My Vixen 21 Urban Explorer

[ejohnson]

Did a little shopping today, while looking for power converter/inverters for this little bugger (someone stole the original one) I started looking at linear actuators.... this got me thinking, I dont really like to have to keep my neck bent just to stand up in here, there is about 5.5 feet of headroom in mine (td has a flip top roof). I can install 4 actuators, one in each corner to lift the roof another, say, 8 inches. This would give me ample headroom to stand, walk, and move about the small cabin.

So, running with this idea, I am going to order up four 8 inch stroke actuators, and enlist my mother in laws sewing machine to make a nylon/screen tent to go around the roof. Right now it has the roof bolted on, but can be unbolted and actuators installed to pop it up. I want to use a very very long bungie cord thats inside a "loop" around the tent area. This will pull the tent inwards as the top closes keeping good contact between the roof and the seals on the body.

Thoughts?

[jkam]

You are opening up a can of worms.
From the outset, it seems to me that you have the wrong rig for intended use.

As cool as the Vixen is, I'd sell it, find something more in line with your future uses and start over.

[ejohnson]

I think its a perfect fit. I dont plan to go offroad, I need something thats small enough to park in the city, but big enough to fit 5-6 people. 35 mpg is great for traveling long distance to places. The inside has plenty of space, loading capacity is pretty high since its just a chevy g20 full sized van frame/suspension.

Not sure why you think its wrong for my uses.

Also, the can of worms was opened 4 years ago when I bought this Vixen, I am a mechanic by trade and autobody tech by schooling, so fixing this is not really a problem.

[kerry]

I've loved the Vixens ever since I saw one in my neighborhood about 15 years ago. Well worth fixing up. I'd consider buying an old pop up camper or regular camping trailer for a few $$ and transferring the relevant interior parts over to the Vixen.

[ejohnson]

I have thought of that too, my friend said he would sell me his old pop up for 100$, it has not been opened up in 12 years though so who knows whats living in it.