Skamper roof rebuild

[dfrank]

All systems are close. I need to finish some prep on my roof and am waiting for the poly to arrive. I ordered 2.5 gallons of "Grizzly Grip". It is mostly sold as bedliner and can be rolled on.

I stumbled across the gas lifter thread and plan to add some of those to compensate for my extra roof framing and allow for roof racks.

I need to rack the hell out of this thing, but have not found good threads about doing so. Anyone seen good roof rack ideas? I want to do three bars that are a few inches wider than the truck. They should each have their own roof top towers that allow them to raise with the roof, and also have brackets on the hard sides, with V shape landing pads to transfer the weight on to the lower walls.

I also want to bolt some bars to the back of the camper that can do skis and bikes vertically on the back.

Also where are people carrying spare propane? How long do you get out of a bottle if you are cranking the heat?

Anyone add auxiliary heat that is propane, but fan-less to run over night?

Is there a reasonable way to use the water tank over the winter? Seems like it would take a lot of electricity to keep it and the lines thawed in sub zero temps.

Thanks again.

 

[dfrank]

Can you guys tell me how the walls are framed? are there 1x studs that have thin ply in side and out? Is there a 1x4 top plate? where is the strongest place to bold racks and other stuff to the outsides?

Dave

 

[SLO_F-250]

dfrank,

The construction is mostly 1x2 with 1/8" ply under the aluminum siding. Go here for some pictures of the construction when I added a fridge to my skamper. I would assume some sort of flat top plate. I screwed my awning mounts near the top into the assumed top plate. They have held up great in the wind. Not sure if that helps. The corners, top and bottoms would be the strongest place to bolt things. Other than that, you might just be albe to use a stud finder to find studs to lag to.

I do not carry spare propane. My 5 gallons goes for about 4-5 days when I use my little propane fire pit every night for a few hours. That would probably suck more propane than a heater. On a 2 week trip through Utah I filled up once. I have thought about integrating a hookup for a little green tank just in case my main tank runs dry, I can still cook. There was a thread on here a while back where someone did that. Pretty slick.

I like the idea of the grizzly grip. Let us know how that goes, and out here in Cali, I have not had to deal with water lines freezing so Im no help there. :sombrero:

 

[dfrank]

Thanks Slo.

Can anyone direct me to the right forum to search for electrical info? I got a converter that also charges, but after hooking it up, nothing works. All the wires seemed obvious, but maybe I have something hooked up wrong?

It seems like I would want the camper's battery on a different wire than the power from the truck, but there doesn't seem to be a spot for that.

It is an Elixer 30 amp converter/charger.

Dave

 

[dfrank]

First 2 nights in it skiing this last weekend. everything worked well. The gas lifters on the roof are the $hit, but it could use even more help with my overweight roof construction.

Damn, that furnace is loud.

Surprisingly little condensation on the tent walls, but I still want to insulate better for winter.

I need to build a ski rack. They fit across the closet tops, but you have to pop it to get them off, and do a lot of ducking to get in and out, as if you didn't have to do enough of that for just the door.