rizartz

The propane heater doesn't have a blower or a motor, so it uses no electricity. The wood burner is really overkill, as it keeps the camper super warm. When you go to bed and the fire burns down, the propane heater kicks in and warms things up for the rest of the night. The only electricity I have is from the battery under the hood to power the sink pump and a couple of outlets to charge phones, ipods,etc.

The stove and heater (not pictured) are a matching set reclaimed from an old "canned ham" travel trailer. The sink looks like cast iron, but is actually a fiberglass Kohler bar sink that I found at a Habitat Restore.

That's definitely a nice little dwelling. Is that a boat sitting on a trailer?

Truck and camper together weigh 4270, putting the camper alone at about 1350. That gives me about 1000 lbs to work with to keep it under gvwr of 5100. The only suspention mods thus far are timbrens which boosted the tail up about 3". I also lengthened the frame about 2 feet to give some support to the back end and give me a better location to bolt the bumper on. Unfortunately, it's a short bed truck, but it's what I had, so it's what I used! Sink, stove, heater, and most of the windows were all salvaged from old campers. The wood burner (about 100 lbs) is really overkill, as the propane heater would do fine all by itself. I saved weight by not putting in other "luxuries" like a forced air furnace, extra 12v battery, generator, hot water heater, refrig, toilet, shower, etc. Only one cabinet, and all the rest of the storage is either on a couple of shelves, or under the bed/couch.... Thanks for the help with the pics!

I thought I might post a few pics of my "ski chalet" project I started about two years ago. It sits on an 88 hilux that I bought for $500. It is framed and sided with 2x6 redwood salvaged from someone's old deck and cut to order. It's insulated well with salvaged styrofoam (I have a hard time passing a dumpster without at least taking a peek). Inside features bamboo flooring, wood burning stove, radiant propane heater, stove top and oven, sink, heated ski boot locker, queen over the cab and twin in back. I just finished my first extended winter trip an was quite pleased with the performance. Here are a few pics.... Sorry I can't seem to get my photos to come out right side up!

Thanks for the compliment. If you google "Toyota ski chalet" you can get a mini "cyber tour" of the inside on theshelterblog.com. The total weight "dry" is 4200 lbs. Without any suspension upgrades, the axle was about an inch away from the rubber bumpers. I went ahead and put some Timbrens in back to eliminate some of the sag. One day, I'll probably put duallies in back, but for now... It is what it is.

I always wanted one, so I finally built one!