch. So, it's surprisingly light. No, it's not really super light, but it's lighter than you'd expect looking at it. Somebody using E rated 37" tires on a Gladiator has already added half the weight of our furniture just in tires if they came from OEM 33".

Interesting about the spice containers – do they stay in place on a washboard road? We have the same containers, but have them packed away in a small bag.

Yes, they stay put in all but the most extreme scenarios (all 4 wheels leaving the ground type extreme, outside of what many people put their truck through).

We do sometimes have the velcro'ed pouches on the underside of the smaller platform fall off and to the floor. We don't store anything breakable in there though.

 

[MR E30]

Oh, and I love this comment. It was also one of our desires to get to this point that everything we do regularly can be done quickly and easily. Open roof, deploy awning, turn on inverter, pull out electric kettle and plug in, fill with water, get going ... 90 seconds sounds about right ...

The nice thing with our more RV like setup is that we can also do the same in rainy/windy conditions: pop the roof, get in the camper, turn on inverter, and so on. And it'll be reasonably comfortable with seats, tables, save cooking without open flame, etc. We've used this in cold conditions as well as on campgrounds that were wasp infested ...

We can also do everything inside as well. That was one of my guiding principles during the planning and building phases. We've done full meal prep in heavy, wet snow or very buggy conditions.

I certainly prefer to be outside though. Haha

 

[cug]

I certainly prefer to be outside though. Haha

No question about it! What has driven us inside mostly were wasps and cold conditions in the evening.

My wife is currently building a super lightweight "mosquito cube" that can be attached to the awning in maybe a minute or so with "tent toggles" and either fabric loops or plastic rings, testing is still ongoing. It'll not be super large, but enough for us to stand in (I'm 6') and enough square footage for two people on chairs with a table.

If the mosquite cube works out, we might build our own awning walls to have some privacy if we are in either a larger group or at a campground for more than a single night. I would actually love to use the awning wall kit from Alu-Cab, but I can't justify the 15kg of weight and the massive package when packed up. We are using lighter (but just as tight) mosquito netting and lightweight but very tear resistant ripstop nylon instead of the super heavy canvas. My estimate is that this is could be under 2kg. We already have the additional awning legs.

Regarding weight: when we build our own mosquito net for the rear door (super similar to the Alu-Cab with two zippers, velcro'd to the door frame, etc.), we made it one layer and left the canvas part out. Result is that our mosquito net is about 1/3 of the weight of Alu-Cab, which is about 1kg. Our build might not look like it on first sight, but there is A LOT of weight optimization in there.

E.g. making the cabinet doors really light by routing out the rear and leaving only a frame for stability and enough baltic birch layers to still be tough:

 

[wackyhacky76CO]

Hey, yes, you are right, the backdoor has been a recent project. We started with planning a few weeks ago and have been slowly working our way through the various items.

From the "bracket screenshot" above, the right two are for mounting Rotopax or similar items to the outside of the rear door. The upper left will take a Redvision display (and possibly other stuff later on), the lower left is the enclosure for the outside parts of the diesel heater, and the top row middle is for holding our trash can (a bear safe container, secured with a RokStrap).

Here's the door, when we attached the RhinoRack loadbars:

View attachment 832082

The blue masking tape was just for mounting. The left side of the door will get two 2G Rotopax, and between Rotopax and shovel, there will be a small Pelican case where we'll put dirty diesel stuff (gloves, spout, etc.).

Regarding the shower enclosure, we do have the Alu-Cab shower cube, it's mounted on the driver's side.




This has been one of the declared goals of our build: there is a place for everything and we generally don't want to move something to get to something else. Goal was 2 minute set up and break down times, including bed and awning. It's doable with our setup, since most things are stored in a way that they pack away easily after use.



This is incredibly true! I was looking at the Goose Gear build-out for the Gladiator and while it would have saved us a lot of time, it just wouldn't have done what we wanted it to do. Weight wise, our setup is actually slightly lighter than a full Goose Gear setup, but about a billion times more comfortable in use. It wasn't all that much cheaper though, maybe a bit under half the price or so. Building with 80/20 gets out of hand VERY quickly.

We have saved money on the build, but on the other hand, we would have been done last year if we had purchased the parts. We probably could make do with these as well, it just wouldn't have been as nice, and we are an age where nice and comfortable is important. But you also end up doing a lot of stuff once, and once only, even though they are at a quality level that could be sold with good consciousness to other people.

Like the mosquito net my wife made (me holding it on during a "does it fit" test):

View attachment 832083

It does not have the canvas like the Alu-Cab net, but it's the same ultrafine netting, high quality zippers, etc.

Then my wife made cushions, including anti-slip bottom:

View attachment 832084

View attachment 832085

And here's a demonstration of the table in the high cabinet while we were still working on it:


Oh, and yes, we do bring the kitchen sink, really:

View attachment 832086

But I have to agree, the DIY part has enabled us to build the truck exactly the way we envisioned it, not some put together interpretation of a shop not understanding our ideas and just using what they know and have always used or done.

Bravo... this is fantastic beautiful work.

 

[Redfernsoljah]

Looking to add some sort of ventilation to my system. Dont like any of the offshelf systems as well as not going through the roof. Was thinking of using a marine 12v bilge fan to i orove circukation in camper. Need to figure out wattage though to get most efficient. It would allow me to duct from the outside. Any input on this idea.

Originally thought about using the gp vent kit but cant figure out how to make that work given the space. Even though of using one of those barrel fan that spin sideways in that space but would need to have something fabricated and dont have the equipment or skill to fabricate something like that. Though this would be ideal to be able to pull from the vent kit and allow cool air from outside into camper. Could also be used in reverse as a positive ventilation fan if used that way. Well maybe cause if closed in that space it wouldnt ventilate the whole camper. Thinking out loud.

 

[cug]

Looking to add some sort of ventilation to my system

Are you trying to combat a specific problem?

 

[cug]

Bravo... this is fantastic beautiful work.

Thank you! We really enjoy it, even though it isn't finished just yet.

 

[Redfernsoljah]

Are you trying to combat a specific problem?

No not combat. Just trying to get it ready for Baja and the heat of the day. Already have some fans for circulation installed.

 

[cug]

No not combat. Just trying to get it ready for Baja and the heat of the day. Already have some fans for circulation installed.

I see. For us in the CA desert it was good enough to open the roof at the end of the day and open all the canvas, leaving mosquito netting in place. In the roof, a vent doesn't make sense since the bed platform will be in the way of venting. That leaves the front towards the truck cabin if you don't have the water tank or the rear panels next to the door.

I haven't been to Baja, but it's probably like California, meaning there is nearly always a breeze going, which might be warm, but it'll vent the truck in no time after opening up.