Search results

Great question, and not yet. I haven't fitted any canvas (and not planning on doing that for a few months for interior build reasons). I've been meaning to try it with the actuators disconnected, I'll say though from my testing before the top was on, they don't do much laterally when extended...

I'm confused why you think the gas struts are not the system specifically designed to handle lateral loads? they are mounted at an angle and provide 462lb of force laterally (depending on what strength I decide on, currently sitting around 280lb) with the top fully extended, evenly split...

Another thought I had: As I have it now when the pop top is fully extended, the struts are ~1in away from the end of their stroke. if I instead made them at max travel in the up position, when the top takes on lateral load the struts in one direction would act as solid rod instead of a spring...

Correct. The gas struts are mounted at an angle and only see push/pull as they are designed. The actuators push vertically and rely on the struts for rigidity. It is by no means weak as I have it now, but I’d like it stronger for increased winds. A scissor driven mechanism would definitely be...

My bad. 8 actuators was the only typo! my setup is: 8 gas filled struts. 4 electric actuators, 1 per corner. I was doing it manually but you can use something like this to calculate netX force and netY force. Just need the angle of the strut. https://www.inchcalculator.com/net-force-calculator/...

Thanks for sending this over! My top is a little under 200lb currently, will be a little under 300lb when factoring canvas weight, solar, fan, etc. With 8x100lb actuators, this results in 660lb of vertical force when fully extended ~36in. At 10in extended is when the weight of a 300lb roof...

I was having trouble finding in your build thread where you go into your mechanism, specifically the lockout. Do you have a post # handy? I'm curious if your lockout mechanism is also providing stability in the north south direction, otherwise I would think your top should have a similar amount...

I'd be curious if you know how heavy your roof is, and the angle/force of your struts at full extension. My top has right about the same amount of lift height, except no stabilizers east/west, just more struts. How solid is the top to movement against the struts?

Thanks for weighing in everyone! To clarify, I am not relying solely on the canvas, just curious if it adds a measurable amount of stability. My lifting mechanism consists of an actuator mounted in each corner, which provide great support but not any lateral stability. I have a total of 8 gas...

working on a tall pop-top and have most everything worked out but a couple questions for those with experience. The way I am attaching my canvas allows me to control the tension quite easily. How tight did you fit your canvas? I could go anywhere from just firm to extremely taught. I obviously...

Here's the video on the subframe design. Goes into more detail and a lot more visuals than I could provide here:

Thought I'd share a link to our YouTube & Instagram if anyone is interested in following along on the build there. Still planning on keeping the forum up to date, but will be using instagram for more photos and everyday building/progress, along with YouTube for long form video. Speaking of...

Final Mounting of the Subframe + Exo: After countless setbacks with mounting, we finally got it done. We had endless issues with the factory Ford body mounts including incorrect part numbers from Ford, inconsistent manufacturing flaws, rust, and user install error. As I’ve already gone over...

Yep, exactly. I based my spacing on the regular body vans. Though I don't use the Ford lateral spacers, I used a polyurethane body mount puck to get the extra little bit of height. This also acts as a cushion if any frame slap occurs with the spring mounted design. As for the body mount...

In the photos you see, the subframe was mounted using 3d printed body mounts that I used during construction just to make things easier. The subframe ended up nearly exactly even with the cab floor with the actual mounts, so yes the habitat floor is the thickness of the floor(1.625in) +...

Seems like the 450 DRW 158 is a good fit for your use case! Only thing I will say, is if you are comparing the amount of space to your RB, my van has the exact same length (and overall width) as an RB e350 but I've been inside both and its amazing how much larger the inside is with the straight...

I had no luck with any dealers, none of them had any or could order one anytime soon. It was also very difficult to search for them and specific one without a box, not to mention most of them were larger and duallys. I think you may have better luck trying to find the 158 Dually you're looking...

Here is how the left crated from Lemker and the whole stack of panels sitting in my backyard before we got to using them. (ignore the dirty panel that is a scrap I got from them!)

Thanks! I've gotten a lot of questions about the panels I'm using so just made a dedicated post to outline my experience with Lemker and help others with finding a source. https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/composite-panel-source-for-diy-expedition-campers-lemker-panels.244931/

If you're interested in my build here's a link to my build thread. I haven't gotten to the panel installation part but will soon! https://forum.expeditionportal.com/threads/e350-cutaway-4x4-w-diy-pop-top-composite-camper-box-build-thread.241475/page-4#post-3166023