Also ordered a Thetford C402C left hand model cassette toilet with built in water tank (just seemed easier than plumbing into our main water system and worrying about pressures and such). Also, one tank of flush water = one full black water cassette, so easy enough to refill the flush water when you empty the cassette.
The Thetford will take about 4 weeks to ship from Europe since it is coming with other orders so we don't have to pay freight.
Going to get some more metal today...making good use of the flatbed already since I buy 20 foot sections! :-)
1999 F550 truck conversion
2008 Host 300 Super 'C'
2008 Ford F-550 Chassis
Diesel
4x4
Lariat crew cab
20' enclosed car hauler/garage
'87 Jeep rock crawler
Turbo'd
Explorer1016 wrote:
I am looking forward to your build. Will you be sharing any budget numbers in your thread?
I am looking forward to your build. Will you be sharing any budget numbers in your thread?
Sure. I will try and post sources, prices, and such fairly soon. Right now the steel for the frame is pretty cheap....for example, I am paying around $50 for the 20 foot 11 gauge 2x1 and $25 for the 20 foot 16 gauge 2x1. I am guessing the aluminum skin is going to be more expensive than the entire frame.
I would be happy if we kept the price of the camper under $30K, which is less than what you pay for a Lance 1191 new. It might come in as low as $12K to $15K though since I am doing all of the welding and woodwork myself.
The truck was $14K but I put $2800 in Toyo M608Z mud/snow 12 ply tires on it.
I like that you have already committed to the Thetford cassette toilet system. I'm interested to hear what windows you choose and how you insulate the box. Good luck and have fun. Thanks for all of the info to date!
It was quite a bit better than I thought! The front axle came in at 4540 and the rear axle came in at 4340, for a total of 8880 pounds. The previous full weight measurement was 8700 pounds but that was with only 15 gallons of fuel this time the tank was full 30 gallons. Plus these are new different tires than the old bald ones with a higher rating, so probably heavier.
4540 is great...I had thought the front would be over 5000. There is a heavy (maybe 200 pounds) steel cargo box under the bed on the driver side near the front axle that will get replaced with some light aluminum version, so that could help even more. Might not need to cut back any of the headache rack after all.
Keep in mind that these figures include me in the cab, at 6'7" and every bit of 230 pounds with a good burger in me.
Oh, here is a pic of the steel on the way home....I love my 20 foot flatbed...imagine trying to load those oily 20 foot lengths in a regular pickup! (a paint job for the bed frame and maybe new wood for the bed might be in it's future though)
![[image]](http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s435/IGBT/steeltheone.jpg)
* This post was edited 02/20/13 02:08pm by Jfet *
One thing that I would do is not go with the cab over. I would put the bed up front then add storage under it getting rid of the cab over part completely and the hassles that could go with it. You have tons of length and having storage under the bed would mean that you could have fewer steps to the bed and possibly a lower profile.
Love to see innovation!
2017 Ford Transit
EVO Electric bike
Advanced Elements Kayaks
Ford F-350 4x4 Diesel
1988 Avion Triple Axle Trailer
1969 Avion C-11 Camper
Photomike wrote:
I love your project, great ideas.
One thing that I would do is not go with the cab over. I would put the bed up front then add storage under it getting rid of the cab over part completely and the hassles that could go with it. You have tons of length and having storage under the bed would mean that you could have fewer steps to the bed and possibly a lower profile.
Love to see innovation!
I love your project, great ideas.
One thing that I would do is not go with the cab over. I would put the bed up front then add storage under it getting rid of the cab over part completely and the hassles that could go with it. You have tons of length and having storage under the bed would mean that you could have fewer steps to the bed and possibly a lower profile.
Love to see innovation!
Thanks. We absolutely do not have tons of length. You are only seeing phase one of our ultimate plan. Eventually the flatbed will be filled up by a second enclosure that will house our snowmobiles or motorcycles (depending on the environment). We will be pulling our sailboat.
The cabover is needed to have a permanent queen size bed. There is no way we would give up 80 inches in the main cabin for a permanent bed.
A lot of thought has already gone into this. We are going to have a smooth roof with not even a single hole in it. The overall height even with the cabover needing to clear the headache rack will be under 12 feet. Plenty of truck campers exceed this when you count the air conditioner, etc. We are planning on a side mount airconditioner (when I can find one that is through wall).
I am going to go with beefy Rieco-Titan jacks (6000 pound capacity, 36 inch lift) that will allow the camper to lift the 13.5 inches needed for the cab to tilt foward for engine checking. For extensive engine work the camper will be removed from the flatbed, as we would probably want it with us instead of at a shop for a week anyway.
Great project.