In this thread you will watch as my new F-350 transforms into my dream Baja rig. That's right, I've bitten the bullet and decided to do it right. It all started with some serious internet time to hunt down my desired vehicle and then a number of phone calls, with and without the help of my credit union's buying service. Wasn't long before I knew pretty much all the candidates within a 1,000 mile range. A little negotiating but pretty much paid what I'd expected-- fair price for a great truck. Within a couple of weeks I found myself on an early morning 225-mile drive, followed by a ridiculous amount of paperwork and then another 225-mile drive and, in a matter of one really long day my new vanilla F-350 was home. And here it is.... (much more to come)

 

So as we saw in my first post step one was to locate and purchase my new F-350. Now that I had the truck in my hot little hands it was time to prep it for the baddest custom camper ever. That meant I needed an incredible custom frame. I started by envisioning my perfect frame-- and then it was time to locate someone to build it. Many, many hours on the internet later I found the shop I needed. Naturally it wasn't exactly next door. It actually entailed a 450 mile drive from the San Diego area to the Sacramento area-- a great way to spend a long Saturday. Then a flight home Sunday and I got into wait mode.... something I would end up doing a lot of in the course of the project. Three weeks later and another weekend invested I was able to fly to Sacramento and drive back to San Diego with my truck and an amazing custom frame. More to come!

 

Any more pictures of the custom frame?

 

Here are a few more photos of my custom frame.


Note the lockable outside storage all around. And the extra long drawer-- no wasted space here.


....and what's that behind the cab? A super-efficient 12-volt refrigerator so there's always quick access to a cold drink
without even entering the camper. Refrigerator draws like an amp an hour and keeps stuff ultra cold. Think the most
expensive you could imagine for a camp refrigerator and then triple it-- but it's way worth it! All lockable of course.

 

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. In the last 2 pictures, what is the piece of metal hanging down over the rear, diver-side tire?

*edit* Just figured out it's the gas cap cover. Looking forward to more pics.

 

I'll watch. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

 

Looking forward to this thread! Good luck on the build!

 

Is that aluminum or stainless steel? How much does it weigh? I am curious to see how big this custom camper becomes on a SRW truck.

 

 

Come on! whats taking so long???

 

looks like it covers the fuel cap

 

For those of you who were wondering the flatbed and compartments are..... aluminum.

 

So as I mentioned at the start with this rig I decided to go for it. To me that means putting together the absolutely ideal rig for Baja and anywhere off-road, far off-road. Once I started looking and found an outfit called XPCamper I knew this was what I needed to do. So I said goodbye to my elaborate plans for the huge extension to my garage to make more room for tinkering on the motos and pulled the trigger. It's not about a bigger camper or even a more comfortable camper. And it isn't about transporting as much tonnage as possible. It's about.... you know what, I don't think I have to explain. You either get it or you don't. For me-- this is it.





Was this worth ANOTHER weekend (and a Monday) and 400 (x2) miles more driving to Prescott, AZ? Oh, yeah.

 

 

Very nice. Would you mind posting some pics of the inside, too? Also, does it have steps hidden some for climbing inside?