"We just asked if we could have the extra foot and Marty at ATC said "sure......why not""
Interesting, three years ago they knew they could do it. They had done it on a personal one that they had built, but were still to worried about flex and hitting the cab roof to do it for me when I asked...
ATC did nothing special to the underside. The bottom of their rigs (as I understand it) are constructed of a coated below water line marine grade plywood, from what I understand. I had never seen anything like it. It is an impressive grade of plywood (quite heavy per sq ft) and has a textured...
Have you seen what I had done? It sounds a bit like what you are describing minus the sheet of Al: http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/topic/12514-direct-bolt-on-flatbed/
In 2016 the custom flatbed shell was going for right around $8K about $500 more than the other shells. I added on things like solar, propane box, higher side panels, lift struts, two ceiling fans, so we came closer to 10K when I picked it up.
Original back seat came out to make more room for the dog, water tank and hot water heater. Under the plywood base is a 20gal water tank. Filler is currently behind the storage door on the drivers side. Behind the passanger side is an Isotemp square heater (5gal electric and engine coolant...
Interior pics. Built out of roughly 1/2" plywood to keep things easy and light. The right side storage containers are IKEA and they run on aluminum "L" pieces. I knew from having my previous VW Eurovans that I did not want regular cabinets as we always put stuff into Tupperware containers...
Wow, over a year since I posted anything on the camper. I almost have it finished so thought I'd add more pics (hopefully faster than it took to get around to this post). Keep in mind while you look and read that of some of the things I wanted to have/do were:
1. Hot and cold shower inside and...
Drove from Tulum to Albuquerque last month and managed to remember to take a few pics of the camper. One is over looking the Copper Canyon and the other is near Creel MX.
No, there is a lot of visual "material" behind that rear axle, but so far it works. I do need a back up camera so I can parallel park again. :wacko:
I thought about the design for some time. I just did not see the point in something I could take off. I've been a Eurovan pop top owner for...
Some pictures of how it was bolted on to the frame. The metal shop had added tabs to the cross bars that were about 2" x 3" and drilled 3/8 holes in them. At ATC we set the camper onto the cross bars and spent quite a bit of time lining the camper up to the cab. They then crawled underneath...
Been busy with various things and have not done much with the camper yet. Did make the fairing wider and taller. It's too tall in this pic and I've since taken some off the top. Also bought a tumba burro (bull pusher) for the front and headed to southern Quintano Roo for a couple of nights...
The "bed" of the camper is 78" long, outside to outside. The original bed on these Rangers are about 62" from the back to the front of the bed, 85" with the tailgate down.
The center of gravity of the camper empty is about 1 to 2 inches behind the axle (may have posted this already).
Only took a couple of shots while they bolted the shell on in the shop. Marty, his son and daughter-in-law came in on a holiday morning and finished the job in about 3 hours. I will post some close ups of the bolt on system later this week when the truck is back from it's 20K km servicing at...
Some shots of the inside during the build. I had the propane box put toward the front to keep weight forward. The grey rectangles are the painted "bump ups" so that the tires do not hit the floor. Also can see the "temporary" electrical board for the solar system that I had ATC install.
Some photos of the build (thanks to the guys at ATC for taking these). Note the small "bump up" in the front to assure that the wheel will not ever hit the floor of the camper.
Finding photos that I still have. Below is the frame with the bed removed. The other two show the side and back view after it came back from the metal shop. They extended the rear frame by about 0.5 meters. Essentially making it the length of the truck with the tail gate down (plus the...
Finding some other photos, some may be forever lost due to a smashed phone on the trip home. The Ford Ranger sold in MX was available last year in a gas or diesel option, and I wanted diesel for what I think are obvious reasons. The only other diesels down here that were not 8cyl were the...
Just joined, but long time reader who just picked up our new ATC two weeks ago and today arrived home to the Tulum MX area. Something a bit new as I understand it, a flat bed bolted directly to cross supports on the frame of the truck. I meet the ATC gang last January while in the Bay Area for...