A/C UNIT in my Cabover...how?

[sincitychains]

Ok, hopefully some of the people that were attentive to my VEGAS TO RENO thread are reading this and have some suggestions, or better yet, step-by-step instructions for a half retarded college student here (shouldn't say that since my major is special education) ANYWAY!!!

So we found a camper! The truck and the camper are currently at the camper owner's residence in Riverside, california being joined together and a few repairs/modifications are being made to suit my needs. Its a quite roomy camper for its size, I'm very happy with it. Now here is the issue:

I am not concerned about this at the time since the first trip I'll be making is going to require ample blankets more than A/C, however, I will be storm chasing in Arizona come next summer, and I am definately going to need A/C in this unit. My dad has figured that its going to have to be a 5000 btu or less window unit, I've found these to be under $100, new and even less used or, new out of the box. My question is; has anyone ever experienced installing one of these in a cabover and do they have any tips or hints or suggestions that might make the installation easier and the overall finished project extra sturdy? Should we cut a hole in the side of the camper and do a wall install, or just use an already existing window (if size permits)?

Keep me posted people! Great forum ya got here!

[AZBuck]

Well, complete and utter ignorance of a subject has never stopped me before, so I'll weigh in here until more experienced contributors show up.

Should we cut a hole in the side of the camper and do a wall install, or just use an already existing window (if size permits)?

Every A/C unit I've ever seen on a camper unit has been roof mounted. I would think that this has two major advantages. It would be easier to make a weather tight seal since the unit itself can act as a rain shield sheltering the opening you'll have to cut in the camper, and it would greatly reduce the torque put on the opening by the A/C unit as you bounce up and down the road.

AZBuck

[Quebec Gen]

While I know absolutely nothing about car A/C (I barely use mine even in the heat), I heard about some portable air conditioners (here's an example) that you can plug in the car or on a battery. I doubt they are any good or powerful enough to keep you cool in the AZ heat and I don't know anyone who has one of those, but that would be another unexpensive option to consider.

Good luck!
Gen