I decided to build my own Pop Top camper

[97heavyweight]

The battery installation has been completed. I just need to wire in the fans and I am done with electrical for now. For the curious, the starter battery is wired into the bottom of the left fuse. I fused both sets of batteries from the isolator. The fuse panel is connected directly to the camper battery bank. What i've installed is way more power than I will ever need, but it was free so why not.

 

[97heavyweight]

So I added some Horsepower and better aerodynamics to the camper!

 

[97heavyweight]

As I am sure most Tacoma drivers know that when you put any weight in the bed it droops. That's ok if you don't have a leveling kit or 500 extra pounds on the rear. My truck was sagging about 1.5". So for now since I don't have the money for a full lift I went with Icon 3 leaf progressive AAL and left in the overload spring and gained 2.25" of lift which puts the rear 1" higher than the front. I haven't been off-road yet with this setup, but I can already tell it is ten times better. Now I shouldn't hit my bump stop all the time. I still need to make a bracket to be able to bolt the emergency brake back to the leaf spring and I will be changing the rear shocks to Bilstein 5100s as soon as they get here.

 

[97heavyweight]

This weekend I also started on the interior build out. I have the framing built for the bench on the driver side.

 

[ITTOG]

Did you ever identify how you resolved your leaks?

 

[97heavyweight]

Did you ever identify how you resolved your leaks?

Tape...lots of tape. The only way would be to add a drip edge and that will be part of the 2nd roof iteration.

 

[ITTOG]

Tape...lots of tape. The only way would be to add a drip edge and that will be part of the 2nd roof iteration.

So the water comes off the roof and then find a way in between the seals?

I have not thought about a drop edge but thinking about a guest edge behind the seals, ie on the inside of camper. This way water can only get in if it can overcome the seals and gravity.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[97heavyweight]

So the water comes off the roof and then find a way in between the seals?

I have not thought about a drop edge but thinking about a guest edge behind the seals, ie on the inside of camper. This way water can only get in if it can overcome the seals and gravity.

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My water leak issue is from when I am driving down the interstate and the wind forces it into the canvas and supersaturates it. A drip edge would theoretically stop that. I do not get any leaking from just rain hitting the roof. I attached a pic of how my roof is more or less built. The only difference is the metal roof does stops at the edge and does not come down. I also used waterproof double-sided tape to hold everything together and there is a bead of silicone around the edge of the trim.

 

[ITTOG]

Now I understand. I plan to keep my canvas completely inside. This this will expose my seals. So I am concerned that 80 mph wind might deflect the seals enough to cause leaks. So I am looking for different options to consider.

Thanks for the build details. I have enjoyed following along.

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[97heavyweight]

I knew that the factory TRD 'bilstein' shocks weren't the best, but I did not realize how tiny they are. I replaced the rears with some Bilstein 5100s. The ride quality is so nice now!

 

[97heavyweight]

Now I understand. I plan to keep my canvas completely inside. This this will expose my seals. So I am concerned that 80 mph wind might deflect the seals enough to cause leaks. So I am looking for different options to consider.

Thanks for the build details. I have enjoyed following along.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Thanks. I have enjoyed building it. With the second roof iteration I will be redoing the canvas and it will connect from inside as well. That way the roof will just shut on itself and not the canvas.

 

[Andrew_S]

Absolutely awesome build. Kudos for doing your own canvas pop-top, that's a daunting task imo.
Looking forward to more updates.

 

[97heavyweight]

Absolutely awesome build. Kudos for doing your own canvas pop-top, that's a daunting task imo.
Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks. I've been following your build as well and it is pretty awesome! I will be replacing my canvas with something thicker and with windows.

 

[97heavyweight]

Got the interior build started. For now I will be just putting in the couch on the driver side and front storage box. This winter I will insulate and build the counter. So I am trying to make use of materials on had and that lead to me using a piece that I had written some math on late one night because my brain was working. Which also lead down the road of again my brain not working and notching the panel on the wrong side so now I have chicken scratch on an interior panel. Whoops! I will be eventually putting something over it so i'm not too worried.

 

[97heavyweight]

Also as a reminder to always face into the camper when exiting. Or else you do this...or just use your steps which I was clearly not doing.