Minimalist Build-Eagle Shell on 2006 Dodge 2500

CoreyTrevor · Jun 29, 2020

Ok, some of you said to go ahead with this report, so here goes nothing.

I offer a blanket apology for mediocre to poor quality photos for the duration of the thread, so I won't have to apologize for each photo individually.

I welcome suggestions and ideas. I'm guessing I will gain more from this thread than you people reading it.

The goal here is to get my 2012 Eagle shell, originally ordered new for my 2002 Tacoma, onto my current 2006 3/4 ton Dodge, with 6' 4" bed. A bunch of mods and additions will hopefully make it really useful for decades to come.

I put the camper in the truck, sitting on a pallet and plywood, to get an accurate measurement on how tall of a riser I will need. To get the recommended 2" clearance to my sunroof it looks like a riser made of 2x6s on edge will be about right. The 2x6s will lay in the bed grooves, and will center the camper within about 1/4", so that will be a nice bonus. I'm planning to screw through the camper floor into the riser, and also bolt the camper to the bed in 6 spots, through the u-channels that run crosswise under the bed. For some added overkill, the rear of the riser will be full width and lock into the bed so the camper can never slide back. I think I will also put the front turnbuckles in.

Before all the camper mounting fun takes place, I'm trying to get all the other work done that will be difficult or impossible with the camper on. Solar panels on the roof are already completed, easier to do with the camper sitting on the floor.

I went with 3 Sunpower 110w flexible panels in series. I know some have had bad luck with the flexible ones, but I couldn't resist the low weight and wind resistance. I came up with a mounting system that should give great airflow under the panels to help keep them alive, and with any luck will also keep them from flying off the roof. I got some 10mm dual-layer polycarbonate sheet, and hole-sawed a big pile of 1-1/2" discs out of the sheet. I VHB taped the discs to the underside of the panels, and the discs/panels to the camper roof. 50! on each panel, around the perimeter and at each junction between cells. Overkill? Why not! I used a solid piece across the front of the front panel, and some Eternabond tape to close the gaps.

The panels seem to be adhered really well and hopefully will get enough airflow underneath to keep them alive (and on there) for all eternity!

Here are a few pics. I forgot to get them before the camper was raised in the garage, so they are not really great. And I probably messed something up resizing them.

View attachment 37536

Vic Harder · Jun 29, 2020

nice. Pics work well.

CoreyTrevor · Jun 30, 2020

Thanks. I used PicResize online, it's free. I just choose my photo, put in the max file size, and it does it's thing. Then you hit save to disk and it saves to wherever the pic came from but adds rsz to the original filename so it's easy to find.

I'm trying to figure a place to put my 2 Dakota Lithium 54AH batteries. My priorities are: don't use any floorspace, not at the back of the camper, rough ride back there and COG, not up high for COG, somewhere I might have a chance to keep them above 32* on cold nights, easily removable so they don't sit in my 100+ degree garage in the summer, near the front corner where the solar wires are and the controller will go. I also want to keep the option to use all 4 tiedowns, so they can't block access to those.

I am/was considering cutting the bottom of the drivers side storage compartment out, about 19" in length and not near the eye bolts, and building an external box just deep enough that I can close the lid on the compartment. (Pics) I could insulate the outside really well and vent the box to the inside. I'm also thinking of putting my diesel heater at the rear of the compartment, so that would be great for keeping the batteries warm. This option makes me nervous, because I don't know what the effect would be on the structure of the camper.

If anyone has any ideas on a good option, let me know. I've been scratching my head a lot.

CoreyTrevor · Jul 27, 2020

I'm making a little bit of progress. I've run wiring for my switches and lights, and insulated my walls. I stuffed pink fiberglass in all the spots I could, and then covered the frame with 1/8" Reflectix. I scotch taped it in place to minimize the thickness since I knew I was going to have issues getting the wall panels back in place.

When I took off the panels on either side of the door, the springs on the lift panel hinge wanted to twist the hinge into a pretzel. I fixed that by inserting a pop rivet in each of the big panel rivets, and used zip ties from the rivets to the springs to hold each spring end up away from the hinge. It worked really well. Hopefully it can be seen in the photo.

I figured out that the wall panels would go back on better if I didn't go all the way to the top and bottom of the panels with the Reflectix. The side walls were a major pain, because the carpet on the step was pushed up right against the panel, and trying to slip the panels back behind the carpet was almost impossible. I didn't mess with the carpet because it's stapled down and I didn't want to destroy it. I finally tried laying the panel down flat and lifting it to vertical while pushing it down into the corner, and it kind of wedged itself in behind the carpet.

The wall panels were screwed on at the tops and most of the sides, and stapled to the frame at the bottoms. I got some of the staples out but some pulled through the panels. I stole the screws from the white trim on the step and replace them with white ones. They are off white like the wall ones, and I was going to put a screw where each staple was, but I realized that where the panel bottoms are behind the carpet, the carpet holds the panel just fine, so I didn't bother with screws.

Thanks for following, more later!

CoreyTrevor · Jul 27, 2020

I want to keep the interior of the camper as open as possible but also wanted some counter space for the rare times we will need to cook inside, so I made a removable counter that uses my folding table top repurposed as a countertop. It's this table:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071KZPXG7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I ended up with a 16" x 36" surface, so it's big enough for my stove and some other stuff, and I'm thinking of a Lagun table that can swing into one of the front corners of the camper, for when 2 people are working on a meal. When not in use, everything will just disappear and all the inside space comes back.

I used some stainless folding shelf brackets that do a quick attachment to the wall with keyhole mounts set into the wall and flat head screws on the back of the brackets. A pop rivet sticks up at the back of each bracket to keep the "counter" from sliding around. I wouldn't sit on it, but it turned out pretty solid, and added maybe a pound of weight to the camper.

It turned out just like I imagined it, and I think it will work really well.

More later, but not today. It takes forever to resize photos and put these posts together!