Hondo Garage's New Thing

did you really only pay 7500$ for your truck?

 

Only a grand off for what i paid for frank haha

think your doin your math backwards there buddy..

 

I was only off by one decimal point.

 

$7,250. That was with 200k miles mind you. Sitting at 275k now.

Already have more than that in aftermarket stuff, so what harm's some more?

 

I'm not super familiar with the dzus tabs but will this allow anyone to enter the camper with a simple flathead screwdriver or will there be a way to lock all the panels?

 

Hinged versions will have an exterior lock. Non-hinged but removable panels will have lock tabs on the inside so you can't remove the panel even if you take the dzus fasteners out.

 

I could have a built 2nd gen for all the money ive dumped into frank in just aftermarket parts haha

hmm..curious.

So..assuming that if you locked it then, you'd have to crawl over your gear to get to the back lock to unlock it?

 

Yep. But the non-hinged versions are removable but not meant to be opened every time you want to load/unload. More for if you want to run without panels or if you're at camp and want to open up the camper. or just leave the lock tabs unlocked. Honestly anyone with a flathead screwdriver could get a regular topper open faster than they could take out six dzus fasteners.

 

Ah this is true!

 

I really like how you already have an answer/solution to all these good technical questions. Really shows how much thought you guys put into the research and design of this thing.

 

I'm liking all the answers to my previous questions as well as all the new comments. Thanks @wileydavis and @gmacmt . So now I have one more ... will the pads from the bed area be totally removable? I would like the option to use a ground tent if there's no level parking, walk-in sites only, etc. Today we bring a folding pad that fits in both truck and tent. We could always bring thermarests or air mattresses, but in the "light and fast" spirit I'd like to avoid hauling redundant bedding. And our tent takes up much less space than our favorite comfy pad, so I don't mind always packing it. Thanks.

 

Yep, the pads are removable. And they're upholstered in an indoor/outdoor fabric so they can be cleaned easily.

 

Got a little sheet metal work done today.

 

Looking awesome!

 

It’s nearly identical tent dimensions to a $3200 James Baroud hard shell RTT. An ARE DCU aluminum topper runs about $1800. Combining the two into a single usable unit at the same price isn’t too bad.

 

DITTO!!!

I plan to run it many days with no panels at all, and many dirty, dusty, rainy, salty, snowy situations may arise. Will I be able to hose out my truck bed and splash/spray/wash the bottom of the GFC bed platform without soaking out the mattress cushions or tent material hidden above and inside when closed? With the trap door panels closed of course...?

 

That rolled bead design look real good. I’m guessing that is a long bed? I wonder how that design will look transferred over to a short bed. Can’t wait to see more.

 

You'll have no problems with dust or rain getting into the tent when driving without sides on the lower frame. And washing the truck will be fine but I wouldn't spray the underside directly with high pressure without pulling the pads out first. We've been running our test prototype without sides in rainy, snowy, and dusty conditions and the inside of the tent stays pristine. However, we specifically avoided gasketing the tent clamshell so that it won't trap moisture. Even though the tent doesn't leak, if you close it up with the outside of the tent wet, that moisture can evaporate once the day warms up. If the clamshell is air tight that moisture will infiltrate the inside of the tent as well, making your bedding feel damp. Not good, obviously. And we can't always wait around for our tent to dry before breaking camp. So for that reason we designed the waterproofing to be more like the roof of a house with overlapping features that direct water where we want it to go but still allow for a bit of airflow. The point of all this is to say that even though the floor is sealed, you might get the mattress wet if you blast it with your pressure washer

If you take the foam out, everything else on the camper can be washed down with a hose, inside or out.

 

That is the long bed. We might omit the rear triangle bead on the short bed.

 

Any chance of a combo lock upgrade, for those of us who don't like extra keys?