POD: Homebuilt foam core fiberglass skin pop-up camper build thread

[riveroceanandmountain]

The door frame is looking great pods.... I remember reading about your challenges with the frame cracking (flexing not cracking.... sorry) with the full height door idea..... ahhh.... custom work

Thanks for the info on wiring and the actuators.... those actuators look very interesting and really not very expensive.

Is there any issue you are aware of with them going up at the same speed.

also are you designing a lock to lock the roof in the up position?

 

[pods8]

I didn't have any cracking issues it just flexed open at the top of the frame more than I wanted and I thought it would be problematic for door latching, so I just simplified things.

There will be speed differences to a degree in actuators based on 1) manufacturing differences, 2) load placed on them (factory specs are .5"/sec unloaded and .4"/sec fully loaded), 3) voltage drop in the wiring (farther the run the more drop there will be and the slower they'll go verse ones w/o longer wiring). They make speed controllers for them but so far the few other folks have have utilized these in campers haven't saw the need it seems. Wiring length can be manipulated (ie us extra wire than actually needed and just coil it up) to crudely adjust speed as well. Others haven't really had a binding issue in the bit of speed difference so they've just used them w/o manipulation and the slower ones just catch up when the faster hit their upper limit switches and stop. I'm using a 24" stroke which is longer than some of the others so I'll have to see what its like when I get to test it out and play with it. I'll have 4 independent switches off the get go so I can manipulate things as needed but I would like to try and balance things in the long run.

In general it would require a failure of the actuator gearing to run into issues with the roof falling down and under normal conditions if one failed I think the others would hold the roof for the short term so I don't think locks are needed normally. However I was thinking about making some posts to slip into place during winter camping to help support the roof and not have it all rest on the actuators in case a heavy snow load builds up. If one failed under heavy load then it could potentially take everything out I suspect.

 

[riveroceanandmountain]

Great info thanks pods8 ..... I have decided to go for the same actuators....and I too will use the 24 inch lift ones.... this will allow my wife to use the camper without me there to lift the roof!

I realized after I asked about the failure concern that they are just electric screw jacks.... couldn't be simpler and pretty secure really like you said.

Do you need to install limit switches? I am having trouble picturing how one puts an upper limit switch on this application..... more research needed.... I guess some kind of slider that extends down beside the actuator but moves up with the roof to then trip the limit switch at full extension..... hmm...

 

[pods8]

Great info thanks pods8 ..... I have decided to go for the same actuators....and I too will use the 24 inch lift ones.... this will allow my wife to use the camper without me there to lift the roof!

I realized after I asked about the failure concern that they are just electric screw jacks.... couldn't be simpler and pretty secure really like you said.

Do you need to install limit switches? I am having trouble picturing how one puts an upper limit switch on this application..... more research needed.... I guess some kind of slider that extends down beside the actuator but moves up with the roof to then trip the limit switch at full extension..... hmm...

They have internal non-adjustable limit switches already installed so assuming the full 24" stroke is what you are after you're good to go. They make external ones if you need to customize the stroke but I'd try to avoid that personally I think.

FYI, I ordered mine through robotshop.com, they offer free shipping over $250 and every couple months they put out a 5% discount code in their news letter (their last one JUST expired at the end of march, bummer on timing). I ordered up 5 actuators so I'd have a spare immediately if needed and also in case something gets discontinued or such I have some scramble time to figure out alternatives assuming just one broke down. With the free shipping, qty discount, and 5% discount that fifth acutator was pretty cheap.

 

[riveroceanandmountain]

excellent info...... thanks... I went to robotshop and was ready to order but they only had two actuators in stock and two would be backordered for 6 weeks .... darn....

So I sat on the idea for a few days... and worked on my two directional fridge slide and realized I don't have room in the back corner where the fridge goes for a lift actuator.....hmmmmm... problem

So my current idea is to only use two actuators close to the center of each side then put manual lift type gizmos on the front and back sort of like a FWC with lift struts in the middle... only my lift struts will be actuators... should I have electrical issues I can still lift and lower manually... should work out perfect

 

[pods8]

Due to my build speed I've had the luxury of looking for deals and slowly adding to my parts pile. I guess that is a silver lining.


We just had another member of the family arrive last week so I'm doing what I can when I can but I'm trying to make a solid push to get the top ready for painting in a couple weeks when family is visiting so I can get a hand coating that part. Then I'll finish the door and coat the bottom and do the flip walls. I've got gallons of paint in route, some more aluminum to work on the jack attachments and actuator mounting, etc.

I flipped the top back onto the bottom to double check the fit (and I want to do a trial run with actuators before coating in case a problem needs a structural modification). I pulled all the peel ply as well so I can start the rough fairing. I found a couple areas where the heat blankets bubbled up things on me which was concerning, so I ran a little test to see what kind of heat I was dealing with. I put a sample piece in a moving blanket with a temperature probe on the surface and put a doubled up heat blanket over it. Turns out it could heat the glass surface up to 170F! So at high temps there is concern over a bubble forming under the glass and a pocket of delamination but hopefully its not a realistic issue under normal conditions (esp. with light paint colors). Westss had a delam in his rig due to the high heat thrown off by his catalytic heater but hasn't had issue with normal environmental stuff (though I would guess his rig is likely a polyurethane core so not quite apples to apples). Anyways not sure if I'll try injecting epoxy into the bubbles and push them down or sand out and re glass those areas. Injection would be easier, I think, but I'd be pissed later if those areas lifted again down the line...

Anyways some pics w/ some repair areas to correct circled (hard to see with some of the other marks I had to help orientate the fabric):

 

[riveroceanandmountain]

That looks very awesome!!! Keep up the good work and may you find more time to work on it

 

[Powagoneer]

Wow! I just skimmed this entire thread. Quite a progression. Judging from the amount of time and labor you have put into that thing, you'll be passing that rig onto your grandkids someday. Also like what you did to your truck. Nice work.

 

[craig333]

Do your relatives know you'll be putting them to work ahead of time? I can't wait to see this painted.

 

[pods8]

Thanks all.

Yeah they know, we're all tinkers at heart. The women are content to hang out and visit, us guys get stir crazy so projects are a good outlet. I'm hoping to get all the sanding done on the top prior though, that is thankless work I'd rather not subject others to. Rolling on paint (other than needing a respirator) isn't too bad. Lots to try and squeeze in over the next couple weeks.

 

[Jeep]

I just used Monsta Liner on a project, worked OK for a doorway, the jury is out as far as durability. The advertisements are somewhat correct, it isn't a "crumbly" liner, but it does dry pretty hard, I can grab a couple of close ups for you if you want.

 

[pods8]

I just used Monsta Liner on a project, worked OK for a doorway, the jury is out as far as durability. The advertisements are somewhat correct, it isn't a "crumbly" liner, but it does dry pretty hard, I can grab a couple of close ups for you if you want.

I'm a little unclear on your doorway comment. Are you providing caution of putting it on my door frame in terms of sealing or something?

I've seem lots of photo's on jeepforum but pictures are fun to look at if you want to snap some and also comment on your application method.

My intent is to roll out freshly catalyzed stuff for each coat rather than catalyze all at once and then use the thicker stuff on the second coat. Going to as muted of an orange peel as possible with the stuff. If I don't like what I see I can always add more texture by back rolling, can't take it away...

 

[Jeep]

I rolled it on medium wet, 3 coats. Judging from the hardness when dry, I wouldn't use it where there is a lot of flexing, it dries pretty flat, not any gloss or a satin finish. It will fill in pretty deep scratches, and doesn't seem to hold dust or anything real bad considering the surface finish, I wiped the entryway out after working on it for a week with a damp rag to see how it cleans up and that was acceptable. I don't know if you can top coat it with paint but you might want to find out, might be in the future for a visible surface finish.

 

[pods8]

Cool. Although my structure as a whole flexes a little it doesn't really flex much on a small scale (if that makes sense) I think various vehicle body panels flex more on a small scale than my camper will and it seems to hold well there. I was just crawling over the top of my camper and had no noticeable deflection, I'm sure if someone else had a ruler out they'd see something but its not like getting on top of a vehicle and having the metal flex. Harder to see on your dark color but looks like a nice mellow texture which is exactly what I'd like. I need to fair out some stuff on my build first so its not overly wavy in some spots but in general I'm excited about the high build/textured/low gloss/hard finish of this stuff. It'll hopefully take abuse and really cut down on the prep time needed.

It can be over coated but it needs to be scratched up, just like anything else, to allow something to properly bond to it. Hopefully I get years out of the original coating appearance. If I needed to re coat for visual purposes at some point I'd scratch it up, epoxy primer, and then paint. The nice thing is this stuff is a two part urethane so generally it should be able to be over coated with most anything without concerns of lifting (always test first though!).

(Looks like you have a build going there I should go scope out )

 

[pods8]

I'm planning to bust out some white/grey duct tape to do some mock up of color transitions so it catch the light right (since I can't render stuff for crap! ) but off hand here's my two thoughts on color cut over. I kinda like the first one. Any aesthetic eyes out there?

This one I'd wrap the white top down the sides ~2" or so, it would kind of have that Toyota FJ/Landcruiser look.

This one would just be a white top with the grey ending after the radius of the edge on the horizontal top.