Allochris's ultimate buildup thread!!!

[allochris]

Thanks KCOWYO!

I've got a couple questions on your setup for ya:

-How much clearance btwn your camper & the cab?
-How's the flex on your truck off-road?
-About how thick is that foldable plywood? What kind of material?
-How are the metal bars lock in place to keep the wood straight? manually or automatic?
-How steady do you find about your roof support design? (Especially when it's ready windy/stormy with wind blowing sideway)
-Can you actually drive (ok, really slowly) carefully with the roof up?
-Is there anything you would like to change about the interior lay-out? (Like where things are & their dimension & such?)


Thanks,
-chris

[kcowyo]

Thanks KCOWYO!

I've got a couple questions on your setup for ya:

-How much clearance btwn your camper & the cab?
-How's the flex on your truck off-road?
-About how thick is that foldable plywood? What kind of material?
-How are the metal bars lock in place to keep the wood straight? manually or automatic?
-How steady do you find about your roof support design? (Especially when it's ready windy/stormy with wind blowing sideway)
-Can you actually drive (ok, really slowly) carefully with the roof up?
-Is there anything you would like to change about the interior lay-out? (Like where things are & their dimension & such?)


Thanks,
-chris

I have 4-5 inches between the top of my cab and the bottom of the cab-over. Never measured it but that's a good eyeball guess.

The trucks' flex? I have airbags and adjustable shocks on the truck, so not tons of flex like with aftermarket leaves and coils. But I get around OK and the camper handles it just fine.

Re the material, it's a thin pressed board, maybe 1/4 inch thick. I will defer to Ben Burnett for more specifics. He used to own Four Wheel Campers and now manufacturers another slide in camper, All Terrain Campers. Give him a call or email, tell him KC in Wyoming suggested you contact him. He can give specifics and he's very generous with helping out.

I've been in some strong winds and the roof and camper do very well, no problems. The one issue I've had was trying to close it up on a windy morning. Because of the way it's designed and so airtight, in a strong wind I struggled to get the fabric sides to pull in. But when opened in high winds it did fine. Swayed me to sleep.

I've never driven with the roof up at all. I probably wouldn't go anymore than a few feet to find a more level spot in a campsite. It is strongly advised by FWC to not drive with top up.

I really like the interior layout of the FWC. A big window on the passenger side really helps when backing up or making lane changes. Most of the options and weight are on the driver's side but I adjust for that by keeping the airbag at a higher PSI than the one on the passenger side. I wish the roof opened a little higher (6'1) to allow more room to sit up while in bed reading. The galley, water tank, propane tank, auxillary battery, etc. are all easy to work with and to work around.

You might check this link for some ideas and scan the rest of the board for interior options and photos.

[allochris]

The trucks' flex? I have airbags and adjustable shocks on the truck, so not tons of flex like with aftermarket leaves and coils.

A big window on the passenger side really helps when backing up or making lane changes.

Wow thanks!

Actually I meant the frame flex of the truck, not the springs.

& I'm so glad you mentioned the importance of backup viewing angle. I assume the window on the back door helps a lot too?

[allochris]

Wow thanks!

Actually I meant the frame flex of the truck, not the springs.

& I'm so glad you mentioned the importance of backup viewing angle. I assume the window on the back door helps a lot too?

Oh, btw, did you ever use it in the snow??? I;m wonder how well your roof can hold when lots of snow gets pile up on top?

About how heavy do u think your roof is?

[kcowyo]

I wouldn't have a clue to gauge how heavy just the roof is....maybe 70 - 100lbs? That's a wild *** guess based on no real knowledge, sorry.

The roof is rated to hold 1,000lbs when opened. Given the surface area and inquiring about it here to some other owners, we guessed that's in the range of 2-3 inches of wet snow. Certainly not a lot of snow. I would keep a Sno-Rake on board if at all possible, especially with the wet Spring snows happening lately.

The window in the rear door helps your view also. You just have to get used to the narrower view out of the back. Make it as big as possible for yourself. You might want to add an exterior light on the rear outside wall also. That helps quite a bit for backing up in the dark and offers good light in camp around the back of the rig.

[Kermit]

Great build up, can't wait to see it finished.

[Kevinj110]

So amazing. Cant wait to see more. Great build up

[allochris]

The roof is rated to hold 1,000lbs when opened.

Are you serious? 1000lbs capacity when opened, hold only by the plywoods at both ends? That´s some serious design they have!

Got a couple more question here...

1)At 70 to 100lbs, is your roof light enough that anyone like my mom would be able to lift it? I figure you lift the roof up in 2 sequences? By lifting and locking the back end first and then the front end, right?

2)Btw, I can see that having those foldable plywood panels up at front-rear do prevent side to side movement. Question is, how do they prevent the roof from pivoting forward or backward, kind of like a rectangle, collapsing into a parrallelogram, then totally flat?

3)For the aluminium looking bar attached to the folding panel, are their sole purpose only to prevent the panels from folding? or do they do more than just that...?

4)For the roof vent, according to your setup, where do you think is the best place to mount it, directly right above your cooking stove or elsewhere? Tell me also the opening direction you would like it to face too.

You are the man! Thanks a lot.

'chris

[CLynn85]

Wow, cool buildup. Home-made campers seem to be few and far between these days.

As for driving with the top up, I've heard tales of Ben, former FWC proprieter, driving down the interstate at 80mph with the top up and another employee in the back.

[allochris]

This is the layout. It's basic, cause i want to keep it light & simple.

-Top sleeps 2 with slide-out bed, 3' extension

-Bench on the right sleep 1, or 2 when bench slide-out over the walkway.

-Skis/fishing rod/dirty stuff storage compartment under the bench (where milk crates are).
Accessible by 2 outside lockable storage doors + inside by opening the 2 covers of the bench sit.

-31"x18" Window by the rear right corner

-The removable washing plastic tub at the rear left corner is used as a shower/bucket-toilet base

-Shower hose is manually attached to the outlet of the sink tap when in use, and curtain will be used to enclose the area)

-A white cabinet sits right next to the tub, with a sink/tap on top

-a table sits on top of the white cabinet, all the way to the front wall, also with a pivoting rear end that serves as the wall btwn shower & sink or an extension of the table over the tub

-Front of the cabinet under the table area will be empty to accommodate my 32"x18" plastic storage box

-Rear door will get a window through it

-Front slider window enable access to the cab. (Yes, I'm thin enough!)





and... i'm still missing the top roof...