I'm Building A (Pop-Up Hard Wall) Slide In Camper - DIY Camper Build EP:8
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- In this episode I will install the port hole style windows, make some roof stabilizer straps and add the roof hold down latches to the camper. I'm almost done with the exterior and ready to jump inside and build out the interior. Soon enough it will be on the Tacoma and we'll hit the road. Thanks for watching, subscribing and following along. Happy Holidays TBT
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Looks great! What is your plan to finish out the exterior? are you going to sheet over it? Or paint it?
The roof will get painted aluminum sheeting and the rest will be sealed with marine grade Interlux wood sealer, primer and polyurethane paint. Thanks.
Hello thanks again for your great videos. Could you put up a link to those roof latches I cant seem to find them on Amazon? And what gas struts did you use and how high? I'm wanting mine to pop up between 800mm to 900mm. Thanks
I used 35” 40lb struts. The ones I used are currently unavailable on Amazon. These are the latches. amzn.to/3GSCcsI.
Unless I missed it. You didn't show the strut installation. Great information by the way. Great job
Thanks! Yeah, I may not have gone into much detail on that unfortunately. It was pretty far back in the build and my filming skills were just taking shape. Not too difficult to figure out how to install... basically 3 things. 1.Overall strut open length matches/works with your popped roof height, 2. enough room for them to close and fold down when the roof is down and 3. the right lift vs. close strength. I think I originally started with 60lbs lifts and went down to 40lds. 60 was way too stiff to collapse the roof. The parts are listed on most of my most resent videos in the description. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
What length and # rating did you use for your struts?
I used these but replaced the plastic ball sockets with metal locking ones. 35” 40#
amzn.to/3TtzkcZ
Very nice setup, it really similar to the one used on some European hard wall popup trailer.
The difference is the 4 struts are on the side and inside the box so not visible or exposed from the outside .
Front and rear panels have 2 wheels, one at each ot their top corners, those wheels go into 2 rails inside the roof part, one rail on each side.
Then you can lift either front or rear panel first, the roof will raise accordingly; this eliminates the need for your 4 straps.
Cheers
Phil
Thanks. Yes, I thought of doing it that way, but it seemed like it would have taken me a long time to engineer it. I thought of using roll up garage door type wheels. Maybe on the next build I’ll try that lol. Thanks for watching and commenting. Happy holidays. TbT.
So how did you determine the length and weight rating of the gas struts? Great video, I’m working on something similar
Thanks. I kind of guessedimated the roof weight and ordered what I though it should be... I started with 60lb struts, but they were way too stiff to pull down. I sent those back (perk of Amazon Prime) and ordered 40lb struts. Those worked and have been working perfectly. I did replace my ball sockets with metal 10mm sockets with lock rings as my struts came with plastic ball joint heads and they seemed to wear out over time and get loose. There are links in some of my later videos for most of the stuff I used in the description of the video. Good luck with your build and thanks for watching and commenting.
@@TravelingbyTacoma so you used (4) 40lb gas struts. Just curious how much your top weighs? I’m just trying to figure out the ratio
Like I said I guessed on the roof weight. Didn’t have a great way to weigh it. Pick your roof up and estimate its weight and start there… or if you haven’t assembled a roof yet weigh your parts as you go along and add them up at the end for your weight. My roof dimensions are about 64Wx98L.
Looks great, do you know the weight of the camper?
So far, I’d guess under 325lbs. Hope to be about 500lbs dry when done. Happy new year. TbT
Do you know what it weighs?
At this point I’d estimate it weighs under 325lbs. I plan on weighing it as soon as I get it painted and the roof on. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
Really coming out nice !! You have a Knack for problem solving !!
Merry Christmas !!
Thanks! Merry Christmas to you too.
Nice straps I wonder whose idea what was
Your mom’s?
What's your plan for getting it in and out of the truck? Love the build btw; currently building something very similar. Decided to go with canvas walls myself though for the popup section.
Thanks. These are what I'm going to use, though I may need to modify them a bit since my camper does not hang over the bed very much. I think they will work fine though. I saw these on another channel and they used them for a similar size build as mine. www.etrailer.com/Camper-Jacks/Brophy/CJ31.html Good luck with your build. TbT
I have these. Mine are 1990s old but they work great. DON'T use them on a slope, don't ask me why that is. 😂😂😂
😉😂👍🏻
Great build sir! What size/lb strut are you using? Also, what's your final roof layer going to be? Thanks for recording & posting this.
Thais is what I used for the struts.
C1615953 35 inch 40 LB Gas Prop Struts Shocks, C16-15952 35.43" 178 N Lift-Support Gas Springs for Teardrop Camper Door Tonneu Cover Truck Topper Bed Camper Shell RV Kitchen Door , 2Pcs Set ARANA a.co/d/6xlNWoC
I’m going to use a sheet of thin aluminum…the stuff they use for those white boxed in utility trailers. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@TravelingbyTacomathank you for this! Ignore my question about this. Ha ha ha. 😅😅😅
You will not realize how much help this helps me. I commented on Ep. 7 about this same thing. I have a soft walled Jayco Sportster 7 that I'm modernizing as the canvas is shot and the struts do not retract anymore. I'd like to do this, hard walled, for winter camping & winter rec.
Have a couple of questions:
1) where did you get the struts?
2) Where did you find the clamps?
3) how did you determine the height for the struts and how did you determine the placement?
Awesome build! Thanks for making this video.
Guy H
Thanks. Glad it helped you. In the description section of my newer videos I have linked all the stuff I used. I just made sure the struts could close and fully open to the open height before I installed them. I didn’t have any formula.
Very impressive! This has inspired me to build a similar style camper for my 80’s Toyota pickup, in the current state roughly how much do you think it weighs? Are you and your partner/friends able to install it without the use of jacks? Awesome build and can’t wait to see the end result!
Thanks. I think it weighs about 300lbs at this point. I’ll get an actual weight and put it in a video once I painted and put it back on the truck. Good luck with your build. TbT.
Do you happen to have a link for the fasteners you used?
Can you be more specific? I can send a link I’m just not exactly sure what you’re referring to. Thanks for watching and commenting. Tbt.
@@TravelingbyTacoma oh yeah sorry, I was referring to the snap fastener stud and webbing you used to make the top more stable when putting the walls up
No worries. Here are a few links to them. Thanks for watching. TbT
Webbing amzn.to/3Lk7R9q
Snap Fasteners amzn.to/41uQ5Gd
Great series. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the view and the comment. Glad you’re enjoying it. TbT.
Looking great! Looking forward to the exterior paint being completed.
Thanks. Should be in the next episode in January sometime. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
Awsome build.
Thanks and thanks for the watch and comment. TbT
Hey! Sorry, I have another question for you. How are you securing the roof to the pop up walls when they are popped up? Thank you for recording this build! It really is a great idea and design!
The lift struts max out with just enough room for the walls to slide under the roof. I’ll show this when I get to building the inside more. The side walls lock the front walls in place when they are all up and the roof will will have a connection to the side wall when it’s up too. It’ll be in upcoming episodes. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
Best build that I’ve seen on the Internet so far you did a really nice job with that thing. Thank you for sharing. God bless you and yours.
Thank you, much appreciated. Thanks for watching and commenting as well. 🙏🏻
This is looking good, close enough for a test camp? Interesting idea for the roof wiggle. "Almost done with the exterior" means it is painted? Minimalist interior? No room for a Christmas tree either. Have a good holiday.
Thanks for watching and commenting. Not quite ready for a test run yet. I’ve been traveling for work and super busy/ holidays. I’m going to jump on the paint work and roof in Jan and then I’ll be ready to tackle the interior. I have a few ideas for the interior I’ve been kicking around, but I’m not going to rush anything so I’m going to finish the painting and waterproofing then focus on the interior. Have a great holiday as well TbT
Thank you, TbT, for your videos. Yours is the most specific and inspiring DIY camper building videos I've ever seen.
Glad you like them! Thanks for watching and commenting. TBT
love these videos man that’s a great idea! how much roughly do you think it’ll take to finish this?
Thanks, much appreciated. How much time? I’d say I will done building and using the camper by the end of May. If it’s the cost to build I’d guess about $3k in materials and lots of time. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
What size gas struts did you use?
This is what I used.
C1615953 35 inch 40 LB Gas Prop Struts Shocks, C16-15952 35.43" 178 N Lift-Support Gas Springs for Teardrop Camper Door Tonneu Cover Truck Topper Bed Camper Shell RV Kitchen Door , 2Pcs Set ARANA a.co/d/6ikycN4
Thanks!
No problem.
Can you tell us how much you have I to material???
How much I’ve spent so far? About $1600.
Love the build, Made one myself see on my channel
I’ll check it out for sure. Thanks for the comment. TbT 🤙🏼
What's your thinking with the size of the windows Jason? Did you get the small windows to keep strength integrity for the walls? I'm thinking of getting 12x24" windows but was wondering if that might be an issue.
I got them for a few reasons. Cost (they were cheap) and if they don’t work well I can cut in larger windows if needed. I don’t expect to hang out in the camper too much other than sleeping,so having a view outside wasn’t very important to us. We’ll be outside mostly and like to try to sleep in so the darker the better.
@@TravelingbyTacoma Very good points. Especially the one about sleeping as I am a very light sleeper.
Get it! Great seeing a fellow DIY build in such depth 📼🎬🙌
Thanks! Appreciate the comment and view. Stay safe out there. TbT 🍻
I bet this thing cost more than a real one with the price of building materials
Haha. I mean if you had to pay labor maybe, but I love building shit and it’s cheaper than therapy. I’ve spent about $4000 total. My buddy just bought a deluxe version 4wheel camper for his Tacoma and paid close to $50k. So you’re a bit off. Thanks for commenting. Stay safe out there TbT.
Will you share the cost once you are all done?
Yeah, I should be able to have a pretty accurate cost. Not exact due to using some parts and pieces I already had but within a couple hundred for sure. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
Wow, great build!! Love what you're doing here! I have a couple of questions. Where did you order the struts from and how did you know the correct poundage and length? Also, do you by any chance a link to somewhere with more info about DYI strut installation on a popup camper? Thanks a bunch!
Thanks! I got them from
Amazon. Link is in the video description. I originally tried 60# struts, but they were too strong so I sent them back and got 40lbs. They work great. As far as the length, I just measured what I needed at full height (popped up camper) and how long the strut is compressed and installed them based of these measurements. The strut need to be able to compress fully when the camper is down so you need to allow room for it to compress. Basically don’t attach the strut mounts wider or narrower than the strut allows. If the strut is 18” when compressed the strut mounts (one on the roof and one on the camper) should be about 19” apart. Then you need to figure out how tall your pop up (roof) will be and order that length. I hope that helps it was a head scratcher for me too. I tried to find something online that would help me, but not much out there.
@@TravelingbyTacoma thanks for this, you're a legend!! 😁💪🏽 Wanting to switch my camper to struts and having a hard time finding good info online. I think I just need to roll up my sleeves and get at it!
@@TravelingbyTacoma also, I think you forgot to add the struts to the description... not seeing them there.
Oh sorry they are in the description of the video I released today. Didn’t realize you were commenting on a different video. ✌🏻🍻
Huh. I can see on my end. Did you scroll down below the description? Here a link.
C1615953 35 inch 40 LB Gas Prop... www.amazon.com/dp/B09MLG2TGK?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Very innovative!!
Thanks!
I used the same windows as they're so cheap, however, you have installed them back to front, which I'm guessing you know as they install flush that way and open from the inside. The problem is these windows aren't water tight that way around. You'll have to do some heavy sealing to get the "tunnel" to seal where it meets the plywood and then under the outside bezel.
Good to know. Thanks. Yes, I plan to double seal them with butyl and marine grade sealant all around. Hopefully that will be enough. If not I’ll probably try to make some sort of removable little awning cover for the the deflect rain. Thanks for the tip and happy holidays. TbT
Great job
Thank you. TbT
I'm impressed!
Thanks.
Jason, just curious, how long are your struts?
This is what I used. Tried 60lb first, but were way too hard to close.
C1615953 35 inch 40 LB Gas Prop Struts Shocks, C16-15952 35.43" 178 N Lift-Support Gas Springs for Teardrop Camper Door Tonneu Cover Truck Topper Bed Camper Shell RV Kitchen Door , 2Pcs Set ARANA a.co/d/9jvD9fX
@@TravelingbyTacoma I measured wrong and got the 28". Returned them and ordered 36" earlier today. But I got the 60 lbs ones. My roof is almost 100 lbs so I might be ok. Thanks for replying.
How heavy is your roof?
It’s about 35lb so far. Probably 47/50lls when done covering it with aluminum.
@@TravelingbyTacoma That's nice & light! I had to add 2 - 1\4" sheets of plywood on my 8x6.5' roof. I will apply Raptor truck bed spray finish. It's also used for RV roofs. Crossing my fingers that it will work.
Waiting on the next video! I am planning to build a similar unit that drops into a. 5x8 box trailer. I want to keep the roof low for long road trip fuel economy. Appreciate you sharing your work, and would love to know more detail about the roof and hard side wall mechanism. Maybe you can do a video sharing some things to watch out for. Thank you again! Really appreciate the effort to make these videos.
Cool. I hope your build goes well and my vids help. Yes, I will do a more in detail video on the roof (probably the video after next). New video should be out in a week or so. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
I can't see how you make the walls hold stable when they are up.
The side walls fold into the front walls locking them together (as far as front to back movement) . On the inside of the roof there will be a tab (for lack of a better word) that will rotate down and lock the side walls into the roof (side to side stability) . I have roughed that part in and it locks all 4 walls in super solid. I will cover building that piece when I get to the the interior build. I'll be sure to show how everything comes together, when open and closed. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
@@TravelingbyTacoma So I'm telling my wife I want to follow your plan but modify to build a 12 foot travel trailer on a flat bed trailer. She thinks it will be too long to be stable using this fold up method. What do you think? Can it be done?
I’m no expert, just working through this build as I go. I think you could probably do it, but I’d use a bit heavier (maybe 2x4) lumbers. My walls are 8’, so I think 12’ isn’t too much more. First thing I would determine is how much weight your trailer can handle and try to come in well below that max. People, Food water and gear is heavy so you have to factor that into the over all weight as well. Just my opinion, I’m not an engineer. Good luck. Thanks for watching and commenting. TbT
Doesn't the roof provide rigidity as well?