Squarestream

[Andrew_S]

How did you go 5 days with the diesel heater? Must have been very minimal usage.
I have a webasto air heater in mine and I get about 2.5 days before I am down to 50% on a new 105ah AGM.
I run it about 8-10 hours a night. Over night temps have been around -5C.
Only other thing I am running is a few LED lights and a DC fridge.

I've got the same Victron monitor, it's pretty nice.

I'll be going to a couple of lithiums in the future to stretch out our time disconnected. I'd like to be able to go 5-6 days in the winter without having to recharge

Yes very minimal usage. Just turned it on to warm it up as we got settled and then again in the mornings.
That fridge must pull a lot of your reserve I'm guessing?
I really wanted to go lithiums but the cost was just to high at the moment.

An isolated dual battery system sounds like a good idea. Can you mount that AGM battery under the hood? Also I’m not sure about the 2.8 trucks, I had a few of the later 2.2/4.3 trucks. On those trucks you could cut the rounded corner off the battery tray and fit a battery that was bigger. Also on the 4.3 trucks you could grab an alternator and serpentine belt(1” longer) from a full size truck which got you the physically bigger alternator that made its power at lower rpms, supposedly.

I could manage to get a second battery under the hood but I would prefer it in the bed for now.
Definitely lots of alternator upgrades available for this 60v6. First step will be set up the isolated battery and then determine power requirements.

Have done zero to this camper for the last almost 6 months. This spring it will get a round of improvements.
Some pics until then.

Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Glad the actuators are oversized for the weight. It would be very irritating to have to clean the top off every time we want to pop it up.
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Verified we can still haul an entire moose home with 5 days of supplies in the bed as well.
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Truck got an extra leaf to help with the extra weight
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

 

[twokitties67]

Just amazing, great job.

 

[DzlToy]

I looked into sandwich panels, definitely would have saved some weight. Also not dealing with the thermal bridging from the aluminum would have been key. The cost and availability were factors that turned me away though.

Somehow I missed your reply on this. Sandwich panels are super easy to make. If you have the knowledge, skills and tools to build the camper that you built, SIPs are a walk in the park. Of course, having them custom made or purchasing an off the shelf panel costs more, but so does buying a FWC instead of building your own.

There are a few good threads on here covering the topic and with the cold weather you guys see, you will be surprised how much better sandwich panels are when you build version 2.0.

How did you seal the forward flip-up panels and what seals the top half to the bottom half when extended? Most builders just use weather stripping, but I thought I would ask anyway.

Cheers

 

[obchristo]

Very impressive! You have made real the dream that has been in my head for 30 years.

 

[Andrew_S]

Somehow I missed your reply on this. Sandwich panels are super easy to make. If you have the knowledge, skills and tools to build the camper that you built, SIPs are a walk in the park. Of course, having them custom made or purchasing an off the shelf panel costs more, but so does buying a FWC instead of building your own.

There are a few good threads on here covering the topic and with the cold weather you guys see, you will be surprised how much better sandwich panels are when you build version 2.0.

How did you seal the forward flip-up panels and what seals the top half to the bottom half when extended? Most builders just use weather stripping, but I thought I would ask anyway.

Cheers

Looking back now, yup sandwich panels would have been very easy. At the time of conception they seemed like a crazy technology I could never grasp lol. This build was truly trial by fire. The forward flip up panels seal very similar to the alaskan style campers. The entire top box has a D shaped seal that slides up as the wall moves, the walls engage on that seal. They also have an aluminum drip edge that extends past the seam at the bottom of the walls. So far we driven through some serious rain storms and camped in some nasty snow and rain, no leaks (knocks on wood).


We've been out about 20 days so far this season. Here are a ton of set up pics.


Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

We can camp comfortably down to -10C without the heater.
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Making plans to finish the interior and clean up the wiring. We added a few hooks for clothes/bags.
Planning to make a removeable shelf/storage cubby at the front wall.
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Staged with the big rigs on the ferry's
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

So far we are loving the set up. We can camp anywhere you can park a small car. Set up is 70 seconds and just the push of a button and three walls.
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

We often find ourselves the envy of nearby truck campers/trailers because we can cherry pick any spot.
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

This engel cooler is a critical piece of gear. Forget about it being our fridge, it's a bench and a step into bed.
Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr

Couple rocks an iphone level and some precise stacking to camp on some awful grades.

Untitled by sciffles today, on Flickr


We are gearing up to do the next round of work to the camper to increase it's function and ease of use.

 

[pigsammy]

I was excited to see your update! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about the adventures y'all have, and the pictures. Currently doing work on my truck, then planning a camper that will incorporate some of your ideas. My wife keeps looking over and asking where the pics are from. She's on board for trip to your area one day.

And I feel that I simply HAVE to go ice fishing now. Not easy in Georgia, though. Thanks for that! LOL

 

[ytadvexp]

EPIC BUILD!!!. WELL DONE!!! U taking orders? How much does it weigh?(i may not have being paying much attention as i was drooling all over my screen)

 

[DirtWhiskey]

I gotta say you're waaay ahead of the game on this puppy. Been waiting for somebody to execute a better version of an Alaskan. Great build!

 

[Todd780]

We are gearing up to do the next round of work to the camper to increase it's function and ease of use.

What's in the works?

 

[Andrew_S]

I was excited to see your update! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about the adventures y'all have, and the pictures. Currently doing work on my truck, then planning a camper that will incorporate some of your ideas. My wife keeps looking over and asking where the pics are from. She's on board for trip to your area one day.

And I feel that I simply HAVE to go ice fishing now. Not easy in Georgia, though. Thanks for that! LOL

Right on man, ice fishing is a good time! If you come out this way, make sure to dm me and I'll give you some pointers on spots to check out.

EPIC BUILD!!!. WELL DONE!!! U taking orders? How much does it weigh?(i may not have being paying much attention as i was drooling all over my screen)

Thanks! No dice on orders, way to much time to design/build, my hats off to the manufacturers that put these units together.
Weighs 400ish lbs, maybe more like 500lbs with diesel heater and battery now.

I gotta say you're waaay ahead of the game on this puppy. Been waiting for somebody to execute a better version of an Alaskan. Great build!

The Alaskans are pretty sweet units, can't say this is better. Maybe just more of a bare bones version.

What's in the works?

Just general improvements, nothing major. One day I may skin the inside.


This thing has been getting some serious use for hunting season. Hasn't skipped a beat. 30 nights in it since mid august.

Got the battery monitor hooked up. This planar heater was worth every penny. Almost no draw and sips diesel.

Picked up a victron dc/dc charger, awesome little unit.

Wired it up with quick disconnects for easy removal of the camper.

The wifes happy place, laying in bed while I make coffee.

We had a sweating issue on the tubing. To combat this I neoprene taped all of the tubing. Issue completely resolved now.

Finished out by properly looming all the wiring now that everything is functioning properly. Pics of that later on.

Working on some interior lighting next. Just need to stop using this for a few days and get them done.

 

[jmnielsen]

Good stuff! I love the idea of hard sided pop ups, although I can say I had an old Hallmark with insulated soft sides that did remarkably well in extreme weather.

Seeing all these builds makes me want to finish the plans for mine.

 

[trasko]

I just discovered your DIY pop-top. Very impressed. It's refreshing to see people making what they want and getting out there. I'm subscribed to see your updates. I'm still deciding if I'm going to build my own or buy. Your can-do attitude shows through and is inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

 

[DzlToy]

What are the dimensions of the truck and the camper, both opened and closed? How much room do you have inside to move around, sit, cook, etc., if the weather is crap and everything is battened down?

Do you get condensation inside in the cold weather? It would be a bit of work, but have you thought about a soft cover similar to the 'blankets' that are used to wrap DC fridges? This would further seal up the exterior and provide a bit of insulation or a radiant barrier. The same could be done on the inside if you did not want to panel the interior walls.

 

[RoamIt]

Just went through your build thread, impressive fabrication skills! Well done!

 

[Fishenough]

Super duper inspirational!

I import JDM's often, a 30 plus year bad habit, and a Hilux with a 1KD is in the plans for our next camper. Totally going to copy your design!

Sent from my SM-G981W using Tapatalk