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Looking to make a camper... A few questions


jsvd87
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Hey all,  my wife and I are looking to get a TC and make a camper... We have built and lived in a custom house-truck, as well as a truck topper.. the TC will just be for climbing/paddling/biking trips.

 

It seems that most people put a folding couch/bed on one side, and some form of cabinets and cooking on the other...

 

Ideally I would like to have the couch sit up against the driver/passenger seats (back to back) with pull out drawers on either side door.  The stove/sink will be mounted to the back doors.   This way if it's nuking we can cook in the camper, but most often we'll flip the doors out and cook outside.  

My main concern is weight over time... I don't want to bend the doors/hinges and have them not close.   I've seen a few builds with tables or water jugs mounted on the door.  Has anyone put more weight on the doors?   How have they held up?  What are your thoughts.

 

 

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I built a folding shelf on one of my rear doors that I often use for a two burner Coleman stove. No problems with bending the hinges. 

 

Post some photos here of your build if you pull the trigger on it. Always cool to see what other people have done.

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On 10/23/2019 at 4:59 PM, jsvd87 said:

My main concern is weight over time...

 

 

I understand your issue.  Of course, it will work.  Work for now.  How about 5 or 10 years, of the weight on the door, and that weight bouncing over every bump in the road?

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Rather than mounting the stove & sink on the door, why not build a slide-out kitchen using heavy-duty slides? They'll cost some money, but they put no weight on the barn doors and you could then use it inside or out. I'd also include a 12V compressor fridge/freezer in the kitchen unit. Something like these from Amazon, 30" 500lb capacity per pair

 

You could build something like this, but your bed would be different than this ladies van (random online pic). You might have it turned 90* so it's full-width and not as deep front-to-back; that's my plan for my own van if I ever build a camper out of it, lol. 

 

pullout_vanlife_kitchen.png.9aeae1b3faa71b7a5b21e9930dc5d1f4.png

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We’re not interested in the slide outs because we want to be able to cook inside the van on rainy and windy days.  95% of the time we’ll be outside... but the main reason we want a micro camper is the ability to be inside.  I guess I could build it with an open top and slide in and out.. but I’d also like to keep the back doors open.

 

 I’m going to access the hinges when we buy a van.. if they’re too flimsy for weight on the door I’ll either have bigger ones made or I’ll put a bar either side of the van (inside) with the stove etc on it so it can still swing out independently of the door.

 

we’ll have a “fridge” but we’re going to make it custom with a 12v thermoelectric cooling plate as they’re way more efficient than a compressor.

 

ill definitely post photos/videos 

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23 hours ago, jsvd87 said:

 

we’ll have a “fridge” but we’re going to make it custom with a 12v thermoelectric cooling plate as they’re way more efficient than a compressor.

 

 

I think you should do some more research because from what I have found this is simply not true.

 

otherwise you plan sounds very similar to my van, good luck with it

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1 hour ago, dinocarsfast said:

 

I think you should do some more research because from what I have found this is simply not true.

 

otherwise you plan sounds very similar to my van, good luck with it

 You're 100% correct... This was old info comparing thermometric to 110 fridge through an inverter... We'll definitely look into 12v compressor options.

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1 hour ago, jsvd87 said:

 You're 100% correct... This was old info comparing thermometric to 110 fridge through an inverter... We'll definitely look into 12v compressor options.

 

I have a dometic CFX28 and my house battery is about 90 ah that charges from the alternator so no solar charging and now in the colder weather I can leave it at the airport during the week and it will only lose 20-30%

Im pretty happy with my setup even without LiFePo4

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