Homebuilt Camper Thread!

Awesome info! When you do yours, would you possibly be able to do "friends" if need be? Asking for a friend hahaha

 

Sounds like the floor needs some bar stock or other support underneath

Unfortunately not but I can take pics to post on here and share my pattern to print out.

 

@PNW_Sparks

I noticed in the DIY Wedge thread that you mentioned you installed U-channel under the floor of the cab-over section to avoid deflection. What thickness ACM did you use as the floor? 3mm or 6mm? I'm guessing you saw more deflection that RipCord because of how much wider yours is.

 

My first camper build. Not a pop up which seems to be the rage, but its warm and dry inside. We camped in it like this for a while until wet shoes/dog and no where to put things got slightly annoying



made the first slide out when wood was cheap to make sure it worked



made slide out v2 out of alumninum and sign board, added 1’ of length and 6” width. salvaged the original door.



heres how slide sits during transport. It will change a bit here soon with the addition of a dickenson stove.




Add a dog pic for good measure.

 

Great idea for a thread BTW. Love home build campers, its a great pass time building one despite the frustrations and constant re work.
Looking forward to lots of photos!

 

@Bassshreddin I saw in the main thread you are going back to the wedge. I thought you had it dialed! What's making you go back to the wedge design?

 

@renosauce I see you are building a full pop. There are a few members on this thread who have been working through the full pop mechanism. I too am planning on doing a full pop when the time comes.

I like that you are going away from the aluminum extrusion. To me it seemed unnecessary, not to mention its expensive and heavy. What aluminum cross section are you using for the cab over portion? I am looking to design my frame entirely our of steel since I don't have a set up to weld aluminum.

 

1x2”x.060 steel tube is strong, light, and can be had at a fair price. My only worry would be the eventual rust that drip onto the vehicle.

 

I was reading online about DIY ladder racks and they were using 14 gauge 1-1/2" square. I was thinking going to 1"x2" 14 gauge for the cab-over portion would be plenty strong and would not weigh that much more than the 16 gauge. Do you think that's overkill?

My plan was to sheath the entire exterior with an aluminum sign panel like some of these other builds so the structure does not see direct weather. I hope this would help prevent rust for a while at least.

 

i do not think its overkill, always better to overbuild, to an extent…
I built an 8’ wide gate with 1x2” x.060 and it has not sagged one bit. Its very strong but Never hurts to go bigger if you are unsure.

 

Good to know! Honestly having trouble wrapping my head around how much force will be on the cab over when off-roading. Granted the only weight up there will be the mattress and I don't bomb down dirt roads.... I feel confident the 16 gauge will support the static loads of two adults no problem.

 

you could always buy a stick of it and do some testing of your own before comitting. It will get used up at some point if you are not satisfied.

 

HEY YALL. have been off of TW for awhile and avoided working on the camper for awhile. Slow work, busy doing other fun summer things. but, we spent the first night in our vertical pop up camper the other day. Got some things to iron out, but it's solid. It works! More deets later.

 

I used 3mm, and just cut my lift mechanism so it's not contacting the roof or floor. If it is, you could get another 3mm panel and glue/attach it to double the thickness where your mechanism rests. The 3mm feels plenty strong for me, and the roof is heavy enough already. I'm not planning on standing on the roof, as much as I'd like to.

 

This is a thing of beauty! It turned out so good. I have a lot of questions but ill hold off until you post some more pictures!

 

Hey Grant! Any more pictures of this build? Starting mine in the next few days. Wondering what you used to support the floor for the cab-over portion? Also what gas struts did you end up using? What is the pop height?

Thanks in advance for you help man!

 

Need all the details! Just ordered everything for the tent material and decided to just do the wedge. But, if you made it work properly, let us know.

 

I've broken it down and repainting, I'll start posting progress photos once I have some, just grinding off all the old paint now. Since there are so many joints it will still be tough to get complete water seal. Here's my current plan for waterproofing/rebuild if anyone sees anything to add or maybe it will also help someone get the juices flowing. I've had it for a year and took some short cuts, so no more messing around.

A big question I could use some help is sealing the wedge when it's closed. I used the push it bulb seal which worked as well blind seeing eye dog. I then used this https://www.mcmaster.com/93085K365/ it works for water and dust, but it makes the wedge close at angle, and I have to adjust where the rain skirt is on the end so it actually repels rain... Not the end of the world but my OCD doesn't approve. Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated

1. For all the Frame to extrusion, extrusion to alupanel, and extrusion to extrusion connections, I've decided to go with running 2 strips of butyl tape along the whole connection. Then use silicon to seal all connections inside and out.
2. Grind down the corners of the internal and external connectors so I can use silicon to seal the interior and exterior 90 degree joins.
3. At the end of each rail behind the external connectors, use a piece of gorilla water tape to combat water getting into the extrusion channels.
4. For the hinges, copy your method using some of vinyl tent to gorilla glue to my continuous gear hinges. I have to use spacers so it doesn't hit my extrusions, also will use silicon on those connections.
5. Did I mention using silicon to seal everything yet?
6. Position rain skirt higher on tent.
7. When reconstructing my frame, I am done fighting the nots seizing up and I'll have to do a lot alone which means I invested in some of these bad boys https://www.mcmaster.com/47065T229/
8. I've also decided to go with a more fun paint scheme since my old one was real boring.

if you read this far... thanks.

 

https://www.mcmaster.com/93085K41/ paired with the push in bulb might work well. This could receive it so there's 3 different bulbs and less bulk