Casper's "I did a bad thing" micro off road camper build

Wow great welding skills, looking awesome. That next trip after all the great changes is going to feel like a different camper.

 

I was next in line ha ha

 

Damn we’re old frats

 

Didnt I post some pics of Key West here? Did someone find them offensive?

 

It's getting there I still have a bit to go I'm going to try and have the box pretty much done this weekend. I spent all this evening welding a lock n roll hitch on another camper for the dealer. The biggest pain is always getting the stock hitch off ceanly

 

didn't bother me. I always love the colors you see when you get in the carribean

 

Uh, yes, yes we are. There's about 10 or so of us tw members over 50 in the "area" it would be nice to have a get together. I've met most of them and all are good folks.

 

I am not sure why they would have offended anyone.... Strange

 

Did somebody say something? I surely didn’t see anything wrong

 

Let me know if y'all head down to the Great Smokey National Park. I'd come up from Georgia for a weekend.

 

Hell yeah that would be a nice little trip idk shit about the area but good to find out

 

Support structure for the box is done. 3" x 3/16 channel should support the load in the box. It's needed as how far the box will stick out past the frame as the frame tapers out toward the tongue.

 

Chris that tongue lock and roll thingy you put on what is the purpose?

 

Articulation basically. It pivots and rolls on both the truck side and the trailer side allowing much more free movement in f the camper and ndependant of the truck. It’s also a much more secure hitch. Since our plans ( when all this is done) is to go off road on fire roads and stuff this will allow the camper to move on it’s own

 

@Casper66 have you thought about triple towing? See this post for more details

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/thoughts-on-this-triple-tow-setup.552871/

 

THE BOX lol is really is just a box.

Well this ought to be about pic heavy as crap I took pictures all along the way. It really is just a box but nobody made what I needed especially in the size I needed.
With the purchase of our fridge and the tiny size of our camper it left us with nowhere to keep it. When we took it camping a month or so ago it had to stay outside on the ground which didn't make me happy at all. It left it subject to the weather and theft. We didn't feel like we could leave the camper for long for fear something could happen.
With no real place to put it I decided to create space and this whole project snowballed into 4 projects. First I had to extend the toungue to create room, done, relocate the spare, done, extend the frame outwards for support, done, and build the box itself.
The fridge is required to have at least 4" of air space around it for good circulation and cooling. I had to add the fridge slide for the height also and take all the measurements to figure out what dimensions we needed the box to be. I ended up with 24"x24"x60" with a door on each end. One side is for the fridge and the other is storage for tools and such since I can't use the tongue tool box anymore.

The whole box is framed with 1"x1" angle for rigidity, something to weld the sheet metal to, and stronger points to drill mounting holes in. All said and done it took about 48' of angle to frame the box and doors.





In went the bottom plate all the sheet metal is 16ga



I added a divider to seperate the 2 compartments and to allow better air circulation I cut the middle out and added expanded metal



Now the tideous process of welding all the sheet metal. Tedious because I had to go slow to keep the metal cool so it wouldn't warp on me. If you've ever done this kind of work and hear that BONG sound it'l make you cringe because your screwed unless ya just don't care. So, on went the sides and top. The face on the ends is actually the angle frameing.




As a biproduct of having a little sheet metal leftover I went ahead and bought some more angle which brought me up to almost 60'. I built a cool little shelf that pins into the top of the spare tire carrier and rests on the tire itself. I welded 2 runners inside the tool compartment side so the shelf just slides right in for storage. I haven't painted the shelf yet I need to figure out something to put on top of it so it slides in and out without knocking the paint off.





Next came the doors, the only part that made me a little nervous, I framed them with the 1x angle also but flipped it so the prutruding edge went inside the box helping to weather proof it. Each was installed with 3 weld on hinges, skinned with the 16ga, and the hasps were located to the rear so they're not visible to the outside. The fridge side was a trick as I needed the bottom to be flush with no lip so the fridge slide could slide in and out properly. I cut the part of the frameing in the doorway at the bottom off so it was flush with the floor and welded another piece underneith giving a solid sealing surface all the way around also beefing up the door opening to eliminate flex when the slide comes out.





I painted the interior green to somewhat match the camper and I just wanted a brighter color inside the compartments to help see stuff. The exterior was sanded, coated with etching primer, 3 coates of DIY bedliner rolled on, and 3 coates of satin black spray paint.





I cut holes and installed 2 4"x5" stainless boat vents toward the bottom in the front and the top in the rear. This is to help with ventillation and heat to escape. Also, to help keep it cool I added 2" spacers and a sheet of diamond plate aluminum to deflect some heat, the 2" air gap as a insulator, and in the future I can make rails to go around it and it can be a light duty cargo rack.



So today was the big day and I got out early and started getting ready to mount it to the camper. I had to get a neighbor to help me as the box probably weighs around 175lbs. We got it on there then just had to drill the holes and mount it to the frame. I ran boat seal around the doors, mounted the drawer slide and installed the 12v power outlet (still have to run the wires) Then it thunderstormed! I checked and no leaks! Yey! So I put the fridge in and it fits like a glove.








So, it's pretty much done to the tune of almost 60' of angle, 2 full sheets of 16ga, hinges, vents, seals, and i still have to insulate the roof with some foam (I forgot about that) Total cost in materials for just this project is around $650 for all combined around $850. This is above and beyond the cost of the fridge, cover, and slide.

This may not be everybody's cup of tea but it suits our needs. There's a little more bling than I wanted with the diamond plate and vents but they serve a purpose. It's not perfeect or pretty but it works (kinda like me) I need to finish up some details now and we're ready to go camping!

 

Nice work man

 

@Casper66 I noticed your rear awning set up and I like it. Is it a pain in the ass to set up/take down?
Does it hold up to moderate wind?
How has it held up over time?
I am thinking about ordering one for my trailer to cover the same area, kitchen/fridge.

 

We like it so far. It is a little subject to wind so if it is windy I attach a couple of tarp clamps to each side and run paracord to an additional stake on each side. I haven't had any bad issues at all with it. We only use 2 of the poles at the outer 2 corners instead of the 4 which is nice as it lets you pick a height range you like. It sets up in about 10-15 minutes and tears down as quickly. It stores in a compact bag and it's light. We may go with an ARB eventually but only to be able to add the annex room. Hope this helps a little. Yes I would buy again.

 

Nice work Chris!