Since I conceived my project of building my own expedition 4WD camper from scratch, there have been a parade of people on several forums implying that I should just buy a camper from a retailer; asking why bother. Well, I will answer why bother and I hope its not too much of a rant. 
Ok, I know this might sound a bit arrogant and sorry in advance for that. However, after owning or using several campers and trailers, I am convinced that the modern construction techniques used in these vehicles is ... well ... garbage. Its cheap garbage that if it isn't designed the have them fail in 5 years to buy a new camper, it sure does a good impression of being done on purpose.
Evidence? Ok, lets take some cases in consideration. There are several companies on the market that find 1940s era Spartan trailers and then buy them. They are in need of window replacement, asbestos purging, replacing wood rot inside and so on. So these companies gut the trailers, rebuild the interior with modern wiring, reseal the aluminum skin with modern sealants, pull the old cellulose insulation, spray in foam and then add solid wood fixtures. They sell these trailers for a bundle, catering to high dollar customers. Alas I cant afford the services of these companies. The point is that the trailer itself, the shell, the frame, the window framing and so on, are actually so well built that they can be gutted and renovated even though they are 60 to 70 years old.
Now contrast this with the 10 year old fiberglass vacubonded construction. Usually a 10 year old trailer or camper is a MESS. Any slight impact to the trailer will cause a hole that has to be fixed by replacing the whole wall or doing some half baked fiberglassing job. A window failure (which I have had in 2 trailers) can often crack the wall itself. They ALL seem to leak all over the place from the "modern" rubberized roof through to the internal structure. Helping a friend fix his camper we found a ton of wood rot below the window but we couldnt do much at all because we would have to cut out half the wall and didn't have the equipment to vacubond a fix. I don't even want to think about what the price of a quote to repair the camper from a manufacturer would be. He might as well buy a new camper (which he eventually did). If you want to be really scared about your camper, pull off a window and look into the area around the window. Not only is there virtually no sealing around the window (tell them to run to home depot and get some "great stuff" but the actual wall construction will scare you.
So the question pends, "Why do they build them this way?" Well, lets put aside nefarious purposes for the moment; such as wanting it to break so they sell another camper. Assuming that isn't the case, most manufacturers will tell you that labor is the highest cost they have. Little wonder with all the unions in Indiana and workers being paid 50$ an hour plus benefits that no small business can easily afford to lay up fiberglass. So they build the trailers to reduce labor as much as possible and that means going as cheap as they can. When it comes to materials they skimp as well. They have fancy names for what amounts to little more than cardboard in strength; they call it "Luan Board". They use OSB and MDF all over the place to save money because, although solid wood would be lighter, the MDF and OSB is cheaper. I am also convinced that Vacubonded Fiberglass construction is either a Trailer salesman's wet dream or devised solely for the purpose of saving money, not making superior walls. What modern trailer wall doesn't leak heat like a sieve? Even the manufacturers don't want you to know how little actual framing is in the walls so they wont give you stud blueprints so you can do something as exotic as hang a picture of your kids on the wall without using half a roll of duct tape. They come up with all sorts of reasons of "trade secrecy" in not giving the blueprints but the reality is that is all BS; as if the manufacturers don't all build almost the same way.
Now if you go really expensive like an airstream you get good craftsmanship but it is going to cost you. An airstream that can sleep one man, a dog and a small bird will cost you upwards of 60k. But thats the market they cater to and I can neither afford them nor do they build truck campers anyway.
So I plan to build my own. Put in a lot of craftsmanship, overbuild it for off-roading in the hunting back country, outfit it with a Kimberly Gassifier Wood Stove, have double insulated tanks and all sorts of stuff that I will never get out of any line assembly manufacturer. In the process I plan on filming the whole thing (after the design is done) and posting what plans I make in my cad system up on this board. I am not an engineer or an architect, I am just a guy that wants a good product built "the old fashined way".
Ok, maybe it was a rant. Please feel free to leave your feedback and rants below.
Ok, I know this might sound a bit arrogant and sorry in advance for that. However, after owning or using several campers and trailers, I am convinced that the modern construction techniques used in these vehicles is ... well ... garbage. Its cheap garbage that if it isn't designed the have them fail in 5 years to buy a new camper, it sure does a good impression of being done on purpose.
Evidence? Ok, lets take some cases in consideration. There are several companies on the market that find 1940s era Spartan trailers and then buy them. They are in need of window replacement, asbestos purging, replacing wood rot inside and so on. So these companies gut the trailers, rebuild the interior with modern wiring, reseal the aluminum skin with modern sealants, pull the old cellulose insulation, spray in foam and then add solid wood fixtures. They sell these trailers for a bundle, catering to high dollar customers. Alas I cant afford the services of these companies. The point is that the trailer itself, the shell, the frame, the window framing and so on, are actually so well built that they can be gutted and renovated even though they are 60 to 70 years old.
Now contrast this with the 10 year old fiberglass vacubonded construction. Usually a 10 year old trailer or camper is a MESS. Any slight impact to the trailer will cause a hole that has to be fixed by replacing the whole wall or doing some half baked fiberglassing job. A window failure (which I have had in 2 trailers) can often crack the wall itself. They ALL seem to leak all over the place from the "modern" rubberized roof through to the internal structure. Helping a friend fix his camper we found a ton of wood rot below the window but we couldnt do much at all because we would have to cut out half the wall and didn't have the equipment to vacubond a fix. I don't even want to think about what the price of a quote to repair the camper from a manufacturer would be. He might as well buy a new camper (which he eventually did). If you want to be really scared about your camper, pull off a window and look into the area around the window. Not only is there virtually no sealing around the window (tell them to run to home depot and get some "great stuff" but the actual wall construction will scare you.
So the question pends, "Why do they build them this way?" Well, lets put aside nefarious purposes for the moment; such as wanting it to break so they sell another camper. Assuming that isn't the case, most manufacturers will tell you that labor is the highest cost they have. Little wonder with all the unions in Indiana and workers being paid 50$ an hour plus benefits that no small business can easily afford to lay up fiberglass. So they build the trailers to reduce labor as much as possible and that means going as cheap as they can. When it comes to materials they skimp as well. They have fancy names for what amounts to little more than cardboard in strength; they call it "Luan Board". They use OSB and MDF all over the place to save money because, although solid wood would be lighter, the MDF and OSB is cheaper. I am also convinced that Vacubonded Fiberglass construction is either a Trailer salesman's wet dream or devised solely for the purpose of saving money, not making superior walls. What modern trailer wall doesn't leak heat like a sieve? Even the manufacturers don't want you to know how little actual framing is in the walls so they wont give you stud blueprints so you can do something as exotic as hang a picture of your kids on the wall without using half a roll of duct tape. They come up with all sorts of reasons of "trade secrecy" in not giving the blueprints but the reality is that is all BS; as if the manufacturers don't all build almost the same way.
Now if you go really expensive like an airstream you get good craftsmanship but it is going to cost you. An airstream that can sleep one man, a dog and a small bird will cost you upwards of 60k. But thats the market they cater to and I can neither afford them nor do they build truck campers anyway.
So I plan to build my own. Put in a lot of craftsmanship, overbuild it for off-roading in the hunting back country, outfit it with a Kimberly Gassifier Wood Stove, have double insulated tanks and all sorts of stuff that I will never get out of any line assembly manufacturer. In the process I plan on filming the whole thing (after the design is done) and posting what plans I make in my cad system up on this board. I am not an engineer or an architect, I am just a guy that wants a good product built "the old fashined way".
Ok, maybe it was a rant.
Please feel free to leave your feedback and rants below.
Last edited:
