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Turning my tow rig into an expedition camper

Our old camper was destroyed when one of the jacks failed. So we stripped it of all the appliances, and goods on the interior and planned to build a tough off- road camper that would take a beating and be more roomy than a traditional slide in camper. I also wanted the camper to be removable so that the truck can be used for other things.

I have to get this camper all put together before Easter Jeep Safari. So I have only a few weeks. This truck tows a trailer with our Dodge T-Rex 6x6, or pulls our Jeep behind it. The Truck is a GMC 5500 4x4. I first built a custom winch bumper for it and put in new exhaust.

Now I took it up to my buddy's shop in Idaho: Casper Customs. Cory the owner builds ultimate 4x4's and extreme rock buggies. You may have seen some of his work in TTC.

Well, this would be the first camper for Cory and I. But I new that we could do it.


First i built a winch bumper for the truck. Here is the truck as Cory's shop in Idaho.

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Next we laid out the fram as I had designed it.


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Here is Cory starting to weld up the frame.

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Here is the frame coming together:

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Now piecing and cross memebers:

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Hunt

Hunt

Active Member
Location
Carmel, NY
LT. said:
Well, there's your problem. Did anyone else see it? Really, no one? The saw blade is on the wrong side. Just kidding. I like it, and can't wait to see it!

LT.
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It's a cool project for sure.

My brother has a Lance that is so big it sticks out the back of a 8' truck bed 4 feet, hangs over the dually fenders on the sides and has slide outs. When you are inside it you don't even know you are in the bed of a truck. I'm sure you will get a similar yet magnified feeling with this project.

Actually the first thing I thought of when I saw the pictures of the old camper up on the tree stumps was "well thats why the old one fell over, I hope he doesn't put the new one up there like that."
 
C

casper customs

Active Member
Location
Rigby ID
1\4elliptic toy said:
I have been meaning to do a very similar build on my trailer. I even started a thread about it a long time ago, but because of my rampant case of ADHHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Hobby Disorder) I can't get any of them done. :D

I am going to do a very similar shape and design to yours. I was considering trying to do a slideout that lengthens the living quarters as opposed to widening them. We want to fit 2 rigs and small living quarters on our trailer, if we could make it longer when the rigs are off, it would help a ton for comfort.

Here is a paint shot of what i'm thinking. I have 8 feet on the upper and almost 9 feet on the bottom with my buggy and the wife's 4-runner on it. I think we could add a slideout that would give us another 4 feet.

It has been dove tailed since this paint shot was made so its 7 feet longer now.
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yours looks similar to what I was thinking about doing after this camper build it has got me thinking
 
sprueitt

sprueitt

sprueitt Dodge T-Rex 6x6
Hunt said:
It's a cool project for sure.

My brother has a Lance that is so big it sticks out the back of a 8' truck bed 4 feet, hangs over the dually fenders on the sides and has slide outs. When you are inside it you don't even know you are in the bed of a truck. I'm sure you will get a similar yet magnified feeling with this project.

Actually the first thing I thought of when I saw the pictures of the old camper up on the tree stumps was "well thats why the old one fell over, I hope he doesn't put the new one up there like that."
Click to expand...


It got put up on stumps after the jack broke. When the jack broke we had to get it high enough to get the platform back underneath it.
 
sprueitt

sprueitt

sprueitt Dodge T-Rex 6x6
casper customs said:
yours looks similar to what I was thinking about doing after this camper build it has got me thinking
Click to expand...

Casper Customs is the palce to go to get your project started. Cory is great with the flashnig, framing, and siding. Thanks again for the help Cory.
 
sprueitt

sprueitt

sprueitt Dodge T-Rex 6x6
Here is the lay out of plumbing and the install of the heater.

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Shawnette started on the insulation good job

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sprueitt

sprueitt

sprueitt Dodge T-Rex 6x6
mbryson said:
Stan,

How'd you waterproof between the alum. panels? Some kind of caulk/adhesive? Looks pretty good to me. Good luck with the electrical and plumbing.
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We havenot sealed it up yet, and so far it has rained and snowed a bunch and there are only three leaky spots. We are going to run silicon with a seam sealer on the seams and then a snow coat over the whole roof. Should be good.
 
sprueitt

sprueitt

sprueitt Dodge T-Rex 6x6
OK, so wiring done except for solar panels, got to water proof the roof before I install the solar panels, plumbing done, ran LP gas lines for stove, heater, and fridge, and we put in the siding on the interior walls. Need to put in the ceiling next.



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RockChucker

RockChucker

Well-Known Member
Location
Highland
wow, that is a killer project. this may be a stupid question, but how are you going to hold/bolt it in place on the flat bed? what is that insulation too? it is it camper specific or just a good insulation that is thin?
 
sprueitt

sprueitt

sprueitt Dodge T-Rex 6x6
rockchucker said:
wow, that is a killer project. this may be a stupid question, but how are you going to hold/bolt it in place on the flat bed? what is that insulation too? it is it camper specific or just a good insulation that is thin?
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We have Camper turnbuckles that hold it down securly to the flat bed. The insulation is 1.5 inch polystyrene. Most of our camper supplies we get from State Trailer Supply here in Ogden. All the plumbing, gas supplies, interior stuff comes form them.
 
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