The TARDIS - A Four Wheel Camper Build

[Overland Hadley]

 

[washington taco]

BEST link all year! That is an outstanding piece of design work. The problem most people dont realize they have until you see the video. Simple and sound design!

 

[Overland Hadley]

BEST link all year! That is an outstanding piece of design work. The problem most people dont realize they have until you see the video. Simple and sound design!

Thanks. (ersatzknarf gets the credit)

I am working on seeing if there is enough interest to do a group buy on a shipment from Sweden. PM me if you are interested.

 

[ersatzknarf]

Awwwwww, shucks

Really, it was Soenke and his generosity sharing the source of the table, then finding a more local source...

I am just really glad to see so many folks appreciating it and a big thanks to OH for posting that video - that is a huge help to understand its use even better ! ! !

Thanks, also, OH for starting the group buy idea :sombrero:

Thanks. (ersatzknarf gets the credit)

I am working on seeing if there is enough interest to do a group buy on a shipment from Sweden. PM me if you are interested.

 

[ExpoMike]

I could definitely be interested in a group buy.

Great video find BTW!

 

[Pest]

Here's my problem with the swing around tables. What if there's more than one person sitting at the table? In the video he states that there's no more "bum shuffle" to get out because you just swing the table out of the way. However, if there's another person sitting across from him, you can no longer swing the table. It would chop them in half.... so you still have the "bum shuffle."

We had a swing away table (granted it was a different design and layout), it would swing, rotate, and the height was adjustable... It got annoying pretty quick. We're going to get a post mount table.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Outside Light

Thanks to westyss for posting information about his outside light.

The Smart Light with Star Monitor

I also installed this outside light, these are great, has a motion detector and came with LED, very bright and works great, recommended! It can be used normally on or set up for motion detection, and will blink red if battery levels go too low.

Light update; this light is a great addition to my camper, I like the fact that its LED, and a nice bright LED, the motion detection is great, we sit at the fire and its nice and dark, when we need to go inside to make another cold beverage, get up and the light turns on to pave the way. It doesnt go off with the dog roaming around. Two thumbs up for this unit.

Best place to buy looks to be on ebay.



.

 

[Jeff Wanamog]

Love this light.

Thanks to westyss for posting information about his outside light.

The Smart Light with Star Monitor

Best place to buy looks to be on ebay.



.

I put this same light on my Eagle before we went out to Baileys Cabin. As luck has it, there was almost no moon. I love this light, it works perfect! It was windy at night and the light did not pick up flying debris. I installed the LED light bulb from the porch light I removed. Very impressed. I might even replace the light on the side.

Jeff

 

[Overland Hadley]

I put this same light on my Eagle before we went out to Baileys Cabin. As luck has it, there was almost no moon. I love this light, it works perfect! It was windy at night and the light did not pick up flying debris. I installed the LED light bulb from the porch light I removed. Very impressed. I might even replace the light on the side.

Jeff

Great! Glad to hear you have had good luck with this light fixture as well.

It works okay with the FWC wiring? Reading on the site I was confused about wiring it if there is no internal light switch.

Good idea to install it on the side lights as well. Hmmm....

 

[Overland Hadley]

Still trying to finalize my decision on Finch v Eagle.

Ideally I would get the Finch, as 99% of things on my list pushes me towards the Finch.

But today I measured out the campers and taped the dimensions to my studio floor. Standing inside my tape "campers" and doing a direct comparison I am amazed by how much more space the extra 10" of the Eagle provides.

So while I have made the decision in favor of the Finch multiple times, I am now back on the fence.

 

[Jeff Wanamog]

You're right, that 10" is alot. But are you going to use your rear bumper as a tire carrier or anything else? That is the only reason I would go with the Finch. Also, Eagle needs a set of steps and the Finch you can use the bumper. Finch less weight, less weight towards the rear. Eagle more room, more weight and must carry some sort of step.
I dual purpose my truck so a bumper was out of the question. The added length and weight means nothing to me. But remember, I have air bags and you like Timbrens!

My .02
Jeff

PS, you can easily run the motion detector light with no switch.

 

[washington taco]

Next step, get some cardboard and duct tape and build it! You could even buy some 1" x 2" to frame it.

 

[Overland Hadley]

The Eagle shell looks to weigh about 50lbs more, and the weight would be hanging off the back of the rig. Just where I do not want to add weight on the lightweight Tacoma platform. And for some reason not having to carry a step is a nice thing, one less thing to deal with.

But I do not plan on carrying my spare on the bumper, as my 32's fit in the stock location, and I have decided against an additional fuel tank. The Aluminess bumper with storage boxes looks nice, but again it is hanging the weight off the back, just where I do not want it.

I definitely do not like having the camper extend past the rear bumper. If I bump something (or something bumps me) I want the strength of the bumper, not the lightweight camper to take the hit.

With the weight saving of the Finch I could carry my Thule box. While it would not provide more elbow room in the camper, I feel the storage space would be more usable than the 10" in the Eagle. And it might provide the feel of more space as there would be less stuff floating in the camper, and that might be most important. Of course weight up high is not ideal either, but my COG will be so much better than it is with my current set up.

One other consideration is what my next truck will be, as I would like to keep the camper through multiple trucks. If I would go to a larger truck then the Eagle would fit better, but with fuel prices on the climb a smaller truck might be in the future.

I guess I can not really go wrong, but until I can order the camper I have time to think about it.

Thanks for the info on the light.

You're right, that 10" is alot. But are you going to use your rear bumper as a tire carrier or anything else? That is the only reason I would go with the Finch. Also, Eagle needs a set of steps and the Finch you can use the bumper. Finch less weight, less weight towards the rear. Eagle more room, more weight and must carry some sort of step.
I dual purpose my truck so a bumper was out of the question. The added length and weight means nothing to me. But remember, I have air bags and you like Timbrens!

My .02
Jeff

PS, you can easily run the motion detector light with no switch.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Cabover Storage

The FWC campers come with a four inch thick foam mattress. For most people, and anybody who is traveling with more than one person, this is fine. But I have been looking at it as wasted space, as I am building the camper for one, with an occasional two person use.

Note:
I plan to use my Therm-a-Rest (Dreamtime XL) instead of the mattress, this will give me enough room to store my sleeping bag system (Wiggy's) on top of the bed when the camper is closed.


The inside cab-over area is 48x66, so I can build a storage area 4x48x34 and still have plenty of room to sleep. (The downside is that the bed will be at two levels, so I will just leave the cab-over storage unit at home when camping with my girl.) The storage unit in place of an unused mattress will give me 6,500 cubic inches of additional storage space. Not bad, and very helpful in these little campers. :ylsmoke:

 

[Overland Hadley]

Froli Sleep Systems

Froli Sleep Systems

This is an interesting product, and if I did not have such a comfortable Therm-a-Rest (the Dreamtime XL) I would consider trying this setup.

Edit:

This might be a good alternative to the Froli, at a fraction of the cost.

Here's a picture of the slatted bed spring base from Ikea:

And a link to their page: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40125970/

Edit edit:

I liked it, until I saw the weight. 50 pounds for the Full size, 30 pounds for a twin. Ouch.