My Camper

[Steve F]

Started the design of my camper, should be ready to build soon. It's not a true offroad camper but will be fine for Fraser etc. I used Google Sketchup for the design.

It's 2.7m long, 1.2m high and 1.5m wide (internally) and runs 31" tyres. That matress is a queen size bed. The rear door lifts up to access the kitchen and will provide some shade and weaher protection.

I still have a bit to do (like interior cabinets etc) but the basics are there and I can start building soon





And with the Cherokee, mine is about 6" higher off the ground than this one so I'm hoping roof heights will be about the same with the camper probably lower than the Jeep.



Cheers
Steve

[lawnman]

that is some cool drawing man

[Gildo]

Looks like a great start, what else is planned?
GAs?
Water?
Fridge?
DVD?
Inverter?
Solar bits?
Come on Spill the beans.

Great drawings, but the steering wheel is on the wrong side!

[Steve F]

No fridge, it's staying in the Jeep, I like to have it in there when I go wheelin for the day anyway rather than leave it at camp so I'd be forever moving it from trailer to Jeep and back.

I'm trying to keep it light but may put a water tank underneath, there will be Jerry can holders on it though, most likely on the sides behind the wheels. DVD, Yep also car stereo, two speakers inside and two in the kitchen area so I can fade from internal to external. It'll have an inverter and a battery, the battery will really only have to run LED lighting and the DVD and stereo. I did think about gas but then it needs a gas ticket on inspection, same with 240volt. With a decent inverter I can run everything 12v and get around that one though.

Stove will still be portable but the storage will be a bit more specific than I have it in the pics.

The actual construction will be a sandwich type with PLY outer walls (17mm) a frame of about 25mm and an inner wall of 3mm. The roof and rear hatch will be pretty much the same with an insulating filler between innner and outer walls. That, along with a hatch on the roof with inbuilt 12v fan should help keep the temperature pretty stable.

Should be a fun build.

Cheers
Steve

[Fat Chili]

SteveF - Have you considered making the access to the kitchen cupboards two-way, for those late night or bucketing down with rain snacks when you don't what to climb out? Two-way cupboard doors with velcro'd fly screen mesh attached could also be utilised to increase ventilation (with the kitchenette door up) after eating baked beans .

[Gildo]

All good ideas so far mate, have you seen some of the plans around for the teardrop campers? It looks a lot like one called a "Benroy" .
From what Ive read 17mm ply and a 25mm frame and a liner sounds pretty solid, maybe overkill? perhaps Alum sheeting is all you need? Or a prefab sandwich panel? Coolroom panel?
Also not a bad idea to see what door frames and windows are available off the shelf before ya get too far along.
Keep us posted, always entertaining seeing the rapid progress you seem to make through your projects while the rest of us (well me anyway) are still talking or posting about how I'd do it!

[Steve F]

Yep, got some plans for a Benroy I decided to go with a square shape as ply only bends well one way and getting sheets in the right size and having the bend in the right direction seemes like a bit of a pain. In the end I went to the Mister Plywood site and designed it around the sheets they have available at reasonable prices Big advantage is there is one 10 minutes from my place.

I looked at the aluminium sheeting but again, not so easy to get in the size I want and cost is a factor. This will be painted, possibly with auto paint if I can get a good enough finish on the surface for it to look good, also thinking of fibreglass sheeting over the ply. Sides will be green and top white to deflect the heat a little.

For doors, I've had no luck finding any so will make one, windows will be standard caravan ones, I can find plenty of those.

The walls maybe too thick, I've just allowed for that thickness at the moment, certainly I'll make the roof a little thinner than that, maybe laminate two thin pieces of ply for the roof, have them offset to cover the joins and help water proof it.

Cheers
Steve