mog
Kodiak Buckaroo
The people I bought my camper from used jerry cans but tied them into the water system on their replacement camper.
Gladiator Pop-Up Pass Through Camper Build
- Thread starter Mules
- Start date
LostInTheWorld
Builder/Traveler
Yup, those are photo of our water system when I was making it. We were super happy with the jerry can setup (5 were under a dinette seat like in the photo, and the 6th lived under the kitchen sink in a holder). It's super easy to pop one or two out, fill them at a garden hose, a spigot at a gas station, a spigot at a ranger station, a fresh stream, or transfer water from another truck. It also makes giving water to another overlander easier. Once in Alaska, a super helpful ranger took several of those cans to his living area, filled them for us, and brought them back to us a little while later. Super convenient. The truck has full water filtration, so the jerry cans made getting fresh stream water way easier than if we had used an integrated tank (no need for fill hoses and pumps). In my option, for long duration overland travel, this type of setup is way more practical than an integrated tank. You can also store them in different places in your rig to help optimize your weight distribution. Having individual jerry cans made it easy to track water use, and super easy to dump the water and clean the tanks whenever needed. Cleaning jerry cans is super easy; draining and cleaning integrated RV style tanks is a pain in the neck. I totally recommend doing it this way.
The little white couplers are non-corroding medical grade (plastic and stainless steel) quick disconnects that seal off when you unplug them. The disconnects that I got were two directional (single direction quick disconnects are available, too), so it included water out and vent air in. It took a while to find what I wanted, but in the end, I ordered them from US Plastics (they have lots of different options). I plan to do this same setup on our next rig. I will probably use plastic tubes inside the cans next time. The aluminum tubes and blue anodized aircraft AN fittings that I used last time (you can see them in the top photo) seemed to corrode a little over time. Not bad, but plastic might be better next time.
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Mules
Well-known member
Thanks for the great tips! I love advice from pro-expedition folks, especially those with the ultimate 4x4, a Unimog.
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Mules
Well-known member
I'm getting closer to a big decision. How to hinge the top?
Wedge is easiest to build, but I'll loose too much room up front.
Straight up will give me a ton of room upstairs, but complicated to open and make strong.
I'm thinking about a 6 bar hinge, so I can open from the back with only two pneumatic struts. Time to pull out Autocad again to see if I can get the room I want up front.
Wedge is easiest to build, but I'll loose too much room up front.
Straight up will give me a ton of room upstairs, but complicated to open and make strong.
I'm thinking about a 6 bar hinge, so I can open from the back with only two pneumatic struts. Time to pull out Autocad again to see if I can get the room I want up front.
tweenerlj
Adventurer
Saw this and made me think of this build
www.autoevolution.com
This Seven-Seat Jeep Gladiator Blends OEM Parts With Custom Touches
A one-off build that's rocking all-terrain rubber and beadlock-capable wheels, this three-row Jeep Gladiator beggars belief in terms of fit and finish
www.autoevolution.com
slowtwitch
Adventurer
Yeah dont do a wedge.. this build is too cool for that.
One thing about hinges is they can compromise the side fabric.
What about the push bar style like you posted a vid to? With nicer execution, could be slick. Lots of other tops use that system.
One thing about hinges is they can compromise the side fabric.
What about the push bar style like you posted a vid to? With nicer execution, could be slick. Lots of other tops use that system.
Mules
Well-known member
You bring up another good problem to solve. Inside or outside hinge and pneumatics. I would prefer to keep the mechanisms inside to avoid the weather and for aesthetics. This causes a problem though. The hinge and pneumatic use valuable living area and you don't want the tent material to get caught in it. Roofnest has a nice straight up hinge solution (shown below). Does anyone have (4) Roofnest springs they want to sell?
There is one other option, but I haven't found what I want. I could go with electric lead screws! Wouldn't it be cool to lift the top by a touch of a button, like G-wagons? Of course I don't have a G-wagon budget
. See below. I've looked into building my own but it's tricky to get the DC voltage lead screws to run at the same speed. I think you need a stepper motor, or a feedback control system which drives the price up considerably (I geeked out there for a minute).The earlier post with the simple push up design is still in my mind. With my tall top, I think the mechanism will stick into my living/sitting area too much when the top is down. Maybe there's a way to tuck it up higher though. It is simple, strong and inexpensive to build.
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slowtwitch
Adventurer
The things about some of the telescoping designs is how are they after the top is up as far as wind, snow etc etc. I suspect not great in many cases. That's another benefit of the the 'push bar' style.
I wonder if there's a way to make one so instead of being two halves that then come togther when down (and crowd the space laying horizontally), they could be made of 3 parts that would lay flush vertically.. so to pop you would fold a bar up and out, then push it forward to scissor up and lock.
I wonder if there's a way to make one so instead of being two halves that then come togther when down (and crowd the space laying horizontally), they could be made of 3 parts that would lay flush vertically.. so to pop you would fold a bar up and out, then push it forward to scissor up and lock.
Mules
Well-known member
This Hall effects controller and linear actuator is what's needed to run two linear actuators that are synchronized. These linear actuators are overkill at 400 lbs each. I wonder if I can lift with just (2) of these instead of (4). You can even open the top with remote controls!
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mog
Kodiak Buckaroo
You might want to check out Westyys Build and sarconcepts build as both are great build threads with raise-able tops
slowtwitch
Adventurer
There was another older build similar in breadth and execution to saronconcepts where the guy figured out a slick way to raise the roof.. think it was hardside... it was pulleys and cable. Cant recall which thread it was.