The best way to attach cabinets to composite campers

I show how to attach cabinets, shelves, and other camper equipment to an overlanding adventure vehicle. Using the appropirate adhesive sealants to glue windows, skylights, doors, 8020 aluminum cabinet framing and other camper build out items to the composite walls of my Total Composites expedition camper is lightweight, incredibly strong, and will last a lifetime while absorbing vibration and eliminating degradation from water, sunlight and other weather. And it won't rust. I used Sikaflex 292i and 252, which are both excellent adhesive sealants for bonding/glueing aluminum 8020 profiles to fiberglass composite camper walls.
This builds on my last video with tips and some tricks to make building and framing camper and van cabinets with 8020 extruded aluminum including bolt selection, torque and stainless vs alloy hardware. From my experiences building out my DIY composite camper in a self-built Total Composites expedition camper.
I recently built this Total Composites expedition camper on my Mitsubishi Fuso EarthCruiser CORE 4x4 expedition truck chassis, installed MAD expedition windows and skylights, and now framing out the interior cabinets.
This builds on my previous videos of the camper build, including: • Building a Total Compo...
The camper layout & design: • Designing the perfect ...
Planning out the interior build: • Total Composites Campe...
The selection of the chassis: • How to Choose the best...
And also same framing I installed in my camper van: • The 10 Best things I l...
Here is a link to the Klein digital levels that I have found very useful:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
And here is a link to the Sika adhesives: usa.sika.com/en/industry/prod...
and this one: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...
‪@8020llc‬ ‪@totalcomposites484‬ ‪@EarthCruiserOverlandVehicles‬ ‪@motorcraftadventuredev‬ ‪@KleinToolsVideo‬ ‪@SikaUSA‬ ‪@sikaflex.‬ ‪@vantripping‬
#expeditioncamper #expeditiontruck #vanlife #mitsubishifuso #expeditiontravel #vantripping #overlanding #overlanding4x4 #mountainbluebirdthevan #expeditionvehicle #fusocanter #diycamper #digitallevels #levels #diycamper #fusocanter #fuso #vanbuild #campervanbuild #camperbuild #adhesive

[@sublimeister9630]

Good points on the adequacy of glue alone for the upper cabinets. You’re right about the light materials people put on there anyway. 👍

[@vantripping]

I'll try to do some further demonstration of its strength. the 1" profile are also plenty strong.

[@austendewolf]

Your videos are incredibly thorough and full of information. Thank you for creating them.

[@vantripping]

Thank you very much. Glad that my videos are helpful.

[@searlearnold2867]

If you can use it as a jungle gym to do calisthenics/gymnastics exercises, you know it's bulletproof.

[@vantripping]

Yes indeed!

[@vantripping]

FYI, there are thermal expansion joints between the longer spans, even though very little is needed and the adhesive can elongate with any thermal expansion differences. I will show those "expansion joints" in a future video.

[@lawrencedobesh776]

Many of the people who are auto body men use glue to attach body panels on cars that is the way they come from the factory!

[@vantripping]

@@lawrencedobesh776 Yes, that's right, many parts on newer cars are glued together.

[@noahjensen2376]

I’m curious if you know what the difference in coefficient or thermal expansion is for the panels? With my van build I found that the difference in thermal expansion between the van body(steel) and aluminum extrusions was enough to make me not want to mount an 7 ft long extrusion rigidly on both ends. I calculated the differences in length to vary over an 1/8-3/16 of an inch over the temperature extremes that the van will see through the year. I ended up designing a sliding mount to allow for that movement and can actually observe the difference with temp fluctuations.

[@vantripping]

@@noahjensen2376 I did pull up the thermal expansion of the aluminum extrusions and the fiberglass sheeting of the camper. The fiberglass doesn't expand enough to consider, whereas my longest piece of aluminum extrusion will expand up to about 1/8", so I allow these longer pieces room to expand, and the adhesive has as much as 500% elongation, so plenty to handle the thermal expansion of the aluminum.

[@a.w.7600]

You, sir, are a geyser of helpful information. Hat's off to you, and thank you for the wonderful videos.

[@vantripping]

Thank you very much!!

[@mundodebandeirante]

very good your videos. I'm building a camper and the information is very important.

[@vantripping]

Great, good luck with your project.

[@nealamesbury1480]

Impressive

[@vantripping]

thanks!

[@DE-li7jt]

Nice to see your build come together. Have you ever rounded up the numbers for the weight of all your installed material or are you cannonballing since you have enough reserves?

[@vantripping]

If you're asking about total weight of the build, I have not added them up yet but am tracking as much as I can, but will will need to do an accounting of all materials and their weight once complete. Plus, I weighed the truck when picking up new, and will weigh it once completed. It started at around 8000 pounds with subframe, front winch & bull bar bumper, full 4x4 conversion, scrub bars and roof rack, spare tire, rear bumper. The camper weighs about 1500, windows, skylights and doors likely add another 350, and rest needs to be calculated but likely 14000 total, well within the 18000+ weight carrying capacity of the chassis and robust upgraded drivetrain.

[@RobertOKruk]

Awesome video! Any chance you know anything about the toxicity / VOC's of the glue? Tried searching but did not find much, wondering if you've already looked into it. Cheers!

[@vantripping]

Thanks! The adhesive sealants are very low VOC and harmless, There is no smell from them and they are safe to use indoors, and once cured safe against food and water. Most of the adhesives I am using are made in the EU and meet the EU's strict guidelines for low VOCs and human safety. You can also pull up the MSDS for these adhesives from each of the manufacturers. One that I remember is Sika Flex 292i but there are several other brands and products I also used.

[@RobertOKruk]

@@vantripping thank you!

[@vantripping]

@@RobertOKruk you're welcome.

[@chrisdaniel1339]

Is the 80/20 you are using all 10 series 1"x1" extrusion? Also can you please post a link in the description to the exact adhesive you used to bond the aluminum to the composite? Very solid framing, it will not absorb moisture, and is so much stronger than wood framing, great choice! Do you plan on using an Isotemp marine water heater so you can utilize hot engine coolant to heat domestic hot water? I was doing some research for my overlander on Isotemp and was on West Marine's website and the reviews were not wonderful especially for the high cost, it seems that even though the tanks are 316L stainless the welds and inside of the tanks were rusting and leaking. I am considering either welding a tank with heat exchanger (marine calorifier) for myself or having a local fab shop make one that has a heat exchanger coil so I can use a thermal solar panel to heat my water and a 750w single element backup.

[@vantripping]

Yes, I am using all 1" profiles (10 series) as it stronger than needed while reducing weight and space of the frame over larger profiles, allowing for more interior cabinet space. I'll showcase more of the strength and benefits in future videos. I've been using Sika 292i but have also tested Sika 252 and both are designed to adhere to fiberglass, plastics and aluminum including anodized aluminum. The Koropop 225 that Total Composites recommends for gluing up the composite camper walls also has a spec that supports the same materials, but the Sikaflex is stronger. All are polyurethane based, so similarly easy to apply and with excellent temperature range and strength, as well as elongation to accommodate the different thermal expansions of the materials.

[@vantripping]

I installed an Isotemp with water heating from the engine and hydronic heating inside my camper van, but decided to not do a hydronic system or interconnect to the engine's water system, as all introduce greater complexity, failure and maintenance points that could be very problematic, so I am installing an all electric system. Plus, you are right: the Isotemp or other engine-heated water heaters are pricey and would require full replacement should their heat exchangers leak. I show the water heater I have installed and some of the reasons why I chose this one and electric water heating in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGqUh2yNoNBqebc.

[@vantripping]

I will showcase in a future video my all-electric heating system and why I have chosen this after analyzing costs, performance, weight, space, reliability, maintenance, and other reasons, as well as my testing to validate the performance, and compare it with other heating systems. All have their pros and cons.

[@wawa8031]

Nice, I'm dreaming of and slowly designing a similar (if abit smaller) camper. Planning on using a composite box with glued 80/20 cabinets inside. Couple of questions that I have thought of and would be interested to hear your opinion. If I build 1 continuous 80/20 frame in all the internal corners of the box that I that add to build bed and cabinets. Would you be worried about the thermal expansion of the 80/20? Need to put some strategic gaps or slightly shorter peices allow for expansion? Don't want the 80/20 pushing the box apart or similar. Would it be possible to insert panels into the grove of the 80/20 to finish the sides etc of cabinets so having the 80/20 as exposed corners to the cabinets. Or is it impossible/too fiddly to make sure the fasteners wouldn't be in the way of the panels. Hope that make sense and thanks for all the info from your videos already

[@vantripping]

Aluminum expands less than wood. The full internal width of my camper is 78" and aluminum would expand to 78.04" with a 50F degree temperature rise. I have installed it at ~70F and rising to 120F or decreasing to 20F internal temp is about as extreme of an internal temperature change that will happen, so 50F temp change is plenty adequate. I have about .25" of gap where the framing connects to each wall (so >.5" total across a span), plus gaps or overlaps in the framing allowing the center piece to move within the two wall pieces, so my framing can accommodate at least .25" in every direction (same from floor to ceiling), but the aluminum will expand only about .05". Good point but just not enough expansion with a typical internal temperature change to cause any issue. The adhesive will absorb all of this and is more than .1" thick in each direction plus a gap; I'll try to detail this gap in a future video, as great question you are asking. Now wood would expand at 2-3x this amount, so more thermal expansion space will need to be provided if the cabinets were made of wood, and wood expands at much different rates whether with or across the grain, so that needs to be considered with mounting any wood product, and hence why wood table tops, countertops and other furniture needs mounting that can accommodate expansion and contraction, whereas aluminum and steel do not.

[@vantripping]

As for adding panels within the extrusion slots, absolutely! They are made to accommodate panels, and a real benefit of 1" profiles is that the slot can accommodate a .25" thick readily available panel in nearly any material desired. I did this in my camper van showcased in previous videos and now for sale. When doing this, it is harder to remove an inserted panel unless at least one of the extrusions can be easily removed. And yes, you have to work around any fasteners. I am choosing in this camper build to keep all panels mounted to the sides of the extrusions instead of encapsulated within the slots, to make installing and replacing easier, as well as to more fully cover the aluminum framing. Great question!

[@wawa8031]

Ok, thanks for the info. That's not alot of expansion! Don't think I'd get my cuts that accurate/tight anyway! Yes I fear inserting the panels may require alot more head scratching/more time on sketch up

[@vantripping]

@@wawa8031 You're welcome. Nope, not enough expansion to be concerned about. I have more than enough gaps between the walls, floors, ceilings, and between each connecting sub-assembly cabinet sections. It's really hard to get cuts better than 1/16" unless using a professional set up, and even a 1/16" is enough gap across the entire camper width. Great that you're thinking about it. Inserting panels into the slots does require some thinking about assembly and interaction with connectors.

[@sharpsticksnz4112]

Great question, I was going to ask the same. The thought of the aluminium expanding with heat and pushing the composite box apart is terrifying. @vantripping Please do a video on where you left the gaps and why, glue thickness etc. How are you going to attach your cabinet facing to the 80/20? What material are you using for your cabinet facing?

[@livingworkingoutsidebox]

Great job at explaining how strongly attached the 8-20 is to the habitat. Also looks like you have made some more progress. Congratulations. I was looking at getting a composite box for our build but wasn't fully sold on the $35k is price tag. It's funny we have gone through at least 5 design changes since starting. For price the E450 with a 17ft+- chassis for under $10k seemed like the good foundation then build out a aluminum frame box and we were looking at a 30k build out. Not bad. But then this or that needed changing or upgrading and now with a F650 30ft box we are up to 60k-80k. So hats off to you for pushing through all this analysis paralysis and doing it. Am I out in lala land for wanted a very nice build for the 60k range? 80k? Or I should just say this is the real Expedition rig we want and price it out?

[@vantripping]

Yeah, one can build a camper for $10k or $1million, obviously very different functionality, features, quality and durability. This is my third camper build, and I can say that being beyond super insulated is more important than anything else, and that means any thermal transfer points to reduce noise and improve thermal comfort and losses. I seriously thought an E450 with a composite box--the benefits of the composite box is time, comfort and strength. You save tons of time (and money) not having to insulate a metal shell, and the metal shell will just never be as well insulated and thus not as comfortable thermally or quiet as a composite box. And the composite box will be much stronger. The other big benefit in time with a composite camper is straight vs curved walls. I would estimate that curved walls double the time to build and install framing, and reduce weight because the cabinets are simpler and also there is more internal space for the same exterior foot print. You can definitely build a great camper on any chassis, and in any space, but when doing your cost analysis, really account for the added time and cost of materials to work within a curved vs rectangular space, as well as for insulation and actual remaining internal volume. There are many added costs for materials, tools and other hard to plan things, plus there is your time. Try hard to really take these into account. I'll do my best to provide an accounting of these at the end of my build to help others with their planning. I would say you can build a decent camper for $30k but $60k to $100k for materials may be a more realistic budget when accounting for everything including painting, insulating, etc. Realize that your or someone else's time is more costly than the materials, and much time will be spent in planning, designing, researching, procuring, set up, clean up, tool shopping, shipping, etc. in addition to the actual build timer and likely the build time is less than all of the other time needed. I encourage you in your build and will help in any way I can.

[@ApteraPioneer]

Sorry, if I missed this somehow, but would you share a link to the adhesive you are using? Thanks.

[@vantripping]

Sure, I'll share again,. I've been using SikaFlex 292i. 252 also is a very good option. There are many other very good adhesives for this application.

[@ApteraPioneer]

THANKS!

[@vantripping]

@@ApteraPioneer You're welcome.

[@patricknally3859]

Hey! How do you work around the total composites protrusions when mounting your 80/20 since they are not flush with the panels?

[@vantripping]

Good question. My floor came slightly bowed, and exactly the same dimension as the floor pultrusions, so the 8020 on the floor just bridges between the pultrusions to floor high spot with adhesive between them. On the walls, which are straight, I just use the pultrusion thickness as the thickness of the adhesive. The pultrusion thickness is about 1/8", so the adhesive easily fills in this amount. I just built from the base up and made sure that everything was level in three dimensions and kept that level as I went up to keep everything square. It was all pretty easy to deal with the thickness of the pultrusions.

[@patricknally3859]

Ah, that makes complete sense now. I’ve been really scratching my head with that detail. Great build and great videos! Very helpful stuff. Thanks for the reply👍🏼

[@vantripping]

@@patricknally3859 You're welcome. Don't fret those pultrusions, it's easy to glue over them, letting the adhesive fill in the small void and level them as you set them like tile into grout. Just be sure to cut the 8020 pieces slightly short to allow them to expand and not push against the walls, floor or ceiling when they run the long way.

[@vantripping]

Links to some of tools and related videos are in the description.

[@vantripping]

Sure, I am adding some links to each video. Let me know if there are any links to tools or materials you'd like.

[@russellgrundy8534]

Hi what is the brand name of the glue?

[@vantripping]

I've been mostly using Sika 292i and sometimes Sika 251 as well. Looks at the specs of any adhesive sealant to make sure it bonds well to your substrate and bonded material, as well as meets the operating specs needed.

[@gator701]

What glue are you using?

[@vantripping]

My preference for attaching the aluminum framing to the composite camper is SikaFlex 292i. Sika's 252 is also a good choice, Here is a link to these options which can be purchased at many resellers. usa.sika.com/en/industry/products-solutions/adhesives-and-sealants/sikaflex.html

[@gator701]

​@@vantrippingwhat Adhesive do you use for the solar panel installation on the roof?

[@vantripping]

@@gator701 I used a two part adhesive from ClikBond, which was incredibly strong, same adhesive used to bond fuselage sections and landing gear to the frame on Commerical airliners. But that is hard to come by, and there are many one-part urea-based adhesives that are great for this purpose, such as Sika 292 and 252.

[@muprock]

FYI, this is not a how-to video. It's 16 minutes of non-technical talk about how strong the adhesive is.

[@vantripping]

Yep, this video series of building out an expedition camper from scratch is most certainly not a how to series, as I've said in several of my videos. It is my sharing of my build, my decisions, my challenges and how I am building it so that others can learn from my experiences, and hopefully motivate others to also take on projects they want to accomplish. Many have questioned the strength of using adhesives, so I wanted to answer those questions and concerns about its strength from my experiences to enable others to use some of these great products and gain confidence in building a different way that may be better.

[@muprock]

@@vantripping This is the only video of yours that I have seen. The problem I have is that your description for this video says "I show how to attach cabinets, shelves, and other camper equipment to an overlanding adventure vehicle", which is not true. You also titled a chapter "How to Attach", which doesn't provide any information about how to attach, except that you clean the surfaces with alcohol and use a level, which I think is pretty obvious to anyone who might be doing this kind of work, even for the first time. You produced a 17-minute video that provides about 10 seconds of useful information. It's 17 minutes I'll never get back. Anyway, congratulations on your amazing journey, but I'll pass on the subscription.

[@vantripping]

Thanks for you feedback @@muprock .