Whether it was the bad California Highways, the FS road conditions or the way I drive or all of the above, my foam under the camper has been compressing on the ends and edges more than it used to.
I needed to raise my camper about 3” to have it clear the roof of my Dodge, when I go bouncing along. From a design point of view I wanted to have a setup I could easily remove, it would stop the camper from sliding around, it would support my rear overhang, and I could still insulate it.
I went with pressure treated fir 4x4s and lap joints so that they would fit together in a rigid structure without fasteners, for easy assembly / disassembly.
The cross pieces are cut on the ends to conform to the bed to sidewall transition and extended from side to side.
The front and rear cross pieces were located to match the 1x4’s on the bottom of my camper (~1 inch in from the front and sides). The rear cross piece slips into two joist hangers, as I didn't want a lap joint at the edge or hanging in space. The middle cross pieces were located against the edge of the wheel well and the inside of the tailgate opening.
The lengthwise pieces were cut to go from the front of the bed to the end of the camper overhang. The center piece was short, to not interfere with the cargo carrier clearance (which I use in winter camping).
When assembled the frame can not move front / back or side to side.
To prevent the camper from moving around I adopted an idea from a post on this forum to center the camper. I attached a 1/2” piece of polypropylene cutting board to each face to decrease the friction as the camper is lowered. Clearance between the blocks and the camper side was initially 1/2”.
Assembled
Side Block Detail
To reduce the local stress on the side of the camper when lowering it, I attached a 1” aluminum angle, 1/8” thick, where each of the guide blocks touch, so the clearance is now 3/8”.
A 2x2 at the front limits the camper’s forward movement (not shown).
To further stiffen the two long 4x4s that cantilever out, I reverse bent them by ~ 1” and then put two layers of fiberglass/epoxy on the top surface (probably overkill, but they were cluttering up my garage from a previous boat project)
To minimize any sliding of the camper on the wood frame, I decided to use up some anti-skid sand and coated the two long, top surfaces with a mix of epoxy and anti-skid. Has worked well on the last two, 2 week long trips, but this winter will be the true test.
View of the under side of the camper over hang.
Pink foam will be cut to fill in the space under the camper for winter camping.
How much weight did that add to the unit? Didn't you lose some storage space off the side of the TC by putting the wood in there?
Frank
2011 Palomino Maverick 1000SLLB on a 2004 Dodge Quadcab CTD Ram3500 SRW long bed equipped with Timbren springs, Stable Load bump stops, Rickson 19.5" wheels/"G" range tires and a Helwig "Big Wig" rear anti sway bar.
I elected to go with the separate frame as I was not sure of the frame design / dimensions under the plywood bottom of the camper, without taking the bottom off. Something I didn't want to do.
Plus the separate frame is easier to load and keep the camper centered, given my driving style and the roads I travel on.
cm -
The pink foam I will use for the squares will be cut up pieces of Owens Corning Foamular 250 (25 lbs./sq. in. compressive strength, rigid, extruded polystyrene foam insulation ) that used to be under the camper and was not compressed. They are ~3-1/2" thick (2" and 1-1/2" sheets glued together).
sirdrakejr -
My camper doesn't have access doors to the areas in front and behind the wheel wells, so I don't use this space, as it is only accessible when the camper is off.
As far as weight, it took about four - 12 foot fir 4x4s to make this. Assuming green wood weight, it would be around 300 lbs. Once it dries out it should be less than 250 lbs. If weight is an issue and you live where you can get western red cedar 4x4s, it would be about half the weight. Local lumber guy didn't recommend redwood, as the recent stuff is not as rot resistant, even though it is lighter than fir.
I'm several hundred lbs. less than my GVWR and tire rating with DRW so the weight of the fir was not an issue for me.
- Bob
* This post was
edited 09/17/09 01:58pm by bb_94401 *
I think I would have built the frame from 2x4's on edge and screwed it to the bottom of the camper, so it stays with the camper and doesn't need to be removed seperately.
To say that you will use "pink foam" doesn't explain much. Except that the manufacturer is Owens Corning since their marketing color is pink.
Use extruded polystyrene and not expanded polystyrene (bead board). Extruded polystyrene is stronger and has a higher R-value. The Dow Chemical Co brand of extruded polystyrene is Styrofoam and is a blue color.
Offline
