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I have a cabover camper shell with an aluminum frame and skin. Also about 22 years old. All tig welded. Has spent years off road on the west coast from Baja to BC and not a single crack. Also from how much that metal sweats when sleeping inside I wouldn't recommend wood right up against it due to mold issues down the road. That fully welded frame you show is mig or spool gun welded. Not quite as strong, but looked decently done with plenty of weld at the joints. I think most of the strength preventing fatigue cracks comes from the shear support of the skin on the walls adhered with vhb or adhesive. Had held up very well. I've put 1500lb of plywood on the roof of my camper and driven up a pretty rough road with it. I've driven it hard enough off-road I broke the factory bed and had to reinforce it. I've used the roof rack on my camper as a slider to pivot around a tree on a cambered trail.

6:41 thats a bold faced lie..

LOL i work for a manufacturer.. its SOO shameful how much they rip off the user. For how much materials cost, how much they actually pay the laborers and how much they charge the customer, it just doesnt make sense. Ill give you a VERY SIMPLIFIED example. Company pays $100 for materials, INCLUDING SHIPPING. Company pays employees $50 for labor (keep in mind if it wasnt for us, they would have to do it themselves) Company charges customer $100,000. how TF DOES THIS MAKE SENSE????? Ive NEVER seen a company that does this part any different. HOWEVER, they always have excuses, rebuttals or justifications as to why they actually charge that much, but, it just doesnt add up. UNLESS you understand that people start companies NOT to make a good product or help people, but to make the most money off of those people as possible. Is this company ANY different? i guess time will tell..

Dude im not even looking to repair anything like this but watched the entire video just because you did such a great job of explaining everything , well done sir 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍👍

Would it not be simpler to just add a thicker insulation layer between the aluminum tube and the exterior panel? that way the aluminum won't see such a temperature difference.

Wow, no middle man. I could probably make the road trip up there in my pick up, buy a camper and still be ahead rather than going to a dealer down here.

Hahahahahahahahahah dude are you kidding me. Do you ever get tired of being wrong.😂

Thanks for the education. Liked/subbed.

Is lance a good builder of slide ins ??

Simply put, the stress/strain relationship is not explained by an engineer but the sketchy build quality is visible.

You will certainly get more business by showing your techniques because folks want to buy quality, and at the same time, you are educating the true DIYers. Win win win.

I think I heardthermal bridging contributes to condensation. Plastic fasteners for vapor barrier could help with condensation 3:43

The wet center of the aluminum tube is caused because the aluminum is cold and the warm moist air from inside the campe is leaking inside the cold tube and condencing. Thats the why its happening. Heres my suggestioto stop it from happening.. Insulate the out side of the camper, move the layer of insulation from the inside to the outside, now you are stopping the cold thermal bridge before it gets to the aluminum , allow the aluminum to be apart of the inside conditioned space, allow and promote the alluminum to warm insted of trying to sepreate it from the warm try to seperate it from the cold. In the housing industry Its considered EIFS Exteriour Insulation Finishing Systems

Can these be built for flatbed applications? And for different length's and width's? I am really impressed by the quality. And your highly detailed video's demonstrating it.

I have a 2007 Alpenlite 1100 and it is an all aluminum frame and it has broken tack welds everywhere. Not worth the expense to fix them all. Moving on to building my own light weight super structure camper build.

Can confirm.. my keystone camper circa 2004 is completely tack welded… where they actually bothered to weld it.. I know because I had to peal it back due to massive leaking.. Also.. to confirm other statements on this channel… they leak in the corners … probably due to the stress focusing on the extremities due to construction methods. Also.. would love to know what you guys are using to peal the outer skins off of the insulation… I don’t ever want to do that again but that looks incredibly efficient.

This was very informative, thank you for sharing the building process and revealing the extra attention paid to these structures. It makes all the difference. I know where I'll be going to buy my next camper but it's a long drive so I have to take some time to plan it :). How long from order to ready?

what about light plywood (poplar for example) as a structural material instead of solid pine? It would give the opportunity to laminate and overlap all the corners stronger if you build up the structure let's say from three layers of plywood. Is it a cost thing or am i thinking wrong?

Whenever I see American entrepreneurship like you’re doing here I like to say thank you for your service! This is what built this great nation not our corrupt leeches!

Those spot welds are scary, not the right way to cut production costs. I have a friend with one of those campers and one of the side windows fell off when it was parked, and the front skylight window was detaching too. The dealer fixed it since an extended warranty was in effect. I wonder if the manufacturer has improved the welding and window bonding due to warranty expense. 8 sure hope so.

Excellent discussion of strength and stresses on this camper window!! 2nd video I saw of yours! Subbed !!

That’ a Cirrus.

Very nice build! Interesting to see the water jug method in a new camper-I've never come across that before. Makes sense, though, given the colder climate in Alaska. Here on Vancouver Island, it's a bit warmer, so a water delete wouldn't be as necessary.

Incredible! Your campers look very well built. Thank you!

This is great info. Thanks for sharing

Yea cool let's see the process,great info😊

What is the utility box @1:30? Ever fit them as a camper with windows interior etc?

The perfect camper would be an aluminum frame with a fiberglass skin and plastic interior cabinets. Cost of that fiberglass though and aluminum isnt given away either....

I appreciate all the information!

While I believe you're imparting a lot of good information, your verbal delivery is all over the place - jumping here, there, and back again. Very difficult to follow.

That looks good. How thick are those sidewalls? 3/4"? or a 1 1/2"?

I also never use a front window. Too easy to break, I use a camera that is mounted on the nose of our camper that shows the outside of the front of the trailer on a tv. I call it a virtual window.Assuming that is a Cirrus what year is that camper?

Would those aluminum frames hold up if properly welded? Thanks

Which sealant from adfast?

High heat could be applied to the plexi glass to form it correctly to the surface you are attaching it to. Using something like Black Tiger Seal PU would probably be the best aheasive and sealant.

Great instructional video. You folks show masterful attention to important details of the build.

Solid fiberglass last very long and doesn't leak

Could seam sealer/adhesive be shot in between the wood and the aluminum to help bond it where the staples have completely failed?

I don’t like windows in the front, or skylights. Vents are necessary but if done right, they won’t leak.

They use that non functional skylight for an additional selling point. Sleep looking at the sky and stars. It’s curvature to cabin body is off so to adhere it your going to need some pressure to bring it flush with body then drill mounting holes ? Can you heat gun the window to give it more flex ? Like to see finished product

lets just be blunt and call it what it is, JUNK, what type of aluminum is used for the structure and the skin

Great videos 👍 thanks

The weak link over time will show itself with this approach as well. Seems like everything will be transferred to the window now. If you use a rubber gasket instead of adhesive it might last longer. If the owners really wanted to fix this they would pay you guys to disassemble the inner wall sheet and weld the tubing better as much as possible and then glue the inner panel, THEN attach that fragile plastic mistake back on.

I wonder were the condensation goes to, from not having a 360 weld. Down the inside of the wall maybe, can you say mold.

So this unit I’m guessing is just repair work that you’re doing this is not something you built so you guys do lots of repair and maybe other fitting two different trailers and campers is that right

I love working with rivets but have never seen or heard of Spyder rivets.... thanks for the info.

Thanks for doing these vids. Helps a great deal in planning out my build.

Offer an option of transparent aluminium oxynitride (ALON)125. This see-through ceramic material is made from a structure of oxygen, nitrogen, and aluminium, and has remarkable properties: Four times harder than fused silica glass; 80% transparent; Three times harder than steel; 85% harder than sapphire; Bulletproof (can stop a 50 caliber round); and Highly resistant to damage, oxidation, and radiation. Currently, transparent aluminum is extremely expensive-costing around $10-$15 per square inch.

Why yes the young lad is being safe, he made a custom handle for his new machete!

I refurbished my 31ft RV (famous brand). It was a nightmare seeing what was behind plywood. Thank you so much for changing the world with a great quality!