Camper Progress

 We’ve been busy with a bunch of non-camper related things, but Koops’ has been hard at work and making great progress on our camper. Photos posted below show the progress over the past couple of weeks. We are really happy with how it is taking shape, and with the extensive planning we did prior to starting the build, we have had relatively few issues. A few things have popped up, like we found that the frames of the RV windows we ordered were not as uniform in thickness as we expected, so the minutely measured foam insulation panels had to be fine tuned. We also had a brief panic because Justin was afraid the cab over would hit the running lights on the top of the truck cab, but as it turned out there was plenty of tolerance. And even before starting the build, Justin measured the bed and found that it was two inches short of fourteen feet, but we just cut that off the back of the camper and it turned out to be inconsequential. Just yesterday, we decided better safe than sorry, and we took all of the appliances over to Koops, so they can make sure everything fits before they install walls. 

So, photos…

This is the frame, with the roof and internal wall being built in the shop before it was put on the truck  

The finished frame and internal wall was put on the truck, and it was moved to a different bay to build the outside walls.

Once it was moved to the taller bay, they started putting on the skin.  They slipped it back off the end of the bed so they could do the floor of the cab over.  We were a little worried when we pulled up because they had a tarp over the truck cab and the hood was up, but they told us it was because they were welding and didn’t want any sparks on the paint or around the battery, which they disconnected.  

The next time we came, they had mounted it on the bed, and done all the walls except the long driver’s side wall.  We were a little surprised how tall it is; it is exactly the measurements of the design, but it looks and feels very tall.  Total height in the end will probably be around 12 feet, with the inside of the camper around 8 feet.  We don’t need this much height, even for the bed in the cab over, but it ends up being the same price as if we made it a foot or a foot and half shorter since we would pay for 8 foot panels anyway, and it doesn’t add much weight but gives us a lot more room for storage, so all good.