Drove our homemade RV today (but didn't turn out very mustachian)

[Roland of Gilead]

This weekend we worked on getting our totally home built RV (truck camper actually) out of our garage and on to the truck for the first time.  It went smooth and feels stable on the truck.  Do not undertake this type of project to save money LOL.   The life experience is probably worth something.

The original idea (back when I did a quick cut and paste hack of web images to get a concept):




A Rhino CAD model of our design as built:



A Rhino CAD model of the design mounted on our Isuzu 20 foot flatbed truck:



First time having camper out of our garage build area:



Camper sitting happy on truck:

[greaper007]

Fricking awesome, congrats.    I've looked at skoolies for awhile now but know that I just don't have the time for the project and that it will go way over budget.

What did you make the camper out of, 3/4" ply?   What made it more expensive than you thought, was it still cheaper than buying a new unit?

I'd like to hear a lot more about this project and see some internal pics of the camper.

[xenon5]

Fricking awesome, congrats.    I've looked at skoolies for awhile now but know that I just don't have the time for the project and that it will go way over budget.

What did you make the camper out of, 3/4" ply?   What made it more expensive than you thought, was it still cheaper than buying a new unit?

I'd like to hear a lot more about this project and see some internal pics of the camper.

Seconded.  Would love to hear about the motivation behind this and how the costs came out relative to buying an RV or camper/pickup combo

[Derek]

Beautiful, very impressive!  One day I plan on making something similar to a VW Westphalia camper but on a modern van such as Ram Promaster. 

[soccerluvof4]

Might not be MMM but its pretty sweet!! nice job!

[Roland of Gilead]

What did you make the camper out of, 3/4" ply?   What made it more expensive than you thought, was it still cheaper than buying a new unit?

I'd like to hear a lot more about this project and see some internal pics of the camper.

Heh, not plywood, steel and aluminum.   The frame of the camper is fully welded rectangular steel tube of 0.063 and 0.125 wall thickness.  The side and bottom skin is 0.063 5052 alloy aluminum, painted with automotive type 2 part epoxy.  The roof is a continuous coil of 0.040 aluminum over 1/2inch marine plywood (ok so there is some plywood) and then coated with truck bed liner.

The kitchen counter is 1.5" thick solid walnut butcher block.  The roof will have 1100 watts of solar.  A 4000 watt Magnum inverter running off of 24V input will power things that are not 12V.   The bed is a sleep number air mattress (actually more comfortable than our house mattress!).   Things just add up in cost.

Here is a pic of the steel skeleton frame and a shot of the kitchen area (cabinets and stainless steel tile backsplash not finished):

[CarDude]

That is awesome. More details and pictures of the inside!

[dragoncar]

Cool -- is it possible to disassemble, or will you have to demolish to replace that water tank?

[greaper007]

What did you make the camper out of, 3/4" ply?   What made it more expensive than you thought, was it still cheaper than buying a new unit?

I'd like to hear a lot more about this project and see some internal pics of the camper.

Heh, not plywood, steel and aluminum.   The frame of the camper is fully welded rectangular steel tube of 0.063 and 0.125 wall thickness.  The side and bottom skin is 0.063 5052 alloy aluminum, painted with automotive type 2 part epoxy.  The roof is a continuous coil of 0.040 aluminum over 1/2inch marine plywood (ok so there is some plywood) and then coated with truck bed liner.

The kitchen counter is 1.5" thick solid walnut butcher block.  The roof will have 1100 watts of solar.  A 4000 watt Magnum inverter running off of 24V input will power things that are not 12V.   The bed is a sleep number air mattress (actually more comfortable than our house mattress!).   Things just add up in cost.

Here is a pic of the steel skeleton frame and a shot of the kitchen area (cabinets and stainless steel tile backsplash not finished):

Holy poop, no wonder you went over budget.    That should last you a lifetime though, unlike the stick built campers from the big manufacturers.    Fantastic workmanship.

[Roland of Gilead]

Cool -- is it possible to disassemble, or will you have to demolish to replace that water tank?

Yes, we made it so you can unscrew the front kitchen panel and remove the water tank and/or gray water tanks.  It would be a pain though, take about an hour.   Hopefully the 1/4" thick rotomolded tanks will last quite awhile.  They are insulated by 2 inches of foam in the floor and walls.

[Cheddar Stacker]

Glad to hear it's finished. I remember reading a post from you a couple months ago about working on this. I'm sure you're very proud to have it completed. Congrats.

[anisotropy]

wow pro !