Side Boxes

Two boxes, one each side of the bed, beside the camper's lower body and under its wings. They are the first module of the bed. Stage one is the door: the driver-side door and the frame it hangs in, built and proven on a bench before the box goes round it.

Stage one — the door

A flush door that pivots on its rounded bottom edge: shut, a bench at 90° on two stay cords, hanging flat at 180°. Nothing shows on its face — no hinge, no fastener, no handle. Three electronic latches hold it and push it open.

It is a kit. The fabricator cuts, folds and welds three things. Everything else bolts on, with one kind of screw wherever possible. Nothing on the door is welded, so it comes apart again.

All hardware is stainless steel. Sizes are in millimetres unless marked; quantities are for one door and its frame.

A — Fabco makes

These three are the Fabco pack: a STEP file per piece, a DXF per plate, and seven sheets of drawings with the fitting order and the bill of materials.

Stock is from Ryerson, where Fabco buys.

B — Made parts

Machined from the 3D model. All aluminium except the strikers.

C — Bought parts

Fasteners

Anti-seize on every stainless thread, isolating paste wherever stainless touches aluminium, and polyurethane sealant under the 15 top-rail bolt heads.

Assembly

1. Opening frame. It arrives welded: rails, edge ring, end webs, gussets and end pin blocks, with the bar already inside the bottom rail.
2. Door frame. Lay out the bottom channel and the two end channels. Slide in the two bottom corner blocks and screw them — three M5 each side of each corner. Fix the two half rounds under the bottom channel.
3. Hinge. Push the centre pin through the fixed pivot and slide a middle hinge block onto each end. Their tabs go up through the bottom channel.
4. Panel. Slide the panel in from the top with the hinge plates and the three striker blocks. Close the frame with the top channel and the two top corner blocks.
5. Pan. Fit the pan over the face, the top and both ends, and screw it on.
6. Hang the door. Four carriage bolts go from the fixed pivot through the bottom rail and its bar; the nuts go on inside. Push the two end pins in from inside, each with its thrust washer, and lock the set screws.
7. Latches. Clip the three receivers into the top rail and bolt each through with three M6 × 45. Bolt the latches under them and the strikers onto the door.
8. Seal and stays. Push the seal onto the edge ring. Bolt the two stay corner blocks into the top rail and fit the cords.
9. Check. Swing the door from shut to 180°, check the 2 mm gaps, and check that all three latches catch and kick out.

Why a pivot door

• Nothing on the face. One flat panel from top to bottom, with a single round edge that is also the bottom corner of the box.
• No hinge to attack. No exposed pin, no knuckle, and nothing to lever against. Every fastener undoes from inside.
• A bench and a clear side. At 90° it is a work surface; at 180° it hangs in the plane it was shut in.
• It is still an aluminium box. The 2 mm gaps admit a thin blade, which meets the 25 mm edge of the door, not a latch.

Open points

• Strength. Nothing is calculated: the pins, the fixed pivot and its bolts, the stay cords, the bench. There is no bench rating.
• Not drawn yet. The pan screws, the latch screws and the eight middle hinge block screws.
• To choose. The panel product, the stay cord and its pin, who machines the made parts, and whether the outer hinge plate is bonded or bolted.
• Powder coat. Bores, tongues, tabs, threads and striker bars have to be masked.
• Seal gap. The 7 mm between the edge ring and the door is an estimate — check it with the seal in hand.
• When the shell goes on. Weld the two end pin blocks to the shell's front sheet as well.

Later stages — the box

The door is stage one. The box round it — one brake-formed 5052 shell, 605 × 631 × 2499 mm — and what goes inside come after. These are the requirements it will be checked against.

Status key: 🟡 On paper — confirm on the truck · ⚪ Open · ❌ Not designed

Changelog