Nissan Baja Camper: advice needed

[Chris_B]

Hello everbody,
Long time lurker/dreamer here. I'm finally at a place in my life where I can take on a project like this so here it goes. It isn't what I always thought I'd build but I've come around to the reality that it's the best thing for what I want to do which is offroad camping/road tripping while blending in or otherwise not being noticed while sleeping. The rig is a 2009 Nissan Frontier, stock except for 255/85 tires and a stainless exhaust system (which was my last project). I've made a model of what I'm looking to build which I'd enjoy very much a critique of. The basic idea is to have something warm and dry to sleep in, drawers underneath the bed for gear/clothes, a big window on one side which will have an insulated cover that lifts up for shading, and an area on the other side for cooking and food storage, a fridge in the truck unless I can figure out a way to keep it in the camper. The camper is 12" taller than the cab of the truck and I may consider adding a small cab over portion for storage.





I'm a welder by trade, own a Miller Dynasty. Given that background my material of choice would be aluminum, but I'm a welder, not an engineer, so I'm looking for a little advice as to the overall design and material thickness for this frame.


Here's what I was thinking:
Red is 1" x 1" x 0.100" angle
Blue is 1" x 1" x 0.100" square tube
Green is 1" x 1.5" x 0.100 rectangular tube
to be clad using 0.040 aluminum sheeting


This combination would weigh ~150# but doesn't include the door, or side covers. Which leads into my next question, what's the best way to get a good seal on a door? Where might a guy buy the appropriate keyed latches? As for hinges, what's the most reliable style and method for attachment?


My thought was to use an adhesive to glue foam insulation inside the paneling, leaving a gap around the edges to fill for expanding foam insulation, 1" thick. I tried to design the frame to avoid tubing in the middle of panels for insulation purposes, using angle instead with one leg flush with the inside and the others toe mating to the exterior cladding for strength. Is this necessary? Part of me feels like this thing is way overbuilt as is and I could be using angle for the entirety, except the rear wall. On the inside I would just glue thin ply right to the insulation, is this acceptable?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Gunslinger1]

Man thats exactly what I want but its not available on the market. Thats why we have been looking at a four wheel camper, I would like to take it on and off my truck. At my age I had rather buy than build but Im contemplating. I built one pick up camper but wanted some changes that you dont notice until its built. It was a little to big for me. Looks like the market is needed a small compac truck slide in. I need one for my 2012 Frontier 6ft bed so I can pull a boat and sleep in the camper. All we need is a cool/warm and dry place to sleep with a porta potty for my lady. Im not going to live in the darn thing and dont want no big screen tvs, computers showers fit for a king and all the amenities of home, I just want to camp out for a day or two take a swim for a bath and enjoy the quite of the outdoors.

 

[calicamper]

Fwc shell model. Comes with a bed, roof, door, windows. The rest is just empty space. Lighter weight etc. I think the finch shell is the model. FWC has all the fit info for your truck on their site. Roughly $8000 for the shell model.

 

[boxcar1]

Your design looks good . I'd ditch the angle and run tubing everywhere.
Screw don't glue the inner panels to the chassis of the shell.
1" R-Tech ( home despot ) for insulation. You will be light years ahead of anything offered by FWC.
And 1/10th the cost.
If you add a 3" overhang to the rear you will have a much more weather proof rear door arrangement
Latches and hardware can also be acquired at ..... you guessed it Home Despot......
SS. Piano hinges for the door or doors. and a simple keyed garage door through door lock ( as most truck toppers use ) will do the lob of securing the door.
Single sided foam tape will keep the weather out. .

 

[Gunslinger1]

Fwc shell model. Comes with a bed, roof, door, windows. The rest is just empty space. Lighter weight etc. I think the finch shell is the model. FWC has all the fit info for your truck on their site. Roughly $8000 for the shell model.

And no A/C on the Fleet modle thats fits our frontier. But no despair Eureka campers has just what the doc wanted. Just ordered a new one with AC to fit my frontier.