How to: DIY Wedge Camper

@YamaDirtrider

 

This is awesome! I think I’ll have to do this!

 

Yea helps out a ton!
girlfriend wanted the gap closed because she was worried about bugs lol.

if you did a large bracket on bottom then you’re going to have to remove 0.060” off the back side where the keder rail sits. You can see it in my photo. If you didn’t use a large 4.5” bracket you should be fine.

 

I haven’t ordered the 80/20 yet but 4.5” it’s the plan. I’ve been trying to find a place that would have the 4.5” in stock but that doesn’t seem to be a typical size to have in stock. Called a few places and they all are FOB which is a gamble in freight costs. I might just pick up the 1.5” locally and pay the shipping from 80/20 for the rest...

 

Genius!

 

Updates:
The Sewing is Finished. There are little strips of velcro in the bottom sections of the windows that act as ties to keep the rolled down windows in place, in lieu of the toggles that @Ripcord suggested. Will post some details shots of sewing later. There are also some 12" strips of velcro on the inside along the bottom edge that allow pockets to be added. The Weather seal is in, tested with a spray bottle and there are some small weeps around the top where the hinge is. But nothing awful, certainly better than when I had regular hinges in awhile back. I went with putting the weather seal on the frame rather than on the panels, because this is how the Trim-Lok diagrams have it in their videos. Time will tell, but I used almost exactly 1- 50' roll of the 9/16ths Seal. So if I have to re-do it I know to just order that quantity. I also replaced the rear latches with adjustable ones, the first ones weren't catching properly.

POFENZE Hood Latch Adjustable Hood Catch Lock for Jeep Wrangler JK JKU 2007-2018 & 2018-2021 Jeep Wrangler JL JLU Textured Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LSBXRXK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8

 

Looks awesome!!!

 

Fantastic work!

 

Stoked to have the first door fitting nicely. Might have to bump up to 3/4” bulb seals. These Big D seals ( https://amzn.to/3vbz839) seem like they aren’t gonna cut it at the top of the frame where it transitions to the upright angled square tube.

 

Hello, I also have a first gen tundra and have been looking at this as my next project for it, were you able to use the dimensions for a long bed tacoma or did you have to make it slightly larger to fit the tundra bed?

 

Fellow first gen amigo!

It works great— I just had to make it wider to accommodate the slightly wider inside to inside bed rails of the tundra. The length is spot on what you need, and the cab angle works well.

I had to completely re-draw the frame since I am putting the superlite by GFC on top as my tent. The tent is 50x90 vs the 53” wide outside to outside to frame dimensions of ripcords design, thus changing all the angles to match a different tent width.

Look forward to another first gen build!

 

Hello all! First time post here on tacoma world. I have been working on my camper for about 2 months now and just bolted the aluminium to the frame yesterday.

My design differs from ripcord just a little. With wedges for tents you need to sleep with your feet towards the front of the truck. To get out of bed you would have to turn around all the while kicking your significant other in this process... my wife would not want to go camping with me for long. So I'm going with a pop top like a 4wheel camper or the OVRLND campers. Our heads will be towards the front of the truck and one could just slide out of bed and stand up in the camper. The underside of the sleeping platform that sticks over the cab has 2 under supports in the form of aluminium U channel. My wife can lay on this panel and it doesn't bow at all. SWEEET! One added benefit of going with this design is sewing the fabric will be a breeze!



The lifting mec needs some tweaks as its not the most stable thing in the world. I have a few ideas that should improve it. Playing with that today and testing gas struts as well. Testing it all on plywood then I'll make them out of square aluminium tubing.



Design also differs in that i wanted every square inch I could squeeze out of the inside of the camper. So my internal frame width is 57". Frame walls are at like a 3 degree angle. Why do I want all the internal room? With a long bed truck I should be able to fit a good amount of people on the inside if the weather is crap. To help with this my sleeping plateform is foldable and completely removable. The plan is to also have the wood portion of the sleeping platform fold into a couch. That way we could sit down inside as well.




Just need to finish the lifting mec and it will be ready for the truck. Side panels are complete as well.

 

Im a CNC machinist and machined my own corner pieces for the camper. They came out extremely well. So well that every one I have shown them to has asked if they are for sale. As of this moment no, but that could change.




The pieces for the roof are also custom. They are the same dimension as the extrusion. No need to fill a gap with gasket material. The anodizing also matches well and should last for years in the sun.


If there is enough interest in these pieces I would put a run together. I can start with a list of interested people while I work out the details of mass producing these. Feel free to message or respond to this post for interest.

 

I was going to ask what you had going on there. Saw the weather seal run all the way around the corner lol


I'd be interested in the corner pieces. Could probably just swap for what I have now.

 

The weather stripping is easy to run all the way around the camper. Just remove the part that sticks into the extrusion and have it go from one extrusion to the next. I can get a photo for you today.

Thanks for the interest!!!

 

does anyone know where to get the pieces that you can insert the "standard RTT poles" into in order to prop up the back flap

 

I’d buy a set in regular clear anodized aluminum

 

Curious, how high did you go for your pop top? I’m doing the same. Also have some ideas for the lifting mechanism if you wanna bounce some ideas around.

 

@bot102 here is the photo of what to do with the weather stripping to make it go all the way around. Just the section out where the corner pieces are.

 

Noted! thanks for the interest.

Will have to see how many people want them in clear anodize. It may turn into the Henry Ford model. "You can have it in any color you want, as long as that color is black."