1985 Grandby - Another Rebuild

[Vic Harder]

I did make it deeper but not large enough for a queen sized bed. It is usually just me and a couple other ladies, we don't camp with our hubbies this is my get away toy.

Since we are all under 5'4" one person sleeps on the overhang, I usually take the bench under the overhang which leave room for one more on the other bench facing the sink. Plus I wanted to reuse the roof and couldn't wrap my brain around making the truck bed section shorter cause I wanted it to be on the full 8 ft truck bed.

The only time the overhang pull out will be used is if my daughter takes it and goes out with her friends. All the bedding, blankets, sleeping bags and the winter pack will be stored in the overhang storage. It is all light but they do get bulky. This will free up the area under the bench for me to mount the lithium batteries and slide out fridge. At least that is the plan that is in my head, who knows where the battery will end up once I start putting all the wiring together.

Makes great sense. I was just hoping someone else would do it first, and figure out the engineering required to strengthen the overhand enough to compensate.

 

[Abbiennormal]

i was looking at one of the new camper company layouts, and they are kind of a swiss army knife for configuration. the one thing i liked, is that they put riv nuts into the frame, all over the place, and available inside the camper. the idea, is that if you need to add something later, the secure riv nut fastener is already there, and you dont have to find the internal frame, etc etc.

I like the idea of the rivnuts. Going to keep that in mind when I start building out the inside! Thank you!

 

[calfj60]

I was wondering if you could provide more information about the anodized aluminum panels? Where did you get them? Dimensions? And are you worried about heat since they are black?

Thanks and your build is awesome

 

[Abbiennormal]

I was wondering if you could provide more information about the anodized aluminum panels? Where did you get them? Dimensions? And are you worried about heat since they are black?

Thanks and your build is awesome

Hi There!

I got my anodized aluminum panels at Diamond Life Gear. Here is the link https://diamondlifegear.com/metal-sheets-by-the-piece.htm
I did consider the black absorbing more heat but I figure with my two roof fans and all the windows, plus the insulation that I would be putting in, I wasn't so worried about it.

I installed two roof fans for more airflow. The original roof only had one vent and no fan. Since I am installing solar, I can run the fans 24/7 and not worry about the interior heating up or losing power.
In terms of insulation, I opted for 3M Thinsulate. It is a little pricey, but I figured this build was for me and not for resale.
Plus I am using foam band to create a thermal break before the interior walls and ceiling are mounted.

For the dimensions, they are the full 4 x 8 sheets with a thickness of 0.063. I went with the thicker aluminum since I was going to be going through some areas that have brushes and branches and didn't want to deal with the thinner aluminum being punctuated. I believe the old sidings were only .03 thickness but I could be wrong. When I was dismantling it I found the aluminum to be very thin. It is great in keeping the weight down, but when I weighed the pros and cons on what I wanted in a rebuilt, I opted to go for the thicker grade. Now that it is up, I am really pleased with how it looks and it feels more substantial.


Product Number
SH.063.BBA.4896


Aluminum Black Anodized
• Thickness: 0.063"
• Size: 48"x96" Sheet


Hope this helps you decide! I ordered 5 sheets, but forgot about the measurement on the bottom of the overhang, so if you are considering this, go with 6 even 7. The wall where the door is you will need two in order to cover what you need, I ended up using cut off ends and did it in three sections.

Abbie

 

[calfj60]

Thank you so much, I picked up my project last Saturday. It’s going from old slide in to flatbed custom for me.