How to: DIY Wedge Camper

This is so awesome I am going to start a build soon I think!

 

Has anyone tried a canvas more like what four wheel campers uses on their pop-up? Similar to a white water raft would use.

 

@Ripcord , I saw on your build thread that you had to get a custom Sherpa rack. Any clue if that wouldn't have been the case if you had a DCLB?

 

Did you build the space fame all square?

 

No it's angled in but the tent that I was mounting on the top designated how wide the top is so it's not as angled in as the original plans

 

I figure I might as well drop these here. Thanks for the inspiration @Ripcord!!

I built it with the intent of putting sides on, but after driving around with the sides open for a few months... I've decided that it meets my needs wonderfully and I enjoy the full visibility out the back. I have quite the collection of photos and videos from the build if folks are interested here...

 

Some quick details about this build.

Space frame is 1.5", 0.065" wall thickness mild steel. Painted with about 4 cans of primer and 4 of flat black rust-oleum.

Fabric is heavy weight, "shelter-rite" vinyl fabric from sailrite.com. 100% bonded seams. No sewing here. Decided to keep it simple and not do windows.

I used Moncor "M-panel" for the top and bottom sheets. It's a good bit cheaper than the other guys. I hand cut all the panels using a razer blade to score, bend, and break. Total Pain!! 100% recommend the CNC router option if you can do it.

4" thick memory foam mattress inside. It's very comfortable. Enough room inside to keep sheets and a down comforter stowed away.

Only seeing a drop of about 1mpg at 70mph. I enjoy 20+ mpg and get to use 6th gear plenty. Benefits of stock tires I suppose! We'll see how long that lasts.

 

I did go through with the construction of the closeout panels, but I'm not in love with the design. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a significant reason for not having put them on yet.

I'm having some serious issues with stiffness around the hinges and the gas struts. I'm planning on adding a few additional stiffeners to see if I can't get it to work the way I want.

Otherwise I'll go with plan B...

 

What’s your issue?
Is the panel flexing too much at that location?

 

Looks like he went with 1.5in tube for the diagonal supports on the space frame, which likely meant he couldnt put the aluminum angle iron the whole length on the bottom, top and sides. I think Ripcord and other used 1in tube for the diagonals. I did.

What I am going to do for increased stiffness across the door is look at using some 3M double-sided tape and running a diagonal piece of the aluminum angle on the door. The double-sided tape should provide plenty of stick and I wont need to drill more holes or use more rivets.

 

You might need to add support on the front of the panel since your diagonal support is in the way

 

Looking forward to seeing your progress

 

So Id like to add a rack on top for skis etc which might add up to 50-70lbs? Two questions to anyone who might know. Should I go with a larger vertical dimension of the 80/20 instead of 1.5"(like 3") and I assume the 100lb struts should work but don't have a good idea of the weight of the 80/20 and alupanel.

 

Bingo. The diagonals are pretty obnoxiously in the way.

I see a couple options moving forward...

A. Make the panels stiffer (but low profile to clear the diagonals). Might require some thin wall rectangular tubing or something of the sort. I only have about 0.25" clearance to work with... likely not enough to give a whole lot of stiffness without numerous stiffeners. Also could lay up some carbon fiber to stiffen it up... Regardless I'm not super happy with this approach. I don't think there's any amount of reinforcement that could make these outer panels as durable, stiff, and bombproof feeling as I would like. The whole approach just feels... flimsy

2. Bail on the panels all together and go with an easily removable, soft sided approach in addition to some locking bed storage. I enjoy the excellent visibility so I'd likely only put the sides on if it was raining. I have extra vinyl from building the pop top, and could take advantage of the hinge mount points to put grommet snaps in. Also I like rare earth magnets...

 

The space frame is about 90% if you don’t count paint! Just have to make the panel for the tilting section of the floor.

 

Weighed my space frame with the lifting platform and we are at 83lbs. Not bad for a 6ft bed.

 

Anyone in the San Jose/San Francisco area have a lead on dibond/alupanel/maxmetal?

The prices I've been quoted for this stuff seems super high... all 800+.

Thanks,
Chris

 

Anybody in SoCal interested in making an extra frame for a 3rd Gen Short bed?

 

Do you have any sign shops around. That's where I got mine for about 150 each.

 

Yea I've called a few.. cheapest was 800 for all I need.
Everything else was closer to 1K.. Freaking Bay Area