The TARDIS - A Four Wheel Camper Build

[Overland Hadley]

I had a question about the propane solenoid.

Once I finished wiring it I turned it on and off a couple of times, and I could not hear it working. The switch at the electrical panel makes a click, but nothing from the solenoid itself. I feel I should hear something from the solenoid.

The lines are not pressurized, is that what is missing from the equation?

Thanks for any help.

Figured out what was amiss. I had wired the solenoid incorrectly.

With it wired correctly, it makes the normal solenoid clunk. Good to have that finally figured out.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I was able to complete the propane plumbing. What a pain, but it is done now and I am happy with the final product.


This evening I was able to fire up the three burners on the hob and cranked the heater up to high. Everything burned nicely. (With the current unseasonably warm temperatures, I had the Fantastic Fan going on high just to be able to be inside the camper. I did not particularly want a sauna this evening.)

Still have some more work to do on the locker - need to finish the door, and do a little more sealing and venting work. But it is getting close.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I was able to get some photos, although poor in quality, of the progress in the camper.

Ready?

Here they come.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Paper Towel Holders

Mounted two paper towel holders.


One under the counter. (Please ignore the stray propane lines.)

And one by the door. This one is by Pit Posse and I mounted it upside-down so I have a small shelf. The spring keeps some tension on the roll, thus eliminating voluntary unrolling.

 

[Overland Hadley]

L Track

Lots of L track installed.

The rounded S track from Pit Posse makes nice trim.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I mounted my aluminum little league bat next to the door. (For that game of whiffle ball, because carrying it for anything else can be illegal.) It is mounted with quick release bungees on SS footman loops for easy access.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I received my MaxTrax today. Went with a special order of black. I ordered them from Scott at www.dirtcircusracing.com/maxtrax/ who was great to work with and I recommend to anybody who wants to order a set. I went with a double set, so I have a MaxTrax for each corner. Decided this was best as it is my main self recovery option.

Ultimately I want to do some sort of trick mounting solution as I have a couple ideas floating around. But at this point they are going to get mounted on the roof.

I like them mounted at the back of the roof because they are easily accessible, if I ever need to use them most likely the rig will be at some odd angle and I do not want to have problems getting at them. But the weight is then as far back as possible, which of course I do not like.

The fit just happens to be absolutely perfect within the width of the feet.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Plus I got this box today! I am overwhelmed.

 

[SLO_F-250]

Nice work Overland!!! I like the S-Track around the perimeter. I'm thinking that will come in handy!

SO WHATS IN THE BOX???? haha :chef:

 

[Carlyle]

I mounted my aluminum little league bat next to the door. (For that game of whiffle ball, because carrying it for anything else can be illegal.) It is mounted with quick release bungees on SS footman loops for easy access.

Nice work as always and thanks for all the great ideas to add to a camper. I keep a different tool under my pillow in case I need to play Whiffle ball at night.

Carl


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Overland Hadley]

While working in the camper this evening I decided on what my first major redo will be.

With the redesigned propane locker location it would be nice if the sink sat 3" farther over. So at some point, possibly this winter, I will cut a new counter top. Other than cutting a new top I will just need to move two bolts for the larger counter, glad that I have designed it to be as re-workable as possible.

I know that I was constantly improving the area inside the topper, and I will be doing the same with this camper.

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

Damn man, that seems like a lot of work for 3"

 

[Overland Hadley]

Damn man, that seems like a lot of work for 3"

Three inches is a lot, at least in my world. I would be bummed if it needed to be moved less than an inch.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Was able to put in another solid half day (6 hours) working on getting the camper ready for the upcoming trip. Most of the work at this point is on the interior, getting it "livable."

-I ran the aluminum pipe that will house the propane line to the heater.

-Did most of the silicone "trim" along the floor.

-Strapped in the twin water tanks.

-Bolted in the two boxes that are mounted on the floor.

-Mounted the electrical panel.

-Started on the curtains.

I did the above things, and some other boring interior stuff, without getting any photos before it got dark. But I did manage to get a couple photos.


Made a switch plate for the flood lights.

Cut Reflectix for the window sections I want blocked off.

Put together the SS turnbuckles.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Put the camper on the truck today.

Mounted it on the truck with a single layer of RidgeRests as the pad between the camper and the truck. Seems to be working good. I am a little worried about how the RidgeRests will wear, but I am saving over twenty pounds by not using the factory rubber pad.

Did a flex test in the ditch. Everything looked good. So I took the jacks off.

EDIT:

The Ridge-Rest pads did not work out that well, as the north-south ribbing on the bottom of the camper does not match up well with the bed of the truck. So the camper was only sitting on the truck in a few small places, and the focused weight crushed the foam pad.

I will edit that post to indicate this.

Here is what I am doing now. (This spring I used the camper with no pad under it. It worked fine, but I would like to find a thin pad to go between the camper and the truck bed.)

First project was to add wood strips to the bottom of the camper. I am doing this because I did not want to use the factory supplied bed mat because it was so heavy. And I also discovered that the runners on the bottom of the camper did not match up well with the grooves in the truck bed, as both ran north-south, so the camper was only sitting on the truck bed in a couple small areas. So some runners going east-west were in order.

At some point in the future I plan on putting another coat of stain on the bottom plywood of the camper. I feel that with all the holes I have drilled it would not be a bad idea, and the factory stain is a little thin in places.