Over-family-landing composite F-550 build

[ben_j_c]

So the frame is getting close to glueing the panels onto it. I still need to do a bunch of wiring for lighting which will run in between some of the panels then start gluing like crazy!

Here are some more shots of the frame in progress




And the laser cutter doing the 1/2" plate steel brackets


and bending up some 1/8" aluminum which is more than my box/pan brake can do



Now we are up to date with the progress, if you have any questions just ask!

 

[java]

Looking AMAZING!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[mk216v]

@mk216v I heard a rumor on the intrawebs you deleted your build thread because you sold it and got a sprinter?

True or nah?

********!!!!! Who you been talkin' to Willis?
I actually thought of starting a new build thread this past weekend, but then I got skeered you'd razz me too much. I'll put something together soon now that there's a prototype camper, and truck is going in for HPI flatbed next week.

Ben, your project is taking form--awesome!!

 

[getout]

Just stumbled on this and it makes me happy to see what you've done with that truck. Well done.

 

[ben_j_c]

I have made a lot of progress since September!

I started by creating drawings for each of the fiberglass/foam sheets to trace out on the panels.



Then putting the pieces up on saw horses, marking them, cutting out floor pieces with a giant 10 inch circular saw.


Each panel was then sanded down with a scotchbrite pad on an angle grinder where the fiberglass meets the metal. The metal is prepared the same way. I used Sikaflex primer on the metal and sikaflex adhesion promoter on the fiberglass for prep.



The floor was put in with 3M PSA tape and Sikaflex 252. We then piled on a bunch of weight while the glue cured and clamps along the outside edgesb




For the top (one massive monolithic composite panel) we rented a drywall lift to help get it in place. This was pushing the capabilities of the lift, but it helped immensely to get it into place.



We then put the glue on the panel and sandwiched it to the top rails after lots of measuring to keep things square within 1/16 of an inch (and a fair bit of ratchet strapping to to get it there). We used clamps and 2x4 to get it all in the right spot


We used special expanding rivets every 9 inches to keep the panels where they were supposed to be while the PSA and sikaflex dried, hopefully they are not the source of lots of leaking in the future.

We then started adding side panels, being careful to make sure that we went in the correct assembly order. Since all the panels are cut at very odd angles, they only go in one way. We also put in more 2x4 bracing side to side to keep things square while we glued on the panels.



We also put in marker lights front, sides, and back as we assembled the panels.



And gradually worked out way to the back of the camper.



Until the box was fully assembled!

 

[ben_j_c]

We ran into our first mistake that required remediation when cutting out the hole for the door. We had gotten a little over eager with the clamping on the panel next to the door and while the 3M tape kept a 1/8" gap on the outer edge, we think we clamped to flush on the inside edge. This results in a slight bow in the panel here. In pretty much any other spot this would not matter. However for the door, it means it will not close evenly or easily.

Fortunately we were planning to put a kitchen cabinet on the back side of this wall. So it is now a structural cabinet.

We used a spreader bar to get the wall to the right place.


(In the photo above you can also see a 1/2" aluminum slug about 20 inches in from the wall, this gives the cabinet frame something to ride on and attempt to compress that is not foam and fiberglass)

Then built a cabinet frame out of aluminum


The bottom corner closest to the door is bolted through the floor and welded through the wall. It was welded with short arcs and then liberal amounts of compressed air to keep from damaging any of the surrounding composites or glue.



The top edge has a flange the rides on the exoskeleton to keep from compressing the composites. The whole thing was glued in using sikaflex too. The door now fits in well. So far these bolts/rods are the only thermal bridging in the whole camper.

 

[ben_j_c]

Now it was time to mate up the truck and camper and make sure all of the planning worked.

We jacked the camper box up on roller carts.



Then gently rolled it outside.



Now we had to figure out how to lift it up. With the built in boxes up front we could not just ramp it up there. They have to clear the tire and are 13" tall on the driver side. This means the top of the rails need to be at 143" off the ground to get the truck under there. We looked at renting a gantry crane, but they were are few hundred dollars a day to rent. I ended up finding some 16' pallet racking at the steel yard near my house and they gave me a great deal on it (cheaper than renting the gantry for a day!)



We anchored the bottom to some fixed points and used the tractor to pull the racking up and over the camper. This was probably the most nerve wracking part of the build yet, and my wife stopped the tractor mid pull to snap this photo!



We got it up and over safely!



I bolted some spare uprights to the sides to act as outriggers. Then we used chain hoists and straps under the nose and wheel well to lift it 45" into the air. It took a few tries to get the right strap lengths figured out.



We then backed the truck under it and set it down!


All the pins lined right up and with the chain hoists we were able to keep the camper about 1/32 of an inch off the truck frame, making bolting it on super easy. It was easier than using the jacks on my four wheel camper.

We then drove it around the driveway and moved the gantry to match up with the garage door.



It fit with the shelving in the barn with about 1/4" to spare to close the garage door! Going to have to move that once I get the spare tire carrier done.


I am very happy with how it is turning out. Hundreds of hours of CAD modeling paid off when the mounting pins all just slid right in with no modifications required!

 

[ExpoMike]

That's awesome!!!! Great job on that.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Wow that looks good!

Awesome job man

 

[ben_j_c]

She is looking pretty good, any name ideas?





The door was installed. I ended up drilling into the panels, inserting drywall anchors, then using butyl tape and screwing the door into the drywall anchors. It seems like it will hold pretty well.




We decided to paint everything, and doing it right involves lots of work!



The camper is also now a bumper pull model ;-)



We have also gotten to the point where it takes about 30 minutes to remove the camper from the truck.

Now begins the lots and lots of sanding phase of the project.

 

[RAM5500 CAMPERTHING]

Looks awesome man!

great work

 

[simple]

Coming along. I'm digging your pallet rack crane too.

 

[mk216v]

Saweeet!! Any hints on the color, so that we can help with naming?

 

[ben_j_c]

Any hints on the color

We are looking at Toyota Cement Grey for the truck and panels of the camper with a dark gray/black on the aluminum of the camper box. The belly of the camper, bumpers and bottom parts of the doors will be raptor sprayed with matching color to the aluminum. Think it will look good?

I'm digging your pallet rack crane too.

Thanks, it was one of those "duh" moments when I was contemplating buying a large two post lift. Significantly cheaper and much more stable than the regular roll around gantry cranes.

so that we can help with naming?

Still thinking about naming, it has just been called "Big red truck" so far, which it is no longer going to be red. I wanted "red rover" if we kept the color. Any good names?

 

[SDDiver5]

Wow. Haven't seen this thread before.

Amazing work. We see so many camper CAD builds that end at the CAD design. Absolutely fantastic work!

What do you do for a living and what is your background? It seems you've done everything yourself from design and wiring to custom fab etc. I'm very jealous of your all around skills and knowledge.