1 Bored Clerk's Garage Built Camper

I am what I am.

 

My new awning parts should be ready mid next week. I'm not gonna lie, I'll be excited to wrap this whole thing up. At this rate, it should be sometime in January.

 

So, I think the next purchase for the camper has to be the heater. Where that ends up being located dictates solutions in other areas.

Heater mounting Options:

1. Front wind deflector addition. This would be a very tight fit but I think it would work. Would be nice to use that space for storage inside the camper though.

2. Under the camper. There's room but then I have to run the ducting outside and up a wall to get to a reasonable vent location inside the camper

3. In the bottom of the kitchen box. This gives me great access to it for install/service and a place to run the venting up the corner of the box inside. Takes up space but I don't think I need as much as I have in that box. I can design around it I think. There is already a fuse block in the same box too. Unsure what the heat issues may be inside that box.

There are other locations that could work but they are weird and have their own issues:

1. In a box on the roof rack. I'd have weird hoses and tubes going back to the camper...exposed and goofy looking.

2. Just inside the camper door on the floor. There's room but vent placement is limited and not ideal as it would be easy to get a blanket over the top of it at night. Plus, I do like storing shoes there but I can work with that.

I think I just need to get one in my hands and fiddle with it.

 

Of those options. I'd choose the kitchen. Out of the way, but yet easy to install, and don't loose limited interior space.

 

That's the way I'm leaning. I haven't designed the interior of my kitchen box yet but I'm sure I can work around the heater. In fact, I may have dead space right where that heater would sit if I go with a fold out/swing down stove/work surface.

I'm adding a wind deflector nose to the camper anyway but I'm liking the idea of opening up the interior to that space for more storage. Can't go wrong with more places to jam stuff in a small camper.

 

@1 Bored Clerk how does this camper work for you for basic life?
I love the camper, but the amount of actual use id be able to get out of it, vs driving around with extra drag, weight, and not having my truck bed would ruin it for me. Is this a play vehicle for you and you have a daily driver? If this is your daily vehicle are you still happy having it on there all the time?

 

This is a solid topic and good questions. I thought about this a lot. I've had times in my life where I only had a motorcycle and got by just fine. I'd rent a car/truck on the rare occasions I needed more. When I was married, we both used one vehicle for probably 5 years. Now that I'm single, I have my truck and a motorcycle. So, it doesn't really bother me to make compromises in that department. I have a utility trailer for normal truck stuff which helps a lot and in a lot of ways is more convenient depending on what you're trying to load/carry. And it's payload is WAY higher than the truck.

I tend to build my vehicles (motorcycle and truck) to be really good at the part I enjoy the most and accept the tradeoffs in daily usability. The truck isn't any more difficult to drive around town and run errands then it used to be without a camper. It handles and accelerates fine enough for me and it's comfy. The one place it kind of sucks is in the hauling something bigger than the front seat but smaller than a trailer full. It's rare but it does happen. It's a bit like having something like a Miata as your only car...which I have also done.
Come to think of it, my miata was also very purpose built and compromised. Turbo, no top or side windows, stripped interior. Awesome on back roads! I did drive it that way to Colorado and back like that once. It was pretty fun.

So, I may be a corner case in that I enjoy building stuff, driving it around in scenarios that dont make any sense in order to REALLY enjoy driving it in exactly the manner I built it for.

If I had to parallel park in downtown Portland, manage kids and parking garages and stuff like that on the daily, I would probably have a camp trailer or a second car. But I can buy A LOT of gas for the costs associated with a second car. So, I'll keep going like I am and I'll make some tweaks to improve the experience a bit (weight and aero) and be a happy camper.

 

Literally!

 

Awesome. Have wondered this the entire thread.

 

New awning mount parts are in the house!


As one might imagine, these weigh nothing. I probably saved 20lbs or so. Totally worth it. Made a few tweaks that cut weight and simplify assembly as well so that's a nice bonus.

It's supposed to rain solid for the next 10 days so that's fun. I'll de burr this and get all of my holes transferred then wait for a reasonably dry spot to test fit and finish up the rack cross bars.

 

Finally got out into the garage again after over a month off.


Deburred all of the edges. They're pretty sharp after laser cutting.


After seeing the pros in the shop at work using deburring tools like this, I decided to get a set. As with most things, when a pro makes something look easy it's because they've done it a lot. I'm getting the feel for the steel tool but I'm pretty sure I make more burrs in aluminum than I remove. Not surprised as aluminum is softer and stickier.



Transferred all of the holes for the awning. Fingers crossed it all lines up. I made a quick template from the steel unit rather than wrestling with the awning.

A little dry weather and some motivation will see this and the roof rack cross bars ready for powdercoat. Hoping to get this project wrapped up in January but final install will require a couple of days of dry weather for the sealant to properly cure. Don't want any leaks into my kitchen box or rear storage locker.

 

Now I have a shiny and much lighter version of a thing I already made.




All mounting holes and spacer plates are ready to go. The only thing left is to get the roof crossbar mounts finished that interface with this awning mount. That requires fitting it all up on the truck. I may get the awning mount powder coated now so when I do get dry weather to fit it all up, I can permanently mount the awning mount when I start work on the crossbars.

So, do I powdercoat this the same gray as my wheels or the same black as everything else on the truck? I'm leaning toward black but I'm up for other options that may be more fun.

 

Black

 

Straight and to the point. I like the confidence.

 

I don’t beat around the bush

 

I also say black.

Of course, looking at my truck, all my add-ons are black. I like the contrast against the white.

 

That's why I bought a white truck. I also like the contrast. Though if Toyota had a red I liked in 2013, I may have gone crazy and bought that.

 

Yeah, black on the correct red looks really good as well.

 

Stroke of incredible luck! No rain today! Well, not until late this afternoon. It was supposed to rain all day up until I went to bed. Woke up to partly sunny skies and no rain. Crazy.


Mocked everything up on the truck.


Mocked up the end brackets for the crossbars and marked them for welding.


Drill a hole in the center. Weld in place and grind profile down to something approximating a smooth radius. And just like that, everything is ready for powdercoat!

Last item to think about before powdercoat. The 270 awning has a strap on the end to tie back to a bracket to keep it open and taught. I don't have a specific provision for that at this point. I may just drill a 1/4" hole in the back left upright if the roof rack cross bar so I can throw in a stainless eye bolt that I could clip a carabineer to for the awning. I'll think on that today and make a decision before the end of the day. But right now, I need to take advantage of the dryness and go for a run.

 

Eyebolt will create wind noise while driving, we expect more of you