Project Extended Pop-Top Aerodynamic Camper Shell ('99 Tacoma)

[a8ksh4]

It felt really strong. I jumped on it before I got rid of it and it didn't delaminate... is that 600lb per sq. foot? If you loaded the whole top up like that, though, who knows...

The hobie-cat sailboats are made of fiberglass laminated foam like this. It's super strong.

FWIW, when I build V2 of this thing, I'm going to do it out of 1x2 and 2x2 doug fir with 3/16" plywood panels outside, stained and sealed with epoxy resin, and with insulation affixed inside between the wood strips. Should take a fraction of the time to build and be able to get a similar overall shape.

What are your goals for your shell?

[free radical]

Originally Posted by a8ksh4

It felt really strong. I jumped on it before I got rid of it and it didn't delaminate... is that 600lb per sq. foot? If you loaded the whole top up like that, though, who knows...

The hobie-cat sailboats are made of fiberglass laminated foam like this. It's super strong.

FWIW, when I build V2 of this thing, I'm going to do it out of 1x2 and 2x2 doug fir with 3/16" plywood panels outside, stained and sealed with epoxy resin, and with insulation affixed inside between the wood strips. Should take a fraction of the time to build and be able to get a similar overall shape.

What are your goals for your shell?

I plan to do some traveling and with only half ton pickup I'm limited to about 1800 pounds of load,,there are some comercial hard shell campers in that weight,but their square size and crappy construction turns me off,plus I can build it much cheaper..
I made my present camper (it's the pic in my avatar)from plywood 3/4 inch lower part and 1/4 inch walls and roof coated with Cold cure epoxy and marine enamel,,it's maybe 1000lbs empty,,not bad,but making it from Fglass&foam I could make it lighter still and round all the corners too ,to make it even more streamlined..

Theres ExpeditionPortal and RvNet sites for anyone interested in building RV related vehicles and things..

[spray2020]

wow, awesome craft!

[Asanelli]

how much the whole unit weigh??

[a8ksh4]

Maybe 75 lbs (35 kg). I could pick it up and mount it on the truck by myself without any trouble. The compartment I added to hold the awning certainly added some weight, so a more simple version would be significantly less.

[a8ksh4]

Hi all, I haven't been on here in a long time. But I thought it'd be fun to give a little status update with more recent projects.

Two years ago, I rebuilt an old Four Wheel camper, documented here:
https://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/...nd-gen-tacoma/
This thing is the antithesis to the original aerodynamic camper. It feels like an apartment inside and gets me 15 mpg on the highway in my 4cyl Tacoma. Got me some exposure to canvas/vinyl work, battery chemistry, solar and electric, though.

And more recently, I'm working on a CNC rig that I hope will enable building some fun custom camper stuff in the future, documented here: https://forum.v1engineering.com/t/sa...build/11604/26

I'm optimistic that I can programmatically generate patterns (gcode ultimately) for different camper configurations, or other stuff, and then cut it on the CNC rig. Tbd!