C5500 TopKick 4x4 Crew Cab Build

[NeverEnough]

So I'm pretty impressed with FRP/extruded foam panels and fiberglass pultrusions- strong, non-corrosive, great thermal properties, etc. In fact, given the samples we've put together, I'm considering going from a 2" OD to 1.5" OD for the wall/vertical panels. I'll lose a little bit of insulation, but I'll save a lot of weight (mainly on the exterior extrusions by being able to go from a 4"x4" angle to a 3"x3" angle). The materials for the basic shell (including slideout) are still coming in under 2500lbs, which is very cool.

I'm hoping to make my decision on vendors this week, then order the panels and pultrusions. It will take about 4 weeks for everything to be manufactured and shipped to Utah, and I'm guessing another 4 weeks for the basic body to be assembled.

I'm toying with the idea of building a little cargo trailer out of fiberglass structural components and panels to match the camper. In fact, I might have that done first as an assembly "warm-up", to get a little experience with the materials.

[NeverEnough]

So my brother needed some sand delivered to his house in the upper reaches of Boutiful, UT (a coupe of miles of 10% winding roads) and since the wheels have not yet arrived, I offered my truck. We loaded up 4 tons of sand in the bed and took to the road. I was amazed that the Topkick barely even felt the load. I jumped onto the freeway and was at 65 by the end of the on ramp without the slightest strain. Best of all, the truck handled the climb up to his house like the load wasn't even there.

Since that load of sand was about 3,000 lbs more than what my camper will weight, I'm pretty excited about my decision to go with the Topkick.

And while I was picking up some shims for a valve job on my dirt bike, look what happened to drive into the parking lot at Plaza Cycle:

http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/s...et=tlx_pic5iyc

Chris Marshal built that rig and it's absolutely incredible. I'm going to give him a call to get a quote on a new front bumper for mine. Those are 48" tires, with hydraulic booster to turn them. It'll make my 39" tires look tiny by comparison.

[LandCruiserPhil]

So my brother needed some sand delivered to his house in the upper reaches of Boutiful, UT (a coupe of miles of 10% winding roads) and since the wheels have not yet arrived, I offered my truck. We loaded up 4 tons of sand in the bed and took to the road. I was amazed that the Topkick barely even felt the load. I jumped onto the freeway and was at 65 by the end of the on ramp without the slightest strain. Best of all, the truck handled the climb up to his house like the load wasn't even there.

Since that load of sand was about 3,000 lbs more than what my camper will weight, I'm pretty excited about my decision to go with the Topkick.

And while I was picking up some shims for a valve job on my dirt bike, look what happened to drive into the parking lot at Plaza Cycle:

http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/s...et=tlx_pic5iyc

Chris Marshal built that rig and it's absolutely incredible. I'm going to give him a call to get a quote on a new front bumper for mine. Those are 48" tires, with hydraulic booster to turn them. It'll make my 39" tires look tiny by comparison.

Very cool corner bumper lights on Marshals truck.
Nice to hear the about strong performance from the Top Kick. Should make a comfortable expo vehicle, something most others in your class lack.

[Ford Prefect]

Wow, very cool looking. I like the rear bed too. What is the deal with the front being SO much higher than the rear, was he in the middle of a lift or something?

[NeverEnough]

After 5 weeks of waiting, finally got the new wheels and tires mounted and installed. I'm still amazed at how expensive 7 wheels and tires can be, and it's not like I bought anything fancy.

The drive from the tire shop to the upfitter showed me that I'm in for a much smoother ride, while my speedometer has been rendered quite useless. Tomorrow they start the chassis mods.

And the wheels finally are in proper scale with the truck. Not sure why they put such dorky little things on at the factory. But now it actually looks like a truck.

[NeverEnough]

After a fair deal of completey unscientific testing, I've made a few decisions about how to proceed.

Most significant is putting to bed the method and means of attaching my camper body to the chassis. I've decided to have an aluminum "bed" fabricated that will act as a type of subframe for the camper body. The bed will be permantly mounted to the chassis in accordance with standard GMC upfitter guidelines for flexible mounts, very similar to this:



The bed will address the concerns over point loads associated with directly mounting the composite body to the chassis, as well as provide me with the ability to remove the body using camper jacks if I need to. The fabricator is giving me a price to build a "flatbed" that can be attached to the new bed, in case I want to use the truck in that fashion (why not?).

I've still got some more testing to do on the candidate body panel materials. I'm hoping to get the decision behind me soon so we can start actually building the box.

I've also got to finalize the design details of the nested slideout system and the dual-purpose liftgate (acts as a hauling platform for two enduros and also supports the "roll-out" room when the rig is parked). My concern with the slide-out is making sure there's a tight weather seal while in transit, since standard t-molding will not work well.

I've been fishing around for referrals of cabinet makers that have experience working with composite panels, so if anybody is in the know, please share......

[cmgraves]

things are looking great!! keep the updates coming!

[NeverEnough]

Progress report:

1. The chassis extension is almost finished up. We used a couple of forklifts to evaluate the frame twist before starting, and so I'm curious to see how much, if any, more pliable the thing becomes after the extension. For all practical purposes, we couldn't get the frame to twist at the 194" factory wheelbase- the wheels just come off the ground. No wonder Mogs n'such are preferred for serious off-track work!

Here's some pics of her all cut up:







2. Work on the subframe started. It'll probably take at least two to three weeks to get that wrapped up. They're also building me an aluminum flatbed trailer frame for the "matching" trailer. It will also be dual-purpose: the cargo box will be detachable, allowing the trailer to be used as either a flatbed or as an enclosed cargo unit. The modified v-nose of the trailer also has a small bathroom.

3. I made a decision on a panel manufacturer and panel compositition: Plascore, 2" polypropylene honeycomb core with fiberglass reinforced polypropylene skins, with a thermally fused polyester veil on the skins to create a bondable surface. I should receive a couple of larger sheets this week to move to the final testing before ordering a semi-load of the stuff. The skin material is in short supply, so it'll probably be two months before the big load arrives.

4. I'm expecting a few more samples to do some more testing on the final interior treatments. I've been testing a "carbon ink" electric radiant material with very impressive results. It's being marked in the US under the brand "CarbonicHeat". It's less than 1/32" thick, flexible, and easy to work with. The challenge has been finding a radiant floor "sandwich" that pushes most of the heat up. After testing a variety of flooring materials, I've decided to go with a commercial-grade vinyl flooring for the top layer. There's a huge variety of styles, it has the right properties for the radiant system, it can handle all sorts of abuse, and it's cost effective. I've been testing a few thermal barrier materials as well as a few reflective insulation products under the carbon film. I've got three more combinations to test, then I'll post what I've decide, along with manufacturers and some pics.

5. This week's research project is to explore leveling/camper jacks and how to use them not just for leveling and lifting the camper from the subframe, but also to help secure the camper to the subframe.

Sorry my posts are so imageless. Things should get more exciting once the box gets underway.

[Byrdseye]

Thanks for posting your progress! I'm looking forward to your build as I'm still in the planning stages for mine............

[NeverEnough]

Thanks for posting your progress! I'm looking forward to your build as I'm still in the planning stages for mine............

I checked out a couple of M2's, you're a lucky man! I'm dabbling in enough uncharted territory that it'll either be a fun success or a truly spectacular failure. The delays in waiting for materials is driving me nuts. One of the downsides of not staying on the beaten path....