reelfishin
Captain
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2007
- Messages
- 3,043
Re: Homemade truck camper plans/ideas
I probably do somewhere but that truck was long before digital cameras, internet, and such. If I do have a pic, it's most likely just an outside view of the truck. The slide in camper was made by one of the bigger names, it was made by something like Larson or Lancer or the likes. It was similar to the older Holiday slide in units but cheaper. The truck was a real beast, it had an old 17 bolt Detroit locker real, double rear springs and those horrible 16.5" split rims GM used to use on their heaviest one ton trucks. The truck was a beast but the tank was small and it was hard on fuel. The tank was in the cab, something like 20 gallons of gas but it would blow through that in about 120 miles or so. I didn't mind the lack of power or air, it was the inconvenience of having to stop for gas so often. The cost of fuel wasn't as bad back then so that wasn't the real issue. It had a wood floor in the bed, which was rotting due all the leaves and tree debris that got trapped under there with the camper on. The best part about that truck was that no one asked to borrow it. It didn't have much straight sheet metal, but it still didn't look all that bad. The paint was dark green and faded bad and the interior was that old GM bronze color. The only part I never figured out was why it was spec'd out with the three speed trans vs. the 4 speed Muncie trans. Everything else was super heavy duty and yet it had the lighter 3 speed. I had gotten a 4 speed for it but never got around to doing it. I had upgraded to a slightly newer Dodge Power Wagon with a 440 engine, which ran circles around the Chevy. The Dodge came with a fiberglass Winnebago slide in unit which I never liked and soon removed in favor of a plain old cap. The all glass slide in swayed and creaked, and the hold downs were cracking.
I had a guy approach me one day and make an offer, so I sold it.
There were some older slide ins that had the roof raised slightly just before the cab extension, this allowed for more room over the cab and for a usable bunk up there, mine didn't have that feature, but at my height, even that wouldn't have helped. The reason I rigged it the way I did was to leave room to sleep for me, anyone else could sleep in the cab if they had too. It wasn't for pleasure, I only used it a few times a year and for fishing.
A buddy of mine built a pickup insert years ago to haul welding equipment, he built sort of a slide in utility box. The rear of the box was about 24" longer than the bed, it was built to clear the step bumper but he modified the trailer hitch with two more 2' square inserts, one on each side of the hitch. The insert had matching 2" bars which would slide into these two recievers and get pinned in place. That way he only had to secure the very front of the box to the truck. He did that by making a slotted floor plate. He built a rack in the yard to hold the body when not in use. He could back up to the rack, put a pin in a rear bracket and drive out from under the body in seconds. No jacks or nothing. The whole thing just slide off. To reinstall it, he'd just back up to it, put in the two pins, remove the anchor pin which held it to the rack, connect the bodies taillights and drive away. Most of that was all made from heavy steel and diamond plate. The part I liked best was the way it secured to the trailer hitch. It even had a built in hitch extension.
I probably do somewhere but that truck was long before digital cameras, internet, and such. If I do have a pic, it's most likely just an outside view of the truck. The slide in camper was made by one of the bigger names, it was made by something like Larson or Lancer or the likes. It was similar to the older Holiday slide in units but cheaper. The truck was a real beast, it had an old 17 bolt Detroit locker real, double rear springs and those horrible 16.5" split rims GM used to use on their heaviest one ton trucks. The truck was a beast but the tank was small and it was hard on fuel. The tank was in the cab, something like 20 gallons of gas but it would blow through that in about 120 miles or so. I didn't mind the lack of power or air, it was the inconvenience of having to stop for gas so often. The cost of fuel wasn't as bad back then so that wasn't the real issue. It had a wood floor in the bed, which was rotting due all the leaves and tree debris that got trapped under there with the camper on. The best part about that truck was that no one asked to borrow it. It didn't have much straight sheet metal, but it still didn't look all that bad. The paint was dark green and faded bad and the interior was that old GM bronze color. The only part I never figured out was why it was spec'd out with the three speed trans vs. the 4 speed Muncie trans. Everything else was super heavy duty and yet it had the lighter 3 speed. I had gotten a 4 speed for it but never got around to doing it. I had upgraded to a slightly newer Dodge Power Wagon with a 440 engine, which ran circles around the Chevy. The Dodge came with a fiberglass Winnebago slide in unit which I never liked and soon removed in favor of a plain old cap. The all glass slide in swayed and creaked, and the hold downs were cracking.
I had a guy approach me one day and make an offer, so I sold it.
There were some older slide ins that had the roof raised slightly just before the cab extension, this allowed for more room over the cab and for a usable bunk up there, mine didn't have that feature, but at my height, even that wouldn't have helped. The reason I rigged it the way I did was to leave room to sleep for me, anyone else could sleep in the cab if they had too. It wasn't for pleasure, I only used it a few times a year and for fishing.
A buddy of mine built a pickup insert years ago to haul welding equipment, he built sort of a slide in utility box. The rear of the box was about 24" longer than the bed, it was built to clear the step bumper but he modified the trailer hitch with two more 2' square inserts, one on each side of the hitch. The insert had matching 2" bars which would slide into these two recievers and get pinned in place. That way he only had to secure the very front of the box to the truck. He did that by making a slotted floor plate. He built a rack in the yard to hold the body when not in use. He could back up to the rack, put a pin in a rear bracket and drive out from under the body in seconds. No jacks or nothing. The whole thing just slide off. To reinstall it, he'd just back up to it, put in the two pins, remove the anchor pin which held it to the rack, connect the bodies taillights and drive away. Most of that was all made from heavy steel and diamond plate. The part I liked best was the way it secured to the trailer hitch. It even had a built in hitch extension.
, and no telling how much cost in gas.
