Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) BASE-CAMP Pickup Camper - Soft-Wall and Hard-Wall Versions

Chadx

♫ Off road, again. Just can't wait to get...
The images I posted above look too short to be a Summit X-10, but could have been. The interior is identical to the BASE-CAMP layout drawings in the first page of this thread and the 108" (9') length from that drawing seems to match up with the images. Hard to know for sure and all prototypes, so...
 

Chadx

♫ Off road, again. Just can't wait to get...
This is what they had listed on the page back then. I've not compared it to the current BASE-CAMP standard equipment/options list.

-----------------------------------------
***Non-current BASE-CAMP Hard-sided specs***

Dimensions
  • External Dimensions: 170″ L x 81.75″ W x 85″ H
  • Internal Dimensions: 167″ L x 78.75″ W x 79″ H
  • OEV gen 4 composite walls & roof = 1.5″ (38.1mm) (>=R8)
  • 1.5″ (38.1mm) honeycomb poly propylene floor
  • Dry weight ~????lbs (*TBC)

Standard equipment:
  • Exterior:
  • Cabin fixed to chassis – fully isolated
  • Under cabin powder coated aluminum locking cabinets – keyed the same
  • (2) -Dual pane acrylic window with roll up screen on each side of dinette
  • (2) – 1 Dual pane acrylic window with roll up screen on each side of upper queen bed
  • RV Entry door with window and screen door
  • Bomar Roof hatch
  • Over cab bed with 4” med density foam queen size mattress
  • Base Camp graphics package
  • Snap on vinyl window cover for entry door
  • Integrated Awning mounts
  • Powder coated aluminum extrusions / exoskeleton
  • DOT LED lighting
  • Interior:
  • 51” wide c shaped dinette – folds down into bed
  • Marine fabrics for all cushions
  • 4” medium density foam cushions
  • High traffic grade Lonseal vinyl flooring
  • Powder coated aluminum interior cabinetry
  • Starboard door and drawer fronts
  • Fire extinguisher
  • Smoke/CO detector
Plumbing/heating/Cooling:
  • (1) Multi speed roof vent
  • 35 gal fresh water tank w/12v pump
  • 15 gal gray water tank (tbc)
  • Sagiva inside & outside shower
  • Dry bath w/built in Thetford C200 series cassette toilet
  • S/S sink w/flush mount glass top
  • OEV diesel hydronic system
  • Webasto Airtop 2000 diesel cabin heater


Electrical:
  • (2)-180W roof mounted solar panel
  • 2000W Xantrex XC Pro Pure Sign Inverter (with charger) – engineered to activate the BMS in the event of a depleted battery
  • AC wiring package – includes (2)- 110V outlets
  • (1)-lithionics UL listed 315Ah LiFePO4 battery w/internal BMS, remote on/off and built in heater
  • Amp seal harness, state of charge display, sterling dc/dc charger, Victron 100/30 mppt solar controller
  • 164L DC compressor novakool fridge/freezer
  • Double burner induction cooktop
  • LED side and rear flood light
  • LED interior lighting

Options:
  • Additional 180w solar panel
  • Additional Lithioncs 315Ah Power system LiFeP04 battery- UL listed Internal BMS, remote control on/off switch and heater
  • Cruise N Comfort CNCUSAHD12L Split system -7000 BTU
  • Additional 10 Speed Maxxair fan with blind and LED light
  • Bunk bed above dinette -includes mattress
  • Rear tire carrier manual lift
  • Back-up camera with housing – plugs into factory harness if equipped
  • OEV roof rack – Powder coated Aluminum
  • Exterior front offroad light bar – includes mounting locations for (4) 5″ round/rectangle/square LED lights (lights not included)
  • (4) – Baja designs LP-6 lights for the optional front light bar – floods
  • Pass through to cab – includes vinyl snap in door/cover
 

slowtwitch

Adventurer
Is there a hard side model? I looked at the site and could not figure it out.

A short concise explanation of each model and pics of them down/up at the front page would be good. "Model blah blah blah, full size, slide in,soft side" etc.
 

Ninelitetrip

Well-known member
Is there a hard side model? I looked at the site and could not figure it out.

A short concise explanation of each model and pics of them down/up at the front page would be good. "Model blah blah blah, full size, slide in,soft side" etc.


When they announced the BASE-CAMP model there were two versions, soft wall, which is production now, and hard wall which was due to start production in 2023. All mention of the BC HW is now gone.

They also made the X-10, X-12 series, and the Summit. All which are supposed to be on hold beacuse of production limits, as well as custom builds, I believe?
 

HowardH

Adventurer
I managed to place an order for a cab chassis yesterday afternoon. The hope is that with in three weeks I will be given an delivery date. What better sign of the times???

I am going to move slowly here. Things I am considering for the F350. Carli Suspension system. Up sizing to 37" tires. Will that require a lift? Adding auto deploying running boards; almost a must in my opinion. Perhaps a nice after market front bumper. LED headlights if the truck doesn't come with them. Input and info based upon experience highly welcomed.

An item I never got around to adding to my X12 was an awning. I would like opinions on my current thought for an awning(s). I am thinking two awnings, both the 270 degree ones, probably from The Bush Company, their 270 XT Max model(s). One on the driver side and one on the passenger. I would install the driver side slightly higher and they would overlap at the rear. Thoughts?
 
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Ninelitetrip

Well-known member
Order soon for the Carli, likely take a few months. Have a look CJC off-road on YT. They have done a bunch videos on Carli installs. Give you some idea on lift and what fits. Would you also do the Deaver rear leafs? They recently did a F350 with a service body.

There is also Alu-Cab for the awning. Do you plan on putting an outside shower curtain as well? Double awning with the overlap seems to much.
There are sidewalls for the Alu-Cab to close it in.

I would definitely try to get the factory LEDs.

I would see if OEV will use their local supplier for the front and rear bumpers. Could do the same as what they have on Erik’s truck. With the weight of your truck certainly want some recovery points.
 

HowardH

Adventurer
i actually purchased an Alucap awning. However the Bush Company awning extends two feet further. Not sure what you mean by too much. I think the driver side might be only seldom used so why bother.

I’m unsure about the shower curtain. Not a fan of how it “dirties” up the side of the camper.

good tip on Carli. Nice thing is that factory suspension will work.
 

Chadx

♫ Off road, again. Just can't wait to get...
Hi Howard. For pickup ideas/info/chat, I suggest browsing through the "Domestic: Fullsize" vehicle area of the forum. There are a lot of great non-camper-specific info available in that area.
Many great build threads and discussions: https://expeditionportal.com/forum/forums/domestic-full-size.28/

Like you, I prefer clean sided campers. We also prefer simplicity. For that reason, we never add awnings or a permanent shower cubes on the exterior. It comes down to a personal preference thing as many people love and use both. The awning also depends on the areas and time of year that campers are used. Awnings will be more useful in hot, treeless areas in the summer or areas with long-duration rains compared to the cooler, treed areas we frequent. Awnings often shade the wrong area depending how you park plus, throughout the day the sun moves and the shadow cast by the awning moves often making the shaded area in the wrong place or unusable. Use in the wind is questionable, or you add additional staking/poles. You can't use them if you are parked right next to trees or poles. For us, more weight, more cost, risk of them catching on trees in the tight trails we frequent all add up to awnings/shower enclosures not working for us while they are the cats meow for others in their situations.

We typically find our sitting-shade on the shaded side of the camper, under a tree or in our small 6' x 6' Clam hub-sided screen house. I carry a white tarp and occasionally put that up to block intense sun on the camper and equipment. Since the primary reason I ever deploy the shade-tarp is to shade the camper itself, it can run at a steep angle and shade the camper much better than an awning could when the sun is at any other angle than high noon. We sometimes place bicycles, motorcycles, and other gear behind the tarp, too, to protect from sun and rain. The tarp has also proven useful as sun or rain shelter set up from trees/poles away from the camper.

Another point to consider is that camper awnings are attached to the main body of the camper and not the rooftop and so will not shade the softsides when the top is popped up. When I use our white tarp, I clip to the L-Track at the very top of the camper so it shades the softside as well. With awnings, the sun may be shining from a different angle than what the awning covers unless you intentionally park the rig with the awning side of the camper facing south which may directly work against where you want the window or door to face or the slant of the terrain. I can set up the tarp on either side of the camper, or fold it in half and set up on the rear of the camper, or move it throughout the day rather than having to park the entire rig so a fixed awning is in the right spot to block the sun. Since we rarely need or bother with shading where we frequent, it makes sense to have a $10, 1 pound tarp along for those rare occasions rather than a 50+ pound and $$$ awning. These are just some things for owners to consider and, again, are really dependent on how and where you use your camper. If our use case changes in the future, we'd look at the various 270 degree awning rather than those that deploy straight out, as the coverage of the 270 style is so much better.

No arguing that awnings are useful in some areas. Your considering putting two awnings on your rig would eliminate the typically issue of it always being on the wrong side. That would give your rig a wide area of shade on both sides and, as the sun moved throughout the day, no need to reposition. Would also give a nice wide area protected from rain. Gives you the option of deploying one or the other or, like you mentioned, if the offset is adequate, deploy both at once. If you use the Bush Company, you may be able to have them on the same plane and completely open on and then open the other only until it meets the arm of the other and attach it there. It wouldn't work for rain, but perhaps for sun.

For those unfamiliar, here are diagrams of both the Alu-Cab and The Bush Company to show dimensions (both in mm) and shape, which differ a fair bit.
They are all available in left hand and right hand versions.

Alu-Cab covers 107 sq feet (10 sq meters). Weight: 55 lbs
Bush Company 270 XT covers 86 sq feet (8 sq meters). Weight: 61lbs
Bush Company 270 XT Max covers 129 sq feet (12 sq meters). Weight: 74lbs


Alucab 270 Awning.JPG

Bush Company 270-XT-Awning.jpg


XT-MAX-270-Awning-Covergae-USA-Web.jpg
 
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HowardH

Adventurer
Chad, great info thank you. You make some really good points.

My current camper doesn’t have an awning. It is something I feel a need for but for whatever reason never got around to installing one. I did explore briefly, including actually setting one up once, the use of a simple tarp attached to the roof rails and supported by poles at the ends. While I think it is workable and can be refined it will never be as simple as an attached awning.

Your idea of shade over the camper it’s self has tremendous merit to me. Something I have spend considerable time thinking about but not got to the implementation stage. I plan to with my new camper. My somewhat reasoned guesstimate is a 15 degree reduction in interior temperature by shading the camper from direct sunlight. The challenge is how to quickly and safely deploy that shade. Obviously it can’t simply rest on the camper, to be effective there must be an air gap.

I use my camper frequently in the winter months. I plan to add the side walls, put a chimney vent and small wood stove in it. Few things in life give more pleasure then the heat of a wood stove in cold weather. I typically find myself in relatively open areas as well. The summer months, where I live, are MUCH more enjoyable and comfortable if under shade.

So much of it comes down to simplicity and ease of setup and take down.

Regarding your awning images. You use the Bush Co XT and they offer an XT Max which is bigger than the Alu-Cab. They also offer a 180 degree Max which seems to be a great fit. Place it on the driver side and the 270 on the passenger side.

For my use I consider an awning almost essential. Type, size, etc. are subject to consideration.

My big dilemma right now – is a fairly expensive suspension package worthwhile? I want my rig optimized for the all up weight which should vary little. People and fresh water are the only variables I can think of that will add or subtract significant weight. Then it needs to handle rough wash board roads as smoothly as possible.

Larger tires, thinking 37”s, perhaps an aftermarket front bumper w/winch, auto deploying running boards. Perhaps an ARB air locker on the front axle. Of course an air compressor and quick connect fittings.

Howard
 
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