Hondo Garage's New Thing

I have the sticker on my ipad that is usually mounted on the unholy mount and big squeeze

 

We did. But I liked the simplicity and wind performance of the single pivot design better. And the thing is long enough that you can sleep with your head toward the pivot end, even if you're 6' 4" like me. And i can stand up in the entire open floor area even on a platform over the wheel wells. It's also more stable when popped when you have a load on the rack (surfboards, bikes, etc.)

 

Nice. The Westy-style popup is really ideal for a small truck camper IMHO.

 

Won't be any different than a regular topper in terms of sealing.

 

what is the weight of just the camper?
could this be mounted on a thule rack?

 

This looks really cool. If I was in the market I'd be very interested.

 

This this looks awesome!!!

 

Can you explain in a little more detail as to how the panels will seal the interior of the bed from water/dust? On a normal topper/shell the shell is a single piece thus the sides, top, from, back, etc are "sealed" by default. Windows/Windoors are then cut into the 1 piece shell with rubber seals to both hold the glass in and keep water/dust out.

In your design the shell is now 5 separate (and removable) aluminum pieces/walls that mount to a frame so I'm looking to understand how the panels-to-the-frame will be sealed as well as (and more importantly) the panels to each other at all the corners/edges to keep rain/dust from getting in. I'm just trying to understand how in a rain and driving at say 40 MPH or above the points where the panels come together to form a corner/edge will prevent rain (and/or dust) from making its way in. It just seems like the edges and corners will be extremely difficult to seal to ensure water doesn't pass thru.

 

Will the tent be available with out the rack?

 

The panels seal to the tubular frame with a gasket and attach with perimeter tabs to ensure the gasket stays engaged. The tubular frame was designed so that each panel is a flat plane. Only the side panels would be removable during normal use. The rear panel edges seal the same way and has a hinged window like any other topper. The thing won't be a submarine but for highway driving and windy rainstorms it will shed water just fine. The upper frame also seals to the lower frame the same way. You're correct that it's challenging to seal something that is subjected to so much vibration. We opted to make each interface semi-floating and resilient.

 

Do you mean the roof rack on top of the camper or the lower shell? The roof bars on the upper are optional. The frame is a custome-extruded tube with utility track running the length, so the roof bars can be removed or bolted anywhere along the length (or roof baskets, etc.)

If you mean the lower shell, then yes, eventually we'll be selling just the popup on its own with a non-removeable floor. But if you'd be putting it on a truck, the whole camper unit makes a much more usable space than just the tent portion would.

 

Eventually we'll make just the upper tent available on its own. Weight would be about 150 lbs. But for the first run we're only selling them as a complete unit.

 

How much weight can the roof support when in the open position? I take kayaks (about 100lbs combined) camping frequently and they ride on the roof rack that would have to be removed for this poptop. It would be nice to not have to take them off to open the tent portion.

 

Crap! This GFC is sounding better every freaking post.

 

right almost to good to be true

 

We'll probably size the lift struts for a 75 lb load on the roof. You could certainly throw 100 lbs on it and still open it but it will take a bit more oomph to lift it open. And the more weight you can move toward the pivot the easier it will be to lift.

 

im excited about the timeline you have on your site. when it goes live how are you going to announce to the public we can purchase? will these fit a 05dcsb or will i need to wait longer?

 

That's the spot we want to be in The trick is that I designed most of the parts to be made by CNC machines and to be fast to assemble. The hardest part to automate is the sewing but we're fortunate that Bozeman is sort of a hotbed of sewing skills as we have a number of backpack manufacturers within two miles of our shop.

 

please please tell me this will fit my 05dcsb

 

Well I'll be updating this thread as we build out the production betas. We'll have models right out of the gate for all Tacoma models except step sides. The big wait right now is for our tent frame extrusions to get here. The dies are being made now and we expect the first sticks of material to be here in the beginning of December. We should be welding up the tube sets for the production lower in about two weeks(the one in the test photos is a very crude test rig).