Diy camper (black pine campers beta 1)

I’ve decided to build a camper for my taco because the wife and I can’t afford 40k for a rig that we like and most don’t really fit our needs (mainly two dogs that are mostly active but don’t like jumping into the truck bed or into the sleeping areas of campers.)

I’m building it on a 2005 Tacoma, it’s not a crawler but it is lifted and our main source of getaway is off road touring (though with the size of this new build I’m guessing we will mostly be in blue trails and not as much red as when we had the flippac)

the construction is plywood skeleton with foam inserts then a plywood skin and lots of glue and screws - this is beta 1, the next iteration will be fiberglass I’m sure. This is for testing purposes. This is the side view (doesn’t look like a pic is showing here but hopefully when I post it will become one)

 

Very intrigued. Looking forward to see the end result. We just picked up this Jayco SLX a few weeks ago.

 

nice! Time for adventure for you!

 

yeah hopefully soon, took it out of storage and brought it home to accessorize it(solar panels, fender flares, wheels, tongue jack, tv etc)

 

Anyone who's priced campers has thought about making their own.

Anyone who's waited on the current camper lead times has thought about making their own.

Anyone who's seen the fit and finish of most campers available AND the price they're charging for that work has thought about making their own.

Sub me in here. Interested to see what you come up with.

 

Getting closer with the flatbed - no close ups as I had to cut it off and add 3” (long story of no thought)

I had an issue locating fenders for the bed so I bought four trailer fenders, welded two as one fender, then sliced the fender walls to expand them a bit. I then added a more substantial face support piece I laser cut at work. So far I’ve only made two inserts for the bed frame - those are for the cheap tail lights I ended up with

tomorrow I’ll get the air bags and shocks on, hoping to get the camper on this weekend.

 

This is a pic of the parts I cut at work to make the actuator bracket, with and a shot of the assembly before more welds and paint - this isn’t really how actuators should be used I don’t think, but I’m adding heavy duty drawer slides to the side of the lid to keep the shafts from bending

 

I put it on the truck this weekend - it’s big and getting bigger - still needs a lot of work but it’s home now so I’ll be able to spend more time

 

That is insanely cool!

 

I know this is the tester and not the finished product, did you happen to get a weight for the camper?

 

It’s a heavy beast -1100 so far :/ It’s ok, it still handles nice with the airbags.

in the end If I make these it’ll be for a full size mattress and the proportions will be better and the overall size a little smaller - for this run we wanted queen because our dogs sleep in the bed too :/ it’ll also be fiberglass at that point

conclusion - no more crawling the way we did with the flippac

 

Whew, yea that's a fat boi. Totally get it though. That's some slick engineering regardless! Looks great. I'll definitely be watching this one. Have fun with the build!

 

You've definitely revoked your parking garage privileges with this setup. Looks great!

 

I too have longed for a camper but my 2014 DSCB Sport is only rated at 1060lbs. I don't want a travel trailer, a tent trailer is tempting but I want light weight, and everything is $$$.

Now looking at an enclosed 5'x8', 6'x10' trailer. Plan to set it up with some necessities: porta potty, microwave, bunks/cots, water, stove, full camp gear which I already have, proper venting...etc.

Found some neat websites with ideas.

Good job OP... Looks like fun.

 

The bump out is amazing!

 

The inside is coming along slowly - many mistakes it’s pretty heavy but I’m just going to have to take less aggressive trails than I’m used to, we can still get out there. Once I start replacing Parts with materials that I intended to use but couldn’t due to money - the weight will drop A bit.

 

got a video of the a full open up? top going up and bump out put into place? i see what looks like a hinge at the bottom but dont under stand how it folds/slides out

very cool build!!