2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)

[Crux]

Thanks for the info on the faucet! The drain still sucks, but this faucet is a step in the right direction. As much as I don’t like supporting Amazon and its weird off-brand products … this faucet really makes sense. Maybe one of these days I’ll pull the drain piece out and spend a day visiting box stores and plumbing supply to try and find one that sits flush. Another idea i had was taking the sink out, removing the drain, and using a press to deform the bottom a wee bit to have more slope. But surely that’s asking for trouble.

That’s great news about the battery! Thanks for confirming! I will try to get pics and post up if I get one installed.

I would recommend this replacement faucet as it's taller and easier to wash large pots:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09STJ6GB9

 

[goffredo]

Can we talk roofs for a minute?

First of all, I’m planning to add 40 pounds of solar panels to the roof -- that’s 4, 10 pound semi flexible 200w panels pretty much evenly dispersed across the roof surface; two on the rear and two on the front. Has anyone added this kind of weight overhead? Is this going to make the roof impossible to open? I have two cross-racks on the roof that I never use, so those guys are coming off to help mitigate the weight.

I’ve already had to give it all I got, when the roof had a bit of ice on it that I couldn’t scrape off! I can’t help but think the cold gas struts were working against me — or, the weatherstrip between the roof and the lower camper part might have been damp from the dewpoint, and frozen the two components together overnight. But otherwise i have no problem pressing the roof open, it’s certainly a good workout.

Also, there is an old flexi panel up there already that isn’t working very well. I’m tempted to just leave it there and fasten the new flexi-panels right on top of it. I’m afraid if I try peel it up and cut the glue off like in this video, I might end up damaging the gel coat / waterproofing of the roof. Although I am able to peel up the corners a bit, so sliding a long flat knife under to cut sheer through the adhesive wouldn’t require much lifting force.

 

[goffredo]

First of all, I’m planning to add 40 pounds of solar panels to the roof -- that’s 4, 10 pound semi flexible 200w panels pretty much evenly dispersed across the roof surface; two on the rear and two on the front. Has anyone added this kind of weight overhead? Is this going to make the roof impossible to open?

Update: The 40 pounds was no go.

To simulate 40# of rooftop solar, I decided to put a 10 pound water jug on each of the four corners of the roof, and then tried to lift it. While I could lift it up without veins bulging out of my forehead hulk mode, it wasn’t exactly easy, and I don’t think my wife could do it.

In the half-second between applying upward lift, and reaching with one hand for the hinge lock to push it into place, the roof wanted to slam back shut hard. So it was kind of a challenge. Upgrading the gas struts would mitigate this specific issue.

When closing the roof with the extra 40#, the final half slams shut so hard that I would be concerned about doing damage after, say, 500 slams. Either micro cracks appearing somewhere, or something loosening over time and catastrophically failing during a ‘slam’. Coming up with some kind of small portable worm drive raising/lowering mechanism (something like a scissors jack) would mitigate this specific issue.

Finally, I’ve had the forward half of the roof squish me a few times into the bed trying to close it, typically when I’m opening only the forward half of the roof to access the forward fan because I forgot to close it up. Not in a bad way, but more of “oh gee I need to be careful, I could get hurt if I’m twisted a particular way”. With the way it slams shut with the 40 pounds on it, and the likelihood of rushing to close the forward fan because it was discovered en route, one could absolutely get hurt badly in this situation. Gas strut upgrade would not help here.

So I decided that 40 pounds of additional weight on the roof is too much to safely and comfortably manage.

I tried with just 20 pounds, and that was much nicer, so I have revised my plans and will be adding “only” 2, 200-watt flexible solar panels to the roof. I will also be removing the two crossmember bars that I never use, and I’m going to carefully knife the old solar panel off as well.

Happy new year!

 

[Chadx]

Update: The 40 pounds was no go.

To simulate 40# of rooftop solar, I decided to put a 10 pound water jug on each of the four corners of the roof, and then tried to lift it. While I could lift it up without veins bulging out of my forehead hulk mode, it wasn’t exactly easy, and I don’t think my wife could do it.

In the half-second between applying upward lift, and reaching with one hand for the hinge lock to push it into place, the roof wanted to slam back shut hard. So it was kind of a challenge. Upgrading the gas struts would mitigate this specific issue.

When closing the roof with the extra 40#, the final half slams shut so hard that I would be concerned about doing damage after, say, 500 slams. Either micro cracks appearing somewhere, or something loosening over time and catastrophically failing during a ‘slam’. Coming up with some kind of small portable worm drive raising/lowering mechanism (something like a scissors jack) would mitigate this specific issue.

Finally, I’ve had the forward half of the roof squish me a few times into the bed trying to close it, typically when I’m opening only the forward half of the roof to access the forward fan because I forgot to close it up. Not in a bad way, but more of “oh gee I need to be careful, I could get hurt if I’m twisted a particular way”. With the way it slams shut with the 40 pounds on it, and the likelihood of rushing to close the forward fan because it was discovered en route, one could absolutely get hurt badly in this situation. Gas strut upgrade would not help here.

So I decided that 40 pounds of additional weight on the roof is too much to safely and comfortably manage.

I tried with just 20 pounds, and that was much nicer, so I have revised my plans and will be adding “only” 2, 200-watt flexible solar panels to the roof. I will also be removing the two crossmember bars that I never use, and I’m going to carefully knife the old solar panel off as well.

Happy new year!

If you add weight to the roof, you can replace the gas struts with different struts that will compensate for the weight and make opening/closing the same, or even lighter if you like, than stock effort.

 

[Crux]

I've had a couple kayaks mounted up top on the crossbars, at 80lbs each (160lbs + single solar panel).
While it wasn't easy, we were able to raise and lower the roof with two people supporting the weight on our back (e.g. standing on the bench seat).

I definitely wouldn't do it solo - upgraded struts may help

 

[goffredo]

If you add weight to the roof, you can replace the gas struts with different struts that will compensate for the weight and make opening/closing the same, or even lighter if you like, than stock effort.

I‘m not sure beefier gas struts are able to ease the initial lift, or the final slam, of the roof. That was the problem for me. From the way they are positioned, it seems like they only assist the roof open/close process in the middle of the work band — not at either end. I could be wrong! If someone has upgraded the shocks and discovered this to be the case I’d love to know. But just looking at the physics, I don’t see it.

 

[ITTOG]

You're right about not helping the initial lift. No matter the size of the strut it will not help with that. But it will help with the slam down. A higher capacity strut will help control the closure longer so that it will not slam so hard. I have tested this with three different size struts on my pop top.

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