Total Composites Slide In Camper Kits

[simple]

Bending vs. mitred would reduced the labor by 50%

Be stronger if the mounts were at the corners. Might add flanges to corner covers that allow the pipe to bolt on. This would reduce the number of holes in the box.... i.e. will hitting the pie 1,2,3,4 times cause the screw holes to leak.

Might also consider making the brackets from 1/8" and/or a 45-90 bend so they crumple vs. damaging the box.

Armchair quarterbacking. I think the idea of these are an upsell accessory. Integrated brackets on the corner caps might look funny if someone opts out of the guard altogether.

What if the brackets clamped to the tube allowing adjustability on install. Also the tube could run long so one part # fits all. The tube would be cut to length at the back and be finished with a press in plastic cap plug. The tube brackets would be situated over the top of the corner caps on the camper. Installation would be drilling and tapping the corner caps and bolting the brackets on with stainless machine screws and sealant.

 

[Victorian]

38' is limited by the shipping container?

Yes the shipping containers and our vaccum tables are only 39' long.

 

[Alloy]

Armchair quarterbacking. I think the idea of these are an upsell accessory. Integrated brackets on the corner caps might look funny if someone opts out of the guard altogether.

What if the brackets clamped to the tube allowing adjustability on install. Also the tube could run long so one part # fits all. The tube would be cut to length at the back and be finished with a press in plastic cap plug. The tube brackets would be situated over the top of the corner caps on the camper. Installation would be drilling and tapping the corner caps and bolting the brackets on with stainless machine screws and sealant.

The brackets could be made with saddles to allow 2 rivets/screws on each side but that would increase the cost allot

Cutting breaks the powder coat finish and allows corrosion to start.

Drilling and tapping would need material that is a min of 3/16 (5mm) and stainless is a PINA to drill/tap

It is not a simple process to have sealant to bond to stainless. After being hit there would be some leaks.

10 of these could be bent/formed in the time it takes to miter/align/weld/straighten the 6pcs of pipe together.

 

[Alloy]

Yes the shipping containers and our vaccum tables are only 39' long.

One could build a 30-35' box and put it on a flat deck trailer.....What is the max panel width?

 

[Victorian]

One could build a 30-35' box and put it on a flat deck trailer.....What is the max panel width?

Max Outside body width is 2590mm

 

[Alloy]

Max Outside body width is 2590mm

How about max height?

 

[Victorian]

We outfitted the 5' camper with some cozy espresso stained baltic birch cabinets.
Total cost for plywood, stain, brushes, cork flooring etc was less than $650. Ad this to the advertised US$ 15,990.00 empty shell and you will be hard pressed finding anything more affordable OR better quality.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

We outfitted the 5' camper with some cozy espresso stained baltic birch cabinets.
Total cost for plywood, stain, brushes, cork flooring etc was less than $650. Ad this to the advertised US$ 15,990.00 empty shell and you will be hard pressed finding anything more affordable OR better quality.

Looks great in there!

 

[hellojava]

@Victorian whats the plan for securing these campers to the bed? Do they require some type of Tork lift tie down on the sides of the bumper? Can we just ratchet them into the bed using the jack brackets?

 

[Victorian]

We have 800lb rated D Rings and Aircraft rated L Track. This will give customers most flexibility to use the truck bed mounting points.

 

[Victorian]

Inside of the empty shell. Super easy to do the interior from that point.

 

[PetrolPiglet]

Anyone have pictures of how large the cab roof gap on these is with a 3/4 or 1 ton?
I'd love to see a smaller gap in 2.0 with the expectation of using a basement/long item storage for trucks that need more headroom.

Thank you for making these high quality shells available. I think this is an amazing option and am excited to hear from more people as they get out on the trail.

 

[mog]

@Victorian, I have a couple of questions that might be covered in the current instructions you send out with kits, but as you know my kit is old enough that the plans are in hieroglyphs

What are the minimum distances (all my panels are 84mm, including the sides) for opening to sidewalls (1), between openings (2), opening to the roof (3), and opening to the floor (4)?
And is there a maximum area of 'openings' (A+B+C) as a percentage compared to the overall area of the wall?

In the Total Composite FAQs, it states that it is not recommended to paint (or wrap) the panels to a darker color as "There would be an increased risk of delamination due to higher surface temperatures". What are the minimum and maximum temperature range the panels can be subject to?
Thanks,

 

[Victorian]

Anyone have pictures of how large the cab roof gap on these is with a 3/4 or 1 ton?
I'd love to see a smaller gap in 2.0 with the expectation of using a basement/long item storage for trucks that need more headroom.

Thank you for making these high quality shells available. I think this is an amazing option and am excited to hear from more people as they get out on the trail.

The gap will be smaller in the production model. Although with every truck being different, it's will be next to impossible to "dial" in each and everyone.
Cheers!

 

[Victorian]

@Victorian, I have a couple of questions that might be covered in the current instructions you send out with kits, but as you know my kit is old enough that the plans are in hieroglyphs

What are the minimum distances (all my panels are 84mm, including the sides) for opening to sidewalls (1), between openings (2), opening to the roof (3), and opening to the floor (4)?
And is there a maximum area of 'openings' (A+B+C) as a percentage compared to the overall area of the wall?
View attachment 667152
In the Total Composite FAQs, it states that it is not recommended to paint (or wrap) the panels to a darker color as "There would be an increased risk of delamination due to higher surface temperatures". What are the minimum and maximum temperature range the panels can be subject to?
Thanks,

Minimum distance to the extrusions for cut outs should be at least 1". Distance between the openings are recommended to be at least 6-8".
As for the heat limits:
All adhesives in the panel industry will get soft at certain temperatures. Soft doesn't mean failure! It only means that you COULD get a blister. Our adhesive is reaching the critical point at 100C. We like to play it safe by leaving the FRP white. You will most likely never reach the 100C. On our last truck we vinyl wrapped the rear wall in grey. Over two years with several trips to Arizona/Utah we never had any issues.