New and Improved Camper Box Build - Ver 2.0

[Jnich77]

Wow.. that thing is going to be a tank when you are done!!!

[The Swiss]

Very interesting. Really like the way you conducted all your material tests, very informative.

[Heifer Boy]

Thanks for the feedback guys. It's a learning experiance but I'm really enjoying it.

Wow.. that thing is going to be a tank when you are done!!!

I hope so...but a light weight tank!! If you have ever been on some of our Outback roads for weeks on end you would have some idea why things have to be so strong over here. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, rattles and shakes loose. This is why I was interested in building without mechanical fastners. There should be a little bit of flex in it too which will help. Too rigid and it might crack. Ask me again in a few years time...

[Jnich77]

I hope so...but a light weight tank!! If you have ever been on some of our Outback roads for weeks on end you would have some idea why things have to be so strong over here. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, rattles and shakes loose. This is why I was interested in building without mechanical fasteners. There should be a little bit of flex in it too which will help. Too rigid and it might crack. Ask me again in a few years time...

I know for boats around here (mullet and shrimping) they usually brace the inside of corners with a 1 x 2 or 2 x 2 and glue them.. then when the glue has set they fiberglass the crap out of the. They beat the crap out if them for years with no real problems.. so I am sure the way you are building will be perfect for the "out back".

From my limited experience, I see your only real problem being "flex". Of you can eliminate that you should have no problems.

[Heifer Boy]

Stage Seven – Front Wall and Door Frame

This is the first of 3 door frames to be made up but is a little different to the side doors. It’s the largest door and also the front wall of the camper box. Because my storage drawer slides will run on the floor of the camper, the front wall doesn’t have a bottom surround so it was pretty tricky cutting and trimming the thin 3-sided frame. The frame is 2 pieces of ply with the outside being 12mm and the inside 9mm and the inside piece is 15mm smaller all around to create the door jamb.





After a lot of test fitting these 2 pieces were laminated together, glued to the front of the side walls and held it in place with temporary screws. I had to be careful when I was moving them around until they were laminated as they flexed all over the place. The frame is only 40mm thick!! There is a tiny connection tab at the top of the centre panel but overall the frame has very little support until the middle floors and top section go in. It’s pretty solid though and will strengthen up once I fillet it. The corners have a rabbet joint with the side walls formed by the 2 pieces ply so there is plenty of glue surface for bonding.





I’m also thinking of adding additional support down the RH side to support the door. The wall is 21mm thick already but the door will be about 1100mm x 800mm and hinged from the side so an extra strip of ply epoxied inside for strength might be a good idea. I’ll take a look at this tomorrow too.

Remember, more photos in PhotoBucket (link in first post) and see you next time. Thanks for looking.

[Heifer Boy]

Stage Eight – Floors

Not a whole lot done this time. I just cut and dry fitted the floors for the upper storage areas. It’s good to get this done as it really shows the size of each of the storage spaces.

The LH side is pretty big and we will be able to get a lot of stuff in there. I’ll probably divide it up a bit to hold plastic boxes etc without them sliding around the place too much. The RH side obviously has a step in it to clear the fridge height so the space it a bit broken up. On the upper section at the back I’m going to put the second battery with fuse box and outlets in front of it. There will also be a small hatch cut into the top panel to allow access to the water jerry can to disconnect the hose when it needs to be swapped. In the photos you can see I made the lower RH section out of two pieces which are joined with another lap joint. This is because if I didn’t I would have to buy a complete sheet of 9mm ply just to make this!! With the strength of other lap joints I have made I don’t think this is going to be a problem!!






The idea is to bootline these areas but and although I would like to do that before the top goes on I think it will have to wait until we have done a couple of trips and really know how it’s going to be organised. We know what we generally take but I don’t want to have to try and rip up carpet and redesign the insides after it’s all built.

I also started making the drawer slides. These will hold all the storage boxes, the kitchen box, fridge etc. They still need a lot of work but I was able to get true dimensions off the LH one so my partner can start designing the removable kitchen box we have planned. These are made out of 12mm ply and have small extensions lap jointed to the ends to use up the offcuts and give the length I needed.




It’s a pain that the length of everything in this build is just over the 1220mm width of a full sheet so it all needs to be cut out of a full panel. It took an initial bit of patternmaking to minimise the waste so I didn’t just keep buying more plywood each time I needed a new panel cut. Well worth doing though and I check my drawings each time to make sure I cut the right panel from the right sheet.

It’s really starting to look like a camper now and not just a pile of plywood panels. Yay!!! I hope everyone is enjoying the write ups and please feel free to comment. Feedback is always welcome.

[riveroceanandmountain]

I love how meticulous you are being...... it will be soooooo much better in the end! Well done....... I'll be watching

[Heifer Boy]

I love how meticulous you are being...... it will be soooooo much better in the end! Well done....... I'll be watching

"The devil is in the detail" - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

I also advocate the K.I.S.S principle...

[Cletus]

Cool to see someone using these techniques in their build. Always thought stitch and glue or even strip planking would work for a camper build, looking forward to seeing how it holds up.

[SLO_F-250]

Nice work! Its cool to see this taking form. Keep it up. Cant wait to see how it works out for you!