How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Curious how the silicone caulk will do. I may do the same you did @NotTaco with assembly. If I do get cork attempt the slide on assembly and then go back with a bead of silicone to fill the gap for additional water protection.

 

has anyone seen the new(ish) super pacific campers? buddy of mine got one and the doors / space frame connection is really amazing. also, the doors seem really sturdy and bullet proof. I think they're billet aluminum, but not sure how that compares to the material everyone is using here? https://www.superpacificusa.com/faq-page#specs

I am selling my gen 1 with the camper to get another gen 1, but 4 doors and would build another camper for the new truck. would love to model the next build off some of the super pacific features.

 

So I’m building mine with the whole bed as the opening. I was thinking about just making the Ali panel go over the cab then use the cork only on the bed between the extrusion.

Has anyone done this or think there would be any issue? The cork is pretty thick so it would match the height close as the Alu panel.

 

I did use the cork rubber on the floor gasket, just to be clear. I skipped it on the bulkhead.

 

You'd probably want to still use a 5'x10' sheet of DiBond and just make the opening roughly the size of the truck bed. If you cut the DiBond so that it is only the size of the footprint of the overhanging section I see problems with that front seam busting loose when you put weight on it, Or maybe issues trying to match the thickness of the DiBond to the cork rubber...Just my 2 cents, but here in lies the fun of building it yourself. You get to do it the way you see fit.

 

If I'm understanding you correctly, this is exactly what I did. I too have an open (modular) floor.

Here's a photo of mine from the inside (ignore the moisture, I was working on the camper while it was snowing):

 

That is exactly what I meant. Have you had any leaking issues?

 

The setup would be similar to Wasatch picture. So the Panel would go over the front crossmember of the spaceframe. Also my overhang is only 15" since Im a long bed and made the wedge shorter(save a couple hundred in shipping costs and im short so it works). From Wasatch's picture and my measurements the cork is close to the same thickness.

 

No leaks at all. I went overboard on my sealing... In addition to the cork gasket, I also ran a bead of black silicone on the outside edge to ensure zero water gets in.

 

Cool I think I will go this route since its easier hahah.

Did you use 1.5" angle iron for the floor mount? Looks similar to what I plan. What are you making the sections out of for the bed? I was thinking 1" square tube would hopefully be flush after adding cork to the angle iron and alu panel thickness.

 

Yep. 1.5'' angle iron 1/8'' thick. Works great.

 

this is what I did. Used a 5x10 sheet and cut an opening in the floor panel. The material wasn’t wasted because I nested my front and rear panels into the opening.

I didn’t take the opening all the way to the edge of the extrusion so that my aluminum honeycomb panels could clear the keder rail for the tent bolted to the inside of the extrusion.

not the best picture but you get the idea:


then here it is mocking things up with the floor panels in place before I bonded the edging to them. The gap at the rear is to account for the 1/8” aluminum c-channel I bonded to all the edges to cover the exposed honeycomb. Eventually I split the rearmost panel in half into 2 squares like on the GFC

 

I think the outside bead is critical if you live in a wet environment.

 

Did one of my panels in VHB...against rivets...VHB seems superior.

Much more secure attachment (less flopping and bending at the rivets, more distributed loads)

Significantly less work than drilling and pulling rivets.

No holes for water intrusion

And it looks better.

 

Did that bead interface directly with the cork? I was wondering if you could do this as a double layer of protection or it it might interact with the cork negatively.

This is for attaching your panel stiffeners to your side hatch doors? Thanks for the report, I'm hoping to do the same thing.

 

I’d hate to pay for shipping if I ordered online. I don’t have anywhere locally that stocks the 16 gauge with a 065 wall thickness

 

Question on securing the tent material to the 8020: rather than use the aluminum awning track + keder rope, has anybody used the sewable keder rail track and slid it right into the 8020 t-slot? I'm curious about the pro's & cons. Is one installation method easier than the other for installing/removing the tent material?

Thanks! Been stalking/reading this thread for months now. Finally gathering materials to build the wedge tent.

 

Yes. I did stiffeners made of .050 aluminum. 2 inches wide, with a 1/2 inch lip. The 2 inch wide portion got 2, 1 inch strips of 30#

$6 3m VHB 100x200mm~ (4" X8") Double Sided Foam Adhesive Sheet Tape 5952 Automotive Mounting Industrial Grade Very High Bond 5952 (1 Sheets 100x200mm)

3m VHB tape. They feel more securely attached to the panels than the riveted ones do. No data yet on longjevity.

 

Waterproof piano hinges:

Added some pics of this idea I had that appears to have worked.



https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/composite-80-20-wedge-camper-build.681480/

 

not sure how tight the 8020 will keep it. The keder rail is designed for boat awnings and what not and those can take some wind.