How to: DIY Wedge Camper

This is awesome man!

 

Getting ready to order some new panels, for the spaceframe part at least. The roof and floor are holding up well.

But, I found some uses for the plastic. Going to make a MountainHatch replica like @Papadave418 did HERE. Then also try and heat form a rounded wind deflector from some of the other sheets.

 

Picking up some Max Metal (same as AluPanel, just different brand) aluminium composite panels later this week. Going to try the side doors first and if it all works I will get more to redo the roof and floor.

Price is about 20% cheaper than the ABS plastic was also, so I wish I would have known about this material from the start. I will update the original posts when I finish to guide people in the right direction.

Thanks @Horger12 for the suggestion.

 

Glad I could help!

 

This is so impressive. I follow you on IG and it was a while before I realized you had actually made your own GFC. For the longest time I wanted to make my own as well but more in the style of the Ursa Minor pop-ups you find on Jeeps. This is so inspirational and yet, I know if I were to try I'd be in way over my head

 

Thanks! The goal was for it to indistinguishable from a GFC to the untrained eye.

The ursa minors are cool. During the design process I was toying with the idea of a compound hinge like they use, but determined the extra volume wasn't needed for me.

 

Hi there, I'm considering going a very similar route myself and have a few questions.

1. Did you CAD this up and are you willing to share? I'm mostly wondering about the specific dimensions for interfacing to the bed rails and tailgate to get a good seal (assuming you are happy with how that turned out)
2. Did you consider Chromoly for the space frame by chance? Apparently they make roll cages outta that stuff and the bike touring crowd really likes the vibration tolerance of it. What alloy or grade did you use?
3. For the extrusion, what do you think about using 1" wide instead of 1.5" I'm thinking the load is vertical primarily so it shouldn't be a problem
4. Do you think the 3mm alupanel will actually be strong enough for the bed floor? I was actually thinking of going with something like Nida core (it's a sandwich panel with plastic honeycomb core and fiberglass face sheets).
5. I'm curious about why you welded in cross members for the floor support and hoping to avoid that for more standing room with the bed stowed (thinking of a kitchenette build out along the driver's side and using bed cushions as a bench seat)
6. Did you consider removing the tailgate and doing a single door on the back? Could be a way to save some weight and not have the sort of awkward clamshell door opening to get in and out of.

I'm so glad someone has blazed the trail here. This may be just the boost in confidence i needed to break ground on the project. Thanks!

 

Man!! I'm so glad I found this, I was already modeling one too!

Thanks for sharing all of this, great job.

This is mine so far:

 

Holy shit. Can we be friends? Really great work.

 

That's more than "a few" lol. But i'm glad to help!

1. I can't hold hands too much, and with the time I put into the 3D model that is not something I am willing to share.
2. I did a lot of load and vibration calculations and the 1" square (normal low carbon) was more than enough. The camper is not very heavy, doesn't take much.
3. The vertical load from the gas struts are a problem there, when the wedge is closed. Even my 3"x1.5" has visible deflection when closed, almost enough to create a gap in the seal between top and bottom wedge halves. It would be better if I hadn't used the "lightweight" version of the extrusions. But even with those, the extrusions are almost 100 lbs.
4. With the floor crossmembers you mention in #5, yes. But as freestanding panels maybe not. Honeycomb panels are definitely going to be stiffer, but as I mentioned when talking about the roof/floor, the sides of the panels would show due to how I have them mounted to the extrusions.
5. As I talked about at the beginning of the first post, I didn't like having to move floor panels around. I wanted fixed areas. It can definitely be done other ways, but you will want stronger panels for the floor like we talked about.
6. I am aware it is an option, but I like having a tailgate.

That is a really nice model! Where did you get the Tacoma 3D? Been looking for something like that.

Thanks!

 

+1 for where did you get the Tacoma 3D model and nice job on the CAD! Mine is much less detailed for now (only have an hour or two in at this point):


Bummed you don't want to share, but I know it's a lot of work. I'd be modifying it for a long bed anyhow.

Thank you for all the answers you did provide, not looking for hand-holding, I'm perfectly capable of doing this myself, I'm just slightly apprehensive about taking on the project and planning ahead for all the unknowns/gotchas.

Does anyone know what GFC uses for the bed panels? In their video they just say composite.

If anyone is in SoCal and wants to join forces, I can weld up a few spaceframes in exchange for some help with the rest of the assembly (I also have access to a commercial sewing machine)...hit me up.

 

I bought the 3D model: https://hum3d.com/3d-models/toyota-tacoma-double-cab-trd-pro-2017/
A little expensive though.

 

@Ripcord Feel free to delete if you want, I definitely don't want to encroach on all of the good work you are doing. However, I figured I would offer a potential great help to those building their own. I almost went down the path of building my own when my GFC lead time kept increasing, but the tent fabrication portion was the part that scared me the most, so I stayed in line. With that being said, I will have a complete GFC tent portion available for anyone interested, if they want to save time/money/headache. I'm upgrading to a tent with a side door because it wasn't available when I ordered (mine was early on in the queue).

To clarify, this is just the fabric portion, not the entire assembly. I'll add it to the buy/sell section once I make the switch.

 

I've said my peace on page 1, the rest of this thread is just a BS section haha.

That is pretty cool though. I believe GFC are 50" x 90" for those interested in using this material. (I made mine 100" long)

 

Yeah that's about what my model looked like at first lol. Give it 3 months then you'll have a solid design! Just consider every little step of assembly and installation and you won't miss anything major. I don't remember anything that caught me off guard during my build.

When I spoke with Graeme, he said they use 8000-series aluminium sheet for the side doors. Felt about 4-5mm thick. They also use riveted-on stiffeners like I did (where I got the idea).

 

I was referring to to the "sleeping platform panels" when i said "bed panels"

 

Ah, no idea then.

 

Well I'm making mine 10ft long! so there hehe. Looks like the Tslot comes in 20ft lengths so i kinda just figured I'd cut them in half. The cantilevered length will probably be similar to the shortbed models I'm thinkin'