Small camper
- Thread starter garybo
- Start date
On the XP camper site is a picture of what I thought was a green cut-a-way pickup with the XP mounted. Found out that it's a E350 van that was reborn to hold the XP. It's only 19' long, 2' shorter than our Fuso camper. So in keeping with "getting smaller", here's the build site:
http://www.ujointoffroad.com/ujorv4.html Certainly don't need a rock crawling suspension setup. Don't know the durability of the E350 compared to the F350 for example.
http://www.ujointoffroad.com/ujorv4.html Certainly don't need a rock crawling suspension setup. Don't know the durability of the E350 compared to the F350 for example.
Overland Hadley
on a journey
My v6 Tacoma with a Four Wheel Camper got almost 18 mpg average over 3000 miles of traveling. Some with the (underpowered) four cylinder Tacoma have reported getting just over 20 with their Four Wheel Camper mounted.
Just food for thought.
Agree w/ everything above. I have customized an old fiberglass shell from an old 1980 toyota RV to fit a ultra light duty flatbed Toyota T100 (tundra same thing) putting a lot of effort into keeping it as lightweight with the materials at hand without spending any money (probably have around $7K into rig which includes the truck!). While it does manage to come in under the GVWR and can be done, it's discomforting knowing that it is operating at close to carrying capacity (and for sure OVER on the longer camping excursions). And I don't see how the Tundra (esp with its truck bed) can be a platform for anything other than a pop-up camper shell.
I am seriously contemplating building another truck (F250 regular cab) for my camper as adam88 is doing. Or at the least scrounge up a full floating Landcruiser axle and upgrade from 15" to 16" wheels? While I do get upwards of 16mpg w/ my 5speed 3.4L V6 with the camper, a full size f250 prob would do just about as good w/o the worry of not making the weight class. And the footprint wouldn't be much different. The shell is what dictates the size of the camper.
The point of this is I think if someone (In NAmerica) wanted to build a decent small size camper on the cheap, finding an old fiberglass RV like the Chinook, Bandit, Sunrader etc (nothing over 18') and permanently transplanting it (not removable like my own setup) to a full size truck such as an F250 etc, would be a great way to go. Tho building a shell from scratch using today's composite-core construction might be less work! ... and for sure lighter.
Ya!
Of all the "little" platforms I've seen, I think the creators behind tourfactory.de have some of the best compact rigs around hands down. I really like what they've done. And if I had to ever buy a camper (had the $ as well as could import too), they would get my business!
There is a Toyota with a camper built on, a mini something, '87 I believe on CG @ Joplin, Mo. Want 2,995 and they show it has 3000 original miles, it is very clean, but looks like the hood needs some paint. I guess it could be modified, looks top heavy to me and bet it's very slow. MPG
Scroll down this page. These rock crawling Sportsmobiles are built on E350s:
http://www.sportsmobile.com/ultimate.html
I'll contact Sportsmobile to see if they would duplicate the ujoint platform for the XP http://www.ujointoffroad.com/ujorv4.html. Sportsmobile retains the van body setup so don't know if they'd make a cutaway chassis. Their drive train is proven dependable.
Also as an aside, we just finished a 17080 mi trip through Alaska and western Canada for $4014 fuel cost, ie, $0.235/ mile.
Also as an aside, we just finished a 17080 mi trip through Alaska and western Canada for $4014 fuel cost, ie, $0.235/ mile.
SMB does a lot of upgrades on those vehicles. They retrofit all-Ford parts in converting to 4x4 and put F-450 brake systems on. All this retains the factory warranty. They add a second range to the gearbox so it has 12 forward speeds and 2 reverse speeds. You'll notice the independent axles in the pics as well.
AeroNautiCal
Explorer
For some inspiration, here's a link to virtually every known demountable camper in the world. Besides which, this site has good info, including building your own!
Click this!
Click this!