How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Slowly but surely inching forward.

 

Looks way good dude! Nice corner brackets and digging the roof bars.


Some updates and tips on my build

-I have now been out with mine on probably over 200 miles of back roads since finishing it mid-December and the 4 canopy clamps haven't moved at all. The 1.5" of clearance at the smallest point (hump in the first-gen roofs) has been plenty and the topper doesn't even come close to contacting the roof.

-Definitely want to find some sort of rain gutter for the doors, water will leak inside (at least on a first gen) when the doors are up. Thinking of taking some more bulb seal and cutting it into a "J" shape and sticking that part the space frame to see if it will catch water drips from the doors when open.

-Buy the next size up bulb seal and skip the one the sheet calls for IMO - 93085K85 from McMaster

-If you are thinking of making a moveable or lifting floor, DO IT! It adds so much more utility to the topper and if you are building it yourself already, it only makes sense to add it in if you have been thinking of it.

-Silicone the shit out of anywhere you think you might get water intrusion, especially the corners. Won't hurt you to run a nice little bead along the inside where the extrusion meets the floor

-Skip the rubber wiper inserts that seal the roof panel and just run silicone. Saves some money and is guaranteed to be leak-free. My roof has been bone dry so far through snow and pressure washing

-The edge trim on the doors is awesome. It Will probably protect your forehead in the future, but it protects the edges nicely too

-If you want to protect the space frame from scratches and from chaffing of the bulb seals + dirt, go buy some vinyl wrap material from a local sign/graphics shop to act as a little protective layer/accent of color if you want. I used matte black on my gloss black space frame and it looks awesome.

-Buy yourself 100 yards of the basting tape and use it on every single hem and seam, will make sewing much faster and you can get away with pinning less stuff.

-You can drill the holes in the doors for the hinges slightly bigger if you want. This will give you room to move the door around to get it nice and where you want it and potentially resolve any issues with the door touching the space frame at the top when open or your latches contacting the frame before they fully latch (probably, more an issue with adapting the doors to the 1st gen frame and size)

That is really all I have now. I am sure I will have more as I use it more haha. Also, do what you will with the info above.

 

Thanks for all the info. Got started on the tent and definitely basting tape helps a ton!

For your connection from the lower extrusion to the spaceframe, ripcord used cork. What did you end up using if anything at all?

 

I thought wedge latches are jeep latches, are those rusting for you? Also which handle you are talking about?

 

Yeah the basting tape (1/4") works awesome for most everything.

I used cork for the space frame to floor seal. The seal between the floor and extrusion is silicone.

 

They are, but being cheap chinese junk from Amazon, I didnt have high expectations. It looks like the hardware is merely plated, and where the flathead drive cuts are is where the rust is coming from. Presumably because tightening them.

The handle for the tent roof, the hardware that came with it from Tnuts (or where ever the build sheet says its from) has completely rusted. It was only black coated, not stainless

 

Thanks for the heads up. I guess that is the reason why some latches are 100$ and some are 30$.

 

So it looks like my supplier of the alupanel cant source 6mm. Will 3mm work fine for the roof/floor? He has 6mm for the doors.

 

I believe most people are using 3 for the roof and floors. @Ripcord did his floor in 3mm and supported it, but did not build out the cabover in a way you could put all your weight in it. Would need more support for that, regardless of the thickness of the panelling.

FWIW, and curious if anyone else has done this, but I plan on running one or two extrusions underneath the cabover as a support for the floor so I can destress on putting the dogs at the foot of the bed.

 

6mm for the roof is overkill. I used 6mm for the floor and its bomber! works great for the cab-over area, but mine does not stick out much since I have access cab. I also used fender washers so the bolts over the cab area would not sink into the pannel over time from the weight. I'm glad I did not use 3mm for the floor.

 

Can't speak to the quality/comfort yet, but I ordered this mattress very similar dimensionally and build style(at least on paper) to the Exped, but a very different price
https://www.steepandcheap.com/stoic-double-cloud-camp-bed

also they have a 30day return policy so if it sucks back it goes

 

How are you planning to add the supports without having a step in the floor?

 

I think you’re overthinking this. Unless you have some extensively long cab over, no extra support is needed. We had two dogs at our feet and the panel holds up just fine.

 

Rad! Rig looks great. We are doing quite a long cabover actually. To the tune of 39" planned. Aiming for a hybrid of this design and a FWC/Ovrlnd camper, so want a place to sit.

Still think we'd be good sans crossbar?

 

What hinge did you use? A full length hinge or just the 3 screw type ripcord used? I was thinking use a full hinge the length of the door would probably help with this. Tempted to go the polyhinge but after all the failures from the GFC making me think otherwise.

 

thanks!
The over hang on my set up is about 23” or so. I would think adding 10 more wouldn’t be too detrimental. The panel will bow, perhaps add some steel or aluminum strips that would tie off existing perimeter fasteners and rivet the center section onto the floor. This might alleviate some of the stress of off the floor itself.

 

Has anyone cut the extrusions? So Tnutz has a miter option that I chose and later find out its not for combining extrusions but for mounting . Here I am trying to make it look nice on the outside.

So I can save this by cutting the miter section off. I think using the abrasive blade I have that I used to cut the square tube would be fine. Anyone see issues with that?

 

Has anybody done any removable floor panels or floor with struts that lifts? Haven’t started my build but want to plan everything beforehand. Any tips are appreciated

 

I love that you used round tubing for most of it. It’s looking killer! What are the specs on the tube you used?

I was thinking of using piano hinges to help cover from the rain...

 

I am leaving them out. Some others have as well. Its really more if you due heavy offroading, it would be advisable to have them.