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Flip top camper project

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Flyin6:
After searching for readily installed truck box fitted flip open rooftop campers, I am surprised (appalled) by the prices.
These people want your first borne for what is not all that much of a product. I mean looking at these things, they are relatively simple and don't involve much in the way of materials, yet a bolt-down shell that has no bottom, no anything save for a door, a bed, some canvas, and a couple of side access panels can set you back 60% of the cost of a whole new Jeep or cheapo truck!!!!!!

I am just having the hardest of time swallowing having to shell out $15K-$33K for something that is just not all that great. It has to be all in the labor and shipping. The Alu-Cab which is my favorite so far will run every bit of $20,000 by the time I get it installed. The super spartan 4-Wheel Campers is so bare bones, it's silly and it's over $20K and I have to drive forever to get it.

I am just not seeing it! When I started looking, I was thinking of finding a nice pop top shell with a bed for $7K that I could kit out and get on the trail pdq. But that is just not there, even in the used market.

Yesterday morning after breakfast with my local aviator friends, Duane mentioned to me, I should get a tig and build my own. That suggestion fell on fertile ground after reading about this excellent build:

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/gladiator-pop-up-pass-through-camper-build.227973/page-4

This guy^^^^ has mad building skills, but so do I. He is more precise and obviously an engineer and exercised extreme attention to detail. Looking back on the camper build I did for the Real-Man adventure meet-up that never happened due to Covid, I freely admit, that build is not as good as it could get, by a stretch. But it's good, strong, serviceable, and inexpensive.

So, although I am not committing to building another camper thing for the JT, I am in the midst of doing a feasibility study of the idea.

Currently, I have sketched out a general concept that would serve my needs. I am exploring the weight and costs for various materials. So with all that said, I'll post up as I advance or abandon this idea. It may serve for a good discussion.

Right now, the design criteria are to:
1. Be somewhat unique
2. Give me the maximum amount of room inside
3. Provide for something close to a 52" X 80" sleeping platform
4. Be as light as possible
5. Be easy to build/use easy to work with materials
6. Be a fun project that I would be proud to use on the trail and drive around in.

With that said, I am investigating materials with respect to cost and weight
Under consideration is:
Aluminum
Polyester fiberglass reinforced panels
Wood panels (Baltic Birch)

Bob Smith:
A couple army blankets and a blue tarp would work and not weigh much.

wyorunner:
Could purchase one of them drawer platforms, an actual topper, and a mattress, for pretty cheap. Then you still have room for tools and such, and a sleeping area. Would also be quick to install, plug and play!

Also helps keep COG a bit lower. Probably meets low weight requirements as well.

Flyin6:

--- Quote from: wyorunner on December 09, 2022, 01:18:10 PM ---Could purchase one of them drawer platforms, an actual topper, and a mattress, for pretty cheap. Then you still have room for tools and such, and a sleeping area. Would also be quick to install, plug and play!

Also helps keep COG a bit lower. Probably meets low weight requirements as well.

--- End quote ---
Yes, I could, but I am staying on track to explore this possibility seriously.

I have learned so much while now having built several of these things that I think I can build an excellent topper for a fraction of the cost of the commercial units.

And speaking of weight, those topper/caps are heavy.

Thus far, I have developed measurements based off the actual truck and come up with a preliminary design. From that I now know the approximate exterior square footage of the build.

It adds up to 121.4 sq ft.

Using that fiberglass sheeting at around $150 or more a sheet, it weighs in at 2.45 lb/sq ft. for a skin weight of 297 lbs. No frame, no windows, no bed platform, nada, just skin. But since there is more skin than anything else, it's a good place to start saving weight.

There may be a lighter-weight variant of the glass panels, I do not know.

I do not know about aluminum yet

But I do know about the 1/4" Baltic Birch plywood. This is similar to the stuff some airplanes are made from. it comes in at a paltry .86 lbs.

So that same structure would weigh around 104 lbs vs 297. The cost of the best 1/4" Baltic Birch at Menards at the moment is under $45 a sheet. I'd probably need 5 sheets and have a bunch of waste if I used that.

Flyin6:
I am looking at possibly doing some neat things if I do this.

The first would be to push it out the back a little and to push the sides out past the bed rails a little like the 4-Wheel Camper product. Then angle it in near the top to keep the pop-up portion narrower. That would maximize interior room while keeping the roof profile leaner and reducing the weight carried higher up.

I have thought about the interior panels as well. I think I could get away with some hard insulation blocks wrapped with a fabric that is glued on. That would finish it while adding both R-value and very little weight.

In any event, I plan to run two longitudinal strips of the extruded aluminum channel the whole length to make it super strong while giving me a place to add an awning and max tracks along with a shovel.

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