Hondo Garage's New Thing

Mine is also pretty out of square, mostly due to the passenger side top extrusion bowing outwards.

 

Interesting to see this. I actually picked up Wiley's demo model and realized it was out of square, as well, same passenger side. It never bothered me enough to make a stink about it, but closing it was becoming more difficult. Then I read this thread and realized that I always have my swingout in the open position when trying to close the GFC. So, I went outside, climbed up the back of the tire carrier (in the closed position) and voila. No issues closing it and the extrusions on both sides (top and bottom) mate up perfectly.

 

I need to install some bed stiffeners to try and counteract that. Closing the GFC with the swingout closed is a pain in the ass. It was definitely not designed to be climbed on top of.

 

Damn. Well, looks like I'll have another project after the new Deaver packs come in. Took your advice and will be swapping out the OME "heavy duty" springs for them. Between the drawers, rear swing out, gvc, etc. They've really started mimicking what I can only describe as a mustache look.

 

What Deavers are you going with?

 

I'll be going with the Deaver U402-EX3 (Expedition 3) pack for 700+ pounds constant weight. Here's the link to the springs at @HeadStrong Off-Road. I plan on giving them a call before ordering.

 

Nice man. I’m planning on doing the stage I/II. Are you doing anything else to support the lift...i.e. brake line extension or shim to change the pinion angle?

 

I think it is worth noting that extrusion manufacture has tolerances for warpage in all directions. Squeezing hot metal through a die (just like a PlayDoh press) is going to cause this. Using extrusions 96in long, a fraction of a degree in warp is going to be seen somewhere.

 

Fair point - I think most end-users would be fine with some barely noticeable warp so long as it didn't make closing up a pain in the ass. I would guess there is a reason for it - but I am not sure why the design incorporates such a tight tolerance fit on the latching pins, if the roof frame is designed to have some float.

My camper is also more difficult to latch on the passenger side than the drivers side - even with panels removed. It's not a bunched material or trapped air thing. I have just gotten in the habit of starting on that side, and then the driver side is easy.

 

There is a learned process to most anything. It sounds like you have it figured out for the most part. Give it another season and I bet everything jigs into place along with your technique.

I have the same fun when packing my bike for motocamping. Experimenting until I had things just right. Once, I tried putting my sleeping bag in the side case and the heavier stuff from the side case in the top case. With all the cases being aft of the rear axle, it was a noticeable difference. That was a no-go-fast day.

That said, I cannot load the dishwasher to save my life. Well, I can, but not to the satisfaction of the other folks involved. Hahaha!

 

Only closing one way is not design feature, IMO.

Practice should make things faster, not spent trying to align the puzzle pieces that allow basic operation.

You’re comparing it to stuffing small side storage on a motorcycle. That’s a different concept (best utilizing small space).

 

Mine has been the same since day one. Also have to pull it towards the passenger side, though it's only off by about a 1/16" of an inch.

Luckily mine is so close that if I squeeze the two passenger side pieces towards each other while closing everything will come together without issue. But if I don't do that, it will hang on the lip that overlaps the two extrusions and won't shut properly.

If it's any consolation, it's become easier and easier to do this as the camper has worn in to the point it takes almost no effort to "squeeze" the ends together on the passenger side. When it was brand new though, it was horrible.

Also, I always have to close the passenger side first or my camper will not close.

 

Yessir, I have the extended braided lines (admittedly, I've had these for well over a year now and have just been lazy) as well as shims for the pinion. I need to measure and determine the best shim degree, but off the top of my head, I believe 2 degrees is best.

 

It will interesting to see if the closing problem is isolated to Tacoma's or if it occurs with other trucks. Maybe trucks with stiffer beds won't suffer this issue.

 

Yea - you nailed it - my passenger side extrusion track bows toward the driver's side. Unlike some of the others, I have to close the Drivers side first, then while pulling down on the passenger side, I need to apply pressure to the passenger side to get the top extrusion track to come over and align with the bottom track. As I mentioned with the "bunk" set up for the cushions - not a problem, but for me impossible to do with all cushions in place. I think if Wiley goes with the 2" cushions he has mentioned, that would help, and also mine is only 1 month old, so thinking it will get better over time as tent fabric gets loosened up, etc.

 

My theory is that the trucks bed rails that the camper sits on aren't flat. I know all of are beds vary a lot from the factory. This would cause the camper to be slightly torqued when mounted to the bed, causing the issue we all are seeing. Learning about how a tire swing-out will also exacerbate this problem, leads me to confirm this theory. When the tire swing-out it out, the frame rails torque slightly which causes the bed to torque more, making the camper even harder to close.

A way to test it would be to take off your camper, and see if this misalignment disappears while off your truck. Then reinstall and confirm it exists again.

I'm hoping when I get my swing-out, it will counter my crooked bed, helping me close my camper. One could only wish...

 

Measuring the width (front vs back) looks like it is off only 1/16" - starting to look like mine is worse than most

 

No, pretty even front to back. I don't think the idea about the truck rails not being flat causes it (though I could easily be wrong) - taking the camper off and setting it down on level would be instructive, but a pretty big hassle - as the other poster a ways back mentioned, "it is worth noting that extrusion manufacture has tolerances for warpage in all directions" and that is my hunch as to what is going on here, though I can see if you have a rear tire swing out (I don't), or are parked on an off camber slope, this could definitely change things.

 

I suspect that the factory cuts the extrusions in bulk, so it's unlikely that the lengths would be different.

 

One thing I have noticed that makes a huge difference in components with tendencies to warp is the torque sequence in assembling. For these to have a gap like that would be unacceptable in my eyes. One thing you can try is to unbolt the piano hinge and loosen things up a bit and see if there is some play you can gain and re-torque it back into place. I'm not sure what the sequence is nor the specs, but would be worth looking into. To me this looks like one side was torqued all the way down before the other was even hand tightened. The only other thing besides assembly sequence would be the components being actually out of square causing the extrusions to sit at angles other than 90.