Are you looking for a go-anywhere, one-of-a-kind overlanding vehicle? Then this F-550 chassis, with its custom, pop-up, flatbed-mounted cabin could be your new off-grid home. Expedition Portal forum member Scott designed the living quarters of this rig in Solidworks and molded the composite cabin for this project himself. The main pop-up roof provides 6’10” of standing room when extended. With the pop-top stowed, the vehicle measures less than 10-feet tall.
From Scott
“We started off on this journey with the goal of creating a smaller, more capable, and higher performing EarthRoamer. We’d been in one before and liked many aspects of it, but we felt like it was much too big for true off-grid exploration. My wife refuses to camp within five miles of anyone, so we wanted something that was really comfortable but small enough to get to the out-of-the-way spots we love to visit. We also needed something that would fit me (I’m 6’6”), the family, and two enormous dogs. So, we had some design challenges right from the start.
Our second design goal was reliability and comfort. We designed all of the major systems to run off of solar with backups for each. The truck has 1,300 watts of solar. Heating and cooling is accomplished via a rebuilt-for-off-road-use mini split air conditioner which draws around 350 watts, with an Espar gas furnace as a backup. Keeping cool while parked in the full sun of Baja is pretty glorious. Cooking and hot water are accomplished with two induction cooktops, an electric BBQ (the latter two are in a pull-out for outdoor use), and a dual fuel water heater.
The truck has a huge lithium battery array: 800 ah of Victrons and an auxiliary alternator and voltage regulator which allows the truck’s engine to act as a generator. We’ve never had to turn on the alternator between the batteries and the solar, and we can heat and cool nearly indefinitely in most locations.
The other big design goals were range and the ability to stay parked for a long period of time. We love going to Baja in the rig, and if the surf is good, we want to stay at the break as long as we can. So, in addition to the solar, which allows limitless heating, cooling, and cooking, we have 100 gallons of fresh water and 40 gallons of graywater storage. We can usually last two to three weeks without watching our water consumption much at all. The truck also carries 70 gallons of fuel so we can explore more remote regions.
While it isn’t a Tacoma, we have taken this truck through some very tight, technical tracks and it has performed flawlessly. It did spectacular all throughout Baja, and was wonderful on our trip to the northern reaches of Alberta in Canada.
We love this rig. It is very comfortable for the whole family with an (almost) king-sized bed, a convertible dinette (a kid-sized bed), and there is still room for our dogs. Our favorite feature is still the articulating front wall. I lower it every morning while everyone is still in bed so we can take in the early morning views.
I’m equal parts designer and adventurer, and after several years of using it, I’ve got the itch to start building another. So we are reluctantly selling her to make room for our next big project.”
Specifications:
Camper Body
- Full custom composite construction. All molded, seamless.
- Lifting roof design with 4 corner electronic linear actuators from Linak with IC parallel control system
- Bed platform lifts on linear actuator for under bed storage
- Extensive storage in locker assembly
- Outbound Windows throughout, plus sunroof
- Front middle wall assembly operates independently via linear actuator and a cable system (see video for demo)
- 3 full length pockets in roof. Designed to fit surfboards, these will also take ski gear, fishing gear etc.
Truck
- 2016 Ford F-550 Crew Cab gas (6.8l V10) XLT package 4wd
Electrical
- 800ah (4x200ah) Victron Lithium Batteries
- 12/3000 Victron Multiplus Inverter
- 12/240 Victron Phoenix 240v inverter (for AC system)
- Victron BlueSolar MPPT charge controller
- Victron BMS, BMV, low voltage disconnect and related
- Victron CCGX interface
- Nations starter and Alternator second alternator system
- Blue Sea Custom breaker set up
- 1300 watts solar panels (LG mono x).
- Shore power hookup
- 2 outdoor 115v AC outlets
- LED lighting with dimmer
HVAC
- Mitsubishi rebuilt mini split AC, 9000BTU Heat pump. I am able to run this on approx 350 watts of power for heating and cooling. Works really well
- Espar D5 hydronic heater, gas. Sure Marine Real air handler
- Fantastic Fan
- Built in fan in dining area
Misc
- New brake lines
- Custom fold down rear rack for firewood, bikes/motorcycles
- Custom made rear seat platform. Molded to fit seat body and provide a flat sleeping platform or area for dogs
- Full Line-x (black areas) and Line-x Ultra (blue areas) paint job on truck and camper
- Custom front bumper (wide enough for F-550 with widened flares)
- Warn 16.5 ti winch
- 4 bumper mounted high output lights
- Accessory fuel transfer tank. 32 gallons. Main tank is 40 gallons for a total of 72 gallons.
Super Single Conversion
- Custom made front fender flares
- Full bead lock super single 20×11 wheels
- Goodyears g275 MSA 41” tires with spare
Suspension
- Custom set of Deaver rear leaf springs
- Rear firestone airbags
- Carli front coil springs
- Hydraulic bump stops on front suspension
- PMF fab steering stabilizer
- Custom valved and tuned (by king) 3” rear remote reservoir shocks, 2.5” front remote reservoir shocks
Cooking/Galley/Plumbing
- 2 custom pull out outdoor cabinets housing sink and cooking gear
- Kenyon Induction Cooktop – one in inside galley, one in outside galley
- Kenyon electric BBQ in outdoor galley
- Outdoor sink with custom sump pump assembly that pumps sink water into grey water tank
- Indoor sink
- Isotemp 6.4 gallon dual function water heater
- Isotherm drawer 85 Inox fridge/freezer
- 90 gallon fresh water capacity
- 40 gallon grey water capacity
- Natures head composting toilet in custom cabinet accessed via linear actuator slide out
- Full interior shower in entry door (shower curtain hangs from magnets in roof)
- 2 exterior showers
- Whale pump and accumulator tank and whale tubing and fittings throughout
- GE Microwave
Video:
More Photos:
Click photos to enlarge.
