4500 Camper/Jeep Hauler Build

[gprguy]

Spent most of today taking care of odds and ends - bolted the box down, hooked up the air lines to the box (not all the way to the manifold, there's no wiring yet) and hooked up the DEF filler.





Still need to clean up a little extra sealant and pick up a box of DEF to make sure it flows well enough.

Then I took it outside to get a better look at it.











Probably going to spend a few days plotting out the flatbed so I can get all the metal ordered.

 

[gprguy]

More odds and ends today, rearranging the workshop and getting ready for what comes next.

Just to show how long I've been planning this build, 3 years ago when we ordered our inTech enclosed trailer (best trailers I've ever seen FWIW, and I've owned an ATC which is also fantastic) I was able to buy 9 16' aluminum tongue and groove deck boards from them. I've had them squirreled away in the corner of my shop till today.



That will be the flatbed surface, that's enough to build a nearly 10' deck (and I expect the deck will be more like 8' 6").

I also decided to put the bike slide in the cabinet, probably not permanently but I want to make sure it clears the door frames as I build those. So far everything looks to clear perfect.





I also got to check out what kind of access I will have to all the components in the drop down sections - so far I'm pretty pleased, it's more than enough.





Tomorrow the plan is to get the camper roughly in place above the truck to come up with a final design for the bed.

Side note - does anyone know what kind of connectors these are?





They look kind of like Deutsch connectors, but I'm not sure. These are for the tail lights on the chassis cabs - I'd like to find the receptacle side to wire up my permanent tail lights instead of cutting and splicing the connectors off the stock dump truck lights.

Figured I'd ask here before making a separate thread.

 

[Brutal_HO]

More odds and ends today, rearranging the workshop and getting ready for what comes next.

Just to show how long I've been planning this build, 3 years ago when we ordered our inTech enclosed trailer (best trailers I've ever seen FWIW, and I've owned an ATC which is also fantastic) I was able to buy 9 16' aluminum tongue and groove deck boards from them. I've had them squirreled away in the corner of my shop till today.

View attachment 73248

That will be the flatbed surface, that's enough to build a nearly 10' deck (and I expect the deck will be more like 8' 6").

I also decided to put the bike slide in the cabinet, probably not permanently but I want to make sure it clears the door frames as I build those. So far everything looks to clear perfect.





I also got to check out what kind of access I will have to all the components in the drop down sections - so far I'm pretty pleased, it's more than enough.





Tomorrow the plan is to get the camper roughly in place above the truck to come up with a final design for the bed.

Side note - does anyone know what kind of connectors these are?

View attachment 73253

View attachment 73254

They look kind of like Deutsch connectors, but I'm not sure. These are for the tail lights on the chassis cabs - I'd like to find the receptacle side to wire up my permanent tail lights instead of cutting and splicing the connectors off the stock dump truck lights.

Figured I'd ask here before making a separate thread.

If you don't get an answer here, send a PM to Jimmy07.

 

[gprguy]

Hey, it fits!

















I'm really pleased with how it sits. The bed will end up being 4" thick which is an inch less than I originally thought, but the clearance above the cab is plenty. Now that I have this all worked out I've started putting together a bed design, I'll probably order metal next week.

 

[Great White North Eh]

ITS ALIVE!!……we’ll sort of.

 

[jsalbre]

Man you do some ridiculously clean work.

How it is getting those Maxtrax off the mounts with the camper in place? The clearance looks tight.

 

[gprguy]

I appreciate it.

Pretty easy, there's about 3.5" or so clearance above the mounts. Plenty of room to slip the boards out. I'm debating whether to leave it as is or bump the camper back up an inch - this camper fits fine, but the next one might have an inch less clearance under the bunk. Still thinking.

 

[SpeyRam]

Very nice! I can see myself converting my 24 to a flatbed at some point.
What year is your Lance?

 

[gprguy]

Thanks. It's a 2020. We've really enjoyed it but I very much doubt I'd buy another Lance. Too many stupid problems and poor workmanship. But the floor plan is pretty nice.

 

[SpeyRam]

Thanks. It's a 2020. We've really enjoyed it but I very much doubt I'd buy another Lance. Too many stupid problems and poor workmanship. But the floor plan is pretty nice

I have a smaller 22 825. I've experienced some of that same thing with the interior finish of mine. I’m not married to Lance but I think you’ll find similar issues from 1 TC manufacturer to another.

 

[gprguy]

I have a smaller 22 825. I've experienced some of that same thing with the interior finish of mine. I’m not married to Lance but I think you’ll find similar issues from 1 TC manufacturer to another.

To a very large degree you are right. However quite a few of the issues with ours (beyond the comically bad wiring and the crooked window - could have sworn they bragged about CNC cutting their wall panels ) have to do with their buying everything off the menu from Lippert. So none of the parts and fixtures are best of breed, they are just whatever Lippert offers because they get a good deal. So it has a Schwintek slide (known problematic), a Happijack slide (junk, already broken once), Happijack jacks (not the best), cheap roof vents, etc etc.

We've toured the Host factory and although they don't use everything I'd prefer (they don't use Victron for example and scoffed at my suggestion) they do use nice reico-titan jacks, so much better slide mechanisms (seriously - the slides on that camper worked ridiculously smooth and quick, I was really jealous), the wiring looked professional - clean and neat, etc...

Those Host campers are a different price level, but the comparable Lance campers aren't cheap any more either. I think ours has almost doubled in price since we bought ours in mid 2020.

 

[SpeyRam]

To a very large degree you are right. However quite a few of the issues with ours (beyond the comically bad wiring and the crooked window - could have sworn they bragged about CNC cutting their wall panels ) have to do with their buying everything off the menu from Lippert. So none of the parts and fixtures are best of breed, they are just whatever Lippert offers because they get a good deal. So it has a Schwintek slide (known problematic), a Happijack slide (junk, already broken once), Happijack jacks (not the best), cheap roof vents, etc etc.

We've toured the Host factory and although they don't use everything I'd prefer (they don't use Victron for example and scoffed at my suggestion) they do use nice reico-titan jacks, so much better slide mechanisms (seriously - the slides on that camper worked ridiculously smooth and quick, I was really jealous), the wiring looked professional - clean and neat, etc...

Those Host campers are a different price level, but the comparable Lance campers aren't cheap any more either. I think ours has almost doubled in price since we bought ours in mid 2020.

Last comment on this tangent....yeah the wiring is subpar I'm about to upgrade my solar and battery so I hope to improve some of it. However, with your fabrication skills, you could prolly build your own camper!

 

[gprguy]

Last comment on this tangent....yeah the wiring is subpar I'm about to upgrade my solar and battery so I hope to improve some of it. However, with your fabrication skills, you could prolly build your own camper!

It's crossed my mind but I don't have a 5 year hole in my life to dedicate to that.

 

[Bigboom338]

I was really thinking about getting a newer camper (mines a 1999 Lance 1130) but after all of the problems I hear about with the late model ones, I am not sure that I would buy anything newer than a 2010 model.

I wish I lived close to you so that you could hands on educate me on your solar setup.

The day you drop your camper down on your flatbed to go for a test drive, it's an amazing feeling. I just got to experience that feeling on Sunday.
I have been enjoying following your progress.

 

[gprguy]

Thanks - your rig is looking great, I've been enjoying seeing the updates over on LOA.

 

[jsalbre]

I appreciate it.

Pretty easy, there's about 3.5" or so clearance above the mounts. Plenty of room to slip the boards out. I'm debating whether to leave it as is or bump the camper back up an inch - this camper fits fine, but the next one might have an inch less clearance under the bunk. Still thinking.

Any way you could set it up so that it would be trivial to raise it an inch if you need to later? Like a reversible spacer or something under the bed?

 

[gprguy]

Any way you could set it up so that it would be trivial to raise it an inch if you need to later? Like a reversible spacer or something under the bed?

I gave it some further thought and decided there's enough clearance as it is. Worst case with some future camper I can add a stall mat or a 3/4" piece of plywood under the camper, something like that. Ultimately I have no idea what camper I might have in the future and what kind of bunk clearance it may have.

I can always space a camper up, but I can't drop the bed down.

 

[jsalbre]

I gave it some further thought and decided there's enough clearance as it is. Worst case with some future camper I can add a stall mat or a 3/4" piece of plywood under the camper, something like that. Ultimately I have no idea what camper I might have in the future and what kind of bunk clearance it may have.

I can always space a camper up, but I can't drop the bed down.

Makes sense to me!

 

[gprguy]

Not too much to share from the last week. I did finish my flatbed design and sent an order over to my local metal supplier today, hopefully I'll have that sometime this week and can really get going on the bed and the door frames. I also ordered camper D-ring tie downs and some L-track.

I finished weatherproofing the DEF filler and then tested it out by putting a box of DEF in. It worked like a charm, flowed nice just like stock. Then I decided I'd finish bolting the bike slide and bike mounts in as I hope I won't have to take it out again. It's nice and solid now.







Still needs some rubber flooring in the tray, but I'll wait and do that after I am done with the rest of the box fabrication.

I also took care of some other little odds and ends like painting some of the scuffs on the frame rails the janky wooden fenders caused.

Hopefully steel will be here soon and things will start moving again!

 

[gprguy]

Steel has arrived! As soon as I get the front U joints swapped in my wife's LJ (it threw a cap on the road) progress will begin again.