1 Bored Clerk's Garage Built Camper

I have an OK4WD about an hour or so from me. Got ma Dakar leaf packs from them. They seem to be more jeep focused but decent enough customer service IMO.

 

My experience so far is good with them. Good communication and resolution focused.

 

I got a shipping notice that a new awning is coming my way! Fingers crossed this one shows up in good shape

 

Second awning showed up. I haven't unfurled the actual awning material but the frame looks perfect and the cover doesn't have a mark on it. Plus the Alu-Cab badge is actually sewn on straight. It's fairly crooked on the old one. Also, I may get to keep the old awning. Depends how the claim goes with UPS. Until I know for sure if UPS wants to come pick it up, it will sit in my living room I guess.

 

UPS picked up the damaged awning yesterday. When the driver saw it, he was stunned that UPS would even ship it.

 

Quick and dirty after work project completed!

I had originally planned to mount my max tracks on the back of the camper. But once I had them and realized how heavy they are and how awkward it would be to mount them in that 45 degree upside down position, I started looking for other options.

The roof rack made sense! I moved my roof basket over to the driver's side to make room for the boards. Then I made an epoxy coated, stiffened plywood mount that bolts to my cross bars with u bolts. I drilled holes where there are protrusions on the bottom of the max tracks so they locate nicely in the mount. A couple of straps and a through shackle master lock trimmed to the right length and they are relatively secure. I used a small piece of foam seal from my door project on the camper to keep the lock from rattling. We'll see how it works over time.



Test fit


Yes, there is a bunch of tear out on the non visible side of the mount. I was figuring this was a hasty project just to see how it would work. I can always make a nicer one or a metal one later if I really need to.




Trimmed adjustable padlock with foam anti rattle insert.

 

Nice.

I assume the lock is long enough to go through all 4 boards?

 

Yup. Just long enough after shortening it. I don't think I'll ever carry less than all four. But if I do, I can always buy a shorter lock.

 

That's pretty slick. Love the look of it.

 

Thanks! It would look even better if I really took my time but I think I hit a good balance of time spent vs beauty.

 

Finally ordered the laser cut/bent parts for my awning mount. I've been sitting on that for a month! Should have those parts back the end of next week. Fit up over the weekend then off to powdercoat...hopefully.

I'm also working on some 12v outlets in the camper for electronics charging. I'll get photos up as soon as I have something reasonable to show.

The build continues! Forever.

 

Finally wired up my new MaxxAir fan!


The controls feel a little cheesy but this is a WAY better fan for my camper. The lowest speed on the fantastic Vent fan was still pretty high and sounded like a hurricane. Low speed on this is whisper quiet and moves much less air. It seems to be quieter in every speed which is awesome in a tiny space like mine. Plus, I never needed to move as much air as the fantastic Vent on low so its nice to have several lower speeds and quieter options to use. I really like that you can remove the fan motor and mech without breaking any seals! Should make replacing a failed fan much easier. It's a cool design...as long as it never leaks.

 

I'm thinking about electronics and power in the camper. I'd like to be able to charge up phones in the camper overnight. I REALLY like the RAM mount wireless chargers I'm using in the cab and on my motorcycle. Considering putting two in the back. Maybe here:



Back by the passenger side of the rear window. These are Ram ball tracks. Can add ram balls or move them around. Vertically makes more sense for expansion and options but horizontally makes more sense for security. I worry that the heavy wireless charger cradles may vibrate down in a vertical orientation. I would leave them mounted and plugged in all the time. They have their own on/off switches. I could always add another row of rail if I needed more mounts. For instance, I'm considering getting an I pad for Gaia, watching movies, sketching, notes, etc. Might be nice to have a mount for that in the camper as well as the cab.

Also considering how to power it all. I have two of these:



These are 4.8 amp fast chargers. But that's 4.8 amps total per unit. So if you have two things plugged into one unit, that's 2.4 amps per. Not the end of the world since it would be mostly overnight charging. But since I already have them, I might as well put both in the camper. I can always add a standard 12v plug too. Where I plan to mount these, I have room for 4-5 of them.

 

Got started on my camper charge ports today


This is the general idea. I spaced them out so I could add two more outlets of whatever variety I may need in the future and they'll all be evenly spaced and looking dope.


Cut and fit a side wall to enclose the wiring and the back of the outlets. For safety and aesthetics.


Glue it all together and hold it square however you can! I love me some blue tape fixture action!


I let the wood glue dry then went back and added a thickened epoxy fillet to the inside as well as a nice coating on the outside of this joint. I'll let this dry overnight then come back in the morning to do some sanding, routing, final fitment then I'll epoxy coat the whole thing and buff it out to look like the rest of the wood in the camper. I'll need to make and install cleats to fasten this to inside the camper as well. Not sure how I want to do that just yet but I'm sure it'll come to me.

 

When do we get a narrated video walk around of this magnificent creation?

 

What is this "video" you speak of. Sounds like witchcraft.

 

Had a lot of other stuff going on today. But I did sand, route and epoxy coat (2 coats) the outside of this bad boy. Tomorrow will be inside coats. Then I'll figure out how to mount it in the camper.


Once it's all cured, I'll sand and buff it out to the same satin sheen as the rest of the wood in the camper.

I also picked up some additional wiring stuff I needed to make the harness for these two plugs.

 

But, this might be fun to try out. I'll see what I can do...someday... DO NOT hold your breath.

 

So, what do you do when you grossly underplan a project?


Like spacing your plugs out so nicely only to realize you totally forgot to consider the distance lost by the angled wall underneath...


You grab some scrap rock hard maple to make a spacer! I've had this sitting in my shop for a decade...leftover from a footstool project I did. Came in handy today.



This is just rough cut for now. I'll finish it up nicely and epoxy coat it so it'll be sealed and have a nice satin finish just like the plywood. The contrast of colors will be really nice too! Normally I would have gone bigger with the spacer so that I could add a nice large chamfer around the top edge but my piece was just wide enough for this and I'm cool with that. If you've never worked with rock hard maple, it's more akin to machining than woodworking. So the hand finishing will take a little while.

Not every mistake is a disaster. Turn those lemons into lemonade friends!