4banger Custom Wedge Build

Humm, I might have to end up doing reinforcing L brackets on the inside nnthenfuture then.

 

More from today.

 

freaking awesome man. love it.

 

More progress pics.

 

Looks great man what did you end up using to mount the board the the poly hinge?? Also what latch do you have on the sides??

 

Thank you sir! I needed up with 5/16” nut/bolt combo, and I am very glad I did. The poly hinge didn’t work the way I wanted it to in my head. I mounted it between the frame and the paneling and unfortunately it doesn’t seal very well between the two and I can’t use a sealant to seal because the HDPE is resistant to all that. SO! Today I will be swapping the hinge to the outside of the paneling so it CAN act as a waterproof hinge. Therefore I am glad I did the nut bolt combo, it allows for adjustment. The rivets would have been a pain to drill out. Etc.

As far as the latches, they are lockable 2” slam latches from Amazon. I’ll include a link in the second post when I go through and write it all up.

 

More from the weekend. 80/20 top going on tomorrow. Along with latches for the rear, and cleaning up the edges, so forth.

 

Why’d you choose starboard over aluminum sheet? I have the basically the same plans as what you made but it was all going to be aluminum.

 

Price, was probabaly the main driving force. When I priced out aluminum/ steel sheets. It would have cost 4x more per sheet than the starboard did. It also would require powder coating, which is additional cost. Also metal weight is more. I also didn’t have to paint/treat the starboard. Just cut it and install it.

Just as an example. The 1/4” starboard was $150.00 a sheet. 3/8” was $240.00. 96x54” wheels of aluminum was going to cost almost $900.00 Per sheet.

 

Well the weekend is over, and the camper is officially on the truck. Need a new leaf pack for sure! AAL don’t do anything lol. Pics included below.

 

What method are you using to attach the tent fabric to the 8020?
Also any photos of the hinges and any seals you did on the doors of the camper?
It looks awesome.

 

So I haven’t exactly figured that part out yet, My plan is to use a keder rope that would fit inside the channel on the 80/20 but we will see. I’ve been talking to @Ripcord on IG and he is getting his done by a canvas shop, so I might go that route and have them advise me on some options.

As far as detailed pics, I’ll take some this week and post up. Pic of the hinge below, the seals are waterproof foam seals that had single side 3M tape on them, I attached them directly to the framing. It’s going to rain all week here, so we will see how well they work lol.

 

Sub'd, this is looking sweet, I've wanted to build something like this for some time

On a side note, how does the 2.7 handle the 285/75s, want to move to that size but hesitant to do before regear

 

It’s a lot of work man! But learn a lot.

I honestly drive like a grand mother. So mpg wise it hasn’t changed much. We’ll see after I start driving with this camper on lol. As far as just normal driving. It feels a little slower speeding up, but overall. It hasn’t changed much 2k rpm at 65, 2100 around 70. I have a 4speed so I am sure it’s a little different on the 5MT

 

I've got the auto as well, I'm on 265/75s right now and feel little to no difference from so I figured 285s might not be the craziest idea haha

Looking forward to seeing the result with the camper!

 

285’s are like a hair larger. I doubt you will feel anything.

Thanks man! Getting there for sure!

 

Hey just wondering, what did you use for the front hinge on the top? Build is looking super good!

 

Thanks man. I used a hinge from 80/20. I’ll throw the part number on here later.

 

I was hoping you would make a thread about it!

BTW, the Keder on the tent material will not fit in the extrusion slots well (too loose). Gotta get separate Keder rail extrusions to bolt to the 8020.

 

I mean, I wouldn’t be a Tacoma owner if I didn’t document. It would be an injustice lol.

Well looks like keder is out of the question, it would impede my ability to take out the removable portion of the interior framing since my clearance on both side is like 1/4”.