OBS F250/F350 Flatbed camper build

[longroad2nowhere]

I considered lithium, but my buddies dad who builds some off road trailers had too many stories of customers who vibrated their lithium batteries to death on washboard roads. Lithium may have gotten better and maybe that’s not a huge problem now days, but too expensive for me to risk that.

 

[longroad2nowhere]

I’ll do a full update in a day or two, but the drawings are starting to become a reality. Got the mounts for the awning worked out, so the rack is off to powdercoat tmw.

 

[BajaSurfRig]

Battery placement....

So i’ve got two 6v agm batteries on the way for my “house” set-up, but i can’t decide where to place them. I wanted to put them on the frame rails but because of the mounts i made for the flatbed, there isn’t space. There is space inside the frames but the only way to get them in there would be to remove the whole flatbed, mount to the bed and somehow drop it down perfectly into place. Not happening. Putting them inside the mix probably makes the most sense, but i would really like that for as much storage as possible. Which leads me to the thought of putting them on the floor in the backseat. Is this a bad idea? They are sealed agm, so they really shouldn’t have much off gas. I’d build a little box and cover with some vents so my dog can’t get into the wires. I had agm batteries inside my van that we lived in for a year a half, but being a much smaller space i guess i have slight concerns. Our van was also very well insulated and had a fan/vent so it never really got that hot.

Thoughts?

I think that you should be just fine running AGM's inside your cab. I had a 155AH AGM in my old Callen that I lived in Mex for six months in and had no off gassing issues that I noticed.

 

[pappawheely]

I've run agm's in my cab with no outgassing as well.

 

[Paul B.]

I've been having battery placement dilemma. I have now seen enough rigs with the batteries behind the back seat. Looks like the way to go.

 

[pappawheely]

View attachment 523712
I’ll do a full update in a day or two, but the drawings are starting to become a reality. Got the mounts for the awning worked out, so the rack is off to powdercoat tmw.

You might want to put some protection around those gas caps. Anything that slides down that side would clean those right off.

 

[longroad2nowhere]

You might want to put some protection around those gas caps. Anything that slides down that side would clean those right off.

I know. The original plan wasnt giving the lines enough drop, so I gotta clean that up. I think I'll eventually put some tie down bars on the side of the flatbed that will also double as a little protection, but i should do something sooner than later.

 

[longroad2nowhere]

Here are some updates from the week. Not quite the process that I had hoped for but ended up stuck waiting on some parts to be delivered, and then we had a problem with our welder, but here's where things are...



I pulled out the rear seats and built this storage bench. I'll have most the electrical goodies under there as well as a water tank. We'll make some cushions for the top that will basically make it a huge bed for our pup. The tops will get painted to match. Waiting to have the electrical done before I put the tops on.



Finally got the batteries in and built a quick little box for the. Two 6v 220 amp hour lifelines. The "battery box" eventually got mounted to the bench, and the bench bolted to the floor. They shouldnt be going anywhere. Didnt get much more done on the electrical cause the redarc took forever to get delivered. Got it today tho. Also have the victron battery monitoring system to go with it.


I had my buddy weld these boxes up for me months ago, and I finally got around to cutting them open for the door and cutting the actual doors. I cut the openings with a router and jig I whipped up. First time cutting aluminum with a router, wassnt too bad. I had originally planned on the doors being made from 1/4" richlite and overlapping the opening, with some weatherstripping. basically cause it just seemed like the simplest way to do it. The more I thought about it, I wasnt so keen on that idea, so I had to figure how to inset the doors afterwards. what I ended up doing was taking a piece of 1/4" x 3/4' aluminum flatbar and a piece of 1/8" x 1.5" flatbar and epoxying them together so the 3/4" wide piece sits inside the opening, and the 1.5" wide piece overlaps that and sits inside the box, giving me somewhere to inset the doors and put some weatherstripping. Now the doors will sit flush and hopefully seal pretty well. Also got some sexy boat latches for the doors. Hinges came in the mail today, so hopefully I can get them finished and on the truck soon.


Like I said, we had some problems with our welder yesterday. Not matter how much we opened up the gas, and was acting like it wasnt getting gas. We thought we might have some contaminated gas as this started happening right after we got our tank refilled. We swapped it out, and still had the same problem. My buddy suggested it might be the line has some holes in it so we've got a new one on the way. Bit frustrating, but the sides are together and top sheet of aluminum is tacked up. Welds arent perfect, but its may ladies first alum tig project, so I'm impressed.

I ordered an adjustable trackbar to try and even out this wheel spacing, but I could not for the life of me get the axle to move more than like an 1/8" tried a strap rated at 3000 lbs and it wasnt budging. not sure if I'm missing something, but i'd love to get it more even so I have less wheel rub on the leaf spring. On the plus side, since installing the adjustable track bar, for the first time since putting the rsk and new axle the cab of the truck actually sits straight, so I am pretty stoked on that.

Thats all for now. The rack came back from the powdercoater today, so that is exciting. I can really start putting this thing together now. Heading to Colorado mid july, so gotta get things sorted. Wont be able to do much this weekend, but will have some time early next week, so things should start coming together quick now.

 

[longroad2nowhere]

Things are strarting to come together. Finally got the tent on.

Made some pretty heavy duty hardware for the tent. Found some vibration dampening pipe hangers on mcmaster carr, modified them and made a top plate, and they make a nice beefy ass mount. The hardware the previous owner had was already bent up and total junk. Insane that a $4k tent comes with $2 mounting hardware.


Also got both front tool boxes finished and installed. really makes the flatbed look more complete. Cant wait to build the rear ones someday. I think the pup approves of the tent.

Second box.

One more cute pup pic just cause.

Also made some progress on the electrical front. Got the redarc installed and most the power run, but the fuse holders I got off amazon were labeled wrong so the fuses I have for them dont fit.

The aluminum storage box is coming along as well. All 4 sides are one, and the 2 doors are tacked up and in the process of being welded. Should be done tmw, then we are just waiting on latches and gas struts for the doors and we can get it on the truck. Almost ready for Colorado!

 

[longroad2nowhere]

Bit more progress. Things are getting closer.

Old girl got some new baja designs amber driving lights.


The box is aaaaaalmost done. Latches and half the gas struts are on. Other door just needs needs the gas struts put on and then we can get it on the truck.
Not much to see but the redarc is up and running and the victron monitoring system is hooked up.

Just gotta get all my accessories hooked up now. Should hopefully have my fridge next week.

 

[glock7018]

For you pan hard bar are both ends threaded? For mine to shift the axle over I threaded it out till i got the holes lined up and bolted it in place. Then I took it a good alignment shop and they cranked on the tube with a pipe wrench till he got it centered.

 

[glock7018]

Also what offset did you go with on your wheels and how bad do they rub on the leafs?

 

[longroad2nowhere]

Also what offset did you go with on your wheels and how bad do they rub on the leafs?

I forget what offset the wheels are now. I'll have to go back and check. No rub when I turn right, quite a bit of rub when i turn left. Hoping it will be minimal on both if I get in centered. And yea, both sides are threaded. Guess I should just take it to an alignment shop and let them crank on it.

 

[longroad2nowhere]

This thing is almost ready for the road. Made some real progress.



Getting the box in with two people took some real creativity. The tolerances are very tight, but we made it happen. We covered the bottom with some 1/16" rubber mat to chill out the vibrations.
Box is in. gas struts are working great, but think I'm gonna install longer ones to open the door higher cause I hit my head on it like 20x already.
Fridge is in and wired up. Working on plans for a drop down fridge slide currently so we don’t have to take the fridge out every time we want to use it. Didn’t realize the domestic was a side open and not front open like my old arb.

Spare tire mounted up.

Put some lights inside the box with a sensor to turn them on when the door opens. Pretty trick and nerdy, but i love it.

Put the bike trays from my old hitch mount bike rack on the back of the flatbed for my trip next week. Since i took this pic i moved both back 17” so they are on the very end of the bed.

Awning mounted.
Welded up this plate to mount the spare to the box.

Got diamond eye down pipe, cold air intake and hydra chip on the way. Along with the gauges to make sure i don’t blow it up. Gonna be a real rush to get it all on before i leave, but we’ll see what happens.

 

[glock7018]

You will be amazed how much power a down pipe and exhaust will add. Good call on the gauges. you will need to keep a close eye on your EGT's with the extra fuel the tuner will add. A intercooler is next on my list after i get a trans built for it.