DIY Aluminum Hardside Popup Camper

I was inspired to build this by the famous ripcord camper. But as I planned things out I decided I wanted it to pop straight up instead of the wedge. So I could move it further forward. Then I decided maybe I could do folding hard sides and it progressed into the final design I have now. I did this primarily for better insolation, but I also didn't want to have to sew. I also just got a job where I will have half the month off and want to just road trip for those two weeks. So this will be a more #vanlife type focused build. haha



I had already planned to build this before I got the job. But I thought I would be going back to Georgia for my time off. But it's looking like I'll need to be based on the west coast starting in November. So in order to save a little time, I opted to not build a jig and just kinda tacked everything in place on the truck after centering everything up and being very careful.

Getting the angles for the 4 supports


Main supports welded to the bottom on the bench and tacked on the truck

I'm thinking I may use these pneumatic actuators cause my Dad's company sells them and it would be cool to just pull up to camp and pull a lever. but I'll use gas struts if that proves too complicated.



Bottom frame is pretty much complete. Got to add a few supports under the bed and get all the holes drilled. I'll probably hold off on paint until I have the folding mechanism fine tuned since I will inevitably have to change something.


Next step is skinning the sides and making the fold up side doors. Got the same latches Ripcord used on his, some similar struts on Amazon and will be picking up some sandwich board. I ordered some 6.5" roll flashing to use for the upper part of the skin cause it's dirt cheap compared to buying aluminum sheets and doesn't weigh much.

I'm thinking I'll mount the actuators for the popup mechanism like these guys. But I will have a drawer system underneath and will need it to go up further. So my folding sides will just be split down the middle and the front and back will be separate panels.


Still not exactly sure how to calculate where to mount both ends of the actuators. So if anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it. More updates coming soon!

 

I want to see your progress as you go along. Please more pics when you get further.

 

Quick Update:

The two side doors are done and open very nicely. I just used cheap 17" 22lb struts from Amazon. My philosophy for buying parts for this build is that if it's easily replaceable and won't ruin my trip if it breaks, I'm going with the cheapest option with good reviews for now. Anything else I'm really doing my homework on.
I bought maxxmetal lite for the skin of the doors. I was surprised how cheap it was. The sign shop only charged me $50 for a 4x8. It's very easy to work with and I think I'm gonna use it in more areas than originally planned. The shapes I needed weren't that complicated. So no reason to use a router. I just scored it with a razor blade and broke it. Some sandpaper finishes off the edge nicely.


I made doorframes out of 1" square tube


The Struts screw in to rivnuts since the wall of the tube is probably a bit too thin to tap and screw it in.



Added some panels to the front too. Starting on the drawer system and the lifting roof now. I'm going to get all of that worked out and then take it all apart for paint. Then I'll add insulation and start finishing out the inside.

 

Great looking build! Have you made any more progress?

 

Looks great man! Can’t wait to see progress

 

sub'd

 

Had to leave for some job training in Alaska. I'm back for a bit. But I'm running low on funds at the moment and have had a few other projects come up. I also don't want to drive across the country in the middle of winter. So I'm not rushing to finish it. I'm thinking I'll get going again in late January-early February.

 

@Ben95 Sorry if I missed this in the thread but what size/thickness aluminum tube did you use for the main frame? And did you use a spoolgun to weld it? Looking to do a very similar build in the not-to-distant future for my first gen.
Looks great so far!

 

It’s 1.5/1.5” square tube. I believe it’s 093 thickness? I’ll get calipers on it at some point. It’s all tig welded. This is the machine I used. PRIMEWELD TIG225X 225 Amp IGBT AC DC Tig/Stick Welder with Pulse CK17 Flex Torch and Cable 3 Year Warranty

$869 PRIMEWELD TIG225X 225 Amp IGBT AC DC Tig/Stick Welder with Pulse CK17 Flex Torch and Cable 3 Year Warranty

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07BXHRBQ8?_encoding=UTF8

I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s such a good value. I’ve had several professional welders say the welds look just as good as their Miller/Lincoln machines.

 

Looked like a great start. How'd this turn out?

 

Ok, So I finally got the time and the cash to get going again. I'm currently working on the lifting arms for the roof. Here's what I came up with.

I'm using 1" aluminum extrusions with 10" air cylinders to make a sort of scissor lift. I have onboard air already. So it should make setup and takedown easy.



I'm very lucky that my dad works at place where I can get this stuff really easy. It took a lot of planning and brainstorming to figure how how it would all go together. But I think it's gonna work really well. The roof will go up 39.5". So that should give me room to sit up on the mattress and plenty of room to stand in the bed even with the drawers. I have three done so far. Need to make one more but I broke taps off in the end of two extrusions. If you want to do something similar don't use Milwaukee shockwave impact taps. They will shatter immediately. It took forever to tap all the ends by hand. But I haven't found a better way.



I'll be gone this weekend. But I'm hoping to get them mounted and test the whole system by the end of next week. I've already tested them individually. Requires a bit of a push to make it go up initially. But it should be easy to reach. Getting it to come back down would be the real issue with traditional gas struts. Hope to have another update and a video of it going up and down next week!

 

I had to order some hardware and it didn't come in time to get it all mounted before I left. But I completed all 4 mechanisms and painted the brackets so they won't rust. I'll be back on the 16th and should have two weeks to work on it. I will probably start doing videos documenting the process as well.

 

Got all the lifts mounted. Now waiting on a couple pneumatic fittings to hook up the actuators.

I also realized I'm gonna need another arm mounted on the back. It won't need an actuator. But it will keep the roof from going up unevenly since it can slip to the front and back right now.

Test fitting the mattress. It's just a knockoff megamat. But I've slept on it a few times and I'm pretty shocked at how comfortable it is. Looks like it might be out of stock soon. But this is where I got it.

Double Self-Inflating Camping Mattress, 80”×52” Sleeping Pad, Ultra Comfortable Side Sleep Friendly 4"es Thick PU Foam, Portable Roll-Up Floor Guest Bed, TPU Material…, gray

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Q6226BR?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 

I’ve got that same mattress and I said the same thing, very comfy for the cheap price tag.

 

The fateful day has come... It works!
Got everything hooked up to air to go up. Still need to run some lines to make it go down in a more controlled manner. But it does ok with just gravity.





Pretty stoked that it actually works!

 

This is rad! I love the use of the pneumatic actuators

 

Quick update, finished the wall frames.



Now I'm working o making them go up automatically because I love to overcomplicate things. I ordered some small motors with gearboxes attached. I added flange on the shaft and I'm using 1mm Dutchcord from Dutchware gear to pull it up.



I tested the idea on a leftover piece of square tube. But this assembly will go inside the roof frame.
It pulls the walls up with no issues. Unfortunately I have to go back to Alaska tomorrow. So that's the end of progress for two weeks.

 

This project isn't dead! I'm still working on it. Like everything in life it's proving a little more work than I had hoped.
I had reinforce the strut mounts because the rivnuts were bending the wall of the tubing.

These are the pieces that will seal the corners. They'll have 6 inches of overlap with the wall and I'll put some rubber seals to press against them when the're up. Its made of vinyl fabric I got on Amazon. Used HH-66 to glue some hard plastic mounting points to the bottom an screwed those into the frame.


I made a lift out of four trailer jacks that I can use to put it on the truck. I was inspired by Overland Under Budget's design. But I added wheels that can be unlocked and rolled around when bottom cross braces are attached.






I've started cutting the inserts to fill in the frame gaps here. I'll glue them in with construction adhesive and add insulation next week.


I plan to frame in the windows and add insulation to the folding walls next week. I'm going to add a layer of poor mans fiberglass over the foam and a layer of real fiberglass over that. The PMF should protect the foam from getting damaged by the resin. It should be in a usable state after that. I'm hoping to use it on Thursday night. It won't look nice. But I should have a better idea of what I need to change before I paint.

 

Amazing work glad to see it’s still in progress and we still get to live vicariously through you. I’m actually working on the drawer system of my truck right now.