Pro-Rig V2.0 - Home Built Compact Composite Pop-up

The Artisan

Adventurer
Finally got to work on the bed platform. Two pieces 18.5" wide. This composite is 1.75" core - want it to feel nice and solid with no flex. The two pieces plus the 20" wide "built-in" section will give a 57" wide bed. Almost queen width. Pieces of the platform will stack on the built-in sections when not in use. Cushions from the seats will fill out the mattress.



These will get anodized aluminum channel around the edges. I want to use something non-slip on the upper surface of these to keep the mattresses in place (don't really have a good option for raised edges all around). Maybe some sort of fabric?

matt
Glue some berber carpet down..
Kevin
 

The Artisan

Adventurer
Spray or easy carpet tape. Lay it down in strips and press carpet down. Lay your angle iron down over the carpet for clean edges.
Kevin
 

CoyoteThistle

Adventurer
Lots of work the last few days getting the slide-up operating. It's working now, not perfectly, but working. Some fine tuning is in order.

Here's the set up. The lifters keep things real stable side to side but not front to back so needed a system to keep things snug that way. I used some UHMW polyethylene I had sitting around. On the wall of the camper I mounted some strips, riveted in to the wall, two on front and two on back. Here's one:



On the slide up I used some small aluminum angle to attach four strips of UHMW that align with the other strips.



My hopes were that the slippery plastic would slide against the slippery plastic when going up and down while giving a firm fit and eliminate any front-back play. More or less works. May re-engineer this at some point but for now it is working okay.

Partially settled on a method for sealing the gap between the slide up and the main body. First method seal and keeps the slide-up from going up too high. I didn't get good photos but here's the result:



It's a downward-facing bulb seal that meets up with the inward-facing lip on the bottom edge of the slide up. To get it to work I riveted 1/2"X1/2" aluminum angle to the camper wall all the way around except where the windows are. This just cleared the lip on the slide up and allowed it to lower. Then, I screwed the wider flat aluminum stock (which is holding the bulb seal) to the angle. When the slide-up comes up, bulb seal meets the lip and creates a pretty good seal. There is probably a more elegant way of doing this but it's the best I could come up with

This approach won't work where the windows are. I got a brush seal for those sections but I realized my original plan for how that would work isn't going to work. Probably need to get the windows in and then stare at it.

Picked up a second flat/bendable solar panel and taped them both down with stuff called Eterna Bond. 200w ready to go.



I think that means the roof is ready to install. Better get to it...
 

Ramdough

Adventurer
Everything is looking amazing. I am enjoying this build.

I would avoid the plastic on plastic rubbing. I would think you would want a hard material running on the slick plastic. From my experience, as slick soft plastics rub, they warm up and start melting/sticking. Maybe on your duty cycle and speed it would be fine, but that is my gut reaction.


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CoyoteThistle

Adventurer
Everything is looking amazing. I am enjoying this build.

I would avoid the plastic on plastic rubbing. I would think you would want a hard material running on the slick plastic. From my experience, as slick soft plastics rub, they warm up and start melting/sticking. Maybe on your duty cycle and speed it would be fine, but that is my gut reaction.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it! Good point on the plastic rubbing, but I don't think 18 inches of slide will build up any heat. Your comment got me doing some research on UHMW though and it turns out it is known for it's relatively high rate of thermal expansion (compared to most metals for example). Don't think it's a problem since my pieces are very small but it's something I'll watch for in hot weather maybe.

What a great build, I want to do something really similar for my truck!

Thanks! There's a lot to be said for simpler designs too! :)
 
On the rate of expansion of UHMW. Company I worked for lined a long sliding surface with long continuous strips of UHMW with uniformly spaced countersunk screws. The shop was cool when the strips were installed. When the machine arrived at the customer we were informed that all the strips were warped and bulging. Described it looking like a roller coaster. We were able to go back and use short sections secured with 3 countersunk screws with no line space between each short section. That stuff is great for low friction and wear. True it will not slide UHMW on UHMW, just like "slip tape." It needs to slide against bare metal or a smooth painted waxed surface.
 

CoyoteThistle

Adventurer
On the rate of expansion of UHMW. Company I worked for lined a long sliding surface with long continuous strips of UHMW with uniformly spaced countersunk screws. The shop was cool when the strips were installed. When the machine arrived at the customer we were informed that all the strips were warped and bulging. Described it looking like a roller coaster. We were able to go back and use short sections secured with 3 countersunk screws with no line space between each short section. That stuff is great for low friction and wear. True it will not slide UHMW on UHMW, just like "slip tape." It needs to slide against bare metal or a smooth painted waxed surface.

Just did some comparisons with some scraps and I can feel the difference - metal to UHMW feels way "slidier". Thanks for the expert input!

I think I can drill out some rivets and make a switch.

Been busy out in the garage, updates to follow...
 

Ramdough

Adventurer
I would pick something that does not need paint while you are selecting a material. That way when the surface wears, you don't any issues.


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CoyoteThistle

Adventurer
Anodized aluminum feels the smoothest based on my non-scientific analyses of random scraps of stuff I have laying around. Don't have the right size though. I'll see what my local metal place has in stock later in the week.
 

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