Ovrlnd Camper ideas and bs

Eek, I had a GFC on my last Tacoma and it really sucked in the wind. Flapping made it impossible to sleep, heard the ovrlnd camper was better. Most of our camping is in the desert so always pretty exposed. Usually spend about 1-2 months a year down in sedona, st george, vegas so I could probably get away with a bigger truck if need be..

The wind is from the vinyl flapping or just from it hitting the sides of the aluminum camper? Any must do options from your experience so far?

 

I should've been specific. The wind noise is while driving.

Love the vinyl OVRLND uses... basically no noise in strong winds with the top popped. Haven't even put the thermal pack on yet, which will cut wind noise down to being basically non-existent. We had this out in the deserts of CA, AZ, and NM, not to mention some pretty serious snowstorms out East.

This thing has so much potential... I'm really excited to get to work on it.

I didn't mention this before, but I'll be living out of it full time starting Nov/Dec.

 

My v6 access cab 6spd manual, regeared to 4.88, fully loaded with gear gets about 16mpg if I drive conservatively.

 

that’s great to hear. We were planning a build where we can sleep with it popped down. Maybe that is unnecessary..

Any options you guys think are an absolute must ? Like extra height to store sheets and stuff etc

 

Side hatch, exhaust fan, and extra height for bed sheets and mattress. Really nice to be able to pop the top and have the bed ready to go. I am able to keep the bed out and pop open/ close the camper which is really convenient.

 

I just picked up a used one and noticed a fairly significant hit to MPG. Around 15% or so.

 

Are you stock ? By any chance could we check yours out? We are up in truckee a bunch.

My gfc didn’t really have a noticeable difference. I was also pretty heavy with e rated 33s and a 2.5 inch lift so mpg was pretty horrible before too.

 

Yeah we are stock. Just added some sumo springs. We are leaving for 3 months next weekend but I'll probably be up at Donner Summit a bunch this week if you want to check it out.

 

ah bummer, we are out of town this week.

I recommend getting the ott tune. Getting about 22-23 highway with large elevation swings (Death Valley, eastern Sierra, etc) with about an extra 1k lbs and a midrise shell. We have a local guy in Reno on TW who does it.

Which sumo springs are you running? Debating bags or sumos. Had a heavy duty leaf pack previously and they suck empty.

 

The blue ones. They apparently did some more testing and recommend those up to 1400#

I'll probably get a tune after my factory warranty is up for peace of mind.

 

I've installed a floor and insulation in my camper.

I'm horrible at taking pictures to document the process, when I start working I just completely absorbed into it.

Using 1 inch XPS foam board (rated R-5) on the camper walls and roof, which will then be covered in sectional cuts of cork with a composite or treated plywood on top. Except for the roof, not sure exactly how I'm going to do the headliner, but it'll be a mixture of 1 inch foam and cork underneath.

For the floor, it's just treated wood with cork underneath. Im not filling the bed channels.

Moisture and water intrusion is inevitable, so I want my truck to be able to "breathe". Thus the air channels under the floor and in the walls.

I've done extensive work sealing the bed, but water will always find a way...

I've also set everything up so it's easily removable. I want to be able to service each part of the camper easily and make it easy for new additions down the road.

Once I'm done with the insulation, I'm going to pull it all apart and clean up so hopefully I remember to take pictures.

 

Old picture from a month or two ago -- before the walls, electrical, and a bunch of other stuff was done.

 

Looks good. Any new pics? I'm the same way. I get mostly done with a project and haven't taken any photos.

 

So much has gotten done since then, but I don't have any good pictures without tools and garbage all over the place. I'll try and take one today.

 

Is this stuff hard to work with? Where did you order it from? Looks radical

 

It's harder to work with than wood, for sure. Every screw of every join needs to be threadlocked.

Cuts need to be more precise than wood. There can be shards of aluminum flying about. You want to make sure you're using a lubricant when cutting as well.

Not terrible, but not fun.

All in all, it saved us on weight and is more durable than wood.

We ordered from McMaster-Car because they have a warehouse right by us, so we saved on shipping costs.

 

Right on I was looking online at T Nutz and you can order exactly what sizes you need and I think they thread them for you also what you need. Super cool. I have a Grainger local I’m see if they will do custom sizes for me to save on shipping also. This stuff is cheaper than wood too.! Well cheaper than my custom wood build out (I didn’t build)

 

We didn't go with pre-cut because it gave us some leeway in the build process. It we had wanted to change something mid build it would've been a lot harder -- and trust me... the final build isn't very much like what was originally planned.

 

Recent pics:

 

Obviously a lot to polish up and a bunch of things are somewhere between nascent and complete.