How to: DIY Wedge Camper

Does anyone feel the need to cross brace the upper roof?

 

It has arrived!

 

Damn that’s smart. Wish I would’ve seen this before bolting my doors on. guess I’ll bookmark this as a potential mod for the future.

I did a roof rack. it helped with lateral deflection quite a bit.
absolutely necessary? I’d say no.
Made a noticeable difference? Yea definitely.

 

Do you have a link of what you used?

 

I attached the camper to the frame with just the cork. The silicone was added to the exterior of the frame and extrusion interface after everything was attached.

 

Little technical note/recommendation for the 3/16” pop-rivets. I almost forgot to do this.

Make sure you do what I call a “touch countersink” to your 3/16” hole in the steel/max metal/aluminum hinge, etc. This is basically making a very small bevel (very shallow countersink) to accommodate that shoulder on those Grainger rivets listed in this site. You want the rivet sleeve to be snug in the holes (drill to .187) but to sit flat on the head and not on that bump circled in red.

 

Hinge: MS20257P-5 6’ x3 each
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/mepages/pianohinge.php

“MS20257P (supercedes AN257) hinge consists of two aluminum half hinges which mate and are held together by a hinge pin. Anodized finish. MS20257C is similar to MS20257P except made in stainless steel.”

RTV-103 is a high strength silicone (Momentive makes the stuff I have). Better than Home Depot junk.
https://www.skygeek.com/rtv103-3tg.html

Fabric 600D was leftover from another project but similar to this. **
https://www.rockywoods.com/600-Deni...ter-with-durable-water-repellent-finish-Black

** Be sure to test that the adhesive you use bonds ok. Waterproof fabrics might also be “adhesive-resistant”. RTV adheres very well to anodized aluminum hinges and clean paint.

 

Oh you just used the tent fabric. Nice I have quite a bit left over. Did the piano hinges leak a lot when closed?

 

Yes it leaked a lot. I did not have a seal on the top of the door (was in a hurry building it).

Yes and true, nothing special about the fabric. Tent fabric would work great.

 

Great DIY thread OP

And you did all this and made it work this well on a "short bed" too.

 

What is everyone doing with the bed cap after removing the plastic covers?
I am not too convinced on the tape solution from ripcord.

 

Thinking about bedlining/painting my side panels before putting everything together. Any suggestions/ideas of what anybody has used that worked well?

 

Raptor Liner is pretty good. You can get it in spray cans. did all 4 of my fender flares with 2 cans, I originally intended to use SEM trim paint and didnt like how they came out so I already had a dark base coat and solid adhesion so you may or may not need an adhesion promoter . Did my winch mount with 1 can, painted it first with Raptor epoxy primer and then did roll on rustoleum since I had it laying around to cover the interior and unseen portions. the face and bottom got the raptor liner

 

Self etching primer (zinc chromate if you can get it, used on aircraft) on the aluminum, I'm having a paint shop match some spray cans to silver sky metallic (minus the metallic)

 

I too mounted all panel stiffeners with VHB.... But I did give in and put 1 rivet near the mounting point of each strut just incase... but they worked fine for a few weeks with zero rivets.

As a note, I read that it's important the tape has time to 'cure' at or around room temperature for a few days before a load is placed on them. I built them all up and let the panels sit inside for a few days before mounting to the camper.

 

Agree. Like everything, I think it depends on the scope of what you want to take on.

I chose King Starboard + cork tape. Took a weekend to complete but looks like it will last the life of the truck. You could actually make those with a jigsaw as the material is very easy to file, sand, cut, route. You could also just use stainless cs bolts and nuts/washers and not titanium/aluminum to hold them down. Mine sit on Teflon tape adhered to the painted bed but you could also use vinyl or something similar to mitigate paint erosion from small movement of the new caps + sand/dirt. Maybe even bond them with a poly sealant + fasteners?


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

 

Another question. What is the minimum distance between the roof of the cabin and the camper so that they don't touch each other under flex?
Want to go as low as possible to have enough room to get through the garage door.

 

Default measurements provided in the plans are probably as low as you can go on a 2nd gen with the low profile roof antenna. The rest will depend on your suspension if its stock vs lifted as well as tire size.

 

I didn’t follow the plans but settled on 2.0” from the bottom of the frames to cab (using long levels), so once the max metal cover and bolts were added up front, final was 1.7” clearance from the bottom of the cap bolt heads on the camper to the highest spot on the cab. It looks close, (makes me cringe thinking about it again) but it is fine and fits in my garage w/ stock suspension!

 

looking for anyone in the la area have a rig for the space frame or are willing to do to another space frame for a long bed tacoma