Holden Colorado 2.8 half height Canopy build

[mramvas]

a

Hi mramvas

I attached a photo of the side hatch seals. It is a u shaped (pinch weld I believe) seal for the inner and a soft rubber D shape on the hatch cover. To locate the pinch weld seal I used 3mm ply and glued that to the internal side of of the canopy. Purchased U seal from Clark rubber and D seal from bunnings (if your in Oz). Works well so far no leaks. I did make the initial mistake of running the D seal around the entire hatch cover which stopped the water running out at the bottom, once bottom section was removed all good.

Btw: Thanks for your earlier comments only just saw those! Are you running a build thread? keen to watch!

View attachment 444971

awesome mate, thank you and job well done, ignore the other page I commented on. So ill reply here....

Great inspiration mate, I have done a tonne of research and much to the hate I have had from others over my ideas, I want to do a similar design. How has it all held up with the day to day? Weatherproofing, life of materials etc? Any dramas? Any ideas you would reengineer? Havent started a build thread but I have a mate who looks keen to support my journey. I am in Brissie Qld.

 

[Hagar]

Thanks very much

So a few questions to answer.

Durability.
So far no problems about 20,000 km on it now with 6 proper trips in the 4 - 8 day range (not a lot of corrugations though) I have had a load of up to 90kg on the rack with no dramas. I do have one small crack around the hinge plate of the tail gate hinge this looks cosmetic and has not affected the plywood or any functionality.

Weather proof. with the exception of the tail gate hatch it has been totally waterproof. I have not gotten around to finishing the job of sealing the tail gate hatch. See re-engineering below.

Functionality
for my purpose the half height design has been excellent, it suits my personal needs to a tee. The tail gate kitchen is the business for camp cooking. The only two slight hiccups are:
1 I have a largish four person tent (Darche AT4). When I carry this tent inside the canopy it can limit carrying capacity for other camping items. For longer trips it goes on the rack in a water proof bag. Smaller tent or RTT will solve this but be aware that space can be a little tight when camping with 4 (family)
2 The only fridge option I can have is a fridge drawer which is a bit small and wide and impacts on load area. This is down to the height of the internal draw inside the canopy. If you want a fridge in there I would recommend checking the height specs of the desired fridge and designing accordingly

Re-engineering
I built this with my available skills and tools, it therefore was made from wood with the supporting structure from the Front Runner rack. If I had access to skills and tools for metal working it would have been different in construction. I.e I would have constructed a frame from square metal tubing that sat on the top of the tub and bolted down to the inside edges of the tub. I would have then skinned the frame in plywood. With this design you could also make the drawer a separate component which would allow it to be removed from the tray if needed.

I'm not sure if that description is clear. Happy to discuss further

My tail gate hatch design is not ideal as it is hard to seal properly. I think I got a little rushed here as I was excited about having the project finished. Have a look at the commercial canopies that use a piano hinge on the top and close over a seal for some ideas.

Dont listen to hate, you know your needs design accordingly.

Btw: spent six years in Brissy great town. Moved away 2 years ago.

Any further Q's let me know. Cheers Hagar

 

[mramvas]

Thanks very much

So a few questions to answer.

Durability.
So far no problems about 20,000 km on it now with 6 proper trips in the 4 - 8 day range (not a lot of corrugations though) I have had a load of up to 90kg on the rack with no dramas. I do have one small crack around the hinge plate of the tail gate hinge this looks cosmetic and has not affected the plywood or any functionality.

Weather proof. with the exception of the tail gate hatch it has been totally waterproof. I have not gotten around to finishing the job of sealing the tail gate hatch. See re-engineering below.

Functionality
for my purpose the half height design has been excellent, it suits my personal needs to a tee. The tail gate kitchen is the business for camp cooking. The only two slight hiccups are:
1 I have a largish four person tent (Darche AT4). When I carry this tent inside the canopy it can limit carrying capacity for other camping items. For longer trips it goes on the rack in a water proof bag. Smaller tent or RTT will solve this but be aware that space can be a little tight when camping with 4 (family)
2 The only fridge option I can have is a fridge drawer which is a bit small and wide and impacts on load area. This is down to the height of the internal draw inside the canopy. If you want a fridge in there I would recommend checking the height specs of the desired fridge and designing accordingly

Re-engineering
I built this with my available skills and tools, it therefore was made from wood with the supporting structure from the Front Runner rack. If I had access to skills and tools for metal working it would have been different in construction. I.e I would have constructed a frame from square metal tubing that sat on the top of the tub and bolted down to the inside edges of the tub. I would have then skinned the frame in plywood. With this design you could also make the drawer a separate component which would allow it to be removed from the tray if needed.

I'm not sure if that description is clear. Happy to discuss further

My tail gate hatch design is not ideal as it is hard to seal properly. I think I got a little rushed here as I was excited about having the project finished. Have a look at the commercial canopies that use a piano hinge on the top and close over a seal for some ideas.

Dont listen to hate, you know your needs design accordingly.

Btw: spent six years in Brissy great town. Moved away 2 years ago.

Any further Q's let me know. Cheers Hagar

Hagar thanks heaps, very good information. I showed a mate of mine a pic of yours and he thought it was a cool concept, mine would be void of draws apart from a fridge slide. The only real reason for my half height if anything is aesthetics and just high enough to allow the fridge to slide in and out with good weatherproofing. Other than that, gear in plastic boxes or other stuff that doesn't need to be dry can go on top without sticking half a mile in the sky above the roof, hence being height retriction friendly. Apart from that, there are no second hand canopies on the market for D23 NP300 Navaras being so new to the market.

Cheers once again mate.

Matt

 

[Hagar]

Hey Matt

Let me know if you start up a build thread, I'd be keen to see your take on the concept!

 

[mramvas]

Yeah for sure bud. Ive been chatting with a a bloke who I am thinking of getting him to tig me an ally frame. My design would see the ally frame rest along the top of the tub sides using aluminium angle. In essence a pretty similar design to yours. I was planning on having no drawers inside, only to maximise space. I have to pull my finger out and get started at least on the frame. Since showing your rig to a few mates, they like the idea in lieu of full height canopy and exposed baja style rack like the front runner model you have. In terms of finish, I love your gloss you achieved! How did you get the ply so smooth??? I toyed with other ideas but was figuring doing it in bed liner on the top and just gloss black sides as I was going to mount gear on each side which would obscure the finish anyway (maxx tracks).

 

[Hagar]

Sounds like you have some pretty sweet ideas. I would have liked to make mine a bit more design orientated with a roll bar at the front integrated into the canopy etc but time and funds dictated otherwise. I also like the idea of accessories mounted to the sides for easy access. Sounds like it will be a pretty sweet setup when done!

To get the finish sanded the ply back with 120 grit and the applied two thick coats of fibreglass epoxy with a sponge roller. This was then sanded back with 120 and then 240 grit. The fibreglass epoxy allows you to use automotive paint. So it went for a professional spray. The guys who did it did a great job, they first applied a high lift filler (I think) base coast followed by the same colour as the truck. The result is a perfect match to the truck paint. I'm really happy with the result however it was the most expensive part of the whole build at around $1200. Up to you think if the $$ are worthwhile.

 

[mramvas]

Yeah true, the ply would probably suck up a lot of paint meaning getting a gloss finish nearly impossible. Yeah I thought colour coding would be awesome, my car is a metallic black that has some exotic flavours within, but also I can see it getting scratched up badly. I was going to use the top surface of the canopy as the storage area in lieu of a purpose built tray like your front runner hence the bedliner is pretty indestructible. Was considering using those sail track type tie down points about 1200mm long either side so as to enable eyelets on each side to be positioned in multiple locations for different bits of gear.

I love the look of the Rhino back bone roof rails with all of the pressed holes along its length, so I was going to try and incorporate that into a steel angle for the top of the canopy in lieu of the tie down rails, but weight would be a factor. That then would give multiple tie down points using the holes for the hooks.

Another idea I had for tie down in lieu of those two options was using an ally tee section 40x40x3mm with 20mm holes drilled along the mid point on the vertical face, with nice countersunk allen key bolts either side at say 150mm centres. Ive put a mock up pic below. I just don't know how strong it would be, but powdercoated black or even in bedliner would look ************. I might have to buy a section bolt it down and put a 750kg ratchet on it with a load say 600mm high so the strap angle effect loads them up and then see when they fail......crude but would be interesting to try it for fun even ha ha! I might fire up my own thread and ill let you know when its up so I don't flood your thread LOL!

 

[mramvas]

Ive started a build thread mate

 

[Hagar]

Yeah true, the ply would probably suck up a lot of paint meaning getting a gloss finish nearly impossible. Yeah I thought colour coding would be awesome, my car is a metallic black that has some exotic flavours within, but also I can see it getting scratched up badly. I was going to use the top surface of the canopy as the storage area in lieu of a purpose built tray like your front runner hence the bedliner is pretty indestructible. Was considering using those sail track type tie down points about 1200mm long either side so as to enable eyelets on each side to be positioned in multiple locations for different bits of gear.

I love the look of the Rhino back bone roof rails with all of the pressed holes along its length, so I was going to try and incorporate that into a steel angle for the top of the canopy in lieu of the tie down rails, but weight would be a factor. That then would give multiple tie down points using the holes for the hooks.

Another idea I had for tie down in lieu of those two options was using an ally tee section 40x40x3mm with 20mm holes drilled along the mid point on the vertical face, with nice countersunk allen key bolts either side at say 150mm centres. Ive put a mock up pic below. I just don't know how strong it would be, but powdercoated black or even in bedliner would look ************. I might have to buy a section bolt it down and put a 750kg ratchet on it with a load say 600mm high so the strap angle effect loads them up and then see when they fail......crude but would be interesting to try it for fun even ha ha! I might fire up my own thread and ill let you know when its up so I don't flood your thread LOL!

Looking forward to your build I have subscribed. Sounds like half height canopy will suit you well with the paddle board! RE the paint. When you seal the ply with fibreglass epoxy it will not absorb paint as the coating stops this from occurring. However you are right bedliner will be a tougher surface.

On another note my wife has a paddle board to and I am about to build some foldable ladder racks that attach to the front runner rack. These will have a hinge at the bottom so that they can lie flat when not in use.

I have had no experience with the aluminium profile you showed but it would certainly look the part! Tie downs are great to have I just came back from a mates farm with some great organic lamb. I managed to get 4 eskies tied down on the top with no problem worked really well due to all the tie down points. Cheers