How to: DIY Wedge Camper

I’m attempting to use the 3M ultra high strength mounting tape for the stiffeners. If it doesn’t work I’ll add rivets

 

I was thinking of doing this but just putting minimal rivets or bolts

 

I used

$33 3M 5952 Double-Sided Acrylic Foam Tape - Heavy Duty, Industrial Mounting Tape - 3/4" width x 15 yards length, 45 mil thick - Black

3M 5952 VHB and it worked flawlessly. It’s meant to bond to powder coated surfaces. I originally used 4910 and it failed pretty quickly.

Also, for anyone else - I initially used 1/16” x 1” aluminum angle and it was really not stiff enough. Upped to 1/8” x 1” and it was significantly stiffer. No sag at all on my rear panel, and only a very small sag in the side panels on a long bed. I would say avoid 1/16” angle altogether.

 

For anyone looking to add a ladder to the outside of the tent extrusion, here's how the Bush Company attaches their ladders. It is a telescoping ladder that you can get on Amazon for under $100.

I plan to draw up a bracket in CAD.

 

@YamaDirtrider

 

It’s on! And then I drove it in a typical FL monsoon 30 minutes later. The corners in the extrusion really need to be sealed so I intend to redo the extrusion seals to bend around those corners.
Doors will go back on tomorrow and then off again eventually when I do the stiffeners.

I really want to put a window in it now and I highly recommend it to anyone else doing this

unless I get one of those mirror cameras with constant rear view.

 

Highly recommend the windows as well. @NotTaco 's way of doing it works fantastically. 3 days of rain on them and no leaks.

I filled the corners of the extrusion with some caulking. I think that solved 95% of my water issues in the wedge. It was crazy how much water was seeping in through there.

Also need to rerun to bulb seal in the extrusion to round the corners. For now I just cut a piece of normal weather seal, with 45* angles on the corners to line up with the slotted bulb seal. Seems to be working quite well.

 

What did you use for the window stuff? I’m looking at that or this instead

VanTop H610 10" 2.5K Mirror Dash Cam for Cars with Full Touch Screen, Waterproof Backup Camera Rear View Mirror Camera, Enhanced Night Vision with Sony Starvis Sensor, Parking Assistance https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07XZ1D226/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_6KJSD8X9HSW5722X4GQ2

 

NIce looks good. I sealed my extrusions to the cab today and the corner brackets.

for the long piano hinges I am doing the same. Are you planning to do any sealing for them? Like one member used the extra tent material and looped it over.

I am debating going that way or just tying as is.

 

Im going to look and see what McMaster has for thin gasket foam. I feel like there’s some space in the hinge when closed that a gasket can fit in it. If not I’ll drill out the rivets and do the canvas gasket thing. I’m just not sure how long that will last out in the sun

 

Polycarbonate. Got a 4'x8ft sheet for $100. Had enough for atleast 3 sets of windows lol

 

I’ve got a Vantop digital mirror / dash cam coming. If I don’t like it I’ll try making windows.
I wanted to avoid windows so people can’t look in and see what’s in my bed.
But totally something needs to be done for rear visibility in these toppers

 

I was going to have some small curtains made to put up there.

 

This is what I did. I recommend putting 1 rivet next to each strut though for peace of mind. Otherwise, it's held up great.

P.S.: Give the tape a full 24-48 hours to 'cure' before mounting up and putting any type of force on them. It makes all the difference.

 

I skipped windows and will be going with the digital rear view mirror eventually. Added benefit of better field of view vs windows + dashcam and full time recording for idiots on the road.

 

I’ll install stiffeners in a few weeks so I can pop open the sides. The gaskets on the doors don’t seem like they are going to work very well. Might need a taller gasket.


Also installing my digital mirror this weekend. I might drill and tap it into the lower extrusion and route the wire in one of the extrusion channels somehow

 

just put a second strip of gasket on the frame so that the two are overlaying with each other kind of like scissors.

i thought the same when I closed the panels the first time, but I think with the two overlapping it works good enough to keep the water out

 

Got a sample of some gear hinge, this one won't work unfortunately because of how the enclosure rolls backwards.

 

I installed my VanTop dash cam mirror thing with rear view camera and it’s alright. I can’t use my sun visor since the camera extends to clear the oem mirror. I saw they have a mount to replace the oem mirror. Or if they don’t have one I’ll machine up a piece of delrin to affix the mirror to and mount it to the oem arm.


It’s sort of weird using a camera as a rear view mirror since it’s a wide angle lens. If I could do it over I’d install windows but this works.

I did have to flip the rear camera bracket so I could mount it how I wanted on the rear door. I do need to get like a 12” extension to the camera wire. It’s a little tight and I can clean it up better with 12” of slack.
The 10” mirror works but the 12” would probably be better if you mount it over the existing mirror.

I ran it from the mirror, down the side of the dash. Poked it through the wiring grommet under the drivers seat, ran it through the frame rail, and up through a hole I made bigger in the bed. I’ll get a grommet to make it look finished at some point and wire loom to protect it all.

 

Which camera you end up getting? Do you have photos?