Cynicalriders "J0hnny5 is ALIVE!" 01 build thread.

Hey there,

Graeme from GFC. Figured I should chime in here, seeing as we drive our trucks pretty hard off-road.

I bet you would be surprised driving our setup. The tent itself isn't 200 pounds, its about 135, and the lower portion ranges depending on options. The combined platform system weight starts at just under 200 including the canopy if using canvas sides. Aluminum sides are a bit more than that, still finalizing the design to determine final weight but it will probably come in around 30-40 pounds heavier for a long bed taco. CG is basically right at the roofline for the rack (no paneling) and tent combo. With paneling it would be a bit lower of course.

I think at those weights, you would be really hard pressed to notice a big difference in how fast you can drive your truck. You might feel slightly more body roll than stock, but not much different than you would expect with a standard LEER or ARE topper.

And of course this is comparing it to a fabric tent set into the bed, which is a very different level of functionality. It will definitely drive better than a wildernest/flippac, and hold up to way more abuse. And you could totally mount our standalone rooftop tent lower down in the bed, but it would probably look a little goofy on a taco. on a fullsize 8' bed it would fit perfectly though.

I started AeroContinental so have quite a bit of experience working with aluminum. Using aluminum for the bed rack wouldn't save 50-80 pounds, as the rack itself is only 60 pounds. Its not a price thing so much as a strength/weight/durability thing. Same reason trophy trucks use mitered steel tube rather than aluminum. We could use titanium, but I don't think anyone would want to pay for that, plus back purging with argon is a pain.

With the floor, its designed so the rear 3 panels form a square that can be oriented in two ways. Its super hard to explain with words, but the gif on our site does a decent job of it. Basically if you want to have one person get out at a time, you sleep with your feet toward the two small squares. When you want to get out, someone can easily remove one of the squares without having to make the other person get up. That make sense?

Also, when not in use as a bed, the movable floor can be turned into a couch "downstairs" or stow on top of the forward fixed panel.

 

Hey thank you for the response! It's great to see you are active on here.

Thanks for the info. I saw you were located in Bozeman. I'm based in columbus now so I might have to stop by sometime and check one out in person.

I still don't quite see how the floor would be easy to take out without did tubing someone. Does it swing downwards? Or do they lift out? I'm imagining you'd be sleeping with your head towards the tail gate as you wouldn't want to smack your head on the hard top. Although the angle is steep so maybe that isn't an issue?


I agree I think titanium would be over kill I am curious as to so of the rendering have a very "busy" bed rack. Would male getting to gear from the sides a bit of a pain. The photo of your prototype..I think that's what it is..at the bottom shows a very simple design that makes more sense to me to use.

And aluminum panel sides eh? That sounds cool. Though canvas would be more appealing to me personally I think.

As for if I could feel it..you could be right. But my original rtt was only 130lbs and was 14" above the bed rails. And man oh man could you feel that in the dirt. Shame I will never be able to afford to try it out for myself.

Welcome to Tacoma world! Thanks for bring in a new cool product we all wish we could try.

 

Thanks man! GFC is kind of a joint project stemming off Hondo Garage (Wiley is a long time tacoma world member of course) and AeroContinental. We started it because our shops are like two hundred feet apart and a collaboration was inevitable. Would love to give you the tour next time you're in town, and I have followed quite a bit of your builds for the last few years. Super cool stuff, and always good to see a truck that actually gets driven. We have a 2017 taco with our prototype you'd be more than welcome to take down some dirt roads near the shop.

The floor panel is super lightweight and can be removed without encroaching into your partners side of the tent. You basically pick it up and put it behind you if you're sitting up. And you are going to disturb someone with the truck rocking a little just from someone moving in the bed, but the idea was to make it so they didn't have to move to let you get out.

Everyone that has tested the tent so far has actually slept with their heads toward the small side, oddly enough. For whatever reason it's way more comfortable. Wiley from hondo is 6'3" or something too, so its not just short folks. Angle is basically steep enough to make it a non issue.

As far as the busy-ness, do you mean the tubing trussing? We set out to make it as light and strong as possible. We could reduce the trussing if we wanted to go up in tube size and gauge, but the current setup doesn't really hamper functionality and we didn't want to sacrifice the weight. You can still fit a decent sized action packer through the larger 'side' triangle.

-g

 

Aluminum panel on production tube prototype... Panel will get beadrolled for stiffness and race truck vibes.

We went with .080 5052 to give it a little resilience from branches and stuff and keep it from flexing so it seals well along the perimeter gasket. Its pretty heavy duty.



Should have a full on production test unit headed down to Baja by the end of December. I assure you it won't be driven gently.

 

I might take you up on that offer! Though my experience with a 3rd Gen in minimal. Still be cool to check out in person.

Sound like it would work quite well. I'm 6' 1" so size matters haha

Yes I was referring to the tubing work. The bigger triangle, is it really needed? Would a smaller brace like what you have on the ends suffice? Just curious..

You have peaked my interest now..

Do the panels move? As in like a windoor on a topper? Or is it fixed like bolted on?

And good! That's the right kind of product testing!

Gonna have to come check it out now..

 

The big triangle is needed to stiffen because of the thin wall tube. It looks way 'clunkier' in photos than real life though, its quite usable.

The base model will have removable paneling with dzus fasteners, but the panels will definitely be operable (kind of like the alu cab canopy) as an option. Both sides and the rear panel will lift, likely using this trick machined 8-bar linkage Wiley just designed. It has to simultaneously rotate up and out without interfering with the tube work or the camper bits mounted above the frame, so it was actually a complicated bit of design.

Stop by for sure. And CynicalRider, sorry for cluttering your build thread! I'll leave you with some machined cool bits as penance. These are the hinges from our first gen prototype, production hinges will be slightly different but still cool billet parts.

 

Thanks for all the info man! We all appreciate it. I'll drop a line next time I'm up in your area!

 

Great pictures Mike!

 

No worries! I love a new and revolutionary product being discussed in my build! I was wondering the same thing about the side truss's, wanted to make sure you could still pull shit out from those sides. I would be shit out of luck on this design though, being that I have a tool box right? I could probably put it in some c channel risers though that let the bar of the rack still sit relatively flat on the bed rails. Speaking of which, based on that frame, what does mounting to the bed look like for a first gen? I love the idea of a lightweight rack that lets me still attempt to go fast.

 

Sounds like you need a trailer to park at the campsite and then disconnect, and haul ass.

 

The tool box might be a little bit of a crux. I think it would be easier and better to find a new solution (maybe modify the tool box by shortening the wings, or switching to a drawer setup) than to lift the canopy enough to clear the box.

We designed the tent to still have standing room on top of a drawer/bed platform, so that is probably the cleanest solution. Plus it keeps weight really low.

The mounting to a first gen will be a burlier version of a traditional topper clamp. You could also use our plate system and build structure into the bed to bolt into, but most folks dont like drilling holes in their truck. New tacos and a few other vehicles have an in bed mounting track, and we plan to use those whenever available.

I dig trailers, but the big downside I see is if you want to haul ass through the dirt on the way home, or to the campsite. I know in montana we can drive a lot of dirt to get to the places we camp and wheel, and Blackdawg can probably attest to not seeing much in the way of law enforcement out there. Dirt roads out here still basically have a courtesy speed limit in rural areas.

 

Lol if I could afford your trailer I would definitely get it! I love the idea of a trailer but it's not an end all solution for me. I love the idea of options really. I want a trailer for trips like Rock Therapy. Set it and forget it. But for other trips like I did on the Kokopelli, camp was at a different spot every night. And then you get limited to how hard you can wheel with the trailer. Having a bed rack and a trailer that you can move the tent to would give you more options depending on the trip you want to do. But then you are dumping a ton of money into multiple setups to give you options. Definitely hard to figure out what will be best for me in the end.

 

welcome to the rtt/storage issues. after having moved my cvt from bed to roof to bed to roof, im much happier with having a tent on the roof. especially since i have a hardshell rtt now. it makes putting stuff in the bed very easy and i can climb over and get whatever i want without pulling out every single thing to get at something in the back. my only complaint currently is figuring out a way to prevent the elements (rain mostly, when i have gear bags in the bed). been throwing around the idea of a softopper, but then its back to playing tetris unless undoing it every time. or maybe a roll up bed cover which is a simple solution for most situations.

 

Dont know if this would solve your problem, but we will be selling our canopy lower with or without sides or a roof. Could be a solution, but its tough with carrying bikes.

 

im pretty content with my setup. but as you pointed another issue, i like the option of throwing my grom in the truck bed without having a height issue.

good luck with the product, lots of people are interested i know

 

Thanks for all the info @gmacmt I'm super interested in one of these. Need to figure out the price if I picked it up, and see if I can make it work with my budget.

Oh, and I like your location!

 

I never wanted to go the RTT route because I do have a bike to carry at times. Considering getting a hitch receiver mount so I can figure out a setup for the truck that will cater to my needs better. But yeah like you said, the tetris thing is a serious disadvantage. The GFC seems like it can try to let you have the RTT while not play tetris, with access from the sides while still having a go fast stable structure. But then for me personally, the tool box would need to be revised. I think I would prefer the lower version as well because i would definitely want it in line with the roof line. But I wonder if the lower version would still let you get boxes from the sides? Would also love to see how easy it is to roll up/access the canopy sides for quick grab things.

 

go roof mount rtt (if you want to haul bikes in the bed) or get a trailer. i didnt like my hitch carrier. having a trailer has made everything very simple for me. i have the entire bed for gear storage, no longer taking up space in the cab, and loading bikes became easier. also it lets me focus on setting the truck up for truck stuff without having mount or move anything to haul bikes. i dont have much room in the single car garage so i bought the hf fold up trailer and it works fine. id prefer a nicer setup but also didnt want to drop 2k into a trailer at this point.

 

Pack less stuff.

 

Any reason in particular you didn't like the hitch carrier? Stability? That much weight that far back? Pain in the ass to unload and load? I figure if I did get one I would probably beef it up more than it already came.

I do need to do this as well. I packed like I was living on the road for a month and could have definitely consolidated.