Hondo Garage's New Thing

Super stoked to see this hitting the market. I've been wanting a pop up for years now, good on ya for being the first to market. What about windows? The diagrams you have now show pretty small windows on the side ad a big rear but a roll up. The appeal to the Alu-Cab option is the big side opening windows and the rear window with the built in awning for bad weather. What do you think you'll land on?

 

I've got a couple of surfboards on the rack in this photo:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/hondo-garages-new-thing.516490/#post-16315226

The long board is 9' 4"

 

The rear opening will have zip-open mesh and and outer door that can be propped open into an awning or rolled up. And that whole end is mesh. The side windows will end up being a little bigger than in the renderings but not by a lot. One of things we're paying a lot of attention to is the elimination of noise from wind. That means eliminating as much extraneous fabric and flappy bits as possible and making sure the panel stays taught in all conditions. But the general design directive is make the windows as big as possible without compromising on a quiet night's sleep

 

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that the lower for each truck model has a unique tube set and panels to match the inner bed dimensions, cab height, and front and back rake angle for aesthetics. That said, because these are panelized and not molded, we can't match the taper along the bedsides as that would require putting a twist in the panel which would make things much harder to keep sealed. There won't be any gaps to let water through, but it also won't be quite as "fitted" looking as a fiberglass topper (although it will be much more fitted than a flip-pac).

 

#16

 

Wrote up what will be the first in a series documenting the whole development process.

https://www.gofastcampers.com/gfc-blog/2017/10/28/an-origin-story-and-a-bit-of-design-philosophy

 

That was an awesome read, can't wait for the next one!

 

Any plans on making one truly Westfalia style, or even Dormobil style? The forward hinge is a simple way of making a pop top, but what about those of us that travel with canoes/kayaks? I'd rather not have to unload every night when on the road. Of course, if you go Dormobil style then you'll get the crowd wanting it to keep flopping over til you've got a Wildernest.

Still, neat idea, wish it would work for me.

 

One of the biggest reasons for going single hinge was stability in severe winds. The side hinge like the Dormobil creates a lot of fabric for the wind to knock around. Our system will lift about 100 lbs of gear on the rack. And you can load things about 10' long before they'd extend too far over the ends to lift.

What do you mean by "truly Westfalia style"?

 

10' is great for surfboards and ladders, but a short canoe is about 14' and something for a family is closer to 16' or 17' and kayaks tend to run a little longer. The Westfalia hinge is completely different in design and location. It allows the roof to remain more horizontal in the open position and avoids the interference of a long object with the truck. Here's a build where the builder used a Westfalia style hinge: http://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/137366-Tacoma-aluminum-Pop-up

The Westfalias don't use gas struts though, they use a steel push bar that doubles as the lift and provides lateral rigidity, similar in design to how 4WC does their pop tops, except only on one end (4WC's push bars are made of wood panels). The build I linked above does not get the benefit of this extra rigidity and it's one of the main things I don't like about his design, though it would be easy to incorporate.

https://nlavw.com/roof/434-westfalia-steel-push-bar-for-t2-bay-pop-top-roof-mechanism.html

The Westfalia design push bar goes over the center of the hinge as you open it which locks it into the open position. The weight of the roof and anything on the roof will actually help keep the roof up because of this.

Not trying to rag on your product, it's a great solution for those that it works for Feel free to PM me if you'd rather not clutter your thread talking about hinges

 

@Louisd75 no worries. I didn’t interpret it as ragging

I see what you mean about the westy lift. We actually looked into doing a double pivot like that but wanted to avoid the complexity of it and actually wanted a really tall roof peak to make the inside feel more spacious. And to make that type of hinge really stable in winds with a load on top you need a lot more structure than with the single pivot, which of course means more weight. Everything's a trade off, alas.

Our system uses gas struts in addition two internal supports that will keep the roof open even if both struts fail or if you have a heavy wind/snow load. The supports also help tension the fabric walls.

As for the load length on top, I hear you. Around here (Bozeman) when you say Kayak I immediately think of whitewater boats... which would work on our system. But a big sea kayak would be a different story. Could probably do a pivoting rack mounted to the lower frame so they flop over to the side when you wanted to pop the tent. Definitely something for us to think about when we start designing all the mounting accessories

 

After some more info on the sides and rear covers I may have to seriously consider this. Per my other post - I use my truck as a traveling doghouse and it rains too damn much up here not to have a waterproof canopy.

 

I subd, in for more pictures, maybe a video. Would love to see some interior with one with sides installed and all.

 

@wileydavis your design seems to have addressed almost everything I'd like to see in a canopy/camper for my DCSB after owning a Westfalia and a FlipPac, plus a soft RTT on the roof of the 'glass shell I have on my current Taco, as well as having checked out AluCab, Habitat, and various hard shell RTT options. But ... two questions: have you considered less obstructive bracing along the sides of the rack, so one can put in larger itemsthrough the side? I realize that there's a tradeoff in weight/strength/stability, but maybe slightly larger frame members with corner gussets, rather than the full diagonal "truss"? Second, could the rear crossbar above the tailgate be removable (pinned or bolted)? That would allow loading tall loads from the rear when the pop-top isn't installed. Otherwise I think you have a winner here!

 

@dman100 We thought about opening up the sides a bit more but the triangulation lets us save a lot of weight by going to thinner wall tube. I thought it might be an issue but that center opening is actually quite large. You can pass extra large duffels, coolers, action packers, etc, through it. We committed to prioritizing light weight and durability over other features. As for the removable rear bar, it would be easier to remove the whole camper than detach the upper from the lower.

 

How easy will it be to remove the camper when you need to move say a house full of furniture?

 

Less time than moving the house full of furniture in a Tacoma.

 

It would be the same effort as removing a fiberglass topper. Just unbolt it from the inside and lift it off with one or two of your favorite friends

 

From the looks of it you'll be able to mount an awning on the back. I would really like having the awning over the tailgate. I'm always doing something on the tailgate and did I mention that it rains all the time up here?

 

My simple math gives: $1K for rack, $1K for tent, $2-3K for a canopy. If you need an 'over the canopy' rack because you need to carry ladders or a heavy RTT - that's another $1500 bucks.

If the sides are sturdy enough to be waterproof and permanently attached I think this is a pretty good deal. I can't see spending $15K but if I add up what it costs just for canopy, rack, and tent - the price doesn't seem unreasonable.