4banger Custom Wedge Build

Some more updates from this week. It’s been raining like crazy here in Sacramento area, so I’ve been able to identify some issues with the camper. First of 80/20 joints don’t keep water out lol. Meaning all the joints will be taken back apart and wet sealed. Also, the 80/20 gasket is nice to keep dust out, it doesn’t really work well as a water gasket, meaning. You guessed right! More RTV. Overall the camper didn’t leak terribly, but it did on all 4 corners.



Slam latches, not a fan, plastic that has already snapped after a little abuse. I decided to order these lever latches. They work fantastic! But aren’t black. So that will be Powdercoater more than likely.

Replacement:


These are not the lockable versions, I will be ordering the keyed ones. They are also metal, which is an added benefit.

Last but not least, don’t trust your local ace hardware sales person, not all treated steel is alike. ALL the hardware rusted within a day of it raining. Meaning, the camper is coming back off, getting completely taken back apart, and all stainless hardware is going on. I am debating the option of keep the stainless hardware look, or potentially getting it Powdercoated. What do y’all think? Know a good powder coating company?


I also ordered a new Dakar Heavy Leaf pack, because, well. AAL can’t hold the weight of the camper and stay level. So for those of you
Thinking of building one of these. Be ready to drop coin on a leaf pack. Thankfully BattleBorn Off Road, hooked it up with some good pricing.

 

If you're pulling the panels off to replace hardware, have you considered adding a few more bolts too each hinge? It looks like it would help tame the wave in the hinge.

 

Yes! I will actually be adding ALOT more lol. The wave is terrible, but I didn’t want to add any more shitty hardware so I just let it as is for now.

 

Curious to see how you do your drains. My corners are a bit different than yours (no mitered joint) so I may or may not copy what you do there.

 

I am going to try and find a way for no water to be able to get into the 80/20 at the top, I don't know if that's just going to require a ton of wet seat hardware install (on the joints) or sealing up the top seal better. We will see, it coming off the truck this weekend.

 

This week, once again, I learned a huge lesson with this camper build. A lesson in thermal expansion and better research.

When I started planning the build, I debated various options for the side paneling of the camper. I pretty much ruled out Aluminum immediately due to the price point. Online quotes for a sheets of 6'x8' was running nearly $1000.00 per sheet (I think this was part of my mistake, as I received quotes for like 1/4"-3/8" material). I knew that if I was going to spend that much I might as well just order a GFC or a Vagabond camper and save myself the trouble. Looking for other options to use, I came across TAP plastics which after quite a bit of research and conversation convinced me that Starboard would be a good option. I obviously understood that plastic expands and contracts with heat, but I never took the time to research how much it would expand and contract. The main reason being is that, starboard is used for various construction on boats. Cant expand that much right? I mean its installed on a hot boat that sits in the sun all day. Wrong. According to the interwebs, HDPE has a Temperature expansion coefficient of about .00006.

Meaning my install temp was around 55*F, the highest expected air temp it would see would be around 110*F. 110*F- 55*F / 55*F x 96" (length of material) x .00006 = .3168" of expansion. Now this may not seem like a lot, but 1/3" of a inch will create a lot of distortion on the hard mounted panel like the roof. (See image below, this was about 20*F temp change)

This being said, I started to re-evaluate my options. Called a local metal supplier to see what their pricing on 1/8" (What vagabond uses for their sides) 6'x8' was, and to my surprise they were only $50.00 more than what I paid for the HDPE sheets. Of course at this point, I was pretty frustrated with myself. As I could have just made it out of aluminum and called it a day.

So, aluminum. Of course, I am going to see what the thermal expansion of aluminum is going to be before I drop another $900.00.

Any engineers following this, PLEASE CHIME IN. This is what I found online. 0.0000123 for coefficient. Therefore 110*F. 110*F- 55*F / 55*F x 96" (length of material) x 0.0000123 = .0649"

So this is where I am at with this. More than likely will swap out to aluminum, and redo all the paneling. Any recommendations are openly accepted.

 

Idea re: water path. Could interrupt the water seep/flow from the top panel to the joint with the 80/20 by
- extend the size of the flat top panel so it overhangs past the lip of the 80/20 material, much like a roof overhang.
- on the underside of the flat panel, within the overhang space, cut a shallow groove into the thickness of the flat panel material. This will interrupt the water flow from following the material and drip off at the groove - creating a drip rail.
- option rather than a groove, cut the edge of the overhang, instead of square at a 90 degrees, bevel it back sharply at say 45 or even 30 degree.

example from moulding above/below a residential window.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz0zBx8EIeA

 

Re thermal expansion. The clearance hole for the screw through the flat panel could be elongated to allow for expansion, essentially allowing the panel to 'slide' between the hold down screw and the 80/20. Ensure a flat washer is used between the screw head and the flat panel, and limit the screw fastened torque to be sufficient to hold panel down, but not limit potential lateral movement. Any sealant should be a type that retains elasticity.

 

Any updates?!

 

Nice progress. Did you order the 80/20 online or pick it up somewhere local to you?

 

Good luck on your build. I'm in the same spot you are, but I only built a pop top camper shell for added height. Was slated to be enclosed shortly after the maiden voyage shown below. That was Feb last year.

Could not figure out a good way to secure the tent material without restructuring the roof edges. I bought the extra aluminum to raise the roof another inch and increase the rigid structure on top but gave up as I would likely destroy the sheet aluminum trying to remove it for the welding. Also, the weather stripping has some gnarly VHB tape on it and will take more time to remove than i'd like.

 

Matt! Yes! Sorry I haven’t really posted to much. Mainly because I’ve been redoing everything I’ve already done in the HDPE in aluminum. Much easier to work with, and wish I would have just done that from the beginning. Walls are up, getting sealed tomorrow and I should have it on the truck by the end of the week. Pics below

I actually ordered it from a 80/20 vendor. I sent him my design via sketch up and he “made” it into a 80/20 friendly design. Added all the fasteners and it took about 7 weeks for it to be delivered to the house. Then you treat it like legos, with no instructions

Dude that things look intricate! Keep at it! It’s taken me almost a year to make this thing.

 

DaNg!!!

Looks so good man

 

Thanks dude!

 

How much extra stiffeners did you have to add to your aluminium side panels? I may swap mine to aluminium as well.

 

I basically did the entire length and height of the panels using 1” L Channel. Made a big difference! Basically the same thing GFC does man.

 

Today’s progress. Ran out of hardware. But half the struts are in.

 

Looking great! Super jealous you're building yours! Someday I want to build my own camper with a few ideas I have

 

Thanks dude! Don’t be jealous! Get on that shit and build it! We are gonna have a home built camper convention in Colorado next year!

 

I already bought one, don't have the shop space right now to build! Colorado convention would be a good time to visit my brother, though...