How to: DIY Wedge Camper

davzx · Nov 22, 2021

Posted a new thread for the awning

Here

Niftynate · Nov 22, 2021

Daburglar said: ↑

What size bed do you have?
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It's a short bed, but I've already had someone come take it off my hands.

Taco Camper · Nov 24, 2021

Stay motivated builders!

One of our favorite spots in Sedona AZ the other day after a very windy night coated the truck in red dust.

jjnicolas · Nov 24, 2021

@Taco Camper yes! Stay the course! The reward outweighs the challenge!

davzx · Nov 24, 2021

Haha, you guys are really rubbing it in! I finished mine last month, but it's all cold now in CO. I'm not one for winter camping, so I just have to dream for the next 6 months. At least it looks sick asf on my truck.

xjnm · Nov 24, 2021

Just wanted to share my camper on here and say thanks for all the helpful tips! It's not exactly like yours but I used a lot of your advice.

I made a full build thread here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/complete-pop-up-camper-roll-bar-build.745633/

nanserb · Nov 24, 2021

These are all looking awesome!

nanserb · Nov 24, 2021

Some photos from last two trips, and the finalized bed cabinets I made from more extrusion material.

The juice is definitely worth the squeeze on these builds!

nanserb · Nov 24, 2021

Made some simple and effective mounts for putting recovery boards (ARB Tred Pro) on the roof rack cross bars.

Mine are aluminum but steel would work just as well. Round tubing would also have worked. Top hole is for a small padlock.

Pins are simple 1/4" ball pins from HD/bLowes.

Red150 · Nov 27, 2021

Thinking about taking this one but one of my friends was wondering why nobody has tried to use fiberglass for the panels around the side? Any reason?

Sub_Par · Nov 27, 2021

Red150 said: ↑

Thinking about taking this one but one of my friends was wondering why nobody has tried to use fiberglass for the panels around the side? Any reason?
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Do you have experience working with fiberglass?

Red150 · Nov 27, 2021

Sub_Par said: ↑

Do you have experience working with fiberglass?
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I do not but my friend who asked does and would show/help me. He makes panels/hatches and repairs his old house boat all the time with fiber glass. He seemed to believe it could be just as strong, possibly lighter, and have the advantage of being easily repairable should something happen to the panel. Granted I’m not sure what would possibly happen to the hatches other than minor treee branch scratches

Dubiousveracity · Nov 27, 2021

Anyone have a source for the extrusions in the Seattle or Wenatchee areas?

nanserb · Nov 27, 2021

Dubiousveracity said: ↑

Anyone have a source for the extrusions in the Seattle or Wenatchee areas?
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Tacoma area here, no one really stocks this stuff in the profiles needed unfortunately.

Ordering direct is still your best bet.

Sub_Par · Nov 27, 2021

Red150 said: ↑

I do not but my friend who asked does and would show/help me. He makes panels/hatches and repairs his old house boat all the time with fiber glass. He seemed to believe it could be just as strong, possibly lighter, and have the advantage of being easily repairable should something happen to the panel. Granted I’m not sure what would possibly happen to the hatches other than minor treee branch scratches
Click to expand...

I think strength is still the biggest issue, aside from the fact that working with fiberglass is not an easy diy. Putting a lot of weight on a fiberglass topper can cause cracks as they aren’t meant to hold a lot. If it was reinforced with a cage inside (aluminum or steel) then I’d see no issue with it being able to handle the load.

4x4cajun · Nov 27, 2021

Ripcord[OP] said: ↑

.

Spaceframe:

For the spaceframe, I first made this welding jig out of some 2x6 planks. The fixture was needed because there are a lot of angles to keep under control, the sides tilt in and the front/back tilt forward. The only orthogonal parts are the horizontal sections at the top and bottom.

Blueprints and router files for the Floor / Roof / Lower panels / Spaceframe / Brackets & Canvas are available on my Website. Longbed & shortbed files ready!

Making progress welding. Tube is 1.5” Square 0.065” wall steel. I decided to go with square tubing because IMO it was easier to fixture, cope, attach seals to, drill through and latch onto compared to round tube.

For the open tube ends, I made some weld-in end caps. Though a better option would be to do miter joints on the corners. If I made another I would do that.

GFC uses 1.5” Round 0.065” wall steel tube (same wall thickness).

The gas strut mount balls need to thread into 5/16” threads. This was easy on the wedge part with the slot nuts, but for the spaceframe I had to add some weld nuts. For these you just drill a locating hole then weld the nut on all sides. Do this before welding on the diagonal tubes.

The diagonal tubes are optional, but are good to have if the truck goes off road a lot. I used 1” square tubes for the diagonal pieces, same wall thickness. The spreadsheet shows all 1.5” tube though, do what you want. This was done to save weight and was possible because these tubes do not interact with any seals.

Be sure to leave a flat space in between the diagonal tubes as shown, since you will have a bolt going up through there!

I also made these fancy bed rail mount brackets, laser cut and press brake bent at my work. CAD model picture, because I forgot to take a real one. This is the 2nd gen version, the 3rd gen version has a much longer slot.

Position these carefully to not interfere with the latches on the lower panels later on.

Blueprints and router files for the Floor / Roof / Lower panels / Spaceframe / Brackets & Canvas are available on my Website. Longbed & shortbed files ready!

Welding done. Frame weight: 73 lbs.

My V1 frame used 1” square everywhere (same wall thickness) and was 54 lbs. I switched because the 1.5” tube lined up with the 1.5” wide extrusions much better and the 1” looked a bit out of proportion.

Be sure to drill ALL your holes before painting!

For through bolts, upsize the hole (⅜” for a 5/16” bolt) but for rivets the hole needs to be exact (3/16”).

Here I am using the floor panel that was cut on the CNC router to line up positions for the through bolts that will mount the wedge to the spaceframe. For tasks like this, it is handy to have the floor with holes done on the router!

After getting all my holes drilled and grinding the exterior welds flat, I painted the frame. Get a primer that is good for bare metal, and be sure to clean the metal before painting.

The groups of 3 holes are 3/16” holes for the hinge rivets and the large ones are ⅜” for the through bolts for the wedge. Again, drill before painting!

I went with black on the original camper and wanted to change things up. I tried a Rustoleum dark green in an attempt to match my truck’s Spruce Mica green paint, it didn’t. So I had some paint match spray cans mixed to my paint code (6V4) and put a coat of that over the rustoleum green.

Here is a photo from when I was applying the rustoleum green though.

Now the project starts to get exciting, this is where we combine the wedge with the space frame!

I used a cork/rubber gasket here to seal the fixed interface between the space frame and the wedge.

Easiest way to mount the wedge to the frame is to flip the wedge upside down and set the frame on top of it.

I mentioned in part 1 that the wedge would mount to the spaceframe with long bolts and the slot nuts.

*You’ll need to stack 2 of the washers for the correct bolt length as the next shortest bolt was too short. You could also substitute one of them for a lock washer if you want.

I also did some countersunk bolts through the floor in the middle section going through the space frame. This is the extra floor support I was talking about in part 1.

Click to expand...

GOD-LIKE!!

umpi5 · Nov 29, 2021

nanserb said: ↑

Finished my build recently, and wanted to share some changes and experiences.

I went with 1.5" 0.125" wall aluminum tubing. This was not only to save weight, but also to save money as currently where I live (WA) aluminum is a lot cheaper than steel. This was possible since I had an AC/DC TIG welder, but one could get a spool gun for their MIG welder with great results. A lot of places use spool guns building truck boxes and bumpers, and they come out very strong.

I also elected to go with the flip up bed like @jjnicolas and others, but I took it a step further and made a second flip up platform that can be used as a standing desk inside the tent for cooking or anything else when weather is bad. It also sections off the top area of the tent from the bed of the truck.

The piano hinge route is also a huge plus. The hinges are stainless 72" long pieces from Home Depot, and the fabric was excess strips I cut to 2" wide. This is how @Taco Camper did his, and while they ultimately will require the replacement of the fabric, it won't be for years to come. The fabric ends up getting silicone on both sides.

I ended up having access to a mill and end mill bits, so instead of stacking the smaller corner pieces I have single pieces. When you order the raw stock from 80/20, get 19" instead of the 18" as listed in @Ripcord material list. This lets you use a chop saw with a metal cutting blade to cut it super straight, and the extra inch will mostly be absorbed by the kerf of the blade taking away material when you make your cut.

I used the same 3mm paneling as most people did, getting it from @howied who is a local PNW member. It was also great to meet another guy who had completed his build and bounce an obsessive amount of questions off of. I do wish I went with 6mm for the floor, but the roof is fine with 3mm. I made a jig that holds my router along a straight piece of aluminum tubing, and clamped it to the ACM.

I did the upside down method as well, and yes it is a pain. It's even more of a pain when you strip out a few of the economy T-nuts. Next time I would order something that is spring loaded for when you bolt the extrusions to the frame. Going this route would prevent them from moving out of alignment and would ensure that the bolts don't start crooked and get stripped.

Once you get everything bolted together, it gets really exciting as the project finally takes shape and your hours of hard work seem like they are coming to an end.

For the doors, I didn't do much differently outside of one big mistake. Since I don't have a Tacoma (gasp) I didn't purchase all the files and therefore didn't realize that the bottom alumimum piece is where the seal for the top of the tailgate goes. I ended up buying a roll of rubber trim seal with top bulb on it to seal off the tailgate.

I mentioned a few weeks prior that I also 3D printed a cap and plug for the different corner pieces. The 1.5" corner pieces are 1.313" tall, so there is a gap that will appear between the roof and floors, and other places if you stack the corner pieces. I'm happy to say these have worked extremely well.

When you seal the corners, use more silicone than you think you'll need. I went nuts. The extrusions just need a thin line that is continous to make sure it's water tight. I had 2 of the tnutz economy nuts strip out here, luckily they were both at the ends. This is another good place to use the spring loaded nuts for a little more cost.

The sewing definitely is daunting at first, but after a few lines there's no sweat. There isn't a wrong way to do this, and there are already great posts that helped my by @NotTaco and others. I went with the PVC backed Ottertex from farbricwholesaledirect. The thread is the same as what is listed in the material list, just in orange. I would also get a roll of black to sew the zippers and and velcro if you chose to do so. A machine with a walking foot is a big advantage, especially when the rubberized zippers stacked on each other and multiple layers of fabric come into play. I used a 80/20 sized quilting needle. You'll end up cleaning adhesive off regularly if you use basting tape. The DIY binding that @NotTaco uses is also a must, and really cleans up the appearance.

Practice, practice, and practice with the scraps you have leftover from cutting the material. Watch youtube videos on sewing, as well as the sailrite videos for zipper layouts. I haven't used a sewing machine prior to this project, and after learning that you simply line the edge of the fabric up with a landmark on the foot your lines will come out very straight. Any exposed edge of the fabric needs to be hemmed (rolled over), so basting tape helps tremendously. I used 2 rolls. Go backwards over your sewing at the beginning and end of your lines to ensure they don't pull out later on.

I also elected to use triangle shape zippers, with 4 pieces of zipper material for each window. If you go this route, purchase zipper stops to ensure your zippers don't come all the way off the end when you zip the windows and zippers shut. The triangle pieces are there to cover the little gaps where the zipper ends meet.

The ACM paneling used on these builds is extremely condensation prone, and with the already large cost of all the materials I was hesistant to buy the mat discussed here off Amazon for another $100. Instead, @howied suggested bug mesh, and I can tell you it absolutely works. Get the thickest stuff available at home depot/lowes. It was ~$20 for a 4x8' roll. It's also WAY lighter and flexible for the lifting platform.

Another pro-tip is to get elastic nets off of amazon. https://amzn.to/3DSdK7h These are held onto the lifting platform, or your frame, by little eyelets that are riveted on. The nets are then clipped onto the eyelets. These little nets are great for blankets, sleeping bags, coats, pillows, etc. Pelican case lid organizers also fit nicely on the smaller lifting floor, but there are smaller nets that would work there instead.

This brings me to wiring. I love lights while I'm camping, and running the wires on the outside for scene lights was an area not covered. I saw in the walkaround video that Jim drilled through his extrusion and ran the wires on the inside. I wasn't willing to do this, so I purchased the plastic filler strips from 80/20 and ran the wires underneath that. It hides all the wires very nicely. Just make sure you solder and use adhesive lined heat shrink to really seal off the connections from any water that may stay behind the plastic filler strips.

I wanted levels that were a little more subtle too. I bought bubble levels and holders from McMaster (2148A69 and 2148A77). After a bit of filing, they fit nice and tight into the extrusions. You could skip the holders and just a bit of silicone instead to keep them from bouncing out.

Lighting on the inside is also a must. I bought a set of four LED light strips with individual switches off amazon. They are from Mictuning and were $10 for the set. They put out just the right amount of light. One will be installed up top on the inside of the roof for lighting in the sleeping area. https://amzn.to/30E1V6u

Solar was also up on my list, and after a quick bracket design and three 53" pieces of 1.5" extrusion, a rack was made. I drilled the ends of the panels and used 1/2" bolts and t-nuts to attach the panels to the extrusions. This keeps the panels somewhat protected by the extrusions.

Thanks to everyone who has posted their experiences and suggestions. I've taken as many as I could into account.

Now, I'm onto building a DIY cabinet/drawer system for the back.

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where in the PNW are yea located?

nanserb · Nov 30, 2021

umpi5 said: ↑

where in the PNW are yea located?
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North of Tacoma, WA!

Red150 · Nov 30, 2021

Could someone provide me a link for the slot nuts they’ve been using recently? The ones in ripcords list are sold out and I can’t seem to find decently priced alternatives

umpi5 · Nov 30, 2021

nanserb said: ↑

North of Tacoma, WA!
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Im just a little bit more south here in the Portland metro area. Fixing to get started on my build for my wedge here soon. Was curious to see someone else here in PDX area

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