Expedition TrailBlazer Project

[JamesDowning]

Got a start on replacing the rear seats for the big trip we have coming up. Here's a quick overview of how it mounts.

Lots of extra room...

Mounts by 2 bolts and two pins. It's very sturdy, I jumped around on it and it seemed to hold the weight fine.

The pins replace two of the folding pin joints for the seat bottoms (had to cut those out as they were swaged in). I think I can cut out the back side of the rear fuse box (shown in front) so I can keep the BCM protected, but still get the cover off without removing the platform.

The two bolts are in the rear, and use seat mounting studs.

I may move the water back a bit more so the passenger can lean back. I'm hoping to rig up a quick drop-in pump for the water, so I can run a line to the rear "kitchen" area. Then water will come at the press of a button. That's always been an annoying part of camping in the past because the water jug took up so much frontal area of the rear gate.

The fridge will be hard-mounted behind the driver so the passenger can access the fridge while driving.

I'm also going to throw some all-purpose carpet on the wood plank to make it more presentable.

 

[texasguy]

Best TB I've ever seen. Great build and documentation.

 

[07H3]

Awesome build!

 

[JamesDowning]

I got the homemade roof top tent mounted Friday in the 104 degree weather, but then headed off on a non-overlanding weekend getaway. I thought I'd have a chance to test a deployment today, but it's looking a bit rainy.

For now, here's a teaser of it mounted:

 

[SDR]

Wow James... I had to register to tell you how awesome your TB is. Great Job!

 

[JamesDowning]

Trying out the homemade roof top tent...

Thanks for the compliment SDR!



Finally had a chance to open the tent all up yesterday. Everything seemed to work fine and my wife liked it, which was the main goal of it all to begin with.

First of all, some of the images are a bit whited out. The camera was accidentally on manual mode for some of the initial shots. They came out good enough that I didn't feel like re-taking the images.

So this is what it looks like all folded up:

Here's a couple images of the unfolding process. It's all very controlled by the person holding the ladder. The only problem I ran into is that the cantilevered base does not want to sit just right on the aluminum support lip... so I had to help it into place just a bit. I'm not sure how I can remedy that.

After it's unfolded, the two angled supports need to be elongated to fill out the tent. Pretty simple process, climb in, loosen two knobs, push pole out, tighten knobs.

This is the lip I was talking about before. Just a bit annoying that they don't line up properly, but I am not really concerned. This gives you an idea how tight the tent is to the roof.

So here it is fully deployed:

My wife took a few pictures of the interior while I looked on. She said the mattress was more comfortable than the one at the bed and breakfast last weekend (which isn't saying too much), but I took that as a positive thing.

Opening the sunroof/starroof really helped vent out the hot air.

I guess I'm done for now. The only additional thing I think I want to add is a ladder leash that would be built into the tent itself. The way it is currently could be a real trip hazard at night.

I can't wait to take out for a try. I've got a few more projects to finish up, then I think we'll try it out mid-late Aug.

 

[JamesDowning]

After it being up there for a week of trials, it seems to be ready to go. It weighs much more than I expected... came in at 155 lbs (mattress, cover, ladder, mounting bars and all). Not a huge impact on mileage... I think -1 to -2 mpg impact. I normally get about 18mpg on my drive to work with good traffic... with the tent it was more like 17. Though, that's enough that I don't want it up there all the time.

I really need to rig up a hoist in the garage.

 

[volume349]

After all your work, time and money. I think we all would like to know one thing. Was it worth it? Over a RTT you can buy.

 

[JamesDowning]

I won't lie, it was a lot of work. More than I originally anticipated. However, in my opinion I have the equivalence of a $1500 tent for a grand total of $750 in parts... plus a lot of my time. I don't know if I came out ahead, but being an engineer I enjoy designing and building things. In the end I did get exactly what I envisioned, plus I learned a ton in the process.

Knowing what I do now, I probably would have put a lot more thought into one of those bargain priced camping lab tents. I have a much greater appreciation for the amount of work that goes into these things.

 

[JamesDowning]

I'm working on a plan to mount the front half of the baja rack to the front of the cab. This should help shoot the wind over top of the tent, plus add a little space for carrying things like firewood. The challenge being that the roof rack rails do not stretch that far forward.

I just threw it into place to get an idea of what I was working with:

I'm considering using the front-most stock roof rack mounting bolts to mount the rear of the baja. For the front, I think I may need to be a bit more creative. I've got two ideas floating around in my head and both require drilling into the roof.

The first idea is a blind rivet nut.

The second idea is a short bolt sticking out from inside, and a coupling nut tightened down on top of that.

(Of course, both ideas require smothering the hole with RTV.)

Any input from anyone?

 

[JPR4LFE]

What about keeping the rack full length and just cutting off the side rails where the tent mounts (similar to an ARB RTT rack), then you could keep the rack and tent as a unit when you eventually get your hoist. With proper gusseting of the front part of the basket, you may be able to get away with the overhang being unsupported, but I would watch how much weight you put in the basket. Unfortunately this would raise the tent up a little higher, and I really like how low to roof it currently is.

 

[JamesDowning]

Cool idea, however I think you spotted one of the issues already. I didn't design the tent to mount to anything other than the stock roof rack. So I think trying to keep a flat section of the baja rack would only complicate things further. Plus, as you said, it would space up the tent an additional 2" or so.

Good thinking though, I hadn't previously considered that option!

 

[Tahoe Diesel]

Nice build, well thought out!

You mentioned how your wife thought the matress was very comfortable, so I'm wondering what type of foam you used? I want to make my own matress/sleeping pad too. Are you still liking the polyester/cotton blend cover?

 

[JamesDowning]

Actually, the mattress was one of the few items that was almost a plug and play item. I bought a cabella's camp bed: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunt...eping-pads/_/N-1100139&WTz_l=SEO;cat104484780 Then cut off the coiling straps and sewed in some velcro.

Mind you, our opinion is so far only based on merely laying on it for 5 minutes... a whole night may change our minds, you never know! I can't imagine it being worse than my old leaky air mattress.

 

[Tahoe Diesel]

Ah, OK. I assumed it was custom. My sleeping platform will be just above the wheel arches, so I'll have the room to go wider than that 48" mattress...I sleep like a Star Fish :sombrero:

Thanks for the quick response.