Welcome to the sixth entry in June’s Mega Mod Contest. One Mega Mod will be published in every Email Alert in June. At the end of the month, we’ll hold a reader vote to determine June’s winner. Click here for information about the 2021 Mod Contest, including how to enter.
Chad and Liz Chesley, Raleigh, North Carolina
1970 Camper Retro Redesign
2017 Ram 2500
1970 Unknown Camper Brand
Above: Chad and Liz Chesley and their completed camper
The main reason we rebuilt our camper instead of buying a new one is that we wanted to have all the things that are important to us in our camper.
The pictures above and below show the condition our 1970’s camper was in when we bought it.
We completely gutted it.
We also reinforced the walls and the roof.
We framed in some vinyl windows to give it a tiny home feel.
Then, we painted it the outside walls of the camper.
The roof of the camper has a viewing platform for two, but we have had several people up there with no issues.
For electrical, an AIMS 3000 watt inverter/charger, three 12-volt 200ah batteries, and four 150-watt solar panels keep the camper going for many days without shore power.
We made the bed area into a California King with a 6-inch memory foam mattress.
We used closed cell spray foam insulation throughout that is 2-inches thick to give us a great R-value rating.
The ceiling is aromatic cedar planks.
The walls are PVC shiplap.
We built a custom cedar door.
The following are some photos showing the completed renovation.
The couch pulls out to make room for an air mattress for future guests.
The camper is awesome! We love it. It’s like a second home.
It took two people nearly 500-hours to complete this modification and cost about $7,000. In my opinion, the skill level of this modification is extremely hard.
