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1995 3.4L 5sp 4x4 Bajarader (Put the sawzall down)


bajadulce

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R.E. saddle gas tank, remember the infamous exploding GM trucks with saddle tanks out side the frame.... :rip_1:

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ahh, you mean if you get t-boned? I see. Don't campers carry 5 gallon gas cans on the back of jeeps and other places that cars can hit them? Also, if I got t-boned, there's a 50% chance it won't happen on that side. :)

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Those metal GI cans are really tuff and rarely burst from being squashed. They can exit some gas out of the cap if it is not tight enough because of the rubber gasket and I suppose it is possible to poke a hole in one. Most everyone sticks them on the rear where the likely hood of getting hit is the highest from rear enders. I like pipe bumpers. I like them with no end caps so I can stick the foot of a high lift jack in the end when stuck in the rocks or mud. C channels welded to the under side for the foot is really nice also so you can jack the wheels off the ground with out the jack popping off the bumper. And so a pipe bumper sticking about a foot past the rear allows some space to mount the cans with some bumper protection.

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So OK no problems with flambeed Toyota. All you need to do is get a bung brazed in the side of each tank at the bottom and connect them with a small gas line say 3/8" to 1/2". That will let the saddle tank drain. The top of the side tank should be higher than the main tank.

How about another tank on the other side, all it would need is a separate filler and the small hose to the main tank. That way you could carry enough fuel to get way out in the boonies before you ran out of gas :sarcasm:

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  • 1 month later...

OK Baja...... Now I know what your doing. I thought about cutting my 21ft but sold for 9k instead. I would really like to get myself back into a camper. The more projects I see the more ideas run through my head. Keep the pics and info coming your building a kick behind rig.

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  • 2 months later...
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  • 1 month later...

Hey Baja, how goes the project? I've seen some new posts by you out there, would love an update on your project.

Hope all is well, looking forward to some new pics.

KRJ

thnx for the interest Kevin. I see you've separated your coach from your rig as well? Unfortunately I haven't done too much over the winter due to all the rain + busy w/ some other projects. I did manage to get all the holes filled + rebuilt the door + door frame and did quite a bit of body work so things are still moving along. A lot of work just to get to this stage and still a long ways to go, but it has been fun and have appreciated all the feedback. thnx.

impressive thread, lots of work! subscribed!

thnx for the support. Read a little bit about your ambitions in another post. Look forward to reading about your project as well.
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  • 3 months later...

This topic is quite an interesting read. I have a project or two simmering in the background, and have recently gotten motivated on the custom camper idea.

I have a 21' Sunrader, and a 21' Dolphin, which seem to handle pretty well. I like the way they handle, and have built two custom tandem axle flat-bed trucks (one 1976 RN28 w/ 11'4" flatbed, on EZ-Ryder Frame, and one custom extended 1980 2WD pickup (14' steel Flatbed frame). I like the 1979-1983 body style, with a slight preference for the 82-83 (square headlights), but the long-beds get hard to find, and life gets interesting when you are needing a long chassis.

Anyhow, I've accumulated a boatload of RV fixtures, with the intention of building a customized RV. I like agree with you on the idea of the removable coach (I am thinking of a custom light steel (1.5" x 1.5" x 0.065" square tubing) frame, with fiberglassed sides, and a very low-profile Stake-bed flatbed, built on a customized chassis with ~50" stretch, by joininng front half of a 1983 frame to rear half of a 1980 frame I've been sitting on for a while. (This simplifies the driveline, as the longbed 2WD Toyotas have a 2-piece driveline stock, and each frame section has a bracket to mount a carrier bearing, and the only driveline section needing to be made is the ~50" center section. 160" wheelbase, ~16' camper behind cab, ~14' flatbed with stake sockets (which double as anchor points for the camper coach, which is 2' longer than the flatbed), with 4 camper jacks at the corners, with threaded steel sockets for mounting when needed, and a stowing area under the front part of the flatbed, just behind the cab, where the frame comes out straight, before the kick-up rise for the rear suspension.

We have similar ideas, different design philosophy. I am a motor-home type, versus a motor camper type, and like the dedicated stove, refrigerator, sink, etc. I do believe that room is a good thing, and I am always itching to try out new ideas.

FYI, all of the 2WD Toyota trucks have over-slung drive axles to my knowledge, with torsion arm front suspension from 1979 on.

Possible mounting method for your coach, make pegs into the botom of your coach, that fit into sockets placed in the bed (round pins would work really well), then you can use clips, like a trailer-reciever pin, against a rubber bushing or spring to maintain tension. 6-12 5/8" pins with retaining clips should be adequate, or you could use tapered-end bolts with a large wing-nut and a pin slot to keep the nut from loosening when you are not wanting the coach loose.

Kudos on your accomplishments, and on your ambition to accomplish things.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Welcome to the boards.

Your projects sound very involved as well. Swapping a single cab onto the 94 extra cab frame (122" wheelbase) netted me a lot of space behind cab. Your planned 16' of camper behind the cab is about double what I have and so is a 14' flatbed. Sounds really comfy and a super rig you're planning. Look forward to reading more in the future.

Possible mounting method for your coach, make pegs into the bottom of your coach, that fit into sockets placed in the bed (round pins would work really well), then you can use clips, like a trailer-reciever pin, against a rubber bushing or spring to maintain tension. 6-12 5/8" pins with retaining clips should be adequate, or you could use tapered-end bolts with a large wing-nut and a pin slot to keep the nut from loosening when you are not wanting the coach loose.
Those sound like great ideas. Wonder how difficult it would be to align all those? The tapered-end definitely would have an advantage here in alignment. Thnx for the suggestions.

For mounting, the shell hangs over the sides about 1' and have welded 8 short sections of square tubing around the perimeter of flatbed for stakes/sides etc.

@ camper progress:

Still haven't gotten around to fabricating any wheel wells for the truck, so haven't driven it much nor on the freeway.

Haven't taken many pics sorry.. Here tho is one that shows the new door location.

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This is a pic for some reason of the camper next door at my neighboors! :) They must have had more sun for curing the glass? The roller casters have been very helpful as I can wheel this thing anywhere around our back alley. Just wish I could slide it into the garage under the door. It misses by about a foot. :(

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haha. Well the word baja translates as "low, small, short" etc. So that's fitting.

Managed to get some sides up on the truck this weekend as well as make up some mock-up wheel wells. Eventually I'd like to fabricate these out of diamond plate as well as the rear plate that houses all the lights. I figured these plywood versions would make for nice templates for now. I slapped some fiberglass on the underside and then painted them. It actually looks half decent. Not sure how long something like this would actually last.

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I'm keeping this resin bucket as a testament to all the glass that has been applied to this project hahah.

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Might make a second shorter removable siding for toting around in the camper.

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up close. 2 bolts hold wheel wells in place.

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That looks damn nice! Did you fiberglass the fenders on all sides? They would last forever then. Diamond plate aluminium would be nice too. Steel 1/8" sheet would work also and you could weld it yourself. My present motorhome has plastic fender-wells and no rocks have broken through.

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Thnx. The bed could use some beating up that's for sure. I feel a little embarrassed driving around with such a clean freshly painted truck bed. Just need to run some errands with it for a few weeks and bang it up. :) The car is supposed to be used as a work truck around the house when not being a camper. So far, it's had a pretty easy life.

Have you driven this truck yet, with the large tires? If you have a tach, What does it tach at 60 mph in high gear, not overdrive. So if it is a 5 spd manual, use 4th gear for this test? Looks like you could build yourself a monster truck!

It's taken a full year to answer this question, but I finally got around to this test today. The tires are 31 x 10.5 15R all terrain. Here are the numbers:
  • 1st ~ 17mph @ 3000
  • 2nd ~ 30mph @ 3000
  • 3rd ~ 42mph @ 3000
  • 4th ~ 60mph @ 3000
  • 5th ~ 55mph @ 2300, 60mph @ 2500, 65mph @ 2700, 72mph @ 3000, 80mph @ 3250.

I would have liked to have tested to a higher speed for fun, but there was too much traffic haha and not needing a speeding ticket.

The truck seems to have a decent rpm at the 55-65 mph range (2300-2700 5th gear) so nothing dramatic there. It will be interesting to see how these numbers change with the full weight/drag of the shell + some all weather vs. all terrain tires.

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Well, unless your clutch is slipping, the numbers shouldn't change.

Ahh. I got tied up with the weight of camper and how much harder the truck was going to have to work. But working harder doesn't equate to higher rpms when the engine is connected to the wheels in the same way (through clutch) as it would without the shell. Makes sense now. Same deal with a torque converter and auto?
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Ahh. I got tied up with the weight of camper and how much harder the truck was going to have to work. But working harder doesn't equate to higher rpms when the engine is connected to the wheels in the same way (through clutch) as it would without the shell. Makes sense now. Same deal with a torque converter and auto?

Maybe not if the TC is a lock up type then the answer is yes, if its like the 43d in the older Toys then the added drag will cause some slippage (and heat).

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  • 4 weeks later...

Thnx for link.

Another milestone reached: The camper finally has a secure mounting system and can be driven. The camper's exterior fiberglass work is mostly done as well and is primed.

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Just when you think you're done grinding fiberglass. Solar panel mounts. I ended up cutting the plastic box on the underside of my 2 panels so they could be mounted closer to the roof. still haven't drilled that first hole for the wires! Am also shopping for a new solar charge controller. Any suggestions?

Next pics might have some interior beginnings.

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Looks like your departure angle should be barely enough for the beach :D

The buzz word is "MPPT" for solar controller and will get 15-20% more charge out of the same panel than the type your looking. Of course they cost more too, so you need to see if your set up will do what you need it to.

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15-20% is huge! I was under the impression that MPPT controllers really only put out that kind of efficiency with higher voltages like those of a typical home setup, but I guess not? I have heard of ppl wiring their 12v panels in series and then let the controller convert back to 14v (or whatever that magic # is needed for a 12v charging system) for a boost in performance vs. parallel?

@ angle of departure for beach? haha. My neighbor across the street has the same identical stock non-lifted 94 extra cab V6 4x4. Same tires and same color actually. Anywho, a few months back, we took a 6.5ft level over to his truck and shoved it under the back tire and lifted it till it touched his rear bumper. The end of the level was 36" off the ground or approx 27 degrees. My camper on the other hand measures 42" or approx 33 degrees (about a 22% increase!). I wonder what the stock 4x4 Sunrader on 14" rims comes in at?

I spent the day painting 1/2 the shell today!

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Yes I was joking about departure angle :ThumbUp: 30+ degrees should be enough.

The controller from FRY's would handle 4 panels easy.

The newer MPPT controllers work just fine with your panels in parallel

try

http://www.solar-electric.com/charge_controls/mppt.htm

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  • 3 months later...

Here's a few more pictures of some various stages of project. Most of this stuff was done back in October when we had a few of those 80 degree Indian Summer days! :) Ahhh good times. I appreciate being able to have a place to document my little project so I can refer friends curious about how things are coming along.

@ the one and only penetration for the solar cable:

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I ended up using a standard blue plastic handybox and chopped the profile down in size so it fits under the panels. The box was glassed to the roof and acts as a dam. No screws etc, just the one hole. The solar panel control boxes were also chopped off so that the panels sit closer to the roof. Still haven't had time to shop around for a controller.

@ painting:

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Finally got around to painting the rig. I ended up using a ultra smooth weenie roller and put on 2 coats. I explored marine paint, but then decided it wasn't much different than your standard metal paint. So I bought a gallon of rustoleum rusty metal primer and a gallon of high gloss white from home depot for about 30 bucks. The girl at the counter was really nice and talked her into putting some tint in the paint. The body work isn't perfect and there are some waves, but I had to quit at some point. Mother nature's hot October days was telling me "it's good enough, now get some paint on before I get mad."

@ interior progress:

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The walls have used the same construction technique as the previous go around (rigid insulation + thin skins glassed to floor, ceiling, and window frames) except they are made of frp. The panels are a bit expensive@ 30 bucks a pop, but they are completely rot proof, mildew proof as well as pest proof. Seams and joints mend far superior with fiberglass than the wooden door skins and make for less paint too. Not sure how many feet of fiberglass tape was used, but it was a lot. Everything is completely sealed off and the only screws that were used were on the ceiling joists as well as the 3 studs where the front windows once resided. No rodent will ever get past this without gnawing a crap load of fiberglass which seems unlikely.

The truck has been finally put to a lot of use and several hundred miles added to it including a few full tanks of gas that didn't leak. Having a camper that can be used as a truck while not in use rather than just parked was worth all the trouble.

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Even though it took about an hour to open this page with my slow dial-up, I enjoyed your latest post.

So you read about the '$50 Paint Job'? Yours looks like a million.

If Greg reads this, maybe there's a setting he could change so that it doesn't take 100 posts before another page starts. 50 perhaps. But for now, I'm going to have to spend an hour for each of the next 55 posts for it to download!

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So you read about the '$50 Paint Job'? Yours looks like a million.

If Greg reads this, maybe there's a setting he could change so that it doesn't take 100 posts before another page starts. 50 perhaps. But for now, I'm going to have to spend an hour for each of the next 55 posts for it to download!

I agree, nice glass work!

Derek you can set the number of posts on a topic page in your preferences, "Your control panel - forums - board preferences.

I think the default is 40 but you can set it from 5 to 55

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Sorry Derek.. ya I tend to ramble on this site and before I know it have posted a novel complete with a pictorial history. I also keep posting url's for pics rather than upload them as attachments to Greg's forum. Maybe if they were uploaded locally this might help.

Also, there are 2 sections of the camper that don't have any insulation. Both are the transition areas (front and back) where the walls meet the raised roof. i.e. above the back window and above the pass-through region. I've noticed that there is a lot of condensation in those areas to the point of dripping. I suppose I could add some insulation and another skin like the remaining walls, but was wondering what the stock Sunrader utilizes in this area? Maybe foam insulation + cloth? Dunno.

thnx Greg. If you ever have a little free time to spare, I'd love to swing by Aptos some lunch break and run some ideas past you before continuing with the interior.

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No need to change what you're doing. Especially on my account. I'm guessing that I'm one of the few still on dial-up. Add in the fact that I'm still 'technically' on a 'Party Line' (it's a party of one though) and have 'Pulse' dialing and a rotary phone (great during power cuts) and I feel safe saying that I'm unique!! It didn't help that I recently did a fresh install of Win XP (curse you Bill Gates), so there were none of the pictures in Cache!

I guess you 'reinvented the wheel. Try Googling '$50 paint job'. It's famous! I kind of expect to be using the same technique myself as it's going to be able to match the colour AND texture of the original 'house where repairs are needed.

To insulate your curved surfaces, you could use a 1" thick closed cell neoprene. It's available in sheets and can be glued up with contact cement. The tricky part would be what to cover it up with. I'm not sure how your preferred method (fiberglass) would react with the neoprene/EPDM.Think 'wet suit' material.

http://www.canalrubber.com/closed-cell-neoprene.html

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Also, there are 2 sections of the camper that don't have any insulation. Both are the transition areas (front and back) where the walls meet the raised roof. i.e. above the back window and above the pass-through region. I've noticed that there is a lot of condensation in those areas to the point of dripping. I suppose I could add some insulation and another skin like the remaining walls, but was wondering what the stock sunrader utilizes in this area? Maybe foam insulation + cloth?

thnx Greg. If you ever have a little free time to spare, I'd love to swing by Aptos some lunch break and run some ideas past you before continuing with the interior.

If I remember correctly our Sunrader had carpet glued to those transitions. I suppose it would act a little like insulation, I just figured it was for condensation barrier. I see in home building they use some expando foam in wall spaces. They spray it in-between the studs, let it expand then trim off the excess flush with the stud then fasten the interior sheet rock on. The R value is really high.

I would love to put my eyes on that creation of yours! Do you have any of my phone numbers?

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... At some later date I would like to reconfigure the roof above the bunk to accommodate for a large sunroof/vent which will allow for some roof support i.e. boxed in. This will provide a little more ventilation. Not sure if this will be enough tho to eliminate this condensation. I really am burned out on doing more fiberglass work, but if it needs it, I'll do it. Any alternative suggestions?

I know you like things light and simple, but a couple of times I've thought it would be kind of cool to cut out a car roof section that had a power tilt & slide electric glass moonroof. You could glass the whole section in.More complexity could be added to wire in the automatic 'rain sensors' that Cadillac(?) uses (to turn on wipers) to close the roof if it starts to rain while you're driving or away from the 'home.

Many of the 'moon roofs' have built in sliding sun screens built in that could be modified to be a bug screen.

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  • 2 weeks later...

An electric sliding sunroof does sound fun.

@ Condensation:

I bit the bullet (read more work), and went ahead and insulated these 2 transition areas with the same composition as the walls. Unlike the walls which are are held firmly in place by windows, floor, ceiling + future cabinetry, these overhead areas will need some sort of way to fasten them in place. So some abs pipe ripped in half to be used as lightweight mild/rot proof studs. Pictures:

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1-1/2 inch abs

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glued with abs cement + glassed. the glue prob strong enough just by itself!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thnx to some incredible near 70 degree February weather, managed to finish the last of the insulation-wall fabrication in the overhead bunk. The camper is now 100% insulated/condensation free! This easily was the nastiest of all the fiberglassing involved in the entire project due to the tight working area and probably why it was left for last. :nuke::sick:

Before anything got started tho, the sagging overhead bunk roof needed desperate attention. The roof probably sagged a good 2" at the lowest spot as seen in the pics below! My wife would like some more headroom in the overhead bunk, so chopped out a good portion of roof for a pop-up hatch that allowed for some structural framing support. Tho the hatch could have been made even bigger, it's amazing how much more freedom to get in and out of the compartment with this added headroom.

Anywho, here's some more rudimentary pics.

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Look familiar?

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Here's the newly added support in the form of some 50 year old 1x redwood siding. I hate adding wood and additional weight to the camper, but this just seemed the easiest and best way to get some rigidity in this area. It has to be of decent width as well since this is used flat on its side. Of course it was glued and glassed to the shell all around. The black ABS pipe "nailing" blocks can also been seen as well which is much more of an ideal material.

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This picture shows the gluing/glassing stage used throughout the project. Any seam had a piece of wood temporarily screwed to the backing for a flush surface for glassing. The redwood ceiling supports however are permanent and these screws are used for gluing purposes. All screws were of course removed after the glue and glass on the supports cured. You'll notice that the redwood supports aren't glued flush with the opening (band of green). This allows the cutout piece to overlap the opening.

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And we're back to normal! One could probably stand on the new section, but I won't.

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When you do the canvas sides, see if your guy can install a couple of the real glass rear windows that some convertibles used. That way you can check out the surf without even getting out of bed. They will also last much longer than the plastic stuff.

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