Building Dorothy- Design Process (Part 2)
My ‘truck-bible.’
Welcome back to the build series. This time around, I will be walking you through the design process, which was largely based on what my “must-haves” were, my budget constraints, and the platform of my truck. All of my plans and ideas and designs and anything you could possibly think of are written in my “truck bible,” and this post will outline a lot of the preliminary plans and initial purchases.
First, let’s talk about the “must-haves,” because they were some of the most heavily influential components of this design. After seeing countless builds, I came up with this list of things I really wanted out of my camper:
Lightweight design
To maintain a low center of gravity
Lots of counter space to cook and work
A small seating area for eating or working
Sleeping room for two
An extremely reliable and large electrical system
No propane
Plumbing system with enough water to last me up to 2 weeks
No bathroom, but an outdoor shower option
Ease of set-up once I have arrived at camp
Capability of carrying two bikes
With all of these important requirements, I got to designing and budgeting. In order to keep my build lightweight, I chose materials that were strong, insulative, and relatively light. This way, I could skip out on extra insulation in the walls, and I wouldn’t need interior studs or supports to eat up any more weight. I designed the shell (floor, walls, and roof) of my camper to have an exoskeleton of angle aluminum with honeycomb composite panels to be riveted and glued in place to create the walls, roof, and floor. These honeycomb composite sheets are 1.5 inch thick honeycomb plastic that is skinned in fiberglass and gel-coated. These panels provide strength and insulation value. Each 4’ x 8’ sheet only weighed around 30 pounds. In order to also save weight and keep my center of gravity close to where it is, I decided on a pop-top roof design. This eliminated a lot of weight that would have otherwise been added in higher walls and more external framing.
The very next move (even though all of these plans were intertwined and overlapping) was getting my electrical system designed. This was something I did not want to skimp out on, both for safety and comfort reasons. I knew that if I was going to use this consistently, I would want the convenience of being able to cook when I want, utilize my gadgets for work and school, stay warm, and have a hot shower if I needed it. So, I tallied up all of the power I would potentially use in a day, and sized my system based on that. It ended up being pretty large, as I wanted to power my stove and heater electrically, to eliminate any need for propane. Along the same lines, I estimated my water usage for cooking and drinking for about a 2 week timeline, and sized my water system as well. With these two systems figured out, I was able to configure a rough floorplan.
My floorplan design was kind of like a puzzle, as my flatbed was about 6’ x 5.5’. So, as you could imagine, fitting a good sized kitchen, a water system that could sustain me for 2 weeks, a substantial electrical system, a fridge, a seating area, and storage was kind of a problem that took some serious planning. I drew out a few different floorplans, and after narrowing it down to two or so, I (to-scale) taped it out on the floor and utilized some “cardboard-aided-design.” I also utilized Fusion 360 to create a 3D model to better visualize it.
My “ease of setup” requirement was something I designed, and then had to redesign about 50 times. I had so many ideas in my head about how it would work, but it was really quite the project trying to figure out how it could work. I eventually came up with something great, which will be addressed much later on.
So, with the plans made, I made the big purchases: my aluminum, the honeycomb composite sheeting, the electrical system components, and my fridge. Once these components finally arrived, it was time to buckle down and get my project going.
Next, I will talk about my frame build, along with the installation process of my walls. Stay tuned if you’re interested!
