Gladiator Pop-Up Pass Through Camper Build

Mules

Well-known member
Maybe I missed it.

What did this end up weighing and how much heavier is your modified top versus the stock top you started with?
Back from the paint shop it's sitting at 184 lb. Plus roughly 70 lb. for bed platform, pneumatic shocks, tent, and back hatchback puts it at 254.

I didn't weight the original top, but guess it was 80 lbs.

If I'm right, this only added the difference between the two tops or about 174 lb. to my rig. For comparison an AluCab for Jeep Gladiator ads 462 lb. I'm not as strong, but boy am I light.

I'll appreciate the weight when I fill up the gas tank!
 
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1000arms

Well-known member
The biggest problem with the professional painting is that you will probably never be willing to use a roller to retouch the paint on your Gladiator. ... :cool:

Looks good!
 

Mules

Well-known member
The biggest problem with the professional painting is that you will probably never be willing to use a roller to retouch the paint on your Gladiator. ... :cool:

Looks good!
Yea, I'm going to shed a tear when that first long scratch runs down the side of the rig :cry:
 

1000arms

Well-known member
Yea, I'm going to shed a tear when that first long scratch runs down the side of the rig :cry:
Just fill the scratches in with a contrasting color to help show them as a badge of honor. :)

It works great on dinged, dented, or crumpled-but-hammered-back-out channel-iron bumpers. People who spot the bumper usually refrain from pulling out in front of it! :cool:
 

Mules

Well-known member
So the newest question is drawers or shelves, like the picture below. Drawers are useful but difficult to build and heavy. Shelves keep it light and simple. Any opinions from the experts?

37F02259-6636-4D7B-9108-2538B39F26AF.jpeg
 

highwest

Well-known member
I think drawers will be the easiest to use in the long run, but, as you’ve pointed out, a bit more complex to build and heavier. It may be good to understand how much heavier, to see what you’d give up for ease of use.

Shelves look light and simple, but you need to devise a way to keep your stuff on the shelves while traveling. And everyone can see your stuff.

We have benches on each side that open from the top in the style of a chest. They look good from the outside (can’t see all the stuff inside), are probably the lightest option, and were easy to build. However, one half of our benches always has our duffels of personal effects and a few other items on top of them, so if you need to access the inside, you need to move a bag or two to open the section of the chest bench that you want to access. It’s not a big deal since the benches contain the systems, tools, bedding, and other things that we usually access once a day or less. The fridge is still on a slide which is so easy to use that it seems non-negotiable.

One final option that may be a good combo of all of the above are covered hatches that access from the side like a shelf, but the hatch keeps all your stuff contained and covered up. The hatch covers could be hinged or completely removable. A little more complex to build, but not as much as drawers, and not too much heavier than shelves. Probably way lighter than drawers..?

Do you watch Andrew St Pierre White (4xOverland)? I think his newest Land Cruiser as some nice solutions that look simple, a combo of drawers and hatches, I think.
 

Mules

Well-known member
I've always thought the soft bags as drawers like Earthroamer used on their Jeep conversion was a good idea. The ease of drawers, lightweight of soft bags, and easy to carry back and forth when loading/unloading for a trip, or just to put outside on a table.

View attachment 729690
Good call! Bags and shelves could be tiddy, handy and light. These Frontrunner bags look nice on shelves.

Screen Shot 2022-07-01 at 12.29.52 PM.png
 
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mog

Kodiak Buckaroo
Good call! Bags and shelves could be tiddy, handy and light. These Frontrunner bags look nice on shelves.
Cheap thrifty guy tip. When looking for 'bags' think outside the box (description).
I wanted a bag for the inside of the spare on my RZR and most of the bags made for that are pushing $100.

inwheelstoragebag.jpg
But I found a bag on Amazon for 'BBQ supplies', same round shape with top opening lid, top handle, extra strong,
and even had red piping to match the RZR's striping (we must be color coordinated or Expo points removed ? ) for $12.50.
 

dstefan

Well-known member
Here’s a brief how-to I wrote up (second quote) on making Coroplast drawers. Very lightweight
Well, if weight is a top concern, you could consider make the drawers out of Coroplast with some added reinforcement. They don’t need runners if you have a flat bottom in the casing for them to slide on. Extremely tough material, but has some flex. you can load them up if well built.
View attachment 727457

View attachment 727456
This drawer has about 25lbs of crap in it. 25”x18”x7”

View attachment 727458

I wrote up a short how-to elsewhere:


They are way easier to make than wood drawers and easy to repeat with a layout template for several same sized ones.

Very definitely, though if you use 1/4" (really 5mm) baltic birch plywood that's pretty light too and def stronger. Coroplast will give you rigidity along the flute/chanel lines, but can be flexible. If you anchor the walls on the side it would be pretty impact forgiving. It's just much easier, cheaper and quicker to work with. No sawing, dust, sealing, finishing, etc. I'm using 4mm but there is a stronger, still light 6mm available, but not at Home Depot.

Thanks! Not sure exactly how you mean "sheathing" WRT the drawer, but just to be clear, the drawers are actually completely made of coroplast, but with some corner and edge reinforcement which actually can be optional. There's no inside frame. The strength comes from the folding. Don't have construction process pictures, but I was garage cleaning this morning and found my cardboard drawer template so I marked it up quickly:
View attachment 700414

Here's a quick how to:

1) Layout and cut the drawer blank (I like a quick cardboard mock-up to verify it's gonna fit first)
2) Slit the top layer ONLY of the two fold lines that go in the direction of the channels/flutes
3) Lightly score with a utility knife the other two fold lines that go across the flutes. (I also run a rotary pizza cutter along the line using a straight edge to break down the little walls). ALL the cuts/scores of the fold lines are done inside the box only. Gives you smooth bottom edges and corners.
4) Fold it up and tape the corners.
You could stop here for a really light duty box if you use good tape. I've made boxes with 2" Gaffer tape that have held up for years. Read on for a more durable one . . .
5) Clean the inside corners with isopropyl alcohol and lightly scuff with ~120 grit sand paper (using the VHB primer as well is even stronger)
6) Apply VHB tape to the corners (dashed lines in the picture) and roll it or press for a good adhesion
7) Fit 4 corner braces of hardware store 3/4' alum angle that you've cut to the box height in the corners and roll/press again. Oh, first clean and scuff the alum angle too. No need for primer on it.
8) If you want real side rigidity, you can buy some hardware store/Home Depot 1/4"aluminum plywood trim channel for edging. You can just press fit this. It will be held by the alum corner braces plus the coroplast

No need for a frame otherwise. The bottom fold lines on each side give rigidity. The drawer I made for my back seat platform is holding 20lbs of stuff and I take it out to store in the house, so I VHB'd another full piece of coroplast on the inside bottom of the drawer for a little more bottom support as its quite long.

I made the drawer in the camper exactly as described and its quite rigid.

If you're gonna work much with coroplast, get one of these:

Makes it real easy to cut either 1 or both layers along the flutes. You can also use it to make coroplast hinges, and you can make corner reinforcements with it.
 

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