Ovrlnd Camper on F350 CCLB - Overkill?

[dirtnsmores]

I love this! Thank you for sharing, I actually came across your YouTube channel and watched your videos over the past week. Very inspiring.

With that said, it's official! I paid my deposit yesterday and the contract has been signed with Ovrlnd.

I'm stoked for all of the reasons that you stated. I went with many of the same options as you...

I went with the Chubby
Painted Black
11" cabover height
2" taller barn doors
Asymmetrical barn doors(mounting propane tank on driver side with sliding window on the larger passenger door)
Sliding windows all around
Popup/canvas insulation pack
Roof liner with insulation
Maxxair deluxe 7500k fan
Positive Pressure vent
3" diesel heater port
Full length Unistrut rails on roof
Half rails on driver side

I didn't go with any side hatches because my truck bedrails are a little tall from the ground level and I wasn't sure how often I'd actually try to reach in to grab anything. I may end up adding a slide off the tailgate for our cooler.

Our interior build out will be similar to yours. Me, my wife and my 2 year old daughter up top with my 11 year old son in the bunk below.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences and making youtube videos. Your channel is very helpful!

So stoked for you! Glad my videos helped. Sounds like you really thought out all the customizations you wanted them to do. Very cool. I love that their windows are tinted. You could clearly see out, but during the day it's almost impossible for someone to look inside. Even if you have a light on inside. At night though... You're going to want some curtains because when you turn on the light inside, people outside could see you. Enjoy!

 

[montechie]

A big part of why I went with OVRLND and still love it, is the amount of customization they will do on order. You can really get something built to purpose, I've only seen Topo come close. I did Tern windows in my hatches, which along with my DIY insulation have been great for our winter usage, we just did 50/50 barn doors, but wouldn't do any cap style camper without barn doors now. In a long bed you can go single hatch, 2 hatches, hatch plus window, hatch opening up or opening down, and that's just one side. Fixed window, sliding window, terns, no windows, you name it OVRLND offers it and on any side.

With any of the cap style campers, being able to DIY the layout, or leave it open for use as a truck bed is a nice advantage. On the flip-side a slide-in can be nicely self-contained and easier to remove and store. I kept my Gladiator camping setup easy to remove so I can use the bed for truck things, and don't really notice the OVRLND when I'm angling down off of Moab ledges or bouncing around on our Montana rock trails. I only lost about 1-2mpg with my v6, I doubt a SD/HD truck would even notice it.

We're looking at a 2nd build with an F250, so have been contemplating similar questions.

 

[KaiX]

A big part of why I went with OVRLND and still love it, is the amount of customization they will do on order. You can really get something built to purpose, I've only seen Topo come close. I did Tern windows in my hatches, which along with my DIY insulation have been great for our winter usage, we just did 50/50 barn doors, but wouldn't do any cap style camper without barn doors now. In a long bed you can go single hatch, 2 hatches, hatch plus window, hatch opening up or opening down, and that's just one side. Fixed window, sliding window, terns, no windows, you name it OVRLND offers it and on any side.

With any of the cap style campers, being able to DIY the layout, or leave it open for use as a truck bed is a nice advantage. On the flip-side a slide-in can be nicely self-contained and easier to remove and store. I kept my Gladiator camping setup easy to remove so I can use the bed for truck things, and don't really notice the OVRLND when I'm angling down off of Moab ledges or bouncing around on our Montana rock trails. I only lost about 1-2mpg with my v6, I doubt a SD/HD truck would even notice it.

We're looking at a 2nd build with an F250, so have been contemplating similar questions.

Yepp, you nailed it. The customization is limitless and is the best part. I also looked into Topo, but like Tune, it's mostly bolted together. I'm sure the bolt together construction is fine but there's just something about a welded frame that makes me feel a lot more confident.

I'm really looking forward to the DIY part of this build.

Maggie at Ovrlnd said my Chubby should be ready for install, mid October. So I'll be posting a lot of the build out here, towards the end of the year.

After 2 years of on going research of all different types of camper setups, I really think I made the best choice. And we considered everything from RTT to slide-ins to fifth wheel travel trailers. As well as all of the topper manufacturers.

Ovrlnd seems to best fit the bill for our intended usage. And after talking to all you great folks here, I couldn't be happier to mount it on my SD.

 

[K9LTW]

I love this! Thank you for sharing, I actually came across your YouTube channel and watched your videos over the past week. Very inspiring.

With that said, it's official! I paid my deposit yesterday and the contract has been signed with Ovrlnd.

I'm stoked for all of the reasons that you stated. I went with many of the same options as you...

I went with the Chubby
Painted Black
11" cabover height
2" taller barn doors
Asymmetrical barn doors(mounting propane tank on driver side with sliding window on the larger passenger door)
Sliding windows all around
Popup/canvas insulation pack
Roof liner with insulation
Maxxair deluxe 7500k fan
Positive Pressure vent
3" diesel heater port
Full length Unistrut rails on roof
Half rails on driver side

I didn't go with any side hatches because my truck bedrails are a little tall from the ground level and I wasn't sure how often I'd actually try to reach in to grab anything. I may end up adding a slide off the tailgate for our cooler.

Our interior build out will be similar to yours. Me, my wife and my 2 year old daughter up top with my 11 year old son in the bunk below.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences and making youtube videos. Your channel is very helpful!

Looks like an awesome build out!

You have your reasons, no doubt, and have researched the heck out of everything, but I'm curious why just sliders for windows? I can tell from all the storms we've sat out inside that having a hatch window is awfully nice when it's raining sideways but you still want some air. Just something to think about.

It's crazy the amount of stuff they've added as options over just a couple years since we bought ours. I keep wrestling with the idea of selling ours and having a Chubby built-out. But...building a house needs to come first I just really wish they could do a bigger cabover like the Tune.

 

[KaiX]

Looks like an awesome build out!

You have your reasons, no doubt, and have researched the heck out of everything, but I'm curious why just sliders for windows? I can tell from all the storms we've sat out inside that having a hatch window is awfully nice when it's raining sideways but you still want some air. Just something to think about.

It's crazy the amount of stuff they've added as options over just a couple years since we bought ours. I keep wrestling with the idea of selling ours and having a Chubby built-out. But...building a house needs to come first I just really wish they could do a bigger cabover like the Tune.

Honestly, I may come to regret the sliders all the way around if we get caught in a rain storm. The places we go dont usually get a lot of rain, but it's definitely something I'll probably have to mitigate down the road as we start exploring other states. For now I'll just have to deal with the front/cab side window open if it starts raining sideways too bad.

The release of the Chubby was what sold me and made the Ovrlnd near perfect in my opinion. It probably would be nice if the cabover extended 1 extra foot over our trucks cab to make the bed slide a foot shorter on the inside of the camper, while still keeping the same sleeping dimensions. But with our long bed, I think it will still feel quite spacious.

 

[aaaslayer]

My last truck was a 2015 Ram 2500 Diesel, 8ft bed 4 door. It was a lot of truck. I live in SoCal and the trails up here are mostly tight. Driving that big truck around on tight trails was difficult or impossible more often than not. Couldn't really take it up to the mountains, only the desert and not on trails but mostly open dry lake beds. I had a Leitner rack setup and tent up top. I loved the setup but had to step down to a regular size bed because the long wheelbase limited me on the trails I wanted to explore and camp at.

I traded in the diesel in 2021 for a Ram 2500 Power Wagon with a 6'4 bed and I'm much happier with that setup and my OVRLND camper. I've taken this truck on technical trails with the camper and tight trails and although still a huge vehicle, it is easier to navigate than the 8ft bed.

 

[dstefan]

I may come to regret the sliders all the way around if we get caught in a rain storm. The places we go dont usually get a lot of rain, but it's definitely something I'll probably have to mitigate down the road as we start exploring other states. For now I'll just have to deal with the front/cab side window open if it starts raining sideways too bad.

Think hard about this. The hatch windows (at least one) are SO helpful in accessing the interior. Trust me, besides the ventilation, you’ll get tired of climbing in and out for every single little thing. You just can’t imagine the things you can access and do through the hatches until you start your build. The only reason not to, is if you’re truck is so tall and lifted and your height just can’t let you reach in, but even then you’d be using a step stool to get in the back, so you can access things through the windows with the step stool. Get at least one!

 

[malibubts]

Think hard about this. The hatch windows (at least one) are SO helpful in accessing the interior. Trust me, besides the ventilation, you’ll get tired of climbing in and out for every single little thing. You just can’t imagine the things you can access and do through the hatches until you start your build. The only reason not to, is if you’re truck is so tall and lifted and your height just can’t let you reach in, but even then you’d be using a step stool to get in the back, so you can access things through the windows with the step stool. Get at least one!

100% agreed, I don't have an OVRLND, but my camper has 4 pop up doors. Previously I had a traditional truck shell with no access on the sides, just crank out windows. I didn't even realize this when I switched over to my camper it's just how it came, but being able to grab items from the side without climbing in the truck was huge. I even convinced my dad when he was swapping trucks to go pop up windoors on his normal topper for that truck and he says he couldn't imagine going back either. Just so easy to grab something from a bag, toss a random item in, fill up the water bottle, grab a tie down strap, etc. Also as mentioned by others they provide a lot more ventilation.

 

[KaiX]

Think hard about this. The hatch windows (at least one) are SO helpful in accessing the interior. Trust me, besides the ventilation, you’ll get tired of climbing in and out for every single little thing. You just can’t imagine the things you can access and do through the hatches until you start your build. The only reason not to, is if you’re truck is so tall and lifted and your height just can’t let you reach in, but even then you’d be using a step stool to get in the back, so you can access things through the windows with the step stool. Get at least one!

This seems to be the general consensus and you make some valid points, so I'll take your guys word for it and shoot them an email request to switch both of the large sliding windows to the 36x18 Windoor hatches.