ITTOG's Truck Camper Build (was 6' x 12' Trailer Conversion)

[ITTOG]

Thanks for all that info. i may try stronger struts but a little concerned of getting too strong. My struts are 50 pounds each for a total of 200 pounds. The roof weighs about 160.

Does anyone know if linear actuators can handle lateral loads? I may leave my struts as they are and put two actuators in the middle of the roof, inside the camper. If they can handle lateral loads I will have a solution.

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[ITTOG]

I am looking at this unit, https://www.firgelli.com/products/deluxe-rod-actuator?variant=39587738779846. I need 34" of stroke so it will be a long one.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

All the pop ups with mech, or electric lifts have 4 points of contact. Northstar, OEV, Outfitter,Halmark, even the Palomino.

I would be worried about just two center ones. In the best case scenario, they would need to be perfectly ballanced right?

Im not sure, but food for thought. Some of those are well known and have done a lot of R&D. If they could get away with less i would think they would do so?

 

[ITTOG]

All the pop ups with mech, or electric lifts have 4 points of contact. Northstar, OEV, Outfitter,Halmark, even the Palomino.

I would be worried about just two center ones. In the best case scenario, they would need to be perfectly ballanced right?

Im not sure, but food for thought. Some of those are well known and have done a lot of R&D. If they could get away with less i would think they would do so?

My idea with only using two, in the middle of the roof, would also include the gas struts. Thus I would have six points of contact. I think, with a uniform upward pressure in the center of the roof raising it, the four gas struts, and the two lift stabilizers at the ends it should word? I would obviously have to do some testing. It may not work and then I could just buy two more linear actuators and be done with it. Testing will be key.

 

[ITTOG]

Time: 11 hours
Total Time to Date: 346 hours
Rework: 0 hours
Total Rework to Date: 79 hours (not part of time above)
Current Weight: To be weighed, but at least 700 pounds

Given I don't have a brake and most shops can't bend a 12' piece, So I had to come up with a way to bend the roof skin myself. The material is called Galvalume. If you don't know, Galvalume is a coating consisting of zinc, aluminum, and silicon that is used to protect a metal (primarily steel) from oxidation. It is similar to galvanizing in that it is a sacrificial metal coating which protects the base metal. The material is about 1/16" thick.


The material is fairly soft, at least compared to my 16 gauge steel. So the plan became to use a 2' piece of 1.5" tube and a hammer to slowly bend the material over the side skin.


It probably took four passes to get it down all the way.


You can see where the ends of the 1.5" tube was but it wasn't too much. Also, given it will be covered with 1", 16 gauge angle it doesn't really matter.


This is the trim for the back edges of the camper.


Testing raising and lowering the roof. I am able to raise and lower the roof much better now but it isn't as easy as it should be. The process is to slowly raise the rear and lock the hinges. Then I lay on my bed and push the front of the roof up while also using my foot to push the roof towards the rear of the camper. Lowering the roof is the opposite.


After raising the rear I wanted to see how the roof shifted. Here you can see it didn't shift too much. What I discovered, is when I being to raise the front, the gas struts for the front begin expanding and pushes the roof forward horizontally. It isn't the weight of the roof that makes it slide forward.


With the new process I was able to raise and lower the roof several times without any banging, hinges bending, etc. However, it isn't easy so I still need to find a way to make it easier. I also talked to the vendor of the gas struts and they are having their designers look into the problem for me. I am hoping they will have a solution for me. They have had all the info for three days now so I am hoping to hear from them this week.


This is the angle for the roof and at the top is also trim for the cabover, which can be seen better in the next picture. It is upside down.




Continued below.

 

[ITTOG]

...continued from above.

The roof is back down and has the roof trim on. It is just sitting on there, I haven't used any VHB or adhesive yet.


Now that the roof was on it was time to get the camper out of the garage. It wasn't easy getting it on the trailer. The weight is heigh enough now that I can't throw it around anymore. I can lift one end at a time but I can't lift it and move it at the same time. So a come along was used to pull it up. It worked but was a pain because the dollies kept disengaging from the camper tray.




Finally, it is on. It probably took about 90 minutes to get it on the trailer and strapped down. In the future when I work on it I will just leave it on the trailer until it is complete done. But I do need to come up with a better solution to put it on the trailer. Unfortunately I can't just use the jacks because the trailer gets in the way.

 

[ITTOG]

I talked to the gas strut company I purchased from and they wanted to have their engineers look at it. After several discussions they agreed the height is part of the problem. They also said they know some manufacturers open one end at a time but those are usually shorter so the struts on the down side of the roof don't have as much leverage to push the roof forward like mine does. They feel the best solution is find a way to open from the center so the struts are pushing at the same angle at all times. Thus, the next step is to test pushing up in the center. It will take two people though. If that does work then I will purchase linear actuators to be the motive force in the center.

 

[1000arms]

Are you all healed up now?

 

[ITTOG]

Are you all healed up now?

For the most part. I ran 3.3 miles the other day with no pain. I call it a success. One more elbow surgery and I should be good for a while. Unless I suffer an accident I should be good until the back, herniated disk and slipped vertebrae, decides it is time but for now shots are working. Thanks for asking.

 

[1000arms]

For the most part. I ran 3.3 miles the other day with no pain. I call it a success. One more elbow surgery and I should be good for a while. Unless I suffer an accident I should be good until the back, herniated disk and slipped vertebrae, decides it is time but for now shots are working. Thanks for asking.

Good to hear! You are welcome.

 

[ITTOG]

Time: 8 hours
Total Time to Date: 354 hours
Rework: 0 hours
Total Rework to Date: 79 hours (not part of time above)
Current Weight: To be weighed, but at least 700 pounds

Not much in pictures to show for the work but I was able to get the roof top trim installed and worked on the Bondo on the wings.

The roof top trim required a lot of sanding to remove rust from the underneath side before I installed the VHB tape and I had to repaint the topside (the visible side). I installed the trim with VHB tap on the roof and on the side I will use Sikaflex 252. I have not applied the Sikaflex yet. For the paint I am using Majic from Tractor Supply. I brushed it on and unfortunately I can see the brush marks in the paint. So a question for those with painting experience, Can I thin the paint with paint thinner and then brush it on so my brush strokes do not appear when dried?

I also worked on sanding the Bondo. Below is a series of photo's showing the unsanded Bondo and different pics during the process.


I began sanding with a three inch disc on a pneumatic die grinder. This quickly takes off the majority of the Bondo.




I finished the job with a 3" by 7" block to sand the surface. The Bondo I have been using is Bondo with glass because it is waterproof. It is pretty thick so it is a little difficult to smooth it when applied and it goes on thick. I will most likely transition to regular Bondo since it is easier to apply thin coats and to sand.

No work this weekend because the temps are too low to apply Sikaflex 252 which is about 90% of what I need to do now.

 

[ITTOG]

It appears Sikaflex 252 is not UV resistant. Therefore, does anyone know a great caulk I can use that as UV resistant?

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[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Can you just paint over it?

3M has some great products. We had a rep out at the shop who was a wealth of knowledge. 3M 4000UV, 750UV

Dicor?

 

[ITTOG]

Can you just paint over it?

3M has some great products. We had a rep out at the shop who was a wealth of knowledge. 3M 4000UV, 750UV

Dicor?

Yes it can be painted over but I don't think it would look as good as just using black caulking. Also, I don't want to have to worry about repainting to keep it protected. Thus, a UV stable caulk would be better from the get-go.

By far the majority of this will be on the sides of the camper so dicor won't work.


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[ITTOG]

Can you just paint over it?

3M has some great products. We had a rep out at the shop who was a wealth of knowledge. 3M 4000UV, 750UV

Dicor?

I forgot to comment on the products. The 4000UV may work. The only concern is it is considered medium strength, which really shouldn't matter since I used the Sikaflex for a permanent bond. While reviewing it was interesting to see it is rated 2.1 on 3M's site but 4.6 on Amazon.

I didn't see a 750UV.

Thanks for the suggestions.