How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Looks good but there's not much support in the middle of that (sides). You think spreading the weight front to back will be okay?
Zim

 

We'll find out! But I think it'll be fine. I'll be adding some additional support and the skin adds a bit to the rigidity of the cap and it'll be tied into the 80/20

 

Hatches function properly. I have an issue with the side hatch hinges on one side, - the hinge pivoted when I was center punching the holes, so my rivet holes had to be adjusted and as such weren’t a perfect 3/16”, and right now there’s great points of entry for water anytime it rains, and can’t have sloppy hinges. Am I an idiot for thinking of epoxy all over and clamp in place with the rivets still in might work? Since they’re such small holes, could I just tack weld the hole and grind it flat and start over? So close to finishing the tent.

 

Would anyone consider using 1.5'' square aluminum tubing? Ive found 1.5'' tubing with a 1/4'' inch wall thickness i feel would work great for this application.

 

Finally stopped being lazy and got my CAD models finished up... It's been a really productive day at work. Making a few changes compared to ripcords: flipped the side gussets so that the big opening is near the cab for easy access since I'm a longbed, made the floor panels removable for extra space sitting out bad weather, and figured out my window sizes so I can get those ordered since they're my longest lead time parts at ~6 weeks.

Gonna pick up lumber and try to get my welding fixture built up this weekend so I can start burning this thing together.

 

Anyone have any thoughts for my hinge/rivet issue? I'm out of my element...

 

I mean if you have the skill to weld over the holes and drill new ones, that would be the way to go IMO.

I cant tell from your post, but are you off by 3/16", or are your rivets currently 3/16"? You could try oversizing everything to the next rivet up if you're using fairly small rivets currently? Personally I wouldn't trust epoxy. Id want some sort of mechanical anchorage in there be it rivets or bolts

 

They're 3/16" rivets not off by that much, great question! I think I just have project fatigue...seems like you need to put a copper backing plate behind the hole to weld them shut, but I wonder...

 

Where are you ordering windows from?

 

Sure, but welding it would be the issue for the weekend warrior. Welding aluminum is not easy, and not very forgiving. I can move steel a lot better and don't have to have another $1,000 in my welder. Just my 39 cents.
Zim

 

A picture might help. If you weld the hole, it's going to be harder metal to drill. Post a picture and we'll take a stab at it. I just finished mine, and I'm not even concerned about a small amount of moisture in the tube. I'll be dead or this thing will be sold by the time it rust through.
Zim

Edit. Did you check McMaster Carr for a larger head rivet?

 

https://www.motionwindows.com/

They’re the window supplier for GFC. I asked if I could just buy GFC windows but they said everything is 100% custom order and they don’t keep stock. They’d still have to make them to order so the price would be the same to just get exactly what you want custom made opposed to getting the GFC design. I’m also lucky that they’re local to me.

I’m going to do a solid rear window with a slider against the cab to give the pup some ventilation.

 

So what are you looking at? $200
Zim

 

I played with their online quick quotes and it was about $300-350 depending on options and slider vs fixed. I’m submitting a detailed quote request this afternoon to get some exact prices. I’ll report back once I get them.

Everything off the shelf I found was in about the same price range but honestly I had a hard time finding much of anything the right size.

Edit:those prices are for 40”x18” windows, I was punching in ballpark estimates at the time. Went back a few pages and looked at your build pics, your smaller windows might be alittle cheaper.

They have an online estimate form that emails you a price range based on your specs:
https://www.motionwindows.com/quote/

 

Most definitely agree. I don't know how to weld aluminum. Was just thinking about it while reading over this post.

 

Starting to cut out all my sides and get the fitted and drilled before paint. I’m using .080 aluminum as it was cheaper than any alupanel I could find locally.

 

This write up is one of the best and more comprehensive ones I’ve seen.

The spruce with the bronze wheels holey moley she’s a beaut, Clark. I’m in love with your setup and it’s 100x cooler knowing you built and designed a good bit of it.

Amazing!

 

This thread is the reason I just picked up a Taco! I've been considering building out a camper van for a long time, but after realizing that all the ones on the market are terrible in terms of reliability, I pulled the trigger on the most reliable vehicle I know. I work as an engineer and have access to many of the same tools as Ripcord, so this should be a snap! Just put together a full scale mock up out of some cheap wood to get a feel for it. I'm think I'll put together a new thread to chronicle the build over the next couple weeks.

I'm going to put together what I'm calling the MVC, short for minimum viable camper! I have three goals. Maintain highway fuel economy (20+) and keep it as simple as possible. I figure I'll have plenty of time to figure out what fancy details I want once I'm in the dirt.

Cheers!

 

Do others have all-in/as-built total costs? I'm curious the range of folks' builds vs estimates from Ripcord's sheet...

 

Im pretty much have all my materials and I’m at about $3300 or so and that’s including everything like sanding discs for my grinder and a router bit to cut the aluminum. The biggest difference was shipping costs on all the stuff ordered online.