How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Seriously, BADASS build man!!! good work. very detailed! i am pondering on making one!!!!!

 

boom!


Anyone have a good seal recommendation? I have about a 1/2'' gap on my rear panel:

 

get the icon rxt pack. they go on sale around black friday every year and they are a true progressive spring. right now i ride around with nothing in the bed and the full leaf pack and its still super smooth and handles weight very well. they flex better than dakars and i think they make less noise. if you dont need the lift from it, you could run option two of the pack with the camper on and it would hold the weight very well and ride very smooth. just my 2 cents on that one

 

All of these black sides and black extrusion. I'm going with white sides and silver extrusion. I hope it doesnt look too lame

 

Get some .060 sheet aluminum bent into a bit of angle like 2x2 cut it into a nice arc that matches the tailgate and rivet it on.

 

well i am gonna try and Amazon find for a mattress, wish me luck.... lol. I got this one for 130 on a lightning deal with a 3 year warranty so we'll see. save some money on exped if it works, use it for now if it doesnt. first impressions are that its very comfy.

Amazon.com : QOMOTOP Ultra Comfortable Side Sleep Friendly Double Self-Inflating Camping Mattress, 80”×52” Sleeping Pad, 4 Inches Thick PU Foam, Portable Roll-Up Floor Guest Bed, TPU Material : Sports & Outdoors

 

Looks SO good. Nice work! I’m definitely gonna change my extrusion corner connectors to black after seeing this.

Did that 3M tape work out ok in place of rivets for the panel stiffeners?

 

Congrats on finishing! Enjoy it!

Very interesting, keep us posted. Quite a cost savings

 

Nice find! I got one of these from Backcountry around Black Friday for $125. Specs seem similar to the ExPed. Shamefully I haven't been out since then so I haven't fully tested it, but it passes the living room test.

 

VHB tape has worked out great so far. The bond is super strong and even held up to me accidentally putting 80lb struts on the doors instead of 20lb, ha!

 

Got the uprights cut and dialed in. I’ll melt them together tomorrow. I don’t have the weld nuts on hand yet so I’ll cut the middle supports and wait until the weld nuts are in.

I’m not doing opening sides for now to save $$$. Just the back will open, not sure I honestly have a need for the sides to open. I usually just crawl in the bed to get what I need

 

I'd totally advise against not skipping the side doors. The utility is awesome. Being able to get at totes and such if you happen to be cooking on the tailgate is so valuable.

 

That’s how I feel about this one. The self inflate probably isn’t as good but for saving 200 bucks I’ll pump it up lol

 

I don’t know about these other brands, but I have the Exped and it’s pretty great. It’s more comfortable than my actual bed.

 

I just don’t want to swing $200 in latches and what not. I don’t cook on my tailgate, I have a little cooking station table for that.

 

Amazon latches are like $40 and I have yet to have any water issues with them.

But hey, at the end of the day it's your build. I'd just say it's worth it to do it. But that's me and I absolutely hated shuffling totes, chairs and other crap around the bed to get what I wanted when I had my old snugtop canopy. Now everything can stay where it is and I can access all my stuff without needing to move anything out of the way or play Tetris while on a multi-day trip.

 

Which latches did you go with @Jarman02

 

I went with these.
2PCS Compression Latch OEM Replacement Southco C2-43-25 Flush Lever Marine Applicable Door Thickness:1~5mm

$17 STHang-D 2PCS Compression Latch OEM Replacement Flush Lever Latch Lock for Marine Car Door Hand Lock Adjustable Lever Latches Thickness:1~5mm

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZNHFFZ6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_q9FOfxHG3Eh12
They might let some dust in, but I have yet to see water come in under normal circumstances, and we have gotten tons of rain and snow since I finished mine

 

I’m in FL where we receive daily monsoons so I’d have to get the real southco latches

 

Ok, i'm at the beginning stage of tweaking this design to put on my Gladiator. GFC has announced their v2 version with removable panels (and lots of other things) so I'm curious if anyone has started or completed a version of the DIY Camper with their improvements (whether you knew they were doing them or not.)

Things i want to include;

• removable side/rear panels
  • use embassy hinges like the gfc2 if possible
• possibly smaller bracing/gussets
• openable window for passthrough to cab
• orange honeycomb ripstop tent... what thickness to help ensure it's a 3 season or more tent?
• scissor hinge to lift the front higher (allowing better headfirst sleeping)

This is such a great project, awesome to see so many successfully completed campers!