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Originally Posted by ATL_BOY Great project DKG. If you paint it white, it might actually blend in more with the truck. |
That will be the final colour once I am done. It should look decent once painted. There are also some chequered plate cladding planned to make it look more aesthetically appealing
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Originally Posted by krishnathanthri Never seen something like this. All the best for your project. |
Thanks. I haven't seen anyone build a removeable camper like this in India. This just might be the first one (not that it matters
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Originally Posted by samsag12 BTW what material are you going to use for paneling the insides ? |
I plan on using white aluminium composite panels, like what they use for building exteriors. Its light and can be crafted to fit beautifully.
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Originally Posted by dinar @DGK , Nice project. Love the removable camper design. |
Thanks, the removeable part was the main aspect so the truck remains versatile and can be used for so many other things
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Originally Posted by aargee I see the number plates on VFR still on the old format of white in black. As per law, shouldn't you change it to black in white? |
I had changed the plates to the correct ones sometime back.
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Originally Posted by ArunV A few questions
How is the camper fixed to the truck?
How do you plan to load the bike in the camper? Is it possible to take the bike out even when the camper is on the truck. |
If you notice the truck without the camper it has a metal frame ahead of the load bed, like a loop. The camper has been designed in a way a u channel sits right onto the loop and locks in. Unless you elevate the camper it cannot move. Further I plan to fabricate four (atleast) quick release bolt on clamps that bind the camper floor to the truck bed. I should be able to scree and unscrew the clamp with winged nuts.
If you notice the left side of the rear of the camper it has a section built as a loading ramp. This has been reinforced to withstand the weight of a bike being loaded. With small 2 feet track extensions I get a 10 foot ramp which allows the bike to be loaded even while the camper is on the truck. Off the truck even without the extension the bike can be riden into the camper.
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Originally Posted by vivekiny2k Another trick is to make roof collapsible/telescopic, because when you are traveling, you probably need no headroom at back. once camped, you can lift it up. This will reduce wind resistance. |
That would have been ideal. I thought of doing it like that but the additional jacks and work it entailed made me opt for this simpler structure. If I ever do another camper I will try to build one with a collapsible roof.
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for toilet, you are better off using public facilities IMO. the other option would be to have a portable potty that needs to be drained periodically, a compact chemical potty (expensive), or a potty with connection to sewage (not possible to find a connection everywhere)
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Honestly this remains the biggest challenge and I am yet to decide on what to do. I thought of an electric waste gate and pressurised washing system that could cleanse the tanks at the flick of a switch but its complicated and all the reading available on toilet designs states this can be messy on account of leakages. This really remains one of the biggest nightmares for RV design. How we take our home toilets and drainage systems for granted !!
Have you ensured there are no loose parts? truck bed sides that you have folded down, the camper itself, things within the camper? if you go through a rough patch/speedbreaker, things might unsettle/clunk.
Nothing will be loose inside, as you rightly state it can be mayhem on Indian roads !! The sides will be clamped to the legs with simple clamps
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EDIT: one more quick addition you can do is add a handmade front spoiler on the camper, which will increase you traction on the road as well keep the camper down to the truck at high speeds.
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Thanks will keep that in mind. I will need to test this on highways and figure out whether some aerodynamic aids are required.
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Originally Posted by phamilyman Very very interesting. Me likes.
How do you manage to find so much time? Us cubicle slaves can't imagine that!! |
This is what I do half day Saturdays or Sundays. But with so many other hobbies and passtimes this gets spread over many many more Sundays. I am in no hurry but yes one does need to find time during the weekend to do stuff like this. A good four hours on a day gets a lot of work done though.
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Originally Posted by lsp Did you explore the possibility of the camper going a little wider than the body of your truck thus giving it little more room on the inside? |
I thought about extending it to be a bit wider but then there's the nightmare of traffic and contantly monitoring the extra width. Already I am not too happy about those legs but it would have meant losing precious space within to merge them into the side profile. Purely from a safety point of view (more so for others on the road) I opted to stay within the existing dimensions of the truck to avoid scraping the sides accidentally. Already the height will limit me to main roads.
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Originally Posted by Mpower Are they open section aluminum channels. Are you welding or bolting them to each other? |
The main beams are L angles of very thick aluminium and the rest are all U channels as used in bus side construction.The bulk of the joints are done with solid rivets as used in bus construction. Since aluminium welding is not easy I plan on eventually taking it to someone who can do it and have extra welds placed if need be. But with the rivets its quite rigid and there's hardly any flex.
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Do you have an onboard air compressor.
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There's loads of space under the bed so I plan on installing air tanks and feed it off a engine driven compressor as in trucks.
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Seen the guys at the RV park hook up to something. Easiest if you can buy those components and fit it.
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The toilet remains a nightmare of a design challenge. Given its messy nature this becomes such a big problem to design effectively. Besides on road you don't have the kind of sumps RV's access abroad. I even have gone to the extent of thinking about having a clay tank baked which can simply be thrown out. Still unsure what to do