out with the old in with the new

[westyss]

Still one of my favorite rigs. It just makes sense.

Thankyou, its one of my favorite rigs too!

[westyss]

Looks like a nice weekend. Where is that bridge exactly, it looks familiar?

Alexandra Bridge is the old bridge used to cross the Fraser river on the Trans Canada Highway, near where all the tunnels are on the highway, while crossing the new bridge you can see it. Some good history there too, but mostly its a fairly constricted flow area of the fraser river and when the river is as high as it is now it's a worthwhile visit, the imagination can be used here to get a feel of what it must of been like to travel along the Fraser River in the mid nineties, very rugged country.

[Overland Hadley]

Thankyou, its one of my favorite rigs too!

[adam88]

I am just reading through this entire thread. I can't begin to tell you how freaky this is, because I have been planning a build almost idential to this for years. How the F*CK I have missed this thread, I have no idea. Today magically it popped up in google. Dude, I live in Surrey and you are in Abbotsford. Just freaky. I may have to stop by and drool over this thing for a long time. As for liability issues, if I pay you in beer for advice when building my camper, then there's no money being exchanged. I can just drop a pallet of coors off every so often. Seriously, best thread I've ever seen on here. I've also taken note of several of the retailers, e.g., having windows made, nova kool. I had looked at nova kool before and noticed they were in BC as well. I actually found your thread in google in searching "rhinokore" on expeditionportal, as I knew they were in BC, but they appear extremely difficult to get in touch with. Finding our photos as like spotting a bald eagle in the wild - seriously. The way you've designed your camper, by using the panels for strength and glueing aluminum on the outside is brilliant. My plan was to create the outer aluminum shell first, and glue the panels in from the inside.

I have a bazillion questions for you, but the first one is about the rhinokore stuff. 1) How difficult was it getting the panels and how difficult do you think it would be now? You mentioned a wait time/delay earlier. 2) Do they make them in 1" thick?. 3) Do you think 1" panels would be structurally sound, versus the 1.5" panels you used, for a smaller build? 4) If you don't mind me asking, price per panel roughly? Appreciate this thread tons. I'd like to buy you a beer just for posting all these pics the next time I'm in Abbotsford (and maybe just happen to check out the camper).

[westyss]

I am just reading through this entire thread. I can't begin to tell you how freaky this is, because I have been planning a build almost idential to this for years. How the F*CK I have missed this thread, I have no idea. Today magically it popped up in google. Dude, I live in Surrey and you are in Abbotsford. Just freaky. I may have to stop by and drool over this thing for a long time. As for liability issues, if I pay you in beer for advice when building my camper, then there's no money being exchanged. I can just drop a pallet of coors off every so often. Seriously, best thread I've ever seen on here. I've also taken note of several of the retailers, e.g., having windows made, nova kool. I had looked at nova kool before and noticed they were in BC as well. I actually found your thread in google in searching "rhinokore" on expeditionportal, as I knew they were in BC, but they appear extremely difficult to get in touch with. Finding our photos as like spotting a bald eagle in the wild - seriously. The way you've designed your camper, by using the panels for strength and glueing aluminum on the outside is brilliant. My plan was to create the outer aluminum shell first, and glue the panels in from the inside.

I have a bazillion questions for you, but the first one is about the rhinokore stuff. 1) How difficult was it getting the panels and how difficult do you think it would be now? You mentioned a wait time/delay earlier. 2) Do they make them in 1" thick?. 3) Do you think 1" panels would be structurally sound, versus the 1.5" panels you used, for a smaller build? 4) If you don't mind me asking, price per panel roughly? Appreciate this thread tons. I'd like to buy you a beer just for posting all these pics the next time I'm in Abbotsford (and maybe just happen to check out the camper).

Hi adam88,

thanks for the kudos, I really dont know what is going on at Rhinocore, I believe that they have resumed building campers for the new owners of Bigfoot and as a result have let the Rhinocore business fade away, I tried to get on thier web site too but that is gone so my guess is that they are no longer making any of the Rhinocore product. For the most part it seems that these companies are not that interested in small one off jobs and the company I was talking with first was a just plain not interested at all.
Maybe trying to get a hold of the factory where the Bigfoot operation is located would be a way to get in contact with them as the employees that worked at Bigfoot were the ones that started Rhinocore. I am very impressed with the product that was built for me and with what I know now would change a few things but what they made for me was what I asked for and they delivered, it is VERY strong stuff that gives me allot of confidence in where I take my rig and not worry about a branch or something poking a hole in it so I do recommend it if you can get it!

Any time you want to wander out the Abbotsford way send me a pmail and Ill give you my address and ask away, answers are free but everything else will cost

[adam88]

Hi adam88,

thanks for the kudos, I really dont know what is going on at Rhinocore, I believe that they have resumed building campers for the new owners of Bigfoot and as a result have let the Rhinocore business fade away, I tried to get on thier web site too but that is gone so my guess is that they are no longer making any of the Rhinocore product. For the most part it seems that these companies are not that interested in small one off jobs and the company I was talking with first was a just plain not interested at all.
Maybe trying to get a hold of the factory where the Bigfoot operation is located would be a way to get in contact with them as the employees that worked at Bigfoot were the ones that started Rhinocore. I am very impressed with the product that was built for me and with what I know now would change a few things but what they made for me was what I asked for and they delivered, it is VERY strong stuff that gives me allot of confidence in where I take my rig and not worry about a branch or something poking a hole in it so I do recommend it if you can get it!

Any time you want to wander out the Abbotsford way send me a pmail and Ill give you my address and ask away, answers are free but everything else will cost

Thanks for the invitation. I will definitely take you up on it sometime. I am in the process of finalizing plans and the first thing I need is to have the aluminum flatbed done. I'd like to get it done before winter and then accumulate parts and build the camper throughout winter in my garage.

- I was was wondering who did your aluminum flatbed or if you have any recommendations?

- Also what software did you use to design it, or did you just built it from wood and then use the wood prototype? Impressive detail building the flatbed out of wood first. I may consider doing that. My flatbed will be a lot less intricate than yours.

- Also wondering about your mounting system and if you would change anything? I am planning on a 3 point pivot (front pivot).

- What was the cost for your aluminum bed/frame? Materials/labour? If you don't mind me asking. Or a ballpark estimate. Did you consider going with steel and having it painted? (I'm not considering this, pretty set on aluminum, just wondering).

- How's the Nova Kool fridge working out? I spoke with Marc at XP Campers and he didn't have overly kind words for the fridges, but I've heard good things about them.

Cheers,
Adam

[SkiFreak]

I am planning on a 3 point pivot (front pivot).

Be aware that a three point mount system can give you high point loads on the chassis. The Canter, with its stepped frame, is not ideally suited to this sort of mounting system. It is probably better to try and spread the load over as much of the chassis as you can.
If you do go with a three point mount, having the single pivot point at the front is probably better that the other way round. I would look at how a dump body is mounted as an example of how it should be done.
Should you want a pass-thru between the cab and the camper, a single front pivot would make this difficult.

[adam88]

Be aware that a three point mount system can give you high point loads on the chassis. The Canter, with its stepped frame, is not ideally suited to this sort of mounting system. It is probably better to try and spread the load over as much of the chassis as you can.
If you do go with a three point mount, having the single pivot point at the front is probably better that the other way round. I would look at how a dump body is mounted as an example of how it should be done.
Should you want a pass-thru between the cab and the camper, a single front pivot would make this difficult.

Hi Skifreak. Guess I should mention that this is actually going on an F350 diesel, not a canter/fuso. The F350 frame steps down a very small amount (roughly 1.5" towards the cab) versus the fuso which steps up. Since the frame is 1.5 inches lower in the front than the rear, I figure it's another plus for the front pivot, since it will reduce height by 1.5 inches. My flatbed is also going to be fairly small, around 9' long. And I expect this camper, loaded, to come in at no more than 2500# (hopeful). So I am not overly concerned about causing frame damage, but it is still in the back of my mind...

Not really sure how I will specifically do it at this point in time, but I have a decent idea. I want to keep the flatbed as low to the ground as possible, and use wheel wells. So the rear of the flatbed frame is basically going to sit close to the frame as possible maybe 1" from the frame. The canter is a different "beast" for sure, with it's high stepped frame. My frame is basically flat. I have mocked up a basic design in Google Sketchup which looks pretty good and it has helped me visualize everything a bit better. The only problem is that the fuel tank is up front and between the frame rails. This means the pivot has to go on top of the frame rails. If I used a rear pivot, I could box the rear of the frame and then have the pivot basically at frame rail height. I wonder how much space I need between the flatbed and the truck frame at the pivot point to allow for flex?

[SkiFreak]

I wonder how much space I need between the flatbed and the truck frame at the pivot point to allow for flex?

If it were me, I would do a flex test of the F350's chassis. That will tell you how much you will need to allow for.

Sorry Westyss... didn't mean to hijack your build thread.

[sarconcepts]

we need to move this to another thread,
then i'll give plenty of pictures & insight on the 3 point frame. (or at least mine)
this thread however is taken,
let's let westyss get back to his project, i'd like to see more interior pics.. ..I SAID, I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE INTERIOR PICS!