The TARDIS - A Four Wheel Camper Build

[Overland Hadley]

A Fuso would be so cool but it wouldn't make it to all the spots our Tacoma's do. Most but not all.

Yes, bigger than a Tacoma, however:

I have been carefully following, (not sure why, as I do not think I will ever be able to afford a Fuso rig) the guys who are using Fuso based campers. From what I can gather the Fuso is as capable as a full size pickup, possibly better. I have never personally driven one, but that is what I have read. Someday I hope to test my theories.

edit, here is a photo showing a two door jeep next to a Fuso camper.

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[Overland Hadley]

Welcome home (or maybe it should be "I hope you get to head back out on the road soon"). Love me some Rabbit Valley... sounds like you were having a good time out there.

A question on your lifting struts: I hear conflicting answers about the internal lifting helpers. Do you think those help you lift the front, back, or both ends of the roof? And are you still happy with how you've got them set up?

I'm looking to get a little help lifting the roof but I'm hesitant to do the external lifts (the truck is on year round, in the winter, etc, and I really only need the lifting help in the winter when it snows. My understanding is the external struts might not like the ice and road chemicals).

Thank you.

Edited to add: and are you still using the metal rope(?) to pull the sides of the camper back in and prevent damage from the struts when the roof is down?

Thanks! I hope to be back on the road as soon as spring hits somewhere in this country, at least that is the hope. Life might have different plans.

Rabbit Valley is a good place. Especially as it is a nice overnight on the way to south-eastern Utah. Although this time I was obsessed with wanting to be there on half as many wheels.


I like my internal lifting struts. What I like is while I am lifting the back they lift the front by themselves. This is due to the fact that once I get the back started the struts are doing their thing and working on lifting the front. This is especially helpful given the layout of my camper, I have very poor access to the front lifting panel. With the external struts you would need to get both ends started separately for the struts to take over. The internal struts do make lowering the camper different, as the front wants to pop back up while the back is lowering. I have solved this by hooking the front panel push bar once the front is closed, this keeps the front down while the back is lowering. Once the back is lowered the struts are to their closed point and do not have an upward pushing force.

Yes, I am still using the wire line to keep the walls of the camper from spreading under the force of the struts when closed. I hook the front push bar on this wire line to keep the front from jumping back up while I am lowering the rear.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Here is a Truck Camper Magazine article about the 2015 Four Wheel Campers.
What caught my attention was the new "positive latch door catch," it looked familiar. :elkgrin:

I ordered my door latch from a horse trailer supply company. :ylsmoke:

 

[camper101]

Thanks again -- that's good to know about the front. This thread is like an old favorite book I can come back to and enjoy every few years... Always notice something new.

 

[Overland Hadley]

This thread is like an old favorite book I can come back to and enjoy every few years... Always notice something new.

Wow. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[Overland Hadley]

walking back to the rig after running off chasing a sunset train, sand hills nebraska

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[Northern Explorer]

I have that same Blue Sea USB outlet hooked up to a small solar setup in my house. It's a good little unit. The only downside is that it draws a little bit of power even when it isn't in use because it's continually working to turning 12 volts into 5 volts. You may want to install an inline switch to shut it off when it isn't in use.

 

[Overland Hadley]

I have that same Blue Sea USB outlet hooked up to a small solar setup in my house. It's a good little unit. The only downside is that it draws a little bit of power even when it isn't in use because it's continually working to turning 12 volts into 5 volts. You may want to install an inline switch to shut it off when it isn't in use.

I have a couple of these on my electrical panel, and that is where my phantom draw is from! Ha, thanks.

This summer I went through all of my electrical components and made an electrical use chart. Now I can figure my exact electric usage. Main thing I learned is I can run my LED lights for a long time.

 

[uriedog]

I have a couple of these on my electrical panel, and that is where my phantom draw is from! Ha, thanks.

This summer I went through all of my electrical components and made an electrical use chart. Now I can figure my exact electric usage. Main thing I learned is I can run my LED lights for a long time.

I put those in our new to us TC. How much draw do they have? Is it really worth adding a switch?

 

[Overland Hadley]

I put those in our new to us TC. How much draw do they have? Is it really worth adding a switch?

I currently have two of them installed, and my phantom draw from the whole electrical system was only .02/.03 amps. Northern Explorer might know the exact amount for the Blue Sea USB outlets.

I do not have a house battery, just the one battery in the truck. So having a master switch was a must for me. If you have a couple house batteries then it would not be as much of an issue.

 

[Overland Hadley]

badlands, south dakota





^spot the rig^​

 

[Overland Hadley]

I did a couple projects with the camper before the autumn travels.

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I installed an aluminum perforated sheet over the lower section of the screen door.

I always disliked the screen door as I was afraid of putting a hole in the screen, either through gear sliding around in the camper or by knocking into it by accident. The big storage totes are always strapped in, but sometimes I need to have some loose gear bumping around for a couple miles of travel. And why I knock into the screen door so much is beyond me, just part of contorting my 6'4" frame around inside the camper when the top is down. I think the original idea was to keep dogs from pushing the screen out.

(I am sorry but I forget who the inspiration for this was, I know it was not my original idea. If anybody knows who posted about this earlier this year please let me know.)

The originator has been found!

It was Alley-Kat on his thread on WtW. There are lots of other good ideas on his thread, good to check it out.

Whew, I feel much better knowing who put the idea in my head. Thanks for the great idea Alley-Kat!

Here is the aluminum I used, from Amazon.






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I spray painted my leveling blocks black.

Nothing makes the rig looked parked for the night more than being parked on leveling blocks, I have seen RV's ticketed solely based on the fact that they were parked on levelers. I still use mine a fair amount and wanted to make them a bit more stealthy, at least when viewed from a distance. It also gave me the chance to test out the durability of Krylon plastic paint, as I have some plastic parts that I want to paint in the future.

Before:


During:


After:


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And of course I needed to make another aluminum bracket and drill holes in the cabover.

This bracket is for the Wilson repeater antenna. I am really impressed with this cell repeater/antenna combination, as I was able to get service far from where I should have been able to. The main reason I went with this big of an antenna was it has its own grounding plane, so it does not need to be mounted in the middle of a metal roof. Going from the normal little magnetic antenna to this one made a huge difference, or maybe it was the switch to AT&T from Verizon.

The Wilson antenna is model 301119.

 

[Overland Hadley]

What's on the road, a head?
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[takesiteasy]

Have you written up the led light bar yet? If so I missed it. Looks good. That doesn't look like the Toyota grill badge either.

 

[Overland Hadley]

about twelve years ago I drooled over a nice tacoma and camper parked in this very spot.
it was one of the many seeds that planted the dream that my truck and camper is fulfilling.
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