bajadulce

My original 18' 20r 4spd Sunrader averaged just under 22 mpg over a 4,500 mile trip. Most of the speeds under 55 mph btw and as low as 45 mph for extended periods. Like mulwyk describes, it had very very little weight. No grey/black water tanks, nor oven, water heater, blah blah blah. My shell is now even shorter by 16", but is on the 3.0 V6 4x4 with bigger 15" rims/tires etc. I have no idea what kind of gas mileage I will get now, but a wild guess would be around 16ish maybe a tad more if I drive super conservative. Time and calculator will tell. If you're planning on doing some South American travel, you might just buy your vehicle there? You could get a hold of some nice diesel trucks that aren't available to us here in the U.S. You'd have to sell the car in the end (can't bring it back to states) OR leave it stored there for future trips maybe? I like the van idea as mentioned. I had several VW buses as a kid and they were great campers. Had a Toyota van too, but it lacked the headroom needed for a camping vehicle without some modification. The modern european van nowadays however is tall and really popular van camper such as the sprinter etc. Pricey tho. I guess one of the best options for us in the U.S. might be to do a diesel swap in our toys until future more efficient products become available to us. Pretty sad situation regarding fuel economy domestic trucks fit for RV/campers.

Those are some of the best in terms of dimensions/practicality. Thnx for posting. I've posted links to their website a few times in my own thread. Always fun to see them pop up now and then as they don't get nearly the exposure/credits they deserve. Pretty much blow away those yuppie Earthroamer hollywood rigs! I really like how "low key" and practical they are as opposed to the typical flashy expo vehicle covered with logo stickers and labels. I have definitely been inspired by their simple no-frills silhouette/lines when building my own backyard poor man's rig. Too bad those series70 chassis trucks aren't available here in the U.S. Anywho.. here's more if you want to check out further. www.tourfactory.de warning: The .pdf catalog contained on their site is pure tech porn. Don't let your wife catch you browsing it! photo album Africa trek

I drove the camper to Watsonville to a commercial scale today and then about 70 miles after that on bumpy back streets, hills, and back home on the freeway cruising @ 60mph in 5th gear. The camper is for the most part fully loaded with all the pots, pans, and misc camp gear. It weighed in at an alarming 4750# including myself @ 185# +/- 15# . Probably about 400-800 more pounds of food, passenger, and additional misc gear to go into the rig bringing it close to 6000# for any extended travel. Which is about 2,000 more pounds than I was hoping for (dream on - reality check). The spring plates don't look that stressed out, but they are definitely under a load compared to the bare flatbed. The 4 plates aren't "flat" but they certainly don't have that springy arch look to them. I suppose this is normal for trucks with and without loads? The lines of the camper look pretty level and am very content with the current elevations (see attached image). Beefing up the stock 4x4 spring plates seems like the right thing to do (add a leaf), but I am not keen on the idea of the empty flatbed being that much higher than it already is and requiring me to lift my camper higher off the ground. So I bought a set of those firestone airbags online today and will try those out. I'm not trying to raise the car, just want to relieve a little stress on the springs for those bumps and ruts at higher speeds. Is this the right approach?

John, the interior FRP walls are fused flush to the window frames with fiberglass tape then sanded, patched, painted etc. There are some images of the tape/walls before painting in an earlier post you can reference. Rigid insulation + FRP just happen to match the thickness of the sunrader's window frames in my instance. The interior wall to window assembly is thus pretty permanent so: The window frames themselves are actually glassed to the camper shell - Both on the inside and out. I'm sure there a lot of readers shaking their heads at this idea, but it has worked before on other older campers in years past and I didn't want to deal with maintaining seals. The manufacturer didn't do such a great job cutting out windows very precisely either and so permanently glassing in the frames probably helps in this regard too. In theory the frames should be 100% waterproof. However, YES, the rubber "seals" between the glass and frames are thus under some stress/movement due to the fact the frames don't have anywhere to go for the nominal contraction and expansion from heat/cold such as they would with butyl tape. The nightmare of course would be if a window should happen to get shattered. The bodywork needed to get a nice clean radius of fiberglass/bondo to the exterior frames without a bunch of unsightly waves is a challenge in itself but is acceptable with a little work. Anywho, I admit it's a bit different and borders on being called a "hack job" and wouldn't recommend doing this without considering the consequences, but these motorhomes aren't made of gold like some ppl seem to think and its ok to take a grinder to an aluminum window frame so that fiberglass can stick to it if that's your urge. Just hope the antique motorhome conservatory doesn't come after you!

Resto project looks good. The camber added to roof profile is especially nice. Gjob. I think 1/2" plywood should be plenty for a floor if you have decent framework especially if you seal with a layer of fiberglass which would be a big help in terms of waterproofing and the strength benefits of a composite-like skin. I'd prime the plywood with a layer of resin and let it cure before adding fiberglass. This seems to help a lot in terms of glass bonding to plywood as I've learned by past work delaminating. You'll need to scratch up this new new coat of resin of course. FRP is great as WME and 85Mirage have stated. The great thing about FRP is that fiberglass will bond to it meaning you can 100% fuse seams and corners together if you so desired such an environment. The smooth "back" surface of FRP can make for a really nice smooth gel coat like surface if you happen to need that application. Good stuff for the price. You can even ADD layers of glass if you need a beefier/thicker panel. My entire roof is actually made of FRP. ~3 layers of glass were added to the textured side to beef up the thickness (grinded/roughed up first of course) and used in this reverse fashion.

gotta love those barnyard mechanics/engineers. I found a turnbuckle laying around the house and for fun rigged something to see how it might work out. I was only able to lower the bed of the truck by about 4" (which is actually quite substantial in terms of jacking up camper). Guess will have to live with jacking up the camper the extra 1/2 foot for now till further investigation. The vehicle passed its smog test Took it for a little spin up the mountain for a test. Truck definitely drives differently with the camper shell on ha ha. Need to concentrate on beefing up the stock suspension of vehicle now before doing any kind of trip. a forum member sent a pm describing how all the pictures on this thread weren't displaying (site they were hosted on went belly up) So spent some time and uploaded all of them to Greg's site.

Thnx. The airbags seem like a reasonable solution. I don't think I could remove any spring plates tho as this still has the stock ones (maybe 4 total) not like the RV. And how reliable are airbags? Would hate to have my camper be stuck bottomed out somewhere cause an airbag burst. Any ideas on how to safely rig up something that can winch the axle closer to the frame maybe? Even 4-6" would be a big help. Or is this just not feasible?

Progress report/update for my internet social network of family and friends I went ahead and mounted the mirrors on the shell in a similar fashion using some leftover abs lol. Was able to use the old sunrader mirrors and so this cost about 2 bucks. Haven't really tried them out yet so not sure how much vibrating they do. They easily come off by just removing the pin/bolt. Went a little crazy with the leftover abs and fabricated a gutter for above my door... Got the interior built over the summer. Pretty much same floorplan as first go around minus the 2' of course. This time around tho did a better job keeping the weight down by using 1/4" for all the cabinet doors and other areas and 1/2" for tabletops + benches and drawers. Used about 1 full sheet of both sizes for cabinetry. table comes apart if extra space is needed. 3" ABS leg with an ABS toilet flange screwed to underside. Gel battery stored on the floor in the step cabinets to the bunk area (old pass through) thnx to the extra room resulting from moving the door. Same dowel to run down the 3 drawer handles to keep the drawers locked in place while in transit. Hey it's cheap and it worked on last camper over miles and miles of bumpy dirt roads without any issues. Countertop is some light vinyl floor tiles that I added some grout to. Looks like fake tile. Was cheapest thing that jumped out at me. turned out nice. got around to building the aluminum dplate wheel wells from the plywood mockups Would like to implement a way to compress the rear leaf springs so that I can backup the truck without having to jack up the camper so high. As it is, the flatbed of the truck without any cargo nor metal bed is as you can imagine very high in the rear. Here's a picture of how high camper has to be jacked up in order to slip the truck underneath it.

Hey those are really slick! I would love to find something similar for my own rig. We have some paper blinds in our house that can be pulled up in the traditional manner OR lowered from the top thus exposing the upper half of our window. This "reversible" feature is something I would like to use in the camper as well. I guess the tracks are for if you want to drive with the blinds down? Maybe windy days? Or perhaps to shield light from getting in through sides? They seem a bit overkill, but I like the concept. Interested to see what more you find out about these.

Good advice. I might be guilty of taking that to the extreme tho @ Steve's PVC solar rack: Nice use of everyday used materials. Agree w/ Lee that clamps would be best for stated reasons. The rust/flexibility being the most beneficial. Might consider adding a "T" with a "leg" in the middle of those runs for some support (legs could even be glassed to roof and/or base for convenient removal). Seems like a long span for PVC. EDIT: didn't see the metal lining inserts first read through. nevermind

nice work! Dolphinite: Curious what the story is behind your avatar picture and the odd spikes on your wheel hub? That happen naturally?

Cookbook swap = winner idea I'd go just for that alone. Hope it's HOT HOT HOT! That river looks like a fun dip! The wedding services advertised in the campground's brochure/link tho are concerning.

Gotta check out your blog here soon for the pics! Sounds like an epic trip and something you've dreamed of doing for a long time. Here's to an extended Alaskan summer and the long days ahead! What time is it getting dark up there now? Can't believe June 21st is just around the corner. You should have a solstice party from your camp! Also.. Holly crap 5,612 miles (some of it gravel roads) divided by 12 = ? ... fires up handy microsoft window's calculator application... = 467.666666 miles/day in what some would consider a fancy moving truck! I thought you were retired John? You spent a lot of time getting your rig ready for this once in a lifetime trip and your hard work is proving itself. My rig would have fell apart after 3 days of that! lol. Just sayin... just because your rig is proving to be bullet proof, don't you go trying to keep up with that well oiled machine. I'm just a little concerned for your safety and hope that average starts dropping now that you're there and will be parking it. ... Subscribed!

Sounds like a fun trip dogre. Should have spent another 57 days "down there" before heading back north to this year's crazy winter. Still raining here in Santa Cruz, CA in May! Waiter: One week trip from Ohio to SanFelipe? Hope you catch all green lights or sprout some wings! Slow down you "jet-setter"!

Nice campers (and trucks) Steve! Love the whale painted on the 1935 flatbed. Prob in hindsight, you could have used a little forward slope on the front of those overhead cabs, tho gas was less than $1.00 a gallon back then and you were just cruising at less than heavy wind drag speeds Fun stuff and great pics. Bet you have lots of memories w/ those gems.

Ya that is how I envisioned mounting it. How do you find this stuff? My only concern is that the mirror might not be very steady and end up being very blurry from vibration? Guess the only way to find out is to actually do it and experiment. Would be nice if the mirror could be folded or removed out of the way while not in use.

My wheel fenders didn't last a year! Kinda knew this would happen and watched them get progressively worse. They were intended to be templates for some eventual dplate aluminum, but I guess that will happen sooner now. @ camper progress: Finished sanding/prepping/painting the interior walls. Looking to weigh the rig sometime this month before starting cabinetry just to have a log to keep track of the different component weights. Before I can take the rig on the road, I need to add some mirrors. Was thinking of adding them to the camper (overhead cab) rather than the truck? Possibly even recycling the old sunrader ones. Would be nice if the mirrors could swing in/fold up when not in use. Thoughts?

A lot of these RV's have miles of plumbing and gas lines that's for sure. You might consider investing in a little portable 1 gallon propane tank and a small 2 burner coleman stove for those rare times you find yourself away from power and want to cook something. What's nice about a portable stove is you can store it away (since you won't be using it much) and use it outside as well. A really good setup is the propane tree with the lantern on top & hose for stove. Propane lanterns are pretty hard to beat that's for sure. You definitely would want a lantern if you have kids. My own camper uses a portable stove. When I camp somewhere, I usually camp for a LONG time so it's not something that needs setting up/putting away much. It also doesn't bang around as much while traveling down bumpy roads. What's nice about a portable stove, is replacements are cheap and they are easy to clean.

Looks good! We should start a "cover-up-your-poorly-designed-wraparound-front-window" club. Looks like we have 3 members and probably growing I know of another forum member who will probably be doing the same this spring.

very clean lines. Is that tile in the bathroom? Like the colors too, really clean looking. I approve

Have you already made the switch back to Lonex? The boards performance seems to have improved dramatically (at least today (Mar 13)). Any plans on returning the shoutbox if this is the case? I like the shoutbox for little things like this in which you want to share things like this (board performance) without starting a thread. Thnx for hosting the forums. I enjoy the community here.

There's a private builder in the area who has something similar in the XP Camper. The XP is a great project and he has some very good ideas. The camper is a bit pricey, but that's how it goes when dealing with this type of customization and quality. One thing he uses is a shower curtain/toilet similar to what you describe. Here is a link: xp camper interior slideshow Might be of some inspiration to you. Sounds like fun. gl

Lonex is a great host for the small Computer AI site that I am part of, but they sometimes bark at us when we get huge spikes in traffic. This doesn't happen too often, but occasionally we get hit pretty hard when a big gaming site decides to spotlight something we've done. We are only using the business plan btw (not sure the exact numbers in terms of traffic and uploads, but we have on a few occasions had the boards temporarily shut down due to high traffic). You might want to check your current traffic stats carefully and see where you stand in relation to their different hosting plans. Might be a bit pricey if you need one of their more commercial plans.

Some of the high tech campers actually don't use any propane. They use 12v DC refrigeration as well as diesel cooking and heating (obviously campers on a diesel power train). If you have access to the power, makes good sense to me to not bother with propane. Tho cooking on a hotplate and a microwave for dinner would seem a bit limited in what you can cook? Maybe I just don't know tho. I do love nachos and quesadillas tho We have a friend who owns a 35' motorhome with 2 slip outs. He probably paid over 150K for the thing. Great guy and I absolutely love meeting up with him at the local "campground" whenever he invites. Sat TV, inhouse vacuum, washer/dryer, a bed for everyone, huge BBQ's, craploads of fine wine, beer, swimming pools, jacuzzi's, pool halls, .. fun stuff! I don't think he uses much propane either now that I think about it. Like WME and flatspin say tho, all depends on what you call "roughing it". Definitely will have to use some other form of power when you get away from those services, but you already said that. I'd have to agree with you tho, if you don't need to use propane, then why bother. If you can get everything you need from electric hookup, I'd prob do the same.

ah so that's why my new led flashers blink so fast?