Charlie's Truck and The Camper Apocalyptic

I found these trucks a while ago when searching for information on deuce to RV conversions. I just recently located them both again, I thought I would share them with people who maybe hadn't seen them, because they are the inspiration for my imminent deuce project.

The first one is charlie's truck, this is what is apparently a M44 chassis that had a fire fighting rig on it. He built a custom camper on it with 1.5 square tube framing and solid oak cabinets. It's got a "10' long countertop, big sink, big fridge, stove, oven, stereo (with outdoor speakers) bathroom, etc." He keeps two motorcycles in it for exploring, and the truck has a crouch through made of rubber between the cab and camper.

I found this one at Charlie's Truck

The second is the The Camper Apocalyptic by Unclemikey. It's a difficult truck to find out about because Unclemikey doesn't have a thread on it, just an album, but the album does have a bit of info. It's a M35A2 with a slide in camper in the back with some extra metal and paint that makes it look right. It carries "80 lbs of propane, 125 gal of fuel, 40 gal of gas, 5 gal of white gas." It's got a center console in it from a gama goat that's been outfitted with switches and cupholder.

Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite


These two trucks epitomize what I would like to do with my M35A2. Some would say "buy a M109" but I have limited funds, and I feel it would be difficult to find a close, clean, cheap shop truck, and that's not really what I want anyways. It's not about the destination it's about the journey.

I'm looking for self-sustainability and roominess without having to go to the DMV to get a higher class license. I want a 6 wheel drive vehicle, that has more or less the comforts of home without breaking the bank. I want the primary sleeping area to be in a cabover "mom's attic" type area, and the mechanicals to be easily accessable and well placed.

Charlie's truck is 100% scratch-built from the frame up I believe, I don't know if I would do that or if I would leave the deuce bed in place and build around it. The deuce bed is pretty tough, and I think it would be a strong foundation for any build. I think with a little thought you could make something that could even be potentially removable with the appropriate heavy equipment, but that's secondary.

The Camper Apocalyptic is a nice truck, but slide in campers of that size are rather expensive around here, although I'm sure UncleMikey's is made of superior materials because it looks older, the more modern ones available around here are made of poor quality plastics and fiberboard. I think I could build one out of better materials for cheaper than I could buy slide in that had everything I want. Also slide-ins aren't particularly roomy because they are built for pick up beds, the deuce has a lot more room to spread out if you're building something to fit that space with an overall height not to exceed 13 to 13.5 feet for bridge reasons.

I have sort of an ever evolving list for what I'm looking to build:

An semi-removable enclosure to fit a deuce bed with supported rear overhang for mechanicals in rear.
A large over cab area for a sleeping area with storage and TV mount.
A well outfitted kitchen, with lots of overhead and counter-space with sink.
A fridge capable of being run by DC, AC or propane.
A microwave and propane stove.
Shower, toilet, and vanity in lavatory.
Accessibility to the cab from a crawl-through in the living quarters.
Heat and A/C system capable of keeping the vehicle comfortable in the southern summers and winters.
Small, efficient, quiet diesel generator mounted in spare tire/pioneer tool location.
Water system with propane tankless water heater and appropriate amount of fresh water, grey water, and blackwater storage.
Intelligently laid out power system capable of running from generator power or 24v power from inverter.
Intelligent lay out of propane storage and systems
Efficient but bright lighting, possibly 12V florescence with the ability to run stepped down from the 24v system or transformed from generator power.
External Storage for tools, gear, and misc.

The First 2 pictures are Charlie's Truck, the next 3 are the camper apocalyptic, the one after that is my current M35A2, the next is a computer design of the external layout of what I'm working on building. The final image is a internal slide in camper layout I found, and would like to emulate. The sleeping area of that camper is above the cab.

Here is the one I have always liked.

nice cad drawing .lets see the pics as you make it into reality

M1075 said:

Here is the one I have always liked.

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That's a cool one, that's an A3, isn't it? Anymore info anywhere?

I like the slant on the back. Kinda like the Russian truck that was on here a while ago.

roscoe said:

I like the slant on the back. Kinda like the Russian truck that was on here a while ago.

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Thanks, it's a design attribute on a lot of the Unicats too. It allows you to add length without screwing up your departure angle. You can pretty much make a vehicle as long as you can stand dealing with after the axles (see: school bus) but if you are ever going to go up a hill you need to take the rear into account, I think the deuce has a 40 degree or so departure angle, so when I added length I took that into account a bit.

man if i dont make my m105 into a camper i want to make a removeable deuce bed camper...how would it be done? like the slide in campers with the poles?

Interesting

The question is: did he ever do anything with one? Is there a thread?

srodocker said:

man if i dont make my m105 into a camper i want to make a removeable deuce bed camper...how would it be done? like the slide in campers with the poles?

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i think you can do it. same idea except instead of removing the camper from the bed you remove the bed from the chassis. you could have quick connects for your taillights. and have mutiple rear bodies that once you disconnect the u bolts holding the body to chassis. simply back the chassis under the different bodies and lower onto frame and bolt on. plug in lights swap plates and your off. so if you wanted to use your rig for work or moving stuff put cargo body on or if your going camping or getting out of dodge hook the camper one up. by swappin gteh bodies off the chassis you can also keep camper fully loaded ready to go with food water etc. trick is keeing in mind when you build the bodies that they have to be removable so you arent running water hoses or sewage pumps thru frame and everything is staying on that one body.

before buying my M1010, the original plan was to build a camper from an M35, or an M37(? i believe that was the long wheelbase designation...), and mount a Uhaul box, or preferrably a box from a moving truck used by Two Guys and a Truck, which has a higher roof allowing more headroom since i planned to make the sleeping area in the attic overhang, and have a pass-thru to the cab. i intended to use the front 2/3 or so for the living are, and the back as a garage/workshop to haul my motorcyles, quads, or whatever toys we were taking with us on any given trip, leaving the baydoor intact, and possibly adding a liftgate. i didnt go that route due to a combination of time, cost, and logistics of space and equipment needed to build not being very compatible with my current housing situation. well, those reasons, and the fact that i found my M1010 with 11,200 orig mls, no rust issues, and gunlocker already installed(which i had always planned on mounting in what ever i had before finding this one), and was able to steal, err, i mean buy, the M1010 for $1600... but i still think it wouldve been a great camper, and would love to see someone take that idea and make it work, since i didnt get to do it myself...

The long deuce is the M36. SSSC I like your idea about the box transfer to make a camper and the M1010 is a cool rig. I love to read build threads from all these guys that have amazing fabricating skills. There are some very talented builders on this site.

i just realized that i put M37 there... i was actually aiming for the "6" and didnt realize i missed... and if you read the vehicles i own, it makes me look even more wetodded...hehehe... thanks for catching that for me jbing

Snarky

You posted that "The final image is a internal slide in camper layout I found, and would like to emulate. The sleeping area of that camper is above the cab."

Where did you find this floor plan?

I also like it as a basis for my creation.

When it comes to fabricating things, $$$ is the only thing that stands in the way.