How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Anyone have any thoughts on building this out of wood and fiberglassing it? Even the frame? Obviously I realize the differences but I have seen some diy camper shells/ slide in campers that are wood framed. Just wondering

 

@Ripcord I've started my version of a camper with yours as my inspiration. I don't have much of a plan, or a autocad drawing even though I'm a career draftsman...lol. Got the frame done and going to skin it soon. I appreciate all your information and pictures.
Here's mine. Adding some more structure too before I skin it. Weight right now is about 78lbs. plus or minus a thumb and forefinger...lol
Zim

 

This is so rad, seeing everyone getting their builds off to a start. To say nothing of the fact this info is out there for us to use and adjust according to our tastes and needs. Fantastic stuff and I’ll just keep thanking @Ripcord.

I’m waiting to find somewhere to cut the roof/floor/sides/hatch panels in PDX (any recommendations?). Surrounded by aluminum extrusion in a very, very small apartment with my girlfriend, too many cats, and mountains of McMaster Carr bags peppering the already crowded space.

I only recently started welding, and the shared workspace I was renting space and welding time from is doing the good work right now and pumping out PPE face shields, so I’m having a guy who has helped me with small fab jobs before do it right. Should be about 5 days til he can start, hopefully I’ll have the panels cut and corner gussets machined by then, and the canvas/tent supplies are on their way.

Just to share, I went with #10 YKK Vislon zippers; they’re essentially weatherproof, UV resistant, and less expensive if not more durable than the #5s, but you lose that cool rubberized coating. I’m using Sunforger Shelter Tent Duck for fabric, and hoping I can find some stupid color of mesh to keep the bugs out and add some pop, because why not? Should be a bit lighter than the 10 oz canvas duck my Wildernest tent was made of and breathability is important to me. I’m going to see if I can’t find any pictures of how they sewed the zippers and mesh windows to help myself and anyone else with ideas for construction.

Great, with that rant I think I can make it until the frame is done. Then it’s game on. Can’t wait to see everyone’s finished product, cheers.

 

Always a pleasure seeing people get use of out this thread! I have seen or been sent images of SOO many being built during this shutdown.

Yes the mesh and canvas on each window have their own zippers, 2 sliders per zipper except the rear door flap which has 1 per side.

would certainly be cheaper, but you'd loose the modularity and function of the 8020.

 

Can't seem to find what part number these guys are (the filler strips), am I missing it in the Google Sheet? Also, any tips for getting the bulbed seal in the 8020, soap and water plus expedience is all I've got so far.

 

47065T4 on McMaster

And yeah, those 8020 bulb seals take some time.

 

Did either of you follow through with your builds?
I'm planning on building a tent only for the roof of my 80 as well and also designing and cutting some gutter rails similar to prinsu that will mount the tent.
I'm trying to figure out what material i can use for the floor that will support two people in the tent without needing cross bar supports.
I'm leaning towards a bottom plate that could support a honeycomb type panel.

For the roof i'm thinking about using a thinner white panel that could slide into the upper slot in the extrusions and then running a bead of sikaflex or similar to waterproof. This would allow nice light transmission in the summer, but also create a step down so may just go with the route you did for the roof panel.

 

Bottom plate on the 80/20 to support the honeycomb would probably be the best route for your application.

I've started on the tent but am still working on finalizing my frame design and building my welding fixture before I start the spaceframe. I'm hoping to start in the next week or two. Ultimately I decided to weld a gusseted sub frame out of 7/8" square tube attached to 1/8" maxmetal panels for my removable floor. By my quick math it'll be ~30lbs heavier than ripcords frame but after alot of shopping around the honeycomb panels just didn't seem worth the cost to me (all the sheets I found were in the $1-2k price range).

The subframe will be supported from below by a shelf made out of steel flat bar welded to my spaceframe and secured with a few toggle clamps.

My design will allow my removable panels to be replaced with 1" thick honeycomb panels later down the road if I decide I want to save some weight (or find a deal on some) but I don't really plan on moving the floor much. Living in the PNW I want the option for trips where we get stuck in the tent for an extended period due to weather.

 

Yeah I totally get that, if I lived in the PNW I would also make my floor removable.

But here where I live, and all the nice sunny days, its nicer to hang outside!

 

Thinking thats the best option as well.
Open to any other ideas for flooring material for a tent only floor if anyone has ideas.
Need to look into how thick of a flat stock i'd need to support 2 people up top. I don't want to make the floor super thick either. I can see why GFC had custom extrusions made for this exact reason now.

 

I'm going to be going with a 6mm Alupanel for the tent floor and modifying my current Topper Rack to support the tent. The cross bars will be more spaced out than what it is in the pictures. If it still has some flex I will support it at the front with my Cab Rack. Eventually planing to weld up a space frame.

 

Keep me posted how the 6mm alupanel works as a floor on the RTT version. Could be a good option for those doing non-camper builds!

 

Also really interested in the 6mm alupanel as i can get that easily. Didnt think it'd be strong enough for a floor span like that. Have you received the material or a sample yet?

 

I received a sample of both 3mm and 6mm. The 6mm is definitely a lot more rigid but still can be bent or dented. It will definitely need to be supported under the main area of the tent, but I think it will be fine for the overhang portion that is unsupported. @Ripcord you didn't have any issues with the 3mm panel in the overhanging area?

The 3mm x 6' x 10' sheet is 195$. The 6mm x 6' x 10' is 280$ a sheet. So quite a big difference. I'm in Canada so stuff is a bit more up here.

 

its a small area and only where your feet go, so no its worked perfectly.

 

Roger. I think for those reasons i'll be going with a different option. Something more like a honeycomb/composite panel capable of supporting the weight without additional lateral support. I'm trying to avoid adding cross supports for the floor if possible to keep overall height down still.
Finding a source for single sheet of honeycomb has proven difficult so far.

 

For everyone that always asks about snow performance... It's by no means a 4 season camper, but add some goose down and you'll be pretty cozy.

 

Upper wedge finished and roof panel mounted. Everything lined up perfectly after shortening the design to 93” instead of 103”. More time consuming than I expected to get the t-nuts and rubber seals and everything to line up!

Frame is almost finished, if I’m lucky by the end of this weekend I’ll have the wedge and side panels mounted. Weeeooooo.

Time to get nasty with the sewing machine until I get the frame back.

 

Camp is bolted on. Still need to sew the canvas. Went with a cotton ripstop fabric from bigduckcanvas.com. Paint isn’t the greatest yet, thinking about wrapping it instead.

 

I'm dry....sort of. Lol
Zim