I've been thinking more about this project lately. Mostly because I'm currently renting a truck camper and love it, even though it's stationary. Partially because I want to stop renting a truck camper and start owning one. One I built exactly as I want. I've started a new job that will have me restoring antique tow trucks for a private collection. It's pretty nifty, much like the trucks. My first project is to rebuild an old dump truck bed that's been sitting in the shop for a year and is in the way. I need to finish it so I can pull a truck in and start restoration. I've learned and practiced many hours of grinding, welding, basic steel fabrication, and project management. All good skills to have. It's given me the confidence to really start tackling bigger projects as I know my methods are good and my ability to learn new skills is where it needs to be. 

Working with steel made me want to build a steel framed camper until I watched a camper build series by one of my favorite internet folks Robert Dunn over at Aging Wheels. His series playlist can be found here. It's a fun series where he builds a terrible camper and immediately shows me exactly what not to do. It's all good though, as he freely admits it's terrible and eventually tears it apart. Well worth the watch for anyone interested in building a camper. His main complaints were water damage, weight, poor aerodynamics, it being hideous, and it being too small. I thought about all of these points for about 10 seconds before deciding I just need to do this right, instead of being lazy like I wanted to. I was going to build it out of 2x2 construction lumber, pocket screws, 1/8 inch plywood, and wood glued canvas covering. This would work, but would also rot over time, be heavy, require many fasteners, and be rather expensive. I'd also need to buy a ton of insulation anyway, so why not cut out everything but the insulation? I had already bought many of the tools and fasteners to build such a camper, but I can use them for other things later. Tools like my cordless circular saw will be useful for the new design though. 

For this new design, I decided to go with something incredibly light, strong, fairly cheap, and that can be made entirely water tight. It's a foam board composite made with solid foam board insulation covered in heavy canvas drop cloth, which is then coated in wood glue, then painted with exterior paint. I've actually seen a teardrop camper built like this that looks like it came straight from one of them big factories that makes the over priced campers. The difference between home made looking and professional looking was mostly in the finish. She had sanded every layer and did everything right to leave a clean smooth finish. Looking professional is very important as many campsites have rules against older and home made campers. I'll still run into the problem of my truck being nearly 40 years old, but I'll be restoring it as I build the camper. It will look very good. I plan to put a strobe light on the roof, reflective strips on the bumpers, utility lights, and a winch that can be mounted front or rear to turn it into a proper service truck. This would let me take road side assistance calls for extra money and fund travels and adventures. The goal of this project is to make something affordable, using common tools,materials, and methods, that can be built by fairly unskilled people. PMF(poor man's fiberglass) is a proven system for making lightweight and strong shelters. Foam board with canvas, wood glue, and paint. It's surprisingly durable and very light. I've watched a series where a man made a few test pieces and torture tested them. The results were incredible. He'd only used thin foam, bed sheets, and Titebond 2 wood glue. I plan to use 2 inch foam for the floors and walls, with 4 inches of foam for the ceiling, with a curve in it so I can mount solar panels on the roof and walk on it. I'll also use the Titebond 3 wood glue for it's better thermal performance.  I'll buy all of the materials up front from Home Depot, document the cost, then weigh all the materials to get a rough idea of what it will weigh in the end. In the video series above, his camper ended up weighing 1,100lbs. Too heavy for his truck and it's 5.5ft bed, and too small for full time living. This camper is designed for an 8 foot bed, on a 3/4 ton pickup truck. Being made of foam and fabric, this design should weigh a fraction of what his steel and wood camper did, while being far larger and more aerodynamic. This is important as my old truck has a small engine and poor fuel economy as it is. The lighter the frame, the more equipment I can install, and the greater the chance of mounting a motorcycle to the back of the truck. 

I haven't set a weight goal yet, but I'd like the entire camper with food, water, batteries, solar panels, and all of my tools and belongings to weigh under 1,500lbs. The truck will handle far more than that if needed, but I'd rather not push my luck. I'll install airbag suspension if needed in the rear. 

For the electrical system, I want solar panels, power from the engine, and maybe a small generator if needed. The goal is to have enough battery power to run a small air conditioner or mini split system if needed. I've got an idea to mount solar panels on the roof that will have more surface area than the actual roof, while still being able to use the roof space as a porch. To do this will mean having the panels stacked in layers, on sliding rails that will extend out over the sides of the camper to form large shade awnings. Doing so would raise them up off the roof enough to ensure I could actually cover roof vents without it being a problem, as I could park, slide the panels out, secure them with support posts to the truck frame, and open vents as needed. I may actually skip roof vents and mount side vents as high on the walls as possible. I really want my rooftop porch. I estimate the roof will be about 14 feet long by 10 feet wide. Quick estimate is that I could fit nine 300 watt solar panels on the roof without double stacking them. That's 2,700 watts of solar power. 2.7Kw, which is a significant amount of power coming in. I doubt I'd do that as it gets expensive fast. Two 300 watt panels would be a great start. This is the set up I installed in my ex's camper and it supported us, cooking, and an electric water heater on sunny days. I have induction cooking now, and would make the water heater controller far more efficient. With only myself using hot water, it would go further as well. 2.7Kw would be enough power to run a small air conditioner, charge the battery bank, heat water, and cook all at the same time. The initial system will be small and cheap, with a clear upgrade path in the future. I plan to add a 200+ amp alternator to the truck engine and a dc-dc lithium battery charger. This would let the batteries charge directly from the alternator when the engine is running. I'll include a shore power hook up as well. Renogy makes a solid all in one system that offers 3,000 watt inverter, 120 volt ac input, 75 amp battery charging, and controls for an external generator that I could tie into a custom engine starting system I'm designing for the truck. I could plug in when needed, run from batteries when needed, or let the charge controller start the truck engine as needed. With dual 20 gallon fuel tanks and a small inline 6 cylinder engine, I could run the truck as a generator for a very long time if needed. Electronic exhaust cutout valves could switch over to super quiet mufflers in generator mode to give me a reasonably quiet generator that wouldn't disturb me or others as much as these obnoxious little portable units people insist on running 24/7. 

For heat I've decided on a 12 volt diesel heater, which I ordered the other day. I went diesel as it's efficient, quiet, has automatic and remote controls, and comes in a portable unit that I could take out as needed. The one I ordered is a 5Kw output unit, with 4 outlet ports. I have a 1.5Kw(1,500 watt) electric space heater in this drafty old truck bed camper now and it cannot keep up on days approaching freezing temps. I dread to know what it's going to feel like in here when we get the Ohio below freezing days and the wicked wind. 5Kw should be plenty. I almost ordered the 8Kw unit, but that's far too much for a small camper like this. I could also put the heater in a different vehicle and run it from any 12 volt DC power source. I plan to get a dedicated battery for it so it can run independent of location or the power situation in the camper. I had a fun thought of setting up 4 tents around it and running a heater hose to each tent for some cozy winter camping. It will make an excellent addition to my current life, as well as any other places I need heat. I'll post an update when it arrives and I've had a chance to try it out. I also really want a tiny wood stove in there, as it's my favorite heat source. I could run a fire when I'm home and awake, then let it die out and just let the diesel heater take care of the heat while I'm out or asleep. I've watched someone struggle with wood heat in a tiny camper. It sucked. He was up every few hours to restock the wood stove. Never a full night sleep. Not cool. 

As for lifting the camper up to slide it out of the truck, I've yet to figure that out. I'm going to worry about it later and just start on the design of the main body. If needed, I'll build some sort of solid frame underneath it and use that to lift it with. I may set up a hydraulic system with a small cylinder on each corner to lift it up evenly and quickly. Commercial lift jacks are way too expensive for my taste. I have already replaced a hydraulic power pack in the previous camper build for its lift system, and I know what it entails. It was a 12 volt pump that drew 140 amps under load. I could set it up to run other implements in the future as well. If I don't go with that, I'll likely do one of those scissor type jacks on each corner and use my drill or cordless impact to lift it little by little on each corner. This is a problem for future me to tackle. 

The water system will be pex tubing with crimp rings, and the strongest 12 volt water pump I can find. There are marine units that come with a built in accumulator tank. I'll install a small reverse osmosis water filtration system to produce my own drinking water. I'll install a 6 gallon residential electric water heater and convert it to 12 volt DC power with a standard heating element that I used in a previous project. It actually boiled the water once, so I know it's good enough. I'll install outdoor faucets for use with things like an outdoor sink, shower, and hoses. A city water connection will be added as well. I'll likely go with a 15 gallon fresh water tank, and another of those tanks for grey water collection. I plan to install a small bathroom that is completely waterproof with a shower. This camper has one and it's worth every square inch of the space. Cleaning it is very easy as well. I spray it down with the sprayer and scrub it with a scrub brush that hangs on the shower wall. I'd like a foot switch for the kitchen sink that turns the water on and off so I could set the temperature and conserve water at the same time. I'll be installing a large sink as I enjoy it. 

I plan to build a composting toilet in the bathroom that doubles as a sitting and storage bench. I enjoy sitting on the toilet in the shower to scrub my feet. It's pretty awesome. There's an RV waste dump site right by where I work, so grey water disposal will be very easy. I plan to use non toxic cleaners as well so I could safely dump that water in many different places. Maybe not always legally, but at least I wouldn't be poisoning anyone, like many RV people are these days. 

I've already lived the tiny Offgrid camper lifestyle, and I'm currently living the truck bed camper lifestyle. I'm finally ready to finalize these designs and get to work. The next step is to secure a workspace and start setting aside the money. I have a friend who will rent me his heated garage this winter to build and film in. First I have to buy my old truck back. I owe $800 on it, then it needs a few minor repairs and upgrades, insurance, and new license plates. Once all that is done, I'll finish the frame design, cut the foam panels, test fit everything together, then start the canvas and glue process. I'll build the entire frame first and worry about various cut outs later. I'd like to build it in stages, documenting them all, and drawing up diagrams with detailed instructions for easy duplication. I'll leave the plans open source, but I may build and sell these as a side business if anyone ever wants one. I'll be setting up a new business entity here soon for a few other things, and will just build my camper under that business name. If I can do it properly and get it certified, I can avoid the campgrounds telling me they don't accept home made campers. I'll be able to say it is a 2022 Hot Garbage Special, and show them the certificate and such. I think this conversation alone would be worth the hassle of setting up a business for this. I'll need a good looking "Hot Garbage" decal and metal badge to mount to the camper as well. It's got to be at least a little silly. The end result should look good enough to pass as professional. Judging by my usual quality of work(when I actually care) this shouldn't be a problem. 

Before I forget about this part, I'd like to mention that this first camper will be my full time home, office, video recording studio, electronics lab, and home theater. This means I have to plan it out very carefully and the final design will be far different from the standard design I'll publish for the average person. Main differences will be that I will be using far higher quality materials such as solid copper sheets, hard woods, nice trim, and specialty materials for optimizing lighting and sound performance. I'll be installing studio lighting of some sort, sound dampening panels and materials, such as foam, furs, thick carpet, and extra cushions, as well as high end electrical outlets, covers, switches, door handles and hinges, and kitchen faucet. I want a very comfortable home that I will be quite happy to spend most of my time in, as well as show in my videos. I don't think I'll have windows in this camper. I don't care for them nor do I use them. My surroundings are often hideous, and it ruins sound isolation, water sealing, and thermal insulation. They also add significant cost to the build. These walls will be designed so that I could cut window holes in the future if needed. Until then, I'll likely buy a few HD computer monitors, take the cases off, and frame them like windows on the walls. Then I can choose my scenery as needed for videos or mood. I could also put a live video feed from outside on them to act as windows. I think I would enjoy this far better than windows that idiots could look into. I enjoy my privacy these days. I also just enjoy having displays all around me for things like video editing, watching TV, watching YouTube videos, or displaying project lists and such. My personal camper will be far different from my final public production design, but both will create a very comfortable and functional camper. 

The next big update will likely be the diesel heater, as it should arrive between December 30th and January 4th. Hopefully I haven't frozen solid by then.