I decided to build my own Pop Top camper

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

Thanks for the quick reply! Re: the rubber seal, I ask because the “typical” framing on wood or fiberglass toppers, where it rests on the bed rails, seems to be a wider material (in most cases wood) sealed with a “double bulb” gasket. Does this mean your framing in that location is solely the 1” 80/20?

Again...mad skills and design. ?

 

[97heavyweight]

Thanks for the quick reply! Re: the rubber seal, I ask because the “typical” framing on wood or fiberglass toppers, where it rests on the bed rails, seems to be a wider material (in most cases wood) sealed with a “double bulb” gasket. Does this mean your framing in that location is solely the 1” 80/20?

Again...mad skills and design. ?

I looked at the double bulb seal, but they are a little too wide. With Trim, siding, and frame it's 1.25" wide but the trim is the only contact portion and it is 1" wide.

 

[Mighty Dodge Ram]

✔️

 

[AeroNautiCal]

This has it all, excellent framing, sheet matetials, trim pieces and adhesives that non professionals could put together without being able to weld aluminium!

 

[97heavyweight]

I got the trim attached around the bottom of the canvas. I am not convinced this will last very long, but i'll try it. I also ended up removing the base cove that I was going to use as a drip edge because it wouldn't allow the camper to shut. I am really glad i have not used screws until this point because I am pretty sure I would have given up. These screws keep breaking on me even when not really torqueing them down.

 

[ITTOG]

Looks good but are you folding in the rubber at the top? I was expecting it to lap over the camper to kind of cover the gap.

 

[97heavyweight]

Looks good but are you folding in the rubber at the top? I was expecting it to lap over the camper to kind of cover the gap.

Ideally it was supposed to cover the gap. Unfortunately it did not flex enough. So i was unable to close the top fully.

 

[Cambruggeman]

This thing is turning out great. If you are willing to share, Id love to hear a rough dollar amount this is running you or projected total cost.
thanks. Keep up the great work

 

[97heavyweight]

This thing is turning out great. If you are willing to share, Id love to hear a rough dollar amount this is running you or projected total cost.
thanks. Keep up the great work

I plan on sharing once i am done. Shouldn't be very long now.

 

[97heavyweight]

These past few weeks have been rough. There has been a lot of trial and error (mostly error) to figure out the gas strut placement. I've broken too many screws too count at this point. I am finally at the point where I am waiting on parts. If you use 80/20.net just understand that they will not help you out if they are at fault for delayed shipping. Theoretically today I will have the remaining fasteners I need for the rear wall. I plan on putting the camper on the truck today and start building the rear wall.

 

[97heavyweight]

For everyone wondering this is how it is attached to the truck. At the front center I have a plate that is more for location then anything. The sides are modified canopy clamps that are made for the toyota bed rails. I replaced my bed rails last spring with unistrut to give myself more options. The clamp has been modified so that it slides into the t-track on the 80/20 to give a nice secure mount.

 

[97heavyweight]

With the camper finally being to the point where i can mount it to the truck i am able to start building the rear wall. I do have to modify to be able to clear the door. The manufacturer said 42" tall when in fact it is 42-1/8" tall. No big deal though i am going to cut and tap 4 new vertical pieces. The bottom of the wall will be attached to the bed stiffeners to ensure the the wall is rigid.

 

[97heavyweight]

And of course the required how awesome does this look pictures. I am super pleased about the profile of this thing. Fingers crossed all this work holds up.

 

[97heavyweight]

I built my rear wall door frame prior to purchasing the door and used their cut size. I do not recommend. I made my door frame 26"x42" when in fact it should've been 26"x42-1/8" now some of you that have installed doors will say why not room for shims. Well I am not a door installer and I didn't think about it until it was too late. I ended up removing 1/8" material from the header. The door fits and when the siding is on I will test fit and install.

 

[DzlToy]

That looks like a pretty clean first gen 4Runner beside your Tacoma.

The camper is pretty cool too.

Instead of using a 3" tall rectangular tube section, consider a composite section or something like a Z-Beam, as used in residential ceiling joists. The open space in the middle saves weight and material and actually adds considerable strength. This would, however require fabrication in one form or another, and is not likely an off the shelf product.