Service body campers - Spacekap, Pelsue, Maranda ...

[Woodstockz]

Hi Guys.

I have been away for a while. After seeing a few Spacekap and Pelsue builds I think that it is a great platform to start a build on. I am planning a Spacekap build after the first of the year, but gathering info now. I thought that this would be a good place for people to post pics and info about campers made from service bodies.

Also note that there is a commercial company making campers based on Spacekap:
Icarus Series | Loki Basecamp

Best.

 

[Jonnyo]

if you do a search for spacelap on here...you will find tons and tons of reading from many of us that have done campers using them. it s fun and easy project. and if you are in canada, it s easy to find them used for cheap!

 

[sn_85]

There was an article on EP not too long ago about the Spacekap. Looks like a good base to build from. The Loki Icarus is definitely a nice utilization of it but their asking price is a little questionable. I think the Spacekap makes a lot more sense from a DIY perspective.

Toyota Tundra Self-Built SpaceKap Diablo Camper Conversion

With very few empty shell options in the US market, I stumbled upon an offering from a small company in nearby Quebec called SpaceKap.

expeditionportal.com

 

[simple]

Space caps are pretty sweet. I just finished a build out on one and they have their own unique set of challenges.
The main challenge is that they are egg shaped with no flat interior surfaces to work from for paneling or cabinetry.
Another is the purchase price and shipping for a raw shell. If purchasing new on the west coast it will be $13-14,000 depending if you go with a base shell or a shell with windows.
The raw fiberglass interior needs to be finished out with insulation to control condensation. Other wise it looks like the inside of a shower with beads of water dripping down the walls.
I easily spent $14,000 on materials for the build which is pretty standard for a basic camper or van or anything of that size.

 

[creativetinkerer]

Hi.

I recently purchased and got delivery of my Spacekap Diablo.
It's worth every penny. The fiberglass shell gives you many advantages.
I saw the ones coming from Loki Campers at Overland Expo and they are very well build, but I cannot afford a $70k camper.
The camper shipped to CA cost me around $13k (Same price as Project M topper I used to have), planning to add another $15k max into the build.
The only thing I will upgrade is the tide down system to secure it to the bed of the truck.

 

[Herbie]

Please post in this thread when you get a build thread going! I'd hate to miss it.

 

[billiebob]

There are a lot of plusses to a molded fiberglass shell with no joints. Looks fabulous.

 

[rruff]

There are a lot of plusses to a molded fiberglass shell with no joints. Looks fabulous.

I do like that they are a smooth aero shape. There are downsides though, like no insulation, poor weight efficiency (vs a sandwich panels), cabover too small to sleep in, curves are hard to build around, etc.

 

[billiebob]

I do like that they are a smooth aero shape. There are downsides though, like no insulation, poor weight efficiency (vs a sandwich panels), cabover too small to sleep in, curves are hard to build around, etc.

insulation is really over rated when the box is only 200 cubic feet.

 

[rruff]

I agree that it's easy to overdo it because you lose quite a bit of heat due to ventilation regardless, but it's nice to have some. Of course you can add interior insulation to a Spacekap, also. They advertise them as 372 cu ft, BTW.

 

[simple]

I think when I looked up the R value of fiberglass it was the same as a glass window. It doesn't take much to heat a small volume air and small internal thermal mass. Insulation is mainly needed to minimize condensation.

 

[rruff]

Condensation can be really annoying. Heat requirements are mainly conduction+convection through the wall and windows (surface area), and heating the ventilation air... and will be proportional to the temperature difference. Air volume is not important, and neither is thermal mass if you are maintaining a steady temperature.

I stumbled across this page and spreadsheet regarding van insulation. I think he underestimated the ventilation, but you can still get a big reduction in heat requirements. https://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculators/VanHeatLoss/VanHeatLoss.htm

 

[creativetinkerer]

Hi everyone, I started a new Thread.
Follow along as I build this camper.

Spacekap Diablo Expedition Camper Build + F250 Tremor

Hi Everyone, Welcome to my 1st ever post on Expedition Portal. My wife and I recently purchased and received a Spacekap Diablo 8ft camper. For the last 3 to 4 years we have planned to drive the Pan-American Highway, and since day one we had thought about what set up would fit our needs. Our...

expeditionportal.com

 

[simple]

Here is a cross link to my Spacekap Diablo 6 build thread.

Spacekap Diablo 6 Build

Spacekap Diablo 6 Build I love the idea of open source so I'm going to attempt to document some of the things I did in my build so that others may draw from my experience. Last year I purchased 2 Spacekaps with the intention of building a couple different prototype layouts for testing to...

www.expeditionportal.com