We have made
the decision to get a new camper. Our first step is having a All Terrain Camper
shell built. The guys at All Terrain are the best in the business. It's a small
company that builds a great product. What I really like is that its the people
who actually build the campers that are the ones answering the phone and our
questions. Back when we were starting out and rebuilding our first
camper, these guys were such a great help with materials, parts, and how to
advice. Their record of service and attention to their costumers needs makes
for loyal costumers like us. These guys are also fun and straight shooters. We
are confident our new camper from All Terrain will hold up to our adventures
and serve us very well.
I stopped by
All Terrain on Oct 28th and caught a glimpse of the new camper in
its infancy.
Here's
the floor pack.
all the
aluminum tubing ready to form the frame
and the ply
board for the underside of the cabover section.
I was back
down at ATC the end of last week. We removed our first camper to double check
dimensions from all our notes. Measure twice, cut once.
When we
started with a pop up camper 4 years ago, we were experienced outdoor people
but had no experience at all with truck camper camping. We were learning
everything from scratch, how all the systems operate, and how to tweak it all
to fit our needs. With 236 nights spent in our first camper, we believe we’ve
now got it dialed in. It works. We’re happy. We know what we want.
I want to
thank Marty and Jeff at ATC for one of the best birthday gifts ever in allowing
me to hang out and even help with the building of our new camper. Yup, I got to
do some cutting, drill some holes, help muscle some plywood around, and work at
not getting in the way. I do know my way around tools and equipment and am a
follower of Red Green’s advice, “If the women don’t find you handsome, they
should at least find you handy.”
Our new
camper will be very close to the dimensions of our old camper. It fits the
truck well and the roads we travel. Jeff talked us into an extra inch of width.
We started
in on the floor pack.
The two
sides are completed.
Jeff was
busy at cutting aluminum and framing up the front of the camper.
Then the
welding began.
The bed
board for the cabover section was cut to dimensions and ready.
Marty worked
on the material for the lift panels.
And they
were soon cut to size.
The pieces
were moved over to the bench for assembly.
The six
hinges were put together and cut to size.
The hinges
were attached and the bracing added.
The oak was
selected for the sliders and the bed pull.
The back
frame including the rear door placement was carefully laid out. Jeff gave
expert advice on additional framing to properly support attaching and carrying
a rotopax gas can on the back wall. Thanks Jeff!
The front
frame and the three pieces of the floor pack were ready for assembly.
Jeff welded
up the back frame.
The pieces
were now ready to put together. This is starting to look like a camper!
Marty
started in on getting everything lined up and put together.
It all came together.
Next, it
needed to get painted. The Lady got to work with the roller.
She is both handsome and handy.
This is so
much fun to watch the build unfold.
We’ll keep
this updated and hope you enjoy this also.
Continuing………click for Part Two
No comments:
Post a Comment