jeep jk unlimited camper project

[HAFICON]

Man this is beautiful. Clearly a lot of effort went into this. The design is awesome, certainly an addition I would love to have for my JKU.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I like this... nice design, pleas... continue. lol

:coffeedrink:

 

[jscherb]

Not to derail the thread, but I have wondered how your tops were holding up - and your trailers! I have browsed through your threads from time to time and do enjoy seeing what you come up with. My only experience with fiberglass was repairing the chainplates as well as some crazing on the hull of my sailboat several years ago. That is why I figured aluminum would hold up better. I my defense I did preface my post by stating I am far from an expert, I have just done repair not full-blown fabrication with fiberglass.

The fiberglass modular component design of both the hardtop and the trailer kits has done extremely well. I've done several thousand off-road miles with my modular hardtop, both the hard side panels installed and with them removed and the roll-up soft side panels installed, and with loads on the roof rack, and there have been no problems whatsoever. There have been dozens of the modular trailer tub kits sold and assembled, and lots of them have done off-road time, and I haven't heard of any issues with them either.

I believe a modular fiberglass approach would serve well for a camper like the one bamajeep is building, but let's not derail the thread any further with this fiberglass talk... let's see more of his awesome design and craftsmanship!

 

[Prubah]

I've been watching this with much interest as I've been toying with the idea for my JKR. Fiberglass is the way to go. Do you have an approximation on the weight so far?

Prubah

 

[bamajeep]

Thanks again for the support - Sorry it's taking so long to reply at times- everyday life leaves little time most days. Right now, I'm pondering over all the possibilities of the pop-up mechanism. I think I've researched all the possibilities online and still can't make up my mind on a final design. Do you guys know of any new systems? It will need to lift the weight of a spare tire as well as the possibility of a couple bikes and kayaks - but still remain a simple design.
Jeff - I'll definitely let you know if I decide to go with fiberglass. Would love your input as you're the fiberglass king!

 

[Cringe]

My pop-up has a cable-pulley system, I am not sure where you could mount the crank with that type lift system, but I have seen the older Palomino campers with external arms that lock into place once it is lifted which are much simpler.

If you were not popping up that high, maybe gas struts or a linear actuator would work?

 

[cobra_4]

Very cool build! Never thought of anything like that before!

 

[Cringe]

Check out this build, the pop-top might be something you find interesting!

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/137366-Tacoma-aluminum-Pop-up

 

[bamajeep]

Check out this build, the pop-top might be something you find interesting!

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/137366-Tacoma-aluminum-Pop-up

Thanks Cringe!!

 

[bamajeep]

Getting close to coating the exterior. Was thinking of using a bedliner, but was wondering about the possibility of another type of coating - If anyone's got any opinions on color/color scheme/graphics/types of coating, please comment. Don't want to spend a whole lot as this is a prototype, so the more economical, the better.

 

[Cringe]

The people over on tnttt seem to really like a product called CPES for sealing the outside of their wood trailer builds. Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer. I am not sure on the price, but it does sound like it holds up incredibly well. I stumbled upon it when trying to find something to seal the bottom of my pop-up, maybe someone with experience with the stuff will chime in.

 

[jscherb]

Last year I did a combination fiberglass/plywood tilt-up camper for my Jeep-tub trailer. I used Olympic Rescue-It, which is a acrylic product for resurfacing worn decks and concrete. It's available at Lowes and other places like that, and they can tint it to pretty much any color (speaking of which, I picked up a gallon of it on the mis-tint table there for less than $20). It applies with a roller, and depending on the nap of the roller you use, it's got a texture somewhat like bedliner.

I did a test with a fiberglass scrap coated with it, left it out since October, through this worst winter ever, and today it looks just like the day I put it out there.

It's intended as a coating for wood, and since my tilt-up is a combination of fiberglass and wood, I used a quality primer on the whole thing before applying the RescueIt to ensure adhesion to the non-wood parts. The fiberglass sample in the photo above was primed except for the left end; on the left end when the finish was a few days old I was able to scrape off a bit of the finish on the unprimed side, but the primed side adhered perfectly. So if you're covering something besides wood, I'd recommend a primer; for wood you don't need a primer because the product is designed to be used on old house decks.

It's a very affordable alternative to bedliner for something like this. http://www.olympic.com/products/olympic-rescue-it-wood-and-concrete-resurfacer

 

[bamajeep]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. Since I'm going to be applying fiberglass to the seams of the camper for reinforcement, would you recommend that I use the primer before applying the Olympic product? If so, what type of primer do you recommend?

Thanks again!

 

[gouldie]

This is epic! Definitely going to be following this build! Any chance you'd release the measurements and plans?

 

[jscherb]

Thanks to both of you for your suggestions. Since I'm going to be applying fiberglass to the seams of the camper for reinforcement, would you recommend that I use the primer before applying the Olympic product? If so, what type of primer do you recommend?

Thanks again!

Yes, I'd definitely recommend primer on the fiberglass. I used two-part automotive epoxy primer and applied it with a roller. You probably could use other types of primer, although I've only tested the Olympic product with the epoxy. I use epoxy primer for pretty much everything because it adheres extremely well to almost anything including fiberglass and provides an excellent base for any type of topcoat. I primed my entire cover, both the fiberglass and wood parts, to get a consistent surface for the finish, but you probably could get away with only priming the non-wood components if you wanted to economize on epoxy, with will probably run $40 per quart.

I use PPG Omni epoxy primer because it's the least expensive epoxy my local auto paint jobber carries, but places like Eastwood and Summit Racing sell it too.