What are your thoughts on this camper design?

[Carl2500]

Alright this is the truck I have right now, with a normal bed. I made a couple GIF animations to show the concept of a camper I'm interested in having.

I'm interested to know if you think it'll provide enough room for 2 people, for 2 week long trips?

Do you think it would too heavy, using easily available construction materials?

Thanks for any comments.

 

[Grim Reaper]

Nice rendering. I like the idea to maximize space by loosing the factory bed .


I think the side door may be an issue of eating valuable space especially if you still have back doors. With a short door you would want it to be wide since you are going in on your hands and knees and may need to make a weird manuver to exit. You may not have enough width in that location.

I am all about multi use and that side door (if its the only door) would severely limit use as a truck.

Now a side access hatch would be nice were you would have access to storage towards the front and storage bins over the wheel well or sleeping platform with storage under it that would hard to access.

 

[boblynch]

What are you planning on using for body material? What type of slide mechanism? How will you weather seal the top?

I'm curious why you are going “out” instead of “up”? With a raised roof you could fix mount the heavy stuff down low and put the bed on top (think penthouse roof on a Sportsmobile 4x4 van).

Bob

 

[Martyn]

I really like the slide out, and all the hardware for that is available.

I do think you need more headroom as it looks a little tight.

To maximize interior space you may want to have some exterior accessories like a shower and or kitchen. You could easily enclose these with awnings, and utilize walls on the awnings when needed.

 

[theMec]

Thanks Carl, I'm glad someone has a similar idea to me! Smaller is better from both 4x4 and fuel economy perspectives. Some comfort is lost but that's compromise.

My idea is flatbed based w/ some sort of a removeable box attached to the flatbed. I've thought about a slideout in a rearward direction instead of horizontal direction as in the image above but decided at this point it's too much complexity since I have no idea how I'd build / find/ modify the box to begin with. I'm also thinking a ladder to the roof, so a couple of people can sleep up there on nice nights. 3 in the bed and 2 on top - sleeps 5. Hah!

I am thinking a bit higher than yours though. Possibly up to a foot above the cab. I've been asked "Why not a cabover popup?" Well it's too tight up there. I've tried those before. Hard to get down in the middle of the night after a few drinks to go pee, also.

 

[The BN Guy]

Mmmm, slideout. Good idea! Getting it to work is going to be interesting.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I like it...I see it as a Tear drop with an engine. Have the back lift up to access the kitchen and provide cover with an awning off the side. If the roof does not lift you only get ~4' of interior height.

 

[Bella PSD]

I would want to stand up inside the camper.

Louie

 

[JeepN95YJ]

Cool idea...

I agree with the concern for headroom and standing up. I've camped in the back of my truck with a topper and definitely prefer camping in my slide-in TC because it is easier to move around.

A suggestion that might or might not work is to use a "skirt" around the slide out portion to allow you to stand. What I mean is have the bottom of one of the slideouts open to the ground. Attach a cloth skirt with a floor that allows you to stand up protected from the environment beside the truck (like a tent floor) Then climb up onto the truck bed area to sleep. This might keep the kitchen and everything inside for use in bad weather.

Either way, I applaud those who go above and beyond to build their vision. As long as it works for you.

 

[akphotobob]

I built a camper for the back of my F150, details on what I did are here:

http://cheaprvliving.com/BuildYourOwnCamper.html

For 2 people your bed would need to be across the truck bed and roughly 48 inches wide. If you are tall you will have to scrunch up. That looks like a short bed pickup so you will only have a few feet for anything besides the bed. My bed is 7 feet long so I built shelves on both sides of the walkway from the back door and a 48 inch bed across the pickup bed behind the cab. I live in it full time with my 80 lb dog and I am very comfortable with it. I can almost stand upright in mine and that would be nonnegotiable to me. It is such a tiny space that I really need the height. In my camper I can stand up to cook, get dressed, take a pee or a poop into a portapotti. I can bathe myself with a spray bottle and wash clothes. I don't just sleep in it, I can live in it. Doing all of those things is possible in a cab-high shell, but very uncomfortable (been there, done that, not doing it again). I had a friend who lived in a truck with a shell. He cut the floor out at the back above where the spare goes and built in a box, so he could stand to do all the things listed above, by stepping down into the box. That would be a big improvement but still marginal in my mind. Probably doable for 2 weeks.

Could 2 people live in your planned camper for 2 weeks? In my opinion not in a cabheight camper. It would be for sleeping only. If you are only going to sleep in it, why go through all the time and money to do what you have in mind? A simple shell would serve you just as well. Bob

 

[Bella PSD]

Take a look HERE Post #48, for a home built camper with a pop up. Something like this should be big enough for 2 people.

Louie

Alright this is the truck I have right now, with a normal bed. I made a couple GIF animations to show the concept of a camper I'm interested in having.

I'm interested to know if you think it'll provide enough room for 2 people, for 2 week long trips?

Do you think it would too heavy, using easily available construction materials?

Thanks for any comments.

 

[theMec]

Excellent writeup akphotobob. Thanks!

Bella psd, did you do a writeup on your home made flip pac camper? I'd like to see that.

 

[Deleted member 1276]

Bella psd, did you do a writeup on your home made flip pac camper? I'd like to see that.

x2!

 

[Doin_It]

Here is one called a Pack-Away. If you click on the reed arrow it will expand the pic. for you. http://www.rv.canadatrader.com/result/detailinfo.aspx?ID=21035447&pgno=2&srt=1

So I called the dealer and it was sold. The deal is the company Pack-Away, Canadain, was bought out by another Canadian RV company, and the new company never made this model any more. Crazy, cause I think it's a great idea.

 

[Carl2500]

Wow, hey first of all, thank you everybody for all of your input. It's much appreciated. That said, let me try to address most of your posts. Sorry if it's a little long long

I think the side door may be an issue of eating valuable space especially if you still have back doors. With a short door you would want it to be wide since you are going in on your hands and knees and may need to make a weird manuver to exit. You may not have enough width in that location.

I am all about multi use and that side door (if its the only door) would severely limit use as a truck.

I was thinking about not having a back door, and using the rear for the sleeping quarters. It'll have storage under the bed, with access doors inside and outside of the camper. I figure I could put an extra sheet of insulation there, and add a divider inside the camper to use while sleeping.. It should keep most of the heat in reducing the use of the heater.

I'm curious what you meant when you said a side door would severely limit the use of the truck? Thanks.

What are you planning on using for body material? What type of slide mechanism? How will you weather seal the top?

I'm curious why you are going “out” instead of “up”? With a raised roof you could fix mount the heavy stuff down low and put the bed on top (think penthouse roof on a Sportsmobile 4x4 van).

Alright this was my original plan, but listening to you guys I realize the importance of headroom, so my plans are different now. My plan is to have an aluminum frame, and have foam insulation board between two 1/4" pieces of plywood. As far as weatherproofing the top, there is only a small gap between the track and wall, I'm sure I could use velro to seal up the draft that might be there.
Here is a simple diagram of how I'd go about the slider.
(couldn't get the picture to show up, but it's here, http://home.comcast.net/~carlstruck/slider.JPG)
The reason I brought up the slidout "out" is just to think outside of the box and get some feedback. There still might be something to it, but I need to address the headroom isssue first.

Thanks Carl, I'm glad someone has a similar idea to me! Smaller is better from both 4x4 and fuel economy perspectives. Some comfort is lost but that's compromise.

My idea is flatbed based w/ some sort of a removeable box attached to the flatbed. .

Yep looks like we're going in the same direction

A suggestion that might or might not work is to use a "skirt" around the slide out portion to allow you to stand. What I mean is have the bottom of one of the slideouts open to the ground. Attach a cloth skirt with a floor that allows you to stand up protected from the environment beside the truck (like a tent floor) Then climb up onto the truck bed area to sleep. This might keep the kitchen and everything inside for use in bad weather.

I think this is a good idea, and I'll be keeping it in mind.

I built a camper for the back of my F150, details on what I did are here:

http://cheaprvliving.com/BuildYourOwnCamper.html

Bob thanks for your writeup, and your advice. I would love to do something similar along with my yellow lab up in Alaska

Take a look HERE Post #48, for a home built camper with a pop up. Something like this should be big enough for 2 people.

Hey that's pretty cool, thanks for the link, it gave me some ideas.

Here is one called a Pack-Away. If you click on the reed arrow it will expand the pic. for you. http://www.rv.canadatrader.com/result/detailinfo.aspx?ID=21035447&pgno=2&srt=1

So I called the dealer and it was sold. The deal is the company Pack-Away, Canadain, was bought out by another Canadian RV company, and the new company never made this model any more. Crazy, cause I think it's a great idea.

Hmm, link just takes me to auto traders main site. Could find much with google. I'll try to look more into it.


Again, thanks for all of your replies, your feedback is very valuable. I'll work on the design a little long to see what I can do about the headspace, while keeping a tight thermal envelope.