Lightweight Homebuilt Camper for my Tacoma

Overland Hadley

on a journey
I ordered a whole bunch of expensive marine plywood... I think I am crazy all the money I am spending on this.... but I figure do it the way I want. I calculated the weight savings using Okume plywood over traditional plywood... and going as thin as possible where I could.... close to 100 lbs!

I have thought that about my camper build many times.

What was the "traditional" plywood you were comparing to, baltic birch? Can you post the weight difference you found between that and the Okume.
 
Thanks for the wonderful comments everyone

Hadley.....I am referring to lumber yard fir plywood or lumber yard 1/8 panelling etc.

I decided to go with 1/16 (1.5mm) ply on the walls.... it is a 3 ply material and only weighs 5 pounds per sheet! I have never used such thin plywood before but I will be sure to report on my impressions once I get it here and try it out.... call it an expensive experiment that could work or .....

For the floor I am going to make a foam sandwich floor to provide more insulation and save weight too.... I will glue 6mm plywood on top and 4mm plywood on the bottom of 1/2 foam.... it sounds good in theory....it will be less weight than a sheet of 1/2 marine plywood.... and only twice the cost:Wow1: I suppose I could glue the top sheet to foam above the frame and the bottom sheet to the foam and frame below.... ( this would be what you were saying I should do is it not Pods?)..... and save the weight of yet another sheet of plywood. Hmmmmm ......

Since it is one big prototype might as well try out every crazy idea I come up with !

check out boulterplywood.com for weights of marine plywood in different species
 
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GCecchetto

Adventurer
Wow this camper is coming along. So the VHB tape is really all what it is said to be? I haven't even touched mine yet. You also have a lot going on on your camper, but loving the concept!

I have used 3M's VHB tape extensively in the Dirt Sherpa build. You better make sure you have your panels where you want them when you put them on the tape, cause you won't be moving them once they contact the tape. It is what it is said to be, and the bond gets significantly stronger as the tape cures.
 
Yes.... I ended up pulling a couple small panels.... (I knew I had extra pieces to recut so I could replace them)... I used a heat gun... and the VHB tape did release using a heat gun but the .032 aluminum was still pretty much impossible to keep from bending. I am guessing a thicker panel that was heat proof like aluminum could be removed ... I won't say "without too much trouble"... because it would be a hassle for sure!
 
One of my crazy ideas is to use rotary latches on all the doors and hatches

I have had a few different design ideas... but now that I am putting in the time to make them work.... it is not looking so easy

I am on design idea number 4 at present

here are some pics of the mounting ideas that do not work for one reason or another.
IMG_2051.jpg
IMG_2050.jpg
IMG_2055.jpg
IMG_2054.jpg
routering openings in the door frame member to accept the rotary latch and strike pin.... now I know why most people don't do this!
 

roninjiro

Explorer
That is slick... I will ship you my door so you put one of those in. Are you making the holes with a drill and jigsaw?
 
Yes... slick is the idea.... but slick does take a lot more R and D work! I am cutting the aluminum with a router. I have broken a few cheap carbide router bits, but a better quality 1/2 carbide bit seems to be standing up fine. The trick is to use cutting fluid, otherwise the carbide bit simply gums up with aluminum.

The design piece is a challenge to get the thing to work. ..... back to the shop
 
Ok.... I think I am truly crazy... I dreamed about my camper build for too long! Two years of dreaming up all sorts of slick ideas...slick ideas take way more time to build!

Somewhere I came up with the idea of all the doors and hatches having rotary latches... like on vehicle doors.... this one is costing me a chunk of time... but I think I have it figured out.

Built the first door today.... tomorrow should be able to get a couple more done. Then the funky bent door for the entry... hope to have all the doors done this week.

I needed to go with 1.5 inch square tubing for the door frame to allow clearance for the handles and latch hardware. This is partly why I wanted 1.5 inch finished wall thickness.
IMG_2066.jpg

the latch pin is a shoulder bolt... but I need to order bolts with a shorter shoulder. So glad I found McMaster-Carr..... they are glad too $$$$$
IMG_2072.jpg

The cables are not connected to the handle yet... as I need to skin the door first
IMG_2067.jpg

Of course I needed to solve the problem of the cables jumping off the pulleys.... so fabricated some UHMW little bits.. primitive but no one will see them.
IMG_2075.jpg
 
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Three door frames are finished, just need to install the latch hardware

IMG_2085.jpg

The bent entry door is underway... the latch/lock mechanism gets even more complicated as you need to be able to open it from inside or out and lock it from inside or out.... just like a car door.... I like a challenging design... lots of fun!
 
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