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Fuselage camper advice...


CaptainSparrow

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I realize this is not a boat topic, but it has to do with the same building method that you folks have experience with. I have been dreaming of building a slide in camper for my underpowered Chevy s10 pickup. After hunting all over the web for ideas, I have not found anything that is both light weight and aesthetically pleasing. I have built stitch n glue boats but am still trying to figure out which model of sof boat to make. This means I have no real world experience in how much abuse an sof anything will take. This is why I've gone off topic in a kayak forum. :-)

I'm assuming that more than a few of you have car topped your sof boats and I'm looking for your opinions as to how you think a sof camper would hold up to the abuses of highway force winds. The surface area of a kayak is much smaller than a camper, but the shape would mimic that of an upside down rowboat and would only sit about 24"-36" above the cab of the truck. Do you folks feel like skin on frame is a feasible method for this application?

P.S. by designing it myself I can custom build in a kayak rack on top. :-) knowing this, what can you advise for frame thickness as well?

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Years ago I knew a carpenter who built a camper for a full size Dodge using canvas. I remember he laminated 3 pcs of 3/4" plywood as support at the front and back. These set the shape of the camper. I don't remember how he did spreaders though. It held up well and he had racks. With the plywood lamination you would have strength to bolt some kind of rack.

I saw a strip camper shell in some pictures on a wood boat show in Washington state some years back also.

Joe

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Sorry I had a duh moment about wind abuse.... fuselage = airplane = wind abuse lol. I still don't know much about building airplanes though lol.

Joe a strip built camper would be a strong platform though I would guess it to be a fair bit heavier. I guess that a sof is essentially an unfinished strip build that fills in with dope on cloth. Lots to think about here.

I like these shapes.... think these are attainable?

31rv3ZcC+NL._SL500_SS500_.jpg

sportrack-explorer-rooftop-cargo-box.png

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My first thoughts would be three plywood frames running left to right side on the truck. Notch those and put stringers from front to back.  You could bend those stringers to get a rounded shape but of course there are limits to how much the wood will bend and that will limit the shape.  If you wanted to laminate the stringer from thin strips then you could get a lot more bend and rounded shape.  It's going to take some planning but I think it is doable.

 

Next thing is covering it. With an odd shape your going to the trim the fabric to assume the shape and then deal with a seam. Canvas might be a better choice? It's might be cheaper than polyester by buying a canvas tarp.  You can paint canvas and if it is real cotton canvas it will shrink and tighten on the frame. 

 

I can see this in my minds eye. Just have to think on how to do the seam and keep it from leaking.

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I think your correct in laminating some of the stringers to get the proper shape and keep it strong. I'm also thinking that for weight saving, the bed might just be a canoe seat style webbing to throw a sleeping bag on, like a relatively flat hammock that would roll up and stow in the cab over during the day. Here is a folding boat identical to one that I made, that I could use as a shape starting point. I still have the forms I used for laminating the bows. The bow is abrupt enough to be a good starting point. More laminations would make it a strong platform for attaching the roof frames. Unlike the stern of this boat, I would built straight out the back to allow for a rear door.

L1004389s.jpg

I'm glad you addressed the cloth choice as I wasn't sure what would be best. Being as this isn't a boat, constantly sitting in water, I don't mind having a few seams as long as they allow for runoff.

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