Silverado Slide-in

[jh504]

I just purchased a 2004 Chevy Silverado 1500 4x4 reg cab long bed. My former rigs have been Jeeps and Toyotas so I have decided that I am going to take advantage of the 8' bed that I have available now. I am going to build a slide-in camper and outfit the rest of the truck to be a little more capable. I plan on replacing the leaf springs and torsion bars with parts from a 2500HD. This should give me a couple inches of lift while beefing up the rear suspension for the slide-in. I will also add a 1"-2" body lift and go up in tire size to 315s.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/IMG00059.jpg

I will be installing a winch next week. It will be hidden behind the stock bumper. It fits perfectly between the frame rails and will be totally hidden from view. I wont be upgrading the bumpers because this is not intended to be a trail rig. Just a fairly capable camper.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/IMG00057.jpg

For the camper I will be building a slide-in with a pop-up top. It will not be an "over the cab style" because my bed is long enough to offer the space that I need. I will be using plywood/fiberglass construction. I chose this type of construction because I have experience with it and it is in my budget. I used to work for a composite surface company and I have looked at composite panels for construction but the cost is just too high for my budget. I have also looked at a sheet metal exterior but I would rather be able to repair the fiberglass than be stuck with a damaged metal side. Any and all input is welcome. Here are some Sketchup pics of the camper.

Front
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/slide-incamper2.jpg

Rear
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/slide-incamper.jpg

[breakinstuffzfun]

jh504

what kind of interior design are you think about. i.e. bed layout, cooking, or bath.

Breakinstuffzfun

[James86004]

I would also loose the black plastic front air dam. I took mine off a couple of years ago, and I noticed 0 difference in fuel economy or cooling or high speed handling.

[eugene]

You don't need to beef up the rear springs to carry a popup, mine handels one just fine with the stock springs, I have a 8' camper on the 6.5' bed with the tailgate open.

[jh504]

jh504

what kind of interior design are you think about. i.e. bed layout, cooking, or bath.

Breakinstuffzfun

I dont have anything drawn out yet but the way I am thinking is it will have a fold down bed on the front wall. The rear of the camper will have a sink, stove, and small fold down table. I will also put a small refrigerator in a cabinet under the table. The square you see by the door is an opening for an air conditioner. I havnt decided if I will try to incorporate a toilet into the camper or not. I will use an exterior canvas setup for the shower.
The 4x8 floor can also be used as a sleeping area, so it will be able to sleep 4 adults.

Its good to hear that the stock springs will handle the weight. I will still upgrade to the HD springs though as I'm sure I will be hard on them.

[eugene]

Wouldn't you want the softer springs for more flex? My thought was to put a larger block between the spring and axel, replacing the one thats there now to compensate for the inch drop from the camper weight.

[jh504]

Wouldn't you want the softer springs for more flex? My thought was to put a larger block between the spring and axel, replacing the one thats there now to compensate for the inch drop from the camper weight.

Yes I hear you on the flex. That is the mind set I have always had with my trail rigs. I plan on loading this truck down though, and it wont be going on hardcore trails. Just fire roads and that sort of thing. It will be stiff when unloaded but I think loaded it will be fine.

[chief5]

Check this out! Looks like exactly what you are wanting to do.

http://trustbreaker.freehostia.com/homemade_pop_top_camper.htm

[jh504]

Check this out! Looks like exactly what you are wanting to do.

http://trustbreaker.freehostia.com/homemade_pop_top_camper.htm

Nice, I havnt seen that one before. The popup is kind of the same idea I had in mind. Fold up hard sides instead of canvas.

I am rethinking the shower idea now. A lot of this build is so my wife will be comfortable while in the backcountry and she would much rather have an indoor shower. Anyone have any experience with homemade showers inside their rigs?

[jh504]

Here are a couple of shots with a possible shower enclosure. The first is with the bed folded up, and the second is with the bed folded down.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/camperinterior1.jpg

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/camperinterior2.jpg

[eugene]

I've toyed with shower designs but haven't built anything yet. My thought it remove the tailgate then the part of camper that sticks out of the bed (most campers for 8' bed trucks are up to 11' long) can sit lower on the bumper to give the depth for a drain.

[jh504]

I've toyed with shower designs but haven't built anything yet. My thought it remove the tailgate then the part of camper that sticks out of the bed (most campers for 8' bed trucks are up to 11' long) can sit lower on the bumper to give the depth for a drain.

That would be a good place for it. I was reading a post from Randman http://63.229.236.62/camper.htm that included his write up on a shower drain. He ran the pipes under in a space under the floor.

[eugene]

That does look nice in the front, but I was leaning toward a hardsided shower so I wanted it in the back, since its just going to be mostly empty weight.

[jh504]

That does look nice in the front, but I was leaning toward a hardsided shower so I wanted it in the back, since its just going to be mostly empty weight.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Hard sided and in the back corner. The interior shot on my earlier post shows the shower in the back, and the bed in the front.

[jh504]

Another idea I am kicking around for the construction is to make structurally insulated panel style walls. Using something like 2" thick foam insulation and sandwiching it between 2 pieces of 1/4" plywood. Then fiberglass the exterior surface. Most of the 2" foam I have been looking at has an R-value of around 7.0-8.0. The 1" foam has around a 3.5-4.5 R-value. I was thinking that with 2" foam and a fiberglass exterior I wouldnt have to worry about really framing anything. Maybe just installing 2"x2" connectors in the corners.

(EDIT) I also just located 3 1/2" thick Styrofoam insulation here on craigslist for $5.00 a square. The R-Value on it is 27. I am not sure if that will be a little too wide for what I want to do though.

[eugene]

Putting the bed across the front you need to make the camper pretty wide. I thought about mounting a futon type down one side then the whole kitchen in front of the shower on the other and make it removable with legs so it can be an outside camp kitchen.

[jh504]

Putting the bed across the front you need to make the camper pretty wide. I thought about mounting a futon type down one side then the whole kitchen in front of the shower on the other and make it removable with legs so it can be an outside camp kitchen.

Thats a pretty cool idea. Would the whole kitchen, sink, stove and everything be removable? How were you going to go about setting that up?

[tlbrewer]

Here's a rather dated, but interesting plan concept.

http://www.rqriley.com/b-camp.html

Tom

[Bcghosttowns]

I would be a little concerned with a body lift and a camper.
Has anyone had experience with the combination?

[eugene]

the linktlbrewer posted shows what I was talking about.
http://www.rqriley.com/imagespln/b-camp2.jpg

In my current camper the kitchen is about ~18" deep, ~18" and built over the area hanging over the side of the truck bed. So my thought was to make it like this picture which is much like the camp kitchens/chuck boxs you see on other threads on this forum. Just make some ~18" legs to support it outside the camper. Some quick connects for the water and propane.

You know, your not saving much over a normal popup truck camper, yours looks to be as tall, you might as well add the cabover, they make storage under the beds up there now so you can use it as storage or simply a way to not need to convert the seat into a bed for sleeping. Could just buy an old camper like I did and save some time. I don't have a problem building something like this but it does take time, by buying an old one I get to use it some while I'm rebuilding it

[jh504]

I would be a little concerned with a body lift and a camper.
Has anyone had experience with the combination?

Good question. I would be interested in knowing if anyone has had issues with this. I would think that with the big heavy units some problems might come into play.



You know, your not saving much over a normal popup truck camper, yours looks to be as tall, you might as well add the cabover, they make storage under the beds up there now so you can use it as storage or simply a way to not need to convert the seat into a bed for sleeping. Could just buy an old camper like I did and save some time. I don't have a problem building something like this but it does take time, by buying an old one I get to use it some while I'm rebuilding it

I keep going back and forth on the cabover thing. I was originally planning on building a full-height cabover but then decided against it due to the areas I will be traveling. The brush in the NC mountains can get very thick.
My truck is also a single cab so the space over the cab wouldnt be huge. I was also trying to cut down on as much drag as possible, and eliminate as much top end weight as I could. It still could be feasible to do a pop-up cabover on my single cab though. I will kick around a few designs and see how it turns out.

[jh504]

Here is a cabover idea;

This is with the top down;
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/slide-incabover1.jpg

These are with the top up;
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/slide-incabover2.jpg
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/slide-incabover3.jpg

Interior;
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j286/jharris504/slideincaboverinterior.jpg

[Sportsman Matt]

You may want to check out my blog, I have a post from the 1955 Popular Mechanics Encyclopedia Set, about building a House Trailer for your truck, plus other pics of similar units I found throughout the year surfing the web.

http://sportsmanmattoutdoors.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

I am doing a similar thing in the next year or two, depending on time off and how much initial cost to building a shell would cost me, along with availability of good lumber and parts. Only problem I'm having with mine right now is the propane storage issue, which may be solved with a simple cabinet and vented doors.

Good luck, love the sketches.

[jh504]

You may want to check out my blog, I have a post from the 1955 Popular Mechanics Encyclopedia Set, about building a House Trailer for your truck, plus other pics of similar units I found throughout the year surfing the web.

http://sportsmanmattoutdoors.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html

I am doing a similar thing in the next year or two, depending on time off and how much initial cost to building a shell would cost me, along with availability of good lumber and parts. Only problem I'm having with mine right now is the propane storage issue, which may be solved with a simple cabinet and vented doors.

Good luck, love the sketches.

That is a very cool old article. I really like reading stuff like that. Men have been mulling these ideas over for quite a few years.