How to: DIY Wedge Camper

The main thing I hate about Solidworks is the damn constraints. If you have a large assembly and one constraint fails (or a part is over constrained) then it seems like all the constraints turn red and it’s impossible to figure out which one is the problem.

I’m also not a fan of how to can cheat and underdefine the sketch orientations among other things. It just makes large models unstable and frustrating to manage.

 

fusion 360 can go pound sand for all that matters since they decided to seriously limit the hobbyist level. I now have to wait a day for my non commercial licenses to populate in their system. I will gladly pay for F360, a one time license fee for like maybe $50 and none of that subscription BS... I make simple things but too complicated to bother with sketchup which also sucks balls these days

 

Any suggestions for locks? The southco ones I’m not fond of for the fact you can’t close say the tailgate door and then open it from the inside(as far as I can tell).

 

use the south co latches and in the morning while half awake hang down from the camper top and pop open the rear hatch?

 

Ha! Solidworks is like $5k for a license and CATIA and CREO are both like $15k for a license. F360 is just as capable as SW so I highly doubt they are going to sell it for 100x less.

 

Making good progress on my ultralight GFC. overshot my 100lb goal mostly due to me not beaing able to do simple math. But I should still be under 150LB. (does not include mattress)

 

Anyone found a good place to get a window for the back door on the canopy shell portion? Thanks!

 

looking awesome!

hard to tell from the photo, but is that a 3” aluminum extrusion as the top portion of the tent roof?

 

of course but im not making money with the software so a hobbyist use license would be fine, free wont last for ever

 

So becasue I was going as low profile and as light as possible I used 1030 extrusion and the bottom and 1020 extrusion as the top tent portion. This gives me an overal hieght of 5 inches + the 3mm roof. I only plan on having a 2-2.5 inch mattress so that I have room for the tent and potentially a blanket and pillow. It definately seems strong enough and Im not getting the bowing out of the tent portion that most are because when my tent is closed the pistons actually push it closed because of the overcenter position I have them mounted in.

 

Ah right on. I was confused how you were getting that weight with the extrusion since the 4.5" extrusion is already so heavy lol.

Yea I really like your gas strut usage. Having the pistons close the tent is awesome. What weight gas strut are you using?
I was trying to figure a way to mitigate needing latches on the side because I want to mount other items there.

 

Im using 100 LB struts so that I can have some roof rack capacity. And ya the struts are mounted so that when closed the bottom of the strut is higher than the top creating a tiny bit of down pressure for sealing. Downside is that I have to physically lift the top higher before the struts take over but only by a couple inches.

$24 C1608054 20" Gas Prop Spring Strut 20" 100 Lb Per Shock C16-08054 for Camper Shell RV Bed Tonneau Cover Storage Box Basement Door Floor Hatch Window Lift Struts (Fit 85-110LBs Lid, No Brackets)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CGNQCCJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Getting there. All mocked up, now will need to figure out what to do from here haha, but that will be tomorrow. Spent way too much time today on it lol, thanks for advice!

 

Does anyone think the 80/20 ultra lite series is too light and not rigid enough for the wedge? Going with 3" both top and bottom. Getting from Tnutz doesn't cost too much and weight savings of 50lbs almost. This will be on a long bed so it will only overhang the cab roughly 2ft from my build.

 

Is that a living hinge? How do you like it so far?

 

I did the 3in ultra light on my long bed and think it is more than strong enough. The only issue I have is with the exped mattress you need two people to close it. One to tuck stuff in while the other closes. I think if I were to do it again I would use a taller extrusion on the bottom to cover the mattress height.

 

I see because the mattress is 4"? Hmmm. I like going 3" top and bottom because I plan to put a rack on top. Damn this decision is the hardest. I can see an issue with the tent if it overhands the extrusion.

 

I went three on top for the same reason and think it's the way to go. The mattress isn't a huge issue and it works fine. I just like the idea of it working better. The mattress is a bit wider than the 50"width so it does take some work to close. If I was going to change just one thing on mine I think it would be that.

 

Going to 4.5" on bottom? I am modifying mine slightly so I might not even get the 52" exped mattress. Ugh too many damn decisions. I'm thinking just build this the way it is and then make another if I don't like it enough. Else I will never get this started haha.

 

The exped is soooo comfy. Glad I have it but I think it would work better with the 4.5 bottom. I don't think the extra diff in height would affect anything else like wind resistance, just a bit more weight.