Demountable camper group

Hi all, thought I'd show you my demountable I built earlier this year I haven't had any demountable experience so instead I used my boat building experience to construct it, It's foam core fibreglass and I am really pleased with how solid it has turned out.

We have had a couple of trips away testing it and are now off to Brittany for a week. I wonder wether there would be a market for me to build demountable shells for home fit out. I think the cost of off the shelf demountable's are too prohibitive for most people tempted by one. Also something which concerned me was the weight of them. I calculated mine to be roughly half the weight of a similarly sized North star. I wonder what your thoughts are?
Regards, Peter

Good Morning Peter & welcome,
thank you for sharing your project here, as you've probably seen we do have an active self builders group many of which will be interested to see your handiwork.
Certainly looks neatly done, Fibreglass used properly is a versatile medium but only achieved well professionally normally, the boating fraternity here will recognize its watertight qualities straight away so a big ✔ there ✓

How did you fit yours out please, the fit & finish though individual can make all the difference at last stage.

Have a good trip and take some pictures for us please
& visit our Facebook group if you prefer Social media

Welcome Peter.
It would be interesting to know the weight . I like the offset rear door , it give more internal options .
We are off to Brittany 19th June
Jim

Hi guys thanks for the interest. The weight of the finished shell, is circa 280kg I would guess fully loaded with all our holiday gear full water tank etc it to be about 450kg. It doesn't put the springs down much at all. My internal fit out skills aren't very good I must admit. We have rudimentary 12v system, cool box, 75ltr water tank with a electric tap. The offset door is to accommodate a large bathroom. I'm 6ft 4 and didn't want to be cramped. We have a north south king size bed with a 1ft gap to the side for our bags. As for fixing it to the bed I wasn't sure what to do so at the start of the build I decided to incorporate a 18mm ply floor into the fibreglass in case I wanted to bolt through latterly. In the end that's exactly what I did. It seemed the strongest option without adding Icelandic style girders protruding from the chassis. I used 4x12mm high tensile bolts. Another reason for the fibreglass route was the attraction of having a jointless shell. I was looking at cheap secondhand models around and the threat of water ingress really put me off. To this end everything added to the outside is fibreglassed in (door/windows/ future roof rack) or bonded on (numberplate/ reflectors/ lights) to keep the outer skin faultless.

What are the weights of your loaded/ unloaded rigs would you estimate?

We'll be back from Brittany on the 7th June. Hoping to head from Cherbourg west along the coast, visiting st mont michel, Dinan, st malo and paimpol, is there anywhere you might recommend? It's our first time in Brittany for a week

Do you have the "Aires" book of free/small charge camper sites in France ? If not let me know which areas you are going to and I will send some info .

Good to see not just another fibreglass but another DIY as well & it looks well proportioned too

Hi peter.

I am interested in a grp demountable shell for a twin cab hilux. Are you interested in supplying one. Or anyone else here know of where I can get one from.

Thanks Tom.

Service metals in Braintree Essex can supply you with all the parts to build your truck camper.

Also I’m need help with my own self build on what legs to use and how to fix them and the laws on bits sticking out.
Is it legal to have the legs Permanently fitted and sticking out in the UK.

Nice build by the way.

Thanks very much.
Stephen