How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Thanks. Wanting the tent, not the camper

 

Ahh I thought you were looking for the whole package.

 

Thats how i'm setting mine up, the bottom skin is like the top, bolted along the perimeter every 6 inches to maintain rigidity without the space frame. Doing it this way meant i could fully seal the bottom and not worry about it when removing or re installing the tent.
The space frame is the same but with spaced quarter inch shims on top to account for the button heads facing downward.
To install, some of the bolts along the perimeter will be removed and replaced with the longer 2 inch ones that hold the tent to the frame. The t nuts on the underside are held in the channel with rubber caulking, so bolts can be removed and the frame tilted without them sliding out of place.
When it is off, semi truck tarp stretched over the top like a shower cap.

VC1861001KGN Sigman 18 oz Vinyl Coated Polyester Fabric - 61" x 1 Yard

 

Got any pics of this, sounds interesting. Maybe something I would do similar

 

Looks like tnutz is having a sale on their extrusion.

 

So I went down the route of getting the smaller extrusions on Tnutz and the longer ones from Heitek Automation. There has been a issue people have brought up about the black anodized hardware turning bronze earlier in the tread. I haven't noticed anything on anything I got from Tnutz yet but know that is a possibility.

 

theres always a 'sale' on it. Be warned, just because its on sale doesn't mean its in stock, and they won't tell you if thats the case.

 

Long time reader, first time poster. I built a wedge camper last spring thanks to this thread. Special thanks to Ripcord and NotTaco. Picked up lots of ideas here and there from other members too, and a few of my own.

My timing was bad as far as prices (covid), and then being in Canada everything costs more and the options for material and sellers are much more limited. I made lots of little mistakes along the way, but nothing major that couldn't be fixed. Also, lots of little lessons learned for a second build if there ever is one. I still have a long list of things I want to tweak or add, but the rig was good enough to entertain a family of 3 for 5 months last year. It serves primarily as a hangout spot for one parent at a time while the other one is out biking for example. It also serves as a great place to hide and lock bikes while in town. A great way to bring way too much stuff on the road. And sometimes a great way to camp with 3 of us, or one. It was built a couple hours at a time, after our newborn would go to bed. I would say there was more time spent looking for material, and planning than doing the actual work. I'd never sewn, never welded, the results are not textbook but way above passable. The goal was to get it done before paternity leave, so a lot of weight was given to the built it in a doable and passable way.

Couple different things about my build. First, it's on a F150. I built it with extra height so that I could comfortably sit without banging my head. I also installed it on the truck before I'd even started sewing and it still served me well. The bed platform is extra large. The "hallway" is built to fit a crib, or 3 bikes. The way the wood interior is built, the bike tray can become a bed platform in a matter of seconds. My roof and doors stay shut even without latches on. I installed sliding latches to the back door to be able to open from the inside, even if locked or closed. I went full on for waterproofing the corners, and the hinges. So far so good on that front. Rain gutters above the hinges were key.

Some of my biggest learnings:
- I would probably sew the tent in 3 pieces, rather than 1 gigantic piece.
- Just use T-nuts for the extrusion, not the regular cheap ones. It makes life so much easier.
- I would try to standardize the hardware as much as possible.
- I would use bar steel, instead of square tubing for the cross pieces (no wonky angles to figure out).
- I installed it on the truck with doors removed, because I thought it'd be too heavy. It was crazy light with 6 of us, it would have been super light with 4 people and doors on.
- I would not build that H frame in the roof, in fact I will remove it eventually.
- So many more small lessons, and it is still evolving of course.

I have so many notes that I took, but let's just go ahead and show some pictures! Some of the picture address some of my personal solutions, and solutions to the issues that people seemed to have often.

Thanks for all the knowledge on this thread!
Justin

 

How did you attach the tent around the H-frame in the roof?

 

Bingo, that's the main reason to remove it, I kind of didn't. It hasn't been an issue with rain, but it could be I think. I considered swapping the H to the outside once I realized that mistake, and use the 8020 to build some roof rack, but the pieces were too short and I was too lazy/cheap to go that route. So I'll just remove it once it gets nice and warm outside again!

 

Haha cool. I ran into the same issue and moved it to the outside as a rack just as you mentioned. Luckily I had some extra 80/20 to work with.

 

Awesome build! Love the fun tent, and how big and spacious the tall, vertical walls look. Have fun with the family out there, and enjoy the ride!!!

 

@Softserve great build! What type of sealant did you go with for the corners. That green stuff. I want to plug up my corner holes too but with something I can remove so I can access the bolts if I need to.

 

It's called aqua seal. We use it at work to plug up duct work. It gets pretty soft when it's warm though, so you you want to avoid touching it. Not sure if it's the best solution, but it is waterproof, you can shape it however you want and it is removable. It's fancy playdough.

 

@Softserve playdough for adults lol. I was getting water intrusion from the corner bolts. I sealed the bolt holes with silicone which did the trick, but I want to just plug the holes to make double sure. I was also thinking of just using some kind of heavy duty all weather tape. Or even gluing a plastic corner piece so it looks nice. Great thing about these kind of builds is, you keep learning and improving. Cheers!

 

Wow!

 

Question for all you guys with campers. How well can you keep these campers warm during colder temps.

I'm still in the process of drawing out ideas, but I'm curious how well you can make these retain heat. Does some of it go out the fabric, should I consider hard sides, or is fabric fine?

Thanks

 

I didn't make my own camper, but mine has an option of insulated tent walls from the manufacturer. The shell walls/roof are also insulated with 3/4" honeycomb and lined with carpeting on all interior hard walls. I didn't order any windows in my build and for good measure I installed a BedRug to cover all the composite bed.

That being said, I camped last Fall on Lake Superior and it snowed with temps in the 30s at night. It was COLD inside that camper with just a 30 degree sleeping bag!

Fast-forward to early January of this year. I had a couple days off and wanted to camp. I bought a 0 degree mummy bag and a small butane heater to take the chill off. Temps at night got into the low 30s outside and with the heater I was able to get the temps inside to around 40F. The problem is with any type of combustion heat source in a small, enclosed area you have to have adequate airflow or you can DIE. I had to leave the windows open in the tent just to keep my CO detector from going crazy!

I guess my point is that unless you have some sort of externally-vented heat source(diesel, propane) or a battery big enough to power a heated blanket you are going to be cold winter camping- even in an insulated wedge camper. A nice sleeping bag helps, but there's only so much you can do. Good luck!

 

I think it’s a tall order. Insulated walls would be cool but the big problem with most campers in the cold is condensation building up on the inside. Some folks install a ventilation fan in the roof panel and a diesel heater for the inside. I haven’t taken that plunge. On a winter trip in dry but freezing (24F) temps we just stacked sleeping bags up top and otherwise dressed very warmly. Kept a chamois for wiping down the condensation in the morning. We had a little propane space heater (in lieu of a campfire) to heat up our feet before crawling in to bed. Cozy.

 

For those that live in a wetter climate do you have a lot of condensation?