How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Thank-you sharing. Great how to video

 

I would reach out to Ripcord on that. I am one of the Beta testers on the 2.5 design. I don't really have any insider information besides my own build experience though.

The custom CNC'd corners are a sourcing challenge, they are not inexpensive. They do greatly speed up the build process though. I had my base built in an afternoon from a pile of parts. The Wedge portion is unchanged from the previous version.


My build is nearly complete, the sewing portion is the last piece of that puzzle. We are about 80% complete there. Hopefully before the end of the year...?



Here is how it sits today. I, like Ripcord can't back into my 7' garage due to my driveway angle. But it does fit. I am nearly zero lift on 35s.

 

Its 26 outside so painting in the living room

 

Rear door mostly dont. Need to drill out some rivets and move the support some. Took way longer than i thought. I didnt center the door and had to redo the hinge mount too.

 

Coming along! I ordered 160 t slot nuts and I think I was shorted some. I already ran out and had to order more. While I wait for those to do the corners, i will do the side doors.

 

Hey y'all long story short my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer recently and wants to take some trips before he passes. I'd like to sell this to help fund those excursions. This will also be listed in the FS section with more info. **EDIT** No I won't I do not have enough posts yet*

Project still needs to be completed and will add more pictures to FS post this weekend. Is built for 3rd gen long bed, but I went narrower on the frame to tuck it closer to the cab.

If there's any interest PM me. I'm located in Upstate, SC (near Clemson University) and am willing to travel within reasonable distances to meet. Asking $3000obo and that will net you any extra ACM that will go with it (quite a bit) along with pieces that were cut to make the tent portion hard-sided (need to be shaped but already cut to length. Along with any extra hardware, seals, paint etc. I have for it. You will also get my Parts list and all dxf/dwg files that I personally made (since Jim sells these I will not take away from him by giving away his drawings). Mine are a departure from his.

 

So close yet so far.

 

Its on!!!! Only need to do the tent. Took it out for a 11hr drive the day after I put it on the truck with 5hrs of odd roading. No issues. Well, one minor one. The ripcord mounts were about 1/8th to an 1/4 in short and I had to used c clamps to get them low enough to bolt the topper on.

 

makes me want to go back and build another one

 

I am building another one but for my Gladiator, but this time I'm using the same idea for Ripcords new extruded aluminum version. I've got it drawn up in Fusion360, just haven't sent anything off to get milled out yet. Tent will be removable when not needed. Will cost more to build, but will be much more modular and customizable.

 

That’s going to be an expensive little part. Might be a lot cheaper if you make it out of plate with the little angled block bolted on. (Sorry, I know you didn’t ask but as a machinist I just see a lot of chips!) you wouldn’t need a right and left plate that way either.

 

Yeah I haven't sent it off to my buddy to have him price it out yet. I like the idea of having the angled block a separate item. I can see how that would decrease the amount of wasted material. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Where is the new piece designed to be? Not seeing it on the general drawing.

 

Its in each corner where the extruded aluminum bolts together. Go back a few pages and you'll see what ZColorado did with Ripcords new design they are testing.

 

Interesting idea. That 1.5"x3" extrusion would be tricky to bolt on and also allow it to bolt to the plate. It would be interesting to explore though. Thats one of the tricky things about this design, it's not a simple machining operation, and not cheap when you need 8 of them and they are nearly all different.

 

If you're doing it as 2 pieces, a plate and an angled block definitely looks like a much better idea than a single milled piece.

 

Why not just do a flat plate and cut the extrusion at an angle? That would be so much cheaper. You can figure out the angle by unwrapping the surface and just printing the profile on a piece of paper.

Either way, you would probably get a lot more strength by bolting into the sides of the extrusion rather than the end. You could bend the outside edges up to match the angle.

 

Used this guide to start the build to my camper, but on my Sprinter (please don’t hurt me)

Would like to give back to the community, so I have two 1530 extrusions that are 130” long. Looking to donate it to someone in SoCal that can use it. Probably will save you a couple hundred dollars. PM me if you’re interested.

 

The way I'm seeing it, attach the block to the extruded ends first, then attach the plates (recessed bolts from the bottom of the plate into the block), then bolt it all down to the upper and lower frames. I'll post what I designed last night once I get home. I think it would work pretty good. I did a price quote from SendCutSend for the plates, it was roughly $350 for all 8 with powder coating. The blocks I quoted through Xometry and those were still around $100/ea, so I'm going to try to size them down a little, but from my understanding Xometry is quite expensive. I know I can get everything done cheaper locally.

I was thinking about this last night. It may be cheaper, but it also requires some machining because your holes need to be at an angle which will increase cost. The issue I see would be the thickness of the plate you would need so the bolts can be recessed enough while being at an angle. I was going to play around with that tonight and see what I could come up with in the McMaster-Carr catalog for low profile bolts.

Bolting through the sides would be stronger, but you cant use a bracket on two sides because of the paneling. Using the 8020.net deflection calculator and doing the maths for tensile and shear strengths, it should still be plenty strong bolting through the ends.




I really want to dial in this extruded design. Yes it's going to be more expensive, but it's extremely modular and allows for easy configuration changes when adding lights, shelves, etc.

 

Wait, is the whole roof panel replaced by a single solar panel? That's kinda nifty, what are you going to do behind it? Just tenting?