Alaskan Camper Build Up

[wild1]

Carlyle, I liked your earlier idea about a spare that would tip back and down with a step built into the back. I think that you could adjust the piviot point so that even if you had a trailer behind the spare would rest on the tounge in the open position so that you could open the rear door. As far as towing you can just extend the ball out a bit if need be. The rear step on the back of my service body is nearly wide enough for a spare to sit on and I still have my motorcycle rack and tow hitch for my Jeep outboard from that. I carried a spare on the front of my truck and camper back in the 70's and it worked ok but I really never cared for for the way it looked or the loss of airflow through the radiator and coolers.

[klahanie]

Carlyle,

Additional thoughts are: raise the dinette floor and store the spare horizontally in that space or store similarly but in the dog house. Either location requires a large side access hatch, which may or may not be a structural obstacle. Then there is the issue of manhandling that spare into and out of said storage. Perhaps a carrying rack that slides out then drops down is possible.

Of course in reality, most large spares are carried on the rear of the vehicle.

As I’m sure you know, searching this site for a rear bumper mount brings forth an impressive number of posts on this problem. (Demonstrating what a great resource this site is, thanks to all it's contributors.) Clearly more clever people than me have been working on this and frankly I’m reappraising my own bias against swing outs.

Here’s one example.
See also posts 8 and 9 of that thread for other products.
Drool version here.


Lots to percolate …

[Carlyle]

As much as I like the cool ideas for the swing gates and various ingenious ideas of hanging a tire off the back, no matter what it will be in the way all the time. Every time I have to get in the back of the camper I will be moving a 100+ lb tire/wheel combination whether it is assisted or not. An open swing gate with a tire on it is something I will definitely what straight into at night when taking the dog for a pee too.

I thought about the other ideas, but they all take away from internal storage that we covet. The longer we get to travel, the more we bring with us.

I've ordered the front tire carrier from Aluminess and if anyone has a Dodge 5500 in the San Diego area could you take it to them to measure it up for me.

Now I'll just need to to find a good bug remover for tires....

[Carlyle]

Ordered a two inch leveling kit for the front of the truck from a company in Oregon called Revtek. I'll need this for the mpt81's to fit. They are one of the few that have there kits on 5500's and they actually talk to you on the phone.

Truck is in production and should be here mid January.

Now to find some chains to fit this.

[ScottReb]

Carl,
what boot did you have for the Alaskan to cab window?

[Carlyle]

In the last camper I actually had two boots. One was a compressed foam ring and the other was a small tube with two rings. Each came from a different pop up camper manufacturer. The new camper will only utilize a boot when the top is up as the top when down will block the rear window of the truck.

[dzzz]

I think the MPT81's are a great choice. That's what I was going to use before switching to a unimog. I never solved the spare tire problem. I think your choice of front bumper mount is probably the easiest to live with.
One thing I would check with Bryan is that your upper cabinets will balance your roof. I should have put upper cabinets across the foot of the bed.
I see you have more drawers than I have in my unit. That's good. I still haven't adequately organized my large storage areas.
The best unusual choice I made on my camper was the ability to use a standard home mattress.

[Carlyle]

Hi Don,

Thanks for the reply.

Glad to here another vote of confidence on the mpt 81's. I thought long and hard about the spare tire problem and just did not want to be moving the spare every time I needed in the back of the camper. I talked to Bryan and he is going to run cabinets all the way across the bed section per your advice. When I saw our camper being built, I liked the real mattress idea and have incorporated that as well and will be in fact picking it up this am after work.

Any more ideas would be great! Any thoughts on how you will organize the under bed storage?

We have decided against putting the same solar fans in as the last camper. Nice idea, but just did not move enough air for my taste. Another change is go with Lifeline batteries instead of the Energy One's. Just more bang for the buck.

[mangymarmot]

Hey Carlyle,

Sorry to hear about your rig. It definitely was one of my favorite builds. I've been wanting to drive down south to check out your set up to get some ideas. Looks like I'll have to wait for your new build. I'm sure it will surpass our expectations. Keep us posted.

[Carlyle]

Thanks for the condolences Mangymarmot.

Update:

We heard from the dealer that the truck is built and now waiting in Detroit to be shipped to Colorado. Hopefully it will be here soon. Wheels and tires are supposed to be here any day. Bumper is being built after Aluminess contacted Detroit and got the front end size specs from the direct source.

Revtek leveling kit for front end of the truck is here. Ute flat bed is here and being modified to so that it will be rigidly mounted in the back and have travel in the front. Slowly replacing all our cooking gear clothes etc from the inside.

Camper has been started with extra parts we want installed shipped to Chehalis for Alaskan to mount. This includes Pioneer DVD player, speakers, Yakima roof tracks, PIAA back up lights etc. Picked up a back lit LED TV at Costco and have ordered the parts to raise and lower the TV as before on a linear actuator. Simmons full size mattress is here and waiting to be installed. Per Don's advice we are extending the upper cabinets, but only on the passenger side as I don't want to nail my head in the middle of the night. We are have a thin shelf installed on the driver's side overhead for books etc.

New Engel MT43 is ordered and on the way. The old one is here and will be sold after as is after I clean it up a bit. Eventually the Engel will be on a slide so that it can pull fully out of the front compartment for easy access. Anyone seen any good aftermarket Engel slides out there?

Old truck arrived back from the salvage yard. The insurance company kept the camper for further investigation they told me. The salvage yard forgot to send the old flat bed, Viair compressors/tanks, and the propane tank. Not sure how they could overlook these items, bit after a discussion they agreed that they were part of the truck and not the camper. Since I have the salvage title on the truck, they are lawfully my items. The Ford starts up and runs and will be going up for sale as is shortly to someone who likes smoky smells and soot...


More to come as I find out more.


Carl