Meet Babar - my photo support truck and Carmen's mobile love shack. I designed and built Babar to replace our ageing 1970s era 8ft (2438mm) Alaskan Camper (It Raises, It Lowers) mounted on a 1991 Ford F250 4x4. We rattled and bounced around the Great Basin for 16 years in that capable rig and wanted the same rough road abilities but with enough room & support systems to stay comfortable working inside in poor weather. Plus I was hungry to design & build something challenging using structural composite sandwich techniques...
BASIC SPECIFICATIONS:
Babar is a wood /plywood /balsa core /fiberglass/epoxy composite camper with a top raised via a simple hydraulic system. It's mounted with a torsion free pivot and airbag subframe built on a '08 Mitsubishi Fuso 4X4 FG cab & chassis. The exterior dimensions are 12'6"L x 83"W x 83"H with the top raised and 61"H with the top lowered (381cm x 210cm x 210cm x 155cm). Interior headroom is 6'6" (198cm).
Working solo it took about 20 months from blank paper sheets to our first trip. Another 4 months was spent on the heating system, Honda mount, recovery gear storage bumper, tailgate and other bits.
Fully loaded for 2-week trip our gross weight from the truck scales is 11,000lb evenly spilt between front & rear axels. The cab & chassis weighed 6200lb (2812kg) on delivery so running at 11,000lbs (4989 kg) means I've got a load of 4800lb (2177kg). My best estimate of the complete cabin structure weight - all the wood, fiberglass and epoxy and dry systems - is about 2850lb (1292kg).
Fuel economy ranges from 11.5 mpg (4.9km/l) to 15mpg (6.3km/l) with a 13.5 mpg (5.7km/l) average @ 62mph (100km/hr).
CONSIDERATIONS BEHIND THE CAMPER DESIGN:
We went to the considerable trouble of building a camper with a top section that raises & lowers for several reasons:
The lower center of gravity rides better on the road and much better in the rough.
The better tree & rock overhang clearance opens up a lot of interesting country.
It doesn't look so damn big... and when lowered, the camper windows & door are well protected.
It has to help the fuel economy - but not by as much as you'd think - except maybe with headwinds at freeway speeds. I'm getting the about the same mileage Fuso FGs with full-height boxes report.
The camper floor can be higher without decreasing the interior headroom while allowing 18" deep standard truck boxes to be mounted underneath with good ground clearance. These storage boxes provide 23 cu/ft (668L) of dry lockable storage.
WHAT WORKS FOR US:
Great visibility from the interior - - - You can't have cabinets in the base unit above about 50 inches (127cm) - this allows big windows on every side and an uncluttered ceiling with 6'6 headroom (198cm). You end up with a very open space with great light. The settee is raised to allow full visibility while seated. We camp for the view - and 360 deg visibilities are both pleasurable & an important security feature since we can maintain high situational awareness without going outside. As a photo support truck being constantly aware of the Light is invaluable. In poor or cold weather the mood benefits of natural light & views while cabin bound are hard to underestimate. Downside: None
The cabin is warm - - - The diesel fueled Webasto d5 coolant heater running through a 4 circuit manifold gives us full control over cabin comfort (as well as engine block heating in freezing temps). The cork covered radiant floor coils are a pleasure to live with. I used computer muffin fans for the heated air delivery - very quiet & effective. The windows are all double pane glass and the two roof hatches have insulating covers. Downside: None except it's not silent, as I'd hoped. I didn't consider sound traveling through the hoses from the circulation pumps. The pumps hum and the heater burners rumble softly.
Great ventilation - - - The windows and full height double door allow maximum ventilation - the asymmetric opening roof hatches and the lightweight window coverings make the most out of a light breeze Downside: We've made both reflective Mylar and very light fabric curtains to keep the sun from overheating the interior. They work well but you have to keep adjusting them when it gets into the 80'sF (27C). If we camped more in the summer, exterior awnings would be a good idea...The western US is generally arid - so we get along without A/C which would require a generator.
Rear door entry with a tailgate - - - In the down position the tailgate becomes an instant table, deck & staging area for gear. Locked upright it protects the door very well from a security standpoint. With the stairs deployed parallel to the camper body a continuous handrail keeps entry & exit safe. A rear tailgate makes it much easier to load stuff on the roof. Downside: Rear doors have a bad reputation due to road grime accumulation. The tailgate protects the door pretty well and dust blows off easily with the compressor; there's an exterior washdown hose if it gets really ugly.
Other good ideas - - - To heat and (barely...) cool the camper while driving I installed a 250 cu ft/min blower and vent hose between the cab and the camper. I turn it on if the roads are dusty - the cabs filtered air provides enough air pressure to keep ALL dust out of the camper.
The threshold at the rear door is level with the floor - sweeping the floor is a 30 second job...
THE FG AS A CAMPER PLATFORM:
The Mitsubishi Fuso FG is a popular rough road camper platform in Australia with several established companies building and mounting camper, utility and worker transport bodies. http://www.allterrainwarriors.com.au/ has developed the FG into highly refined recreational vehicles and is a great, accessible resource. The first thing they suggest is to replace the dual rear wheels with "super singles" to improve the rough road abilities and to modify the springs to soften the ride. I'm sure it's good advice...
I want to go on record as the only guy who finds driving an almost stock FG comfortable, much more importantly - Carmen thinks so too...The only comfort "modifications" I've done is to install softer axel stops (Aeons) on the front. I might get custom springs made for a bit more suspension travel and to better match my running weight. We do have thick sheepskin pads (ok...rugs...I mean thick...) on the seats & adjust the front tire air pressure to the road/speed conditions. We aren't in a hurry on rough roads.
Specifically on the comfort issue - the ride is jouncy for sure but hasn't awakened my life long back issues or caused noticeable fatigue. You got to stay loose that's for sure...The visibility is excellent, both on highways, in cities & for rough road route picking. The cab is remarkably quiet - music can be enjoyed at low volumes...The most stressful part of our trips are in heavy traffic & the FG is just a very stable, highly visible vehicle & a pleasure to drive...Particularly in bad weather. You do have to accept that highway acceleration is sort of an unfamiliar behavior to the FG - but it holds speed fine. The cab lay out is excellent for all our travel & camera gear. Driving into the sun on a hot day overpowers the cab A/C...
Our FG's weight is more than 3000 lbs. (1360kg) under the allowed gross weight and it's evenly distributed front to rear - that might be the main reason we find it so comfortable. When I tow a trailer with a 500lb (225kg) tongue weight it's a different beast with a lot more vertical motion in the cab.
The dual rear wheels have been a non-issue on rough roads...the rears track almost 5 (120mm) inches wider than the front wheels so it's something to watch for but I can't say it's limited us in any way... plus I effectively have two rolling spares, I can (and have...) run on one wheel if necessary. Now if the Great Basin had more sand & less rock I might feel differently. I do spend a fair bit of quality time putting air in & out my 6 tires...
Using singles with this rear entry camper design presents a problem - where do you put the spare tires? Going to a side door on a raised top camper presents some tricky structural problems to solve with those big door cut-outs...One solution is to have a shorter door with some head ducking involved and/or drop the door cut-out below the floor level - this allows a structural header above the cut out.
In summary, the FG's cab forward configuration, modest sized diesel and 4x4 with a 2 range transfer case are perfect for our needs. There is no other currently available option in the US if you want a rough road capable camper with a 12 ft box and still keep your overall length the same as a standard cab pickup truck...