OutbackHack's Build, solving problems with metal

Rocked this overly complicated latching system for 2 years on my 60/40 split bumper swingouts. Worked ok, nothing fell off the truck, but learned a few things:
1. vertical spring-pin latches have a tendency to ice up and leave you unable to open your tailgate when you get to the base of the slopes, forcing you to pour warm washer fluid from the engine bay all over the latch if you want to get your skis out of the back
2. horizontal pull style latches require some kind of horizontal hook/catch, which are positioned right at the rear of the bed waiting to catch and damage pants, fingers, legs, etc everytime you climb in/out.
3. making the shorter swingout the primary latch (last to close, first to open) is fine until you put your bike rack on the longer swingout, then it becomes a pain to open/close everytime


So let's make this simpler, less likely to freeze up in the winter, and less likely to rip my pants.

Started with a 4xInnovation latch, modified it by drilling out the pivot point so that instead of a little bolt (3/8"?) I've got a larger (7/8") fixed shaft coming off the end of one swing arm and a corresponding socket on the other arm. A locking shaft collar holds the latch in place so it can't slide off the shaft.






And the next camper related project, adding a cheap $100 chinese diesel heater (what could go wrong) before winter gets here. Need to weld up a metal enclosure so we'll feel safer about the fire risk. Will have to allocate one of my jerry can mounts for diesel unfortunately, instead of having both available for petrol, but realistically not planning any trips where we'd need the full extra 10 gallons of gas for the truck.

 

Slow couple weeks, but trying to get a boat load of interior updates done before fall/winter camping season.

Working on building out electrical panels for managing power usage, switches for lights, heater controls, inverter, and shore power hookup/battery maintainer. Installing 2kw diesel (in a fire/sound proof enclosure) and 1.5kw electric heaters and insulating the walls/tent.
Lots to do...

 

Ironing out the issues with the diesel heater. Enclosure does a good job quieting the fan noise, but the fuel pump is super loud. Suspended it from a cable tie under the bed, rapped in a rubber sleeve to try and absorb noise, but can still hear it clearly inside the camper. The noise may be traveling via the hard plastic fuel line, so next step will be to add some more slack & bends in the lines, and maybe add some more mass to the sleeve I have it enclosed it.

Also discovered that when the heater is running the interior LED lights flicker with each cycle of the fuel pump, so I'll have to try adding a capacitor or something else to the light circuit to smooth out the voltage.

 

Added some shelves, insulated floor, and finished the diesel heater install, just in time for winter activities.

 

Have any pics or details about your diesel heater install? I’ve got one in the garage I’m going to work on getting setup for my wedge camper next week.

 

Mostly just the pics I've posted in this thread already, but I could take a few more if you're interested. The heater is one of those cheap $150ish 2kw heaters from Amazon. I bought a different fuel tank which would fit in the jerry can swing-out mounts I have on my rear bumper since I didn't want to store that much fuel inside the camper, I just need to improve the fuel line routing since it kind of hangs out currently and could potentially snag on a passing tree branch. I removed the rear-left cubby from the bed so I could route the exhaust and fuel lines under the truck without having to cut anymore holes in the bed, then just bent+drilled some aluminum sheet to mount to the same holes that the cubby was bolted into. I made a simple bracket to bolt the end of the exhaust tube + muffler to my rear bumper so it doesn't bounce around.

My 3 complaint so far that I'm trying to resolve are:
1. Fuel pump noise, by far the biggest issue. I've tried hanging the pump with ties so that it's not hardmounted to the bed, wrapping the pump in rubber, and adding slack to the fuel lines, but the thumping of the pump is still really audible when trying to sleep in the camper.
2. Fan noise, it's pretty loud at anything above the lowest setting. One youtube video showed this can be due to cheap chinesium bearings in the fan motor, so I bought some higher quality bearings but haven't had a chance to swap them in yet.
3. Thermostat, the cheap dial that the heater came with seems to have a range maybe 15 clicks which you would think would mean a range of settings for the heater. But as far as I can tell there's only 2 (high and low) depending on air temperature, so the heater is either blasting full throttle or barely ticking along and nowhere in between. FWIW, I was out in sub-20 degree temps the other night above 5,000ft and the low setting was fine for keeping it almost 50 degrees inside, so this is a minor complaint.

 

Thanks for the info! Mine is also the Chinese 2kw. After I posted I scrolled up and saw the pics... derp

 

Your keeping busy modding I love it. My camper is still nowhere to be seen
My pandemic modding took a crazy turn when I got a Welder from HF. Now of course I think of making endless projects out of aluminum and steel.
I also changed my swingout latch (for the first time) Started with 4xInnovations and change to rotary latch after seeing BAMF's new swingout...
Made an overly complicated table on the swingout with supports under the table so my fridge slide doesn't run into cable ties.
Question for you about what looks like a rear camera on the back of your camper.
Which one did you get? Where is the screen? Is it full-time rearview mirror replacement or just back up help?
I just bought one haven't installed it yet.

 

Good looking table, I keep thinking about adding one to my swingout but hasn't made it to top of the mod list yet. Having a welder means never running out of potential truck mods, just never have enough time.

It's actually just the stock backup camera from the tailgate, I made an extended wire harness and bent some thin aluminum sheet into a mount for it up high for maximum visibility. So it only comes on in reverse, but I would like to do the anytime camera mod cause visibility out the back of the camper isn't great.

 

Would you be willing to share the details on your fuel tank? I thought about something similar but couldn't find something that I could tap the fuel line into. Thanks for sharing your build, its awesome!

 

I’m using a Risk Racing 3gal (10L). It fits loosely in my jerry can mount, made of the same plastic as the fuel tank which came with my heater originally so despite the manufacturer disclaimers, I think it’s fine for storing diesel (but wouldn’t recommend gasoline in it). And Its cheap enough that I didn’t feel bad drilling holes in it, didn’t want to risk one of my Scepter MFC’s on this project, but if the heater ends up working out long term I might switch to using one of those.

Risk Racing 00144 White Utility Jug

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CXD1938/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabt1_OL8VFbHAKZRG6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

Thank! What did you use for a fuel line fitting? My issue is that I always seem to find the ones that need a nut from inside

 

This is looking really good. I'm a DIY guy too and love design/build stuff. Outstanding and keep us up to date
Zim

 

Not sure if this helps, but I'm just using the fuel line fitting that the heater came with. The nut is on the outside of the tank and you just have to clamp the fitting to hold it in place while tightening the nut... not great but it hasn't leaked so far. It looks like this:

 

That's super helpful, thanks! That's different than what my heater came with

 

Not sure this project was worth the effort, but I guess I don’t have rear seats now. Got some big travel coming up (hopefully) so we need all the storage space we can get in the cab.


probably should have made it an inch lower, the metal frame can be cut and shortened if I manage to find the time.

 

Any more updates? I really enjoyed looking through this as I'm thinking about taking on a similar build for myself.

 

Not much building going on lately, sold our house back in March and moved to an apartment in Denver. Most of my tools are in storage so projects are on hold till we hopefully buy a house with a garage again next summer.

Made the most of camping around Colorado and Utah this summer, planning do some high altitude winter camping soon, hoping the diesel heater in the camper can cope with the thinner air since I haven't been able to test it yet above ~6,000ft. Had to upgrade the control unit since I couldn't get it to run here (worked fine at the lower elevations in the PNW, but it was running too fuel-rich and flaming out above 5,000ft)

 

Are you sure you're not my long lost brother? LMAO. You fab exactly like I do and it's fun to watch it all happen.
Zim