Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: Our custom true flatbed truck camper build thread

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Topic: Our custom true flatbed truck camper build thread

Posted By: ticki2 on 02/22/13 04:39pm

Tyvek is not a vapor barrier , it's a water and wind barrier and if used should be on the outside of the insulation ( cold side ). Polyethylene sheeting is a vapor barrier and is used on the inside of the insulation ( warm side ).

'68 Avion C-11
'02 GMC DRW D/A flatbed

Posted By: Wes Tausend on 02/22/13 06:09pm

Jfet wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion Wes! So, like Tyvek between the foam and the interior luan/mahagony walls? That should be pretty easy I guess.

The WR250R is the most awesome bike we have ever owned. Fuel injected 4 stroke, 65mpg, can do 75mph on the hwy, only 280 lbs. They are expensive but worth every penny.

ticki2 is correct. Tyvek is a plastic with very small perforations that allows the escape of single water molecules (vapor), but prevents the intrusion of "coagulated molecules" (condensed wet water). It acts like GoreTex, water-proof, yet breatheable. It slows breathing a little bit but far less than a polyethylene sheet installed on the warm side of the wall to keep vapor out. Vapor therefore can't enter as easy as it can escape. Water doesn't condense on the warm side, just when it reaches a cool interior or cold surface.

Wes
...

Days spent camping are not subtracted from one's total.
- 2019 Leprechaun 311FS Class C
- Linda, Wes and Quincy the Standard Brown Poodle

Posted By: valhalla360 on 02/24/13 09:17am

Might be too late but if you are putting the propane under the deck, why not the fresh water with a quick disconnect also. That allows you to control weight placement better. Waste water would be nice also but it might be difficult to set up a quick disconnect.

Tammy & Mike
Ford F250 V10
2021 Gray Wolf
Gemini Catamaran 34'
Full Time spliting time between boat and RV

Posted By: Jfet on 03/04/13 07:48pm

This past weekend we cut and tack welded quite a bit of the steel superstructure to the base. This thing at times seems huge and small. Hope it fits out of the garage! [emoticon]

Posted By: dave17352 on 03/04/13 09:09pm

I guess this is where the talking about it has come to a end! It will be truly interesting to watch you build this. Take plenty of photo's please! I was thinking about how much more difficult this task is by building it to be removable. Using the truck bed as a foundation this would have been a lot simpler but of course that is not what you wanted. I am not knocking your plan just a observation, and of course for you with your welding skills this may not even be the case.

NOW 2017 Leprechaun 260ds
2005 Forrest River Cardinal 29rkle FW
1998 Lance 980 11'3" TC
2017 CHEVY 3500 SRW 6.0
B@W turnover ball @ companion Hitch
Honda eu3000 generator mounted on cargo rack
Crestliner 1850 Fish Ski boat mostly fishing now!

Posted By: Jfet on 03/05/13 07:42am

Thinking ahead about the roof materials since we may go ahead and put on the roof after the steel frame is finished (will add strength and also the roof is simple (zero holes or openings).

We intend to make the roof outer layer one piece, probably 0.050 or 0.062 aluminum. Under that will be two layers of 1/4" marine ply, bent around the curve section of the camper front.

I can sikaflex and/or screw the ply to the steel 1x1 and 1x2 roof truss members, but how to attach the aluminum skin to the ply? That would be a hellava lot of sikaflex (messy and expensive) and way overkill.

You guys have any good ideas? We want the roof to be walk-on-able.

Posted By: bka0721 on 03/05/13 09:51am

Suggestion for the roof, f you check on Sabconsulting, he did an aluminum roof on his truck camper. Maybe you could weld come “blades” underneath the roof material, that “slide in/mate to catches attached to the plywood. My German bags have this type of connection on the racks on my motorcycle. I could see something like this working for you. So when you slide on the roof, it tightens as it is slides into these multiple blade locations and you leave a 2” or 3” tab along the back end, that is then bent down over the back edge of the roof and bolts into the structure at the rear. You could have tabs pre bent over the outside and front edges to allow bolting in place, after the blades are mated. I would not put any bolts or holes on the front edge to eliminate any “weeping” opportunities for leaking.

Have you considered placing “ears” welded to the roof to allow future placements for Solar Panels? Wire and combiner box can be installed at rear side to eliminate installation on the roof, as well as ears or conduit welded to the roof to allow cable passageways. I would also install a rack/or channel to allow future use. To keep to your slick roof plan, you could use the channel material that is now used on sport trucks, like an aluminum unistrut. Clicky

b

Posted By: Jfet on 03/05/13 12:57pm

Cool, thanks bka, I will check those out. I had considered ears for the solar panels, welded to the aluminum sheet before I install it. I think it could be a good idea if done right.

I wanted to share a construction technique I tried that worked the first time (go figure). I needed a curved section for the front of the camper, so I decided to try hand bending some 1x1 16 gauge tube instead of going some more complicated route. I needed a 19 inch radius on the inside and 20 inches on the outside. I knew the metal would spring back a bit from whatever bend radius I chose, so I guestimated and jigsawed a wood form with a 17.5" radius. The final bend came out to within 1/16" of the correct bend (measured by the chord length connecting the ends of the arc). Pretty neat, huh?

[image]

Posted By: sabconsulting on 03/05/13 04:27pm

Just to add to bka0721's comments - this is the write-up I did on adding solar panels to my aluminum roof:

Solar clicky...

The first page also contains links to the complete roof rebuild.

Unfortunately I have lots of screws going through my roof, but I didn't have much alternative if I wanted to keep all the hatches etc. that the camper originally had.

Cheers,

Steve.

'07 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab diesel + '91 Shadow Cruiser - Sky Cruiser 1
'98 Jeep TJ 4.0
'15 Ford Fiesta ST
'09 Fiat Panda 1.2

Posted By: Jfet on 03/05/13 08:08pm

sabconsulting wrote:

Steve, very nice job on your aluminum roof. I am now unsure if I want to go aluminum though. I see you used a vapor barrier under the aluminum (smart) but this would not allow me to sikaflex the aluminum directly to the marine plywood. Perhaps TPO or that other EPDM? stuff would be the better way to go for me, so I can bond it to the plywood that is screwed/glued to the metal roof joists.

Hmmm...

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