Thanks Guys,
Great feedback as usual…

In answer to some of your comments / questions:

THIS WEEKEND – We will have the shell ready with frame, skin, doors and windows. We’ll be sleeping on mattresses on the floor, and cooking on the BBQ. No electrical or plumbing yet, in fact no furniture… but it will be a great first chance to take it out with the 4×4 conversion and the shell. Here’s where we put all the theories to the test and discover how wrong we were!

CHASSIS FLEX – Chip, (AKAoubting Dorothy) In our last test with the rough ‘cube’ the deflection between the far corners was about 2″. I’m as curious as you to see how that “measures up” with the actual shell on it. I’d ask that whoever is driving on the trail behind me at the UP caravan to please bring their laser guide, and call me if they notice my camper being ripped off the chassis!

DIMENSIONS – Bob here’s how it is now looking:
The total width was designed to be 95.5″ so I could ship the truck on a shipping pallette. Then somebody much more observant than I, noticed that my new Meritor front axle is actually 101″ wide, so what was the point? We expanded the camper then to 101″ to match the widest point.

The height remains below the 13ft magic limit. We’ve build it to be about 12’4″, but then there are the solar panels and vents on top of that. Overall, we’ll still be below 13ft, but just.

The length is the one that has changed the most. My ‘original’ designs called for a 25ft camper. Then I realized that was WAY too big and after months and months of juggling components, we managed to get the floor plan down to 17ft. (I’ll post it up someday soon) – Then I went and ruined all that by adding an 18″ vestibule on the back. Now the “camper” ends with a false wall in the back (with a large window and door) then there is the vestibule area which holds a spare tire, bikes and 2 pre-filter water tanks. Then the actual rear wall has a ramp door that comes down to 90 degrees and has a fiamma awning and tent over it, so it essentially becomes another “room” for the camper during nice weather.

…oh, and yes, we are getting VERY excited!