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4500 Camper/Jeep Hauler Build

I'm not sure that this is even worth an update, I spent far more time this weekend at my job and other things than working on the truck. But I did get the tire carrier finish welded and bolted back in.

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I picked up some hardware for the tail pipe hanger, and I also cut out some more parts on the CNC Plasma to finish up this corner. Will work on that stuff over the next day or two and then hopefully move on to something else.
 
Odds and ends today to finish up the tire carrier. I cut some square caps to fill the side rail I cut out of 1/4" plate on the CNC Plasma, and then cut a tie down ring for the front corner out of some 3/8".

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Welded in place and ground smooth (where appropriate).

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The last thing the tire carrier needs is an exhaust hanger to give the tail pipe some support.

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Stainless tab with a silicone bushing that will slide around a bit on a shoulder bolt which screws into a weld nut on the frame. I suspect this setup may need a little tweaking but I want to see how it works as is.

Tomorrow I'll take the tail pipe off to finish weld it, clean up the shop, and get ready to move on to the next part of the project.
 
gprguy said:
No real update today, although I did finish weld the exhaust tab. Spent most of the day cleaning/sweeping the shop and reorganizing for the next set of jobs. Here's a couple of pics that prove the truck still moves under its own power.

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Needs a bath something fierce..
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your attention to detail, and just outstanding work. jealous.
 
dieselscout80 said:
Looking good.

What do you think it will weigh before putting the camper on it?
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Thanks all.

So I last weighed it after I put the suspension in it, but before I put the second tank, hydraulic legs, or the box/bed on it. It did have the temporary wooden fenders. It was 9250 then. If it's around 11k once the bed and all is on it I'd be pretty happy. I know roughly what the box weighs (400 lbs) but I haven't added up all the odds and ends in the box - probably another 400-500 lbs. The second fuel tank with a full load of fuel is probably 250 lbs. The spare tires are pretty heavy but worth it.

Once it's roadworthy again with the aluminum deck on the bed I'll weigh it again.
 
I've started the next project, the project I have been least looking forward to because it's probably the hardest remaining part - the door frames for the cabinet. Many angles, and the frame is going to be made from aluminum so I have to TIG weld it. So far it's mostly been cutting pieces roughly to size - that's all done. Now I have to start fitting them.

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So far so good, it's just tedious even though I really like working with aluminum. The tricky part will be getting the corners tacked together without burning the powder coat underneath. Might start getting into that tomorrow.

Meanwhile, we had a nice distraction Saturday - got the Jeeps out to join a LJ run at the local park.

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Great day but very dusty. Everything needs a bath now, including the dog. :)
 
Rockcrawlindude said:
Cool. You should start your own thread, respectfully.
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It's a valid point, but I don't mind. FWIW, he does have one, it's just not on this forum.

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As for me - this week was mostly a write-off. Busy with work and other stuff, and only got a minimal amount done on the truck. I did get most of our Jeeps washed so that's a plus. Hoping to make some progress tomorrow.
 
Point taken. To the OP, the tiny bit of fabrication that I have done to my rig gives me a small sense of what you have done. Wow! Just the hours of planning, let alone actually getting it done.
Just curious, do you have a log of your hours?
I hope our paths cross some day so I can examine your rig close up.
 
It's exhausting for sure. This probably isn't the biggest project I've done, but it's definitely the biggest compressed into the time frame I've been working on it. On top of that, we can't go camping till it's at least functional, so that's added pressure.

I do not keep a log of my hours (I don't really want to know) but I am cataloging materials and major purchases. I'll probably add it up at some point.

I've been getting a lot done this week, but it's really slow and tedious work making these door frames. In hindsight I should have made them from steel and built them into the frame before I powder coated it, but I didn't have a solid plan at that point so I just kicked the can down the road. Paying the price now.

Each door frame piece has to be fit in place and tacked together while clamped into the opening, which is powder coated. So I can't get things too hot or I'll burn the coating. Then it comes out (carefully) and is finish welded on a table. It's aluminum so I have to take my time at that step too as I don't want to risk melting it.

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With all the angles, some of which are compound, I don't want to risk messing up a piece and then have to re-do a lot. So I'm taking extra time.

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At this point I have both frames fully fit, about 2/3rds finish welded, and the other joints are tacked.

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I hope to finish the finish welding by tomorrow night, and then the frames can get cleco'd in place. Next step after that will be back to sheet metal to trim them out similar to the rest of the cabinet.

Unrelated, I've also been busy troubleshooting an issue with my SOK battery. Apparently the BMS has gone bad - it's essentially in a reboot loop, about every 7 minutes it resets and disables the terminals for about 30 seconds while it turns back on. This is apparently only the third time they've seen this issue but they were happy to send me a replacement board. Hopefully that takes care of it - I'm very glad I picked a serviceable battery. Support has been great so far.
 
Replaced the BMS in the SOK battery today, and it also came with an updated set of balance leads to replace the original balance board.

Before:

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After:

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The BMS has some noticeable differences on the board, but I didn't take any pictures of that. The battery is working great again, and SOK support was fantastic. Very glad I bought a user serviceable battery.

The other thing I accomplished today was making and gluing in place the top and back strips of aluminum on each side.

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I need to shear up some more .032 tomorrow so I can start trimming the door frame.
 
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