ETAV8R
Founder of D.E.R.P.
What are RidgeRest Pads? When I googled it all that came up were some thermarest pads.
As you say 20lbs is 20lbs. How are these pads working out for you?
The TARDIS - A Four Wheel Camper Build
- Thread starter Overland Hadley
- Start date
As you say 20lbs is 20lbs. How are these pads working out for you?
southpier
Expedition Leader
definitely take some getting used to. but easy to find in the parking lot.
MakersTeleMark
Adventurer
I spotted it rolling South on HWY 82 between Carbondale and Aspen on Sat. Put a big smile on my face. Too bad he couldn't recognize me because I was going the opposite direction on my motorcycle, and not in my truck. Good folks.
Jr_Explorer
Explorer
And I'll bet that sucker lets you keep it wide open in Turn 4! Awesome!
Overland Hadley
on a journey
The Ridge-Rest pads did not work out that well, as the north-south ribbing on the bottom of the camper does not match up well with the bed of the truck. So the camper was only sitting on the truck in a few small places, and the focused weight crushed the foam pad.
I will edit that post to indicate this.
Here is what I am doing now. (This spring I used the camper with no pad under it. It worked fine, but I would like to find a thin pad to go between the camper and the truck bed.)
First project was to add wood strips to the bottom of the camper. I am doing this because I did not want to use the factory supplied bed mat because it was so heavy. And I also discovered that the runners on the bottom of the camper did not match up well with the grooves in the truck bed, as both ran north-south, so the camper was only sitting on the truck bed in a couple small areas. So some runners going east-west were in order.
At some point in the future I plan on putting another coat of stain on the bottom plywood of the camper. I feel that with all the holes I have drilled it would not be a bad idea, and the factory stain is a little thin in places.
Overland Hadley
on a journey
RAM Mounts
A fun little project....
At some point in the near future I hope to get an iPad to use as my Chart-plotter. So I spent my fun time on the internet figuring a mounting solution. I wanted it to be a RAM mount, and after going though their mounting products I did not come up with the right non-drill mount. So it was time to get the basic parts and pull out the drill bits.
I have gotten pretty good at learning how to pull dash parts out, and this project meant pulling the storage cubby in front of the gear shift out.
The base mounts that were going in.
The base plates that I made from roof rack scrap.
Had to do a little Fein cutting to get the base plates to fit.
Put in two base balls, one for the iPad and one for the iPod.
The finished bases do not look too annoying when sitting empty.
Alright, I am now ready for a chart-plotter.
A fun little project....
At some point in the near future I hope to get an iPad to use as my Chart-plotter. So I spent my fun time on the internet figuring a mounting solution. I wanted it to be a RAM mount, and after going though their mounting products I did not come up with the right non-drill mount. So it was time to get the basic parts and pull out the drill bits.
I have gotten pretty good at learning how to pull dash parts out, and this project meant pulling the storage cubby in front of the gear shift out.
The base mounts that were going in.
The base plates that I made from roof rack scrap.
Had to do a little Fein cutting to get the base plates to fit.
Put in two base balls, one for the iPad and one for the iPod.
The finished bases do not look too annoying when sitting empty.
Alright, I am now ready for a chart-plotter.
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Overland Hadley
on a journey
Moving the sink drain to an external grey water tank setup. (I remember somebody pointed out that this was the best way to go, and yes you were right. I just needed to get their my way.)
Drilling the hole in the camper was not a big deal, as I have drilled probably close to 100 holes in the camper.
But drilling a 1" hole in the truck bed was another matter. There was a gulp before I started on this one.
Drilling the hole in the camper was not a big deal, as I have drilled probably close to 100 holes in the camper.
But drilling a 1" hole in the truck bed was another matter. There was a gulp before I started on this one.
Every Miles A Memory
Expedition Leader
You should have just looked up Tether Tools. No affiliation, but they look like good mounts
Overland Hadley
on a journey
Shower Inclosure
Did a test fitting of the shower/potty inclosure. Fit was looking good, and I think it should work nicely. But the bugs were getting really thick, and I did not feel like getting the head net out, so I bailed and hurried to get inside.
I have posted details about the structure, the material is just a Nemo footprint that I found on closeout. Not a perfect fit, but not too bad for just grabbing a tent footprint.
Did a test fitting of the shower/potty inclosure. Fit was looking good, and I think it should work nicely. But the bugs were getting really thick, and I did not feel like getting the head net out, so I bailed and hurried to get inside.
I have posted details about the structure, the material is just a Nemo footprint that I found on closeout. Not a perfect fit, but not too bad for just grabbing a tent footprint.
Then it was on to the new fun stuff. The first parts mounted should look familiar.
So these parts are for...... a shower and toilet shelter. It could also easily be made into an awing, I will have to look into that in the future.
Here is testing the aluminum pole flex. Everything looks good, but I do not have the room to test the fabric sides, so that will have to wait.
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Overland Hadley
on a journey
Without the thick (and heavy) rubber mat that FWC uses on the Gen2 Tacoma bed, the camper does not sit well on the raised ribbing of the composite bed. With the wood slats running across the camper, the camper sits solidly on the composite bed, without the need for a solid and thick rubber pad.
No, it is just a small cabin we are renting for a while. It, like a lot of the buildings in these parts, is very scandinavian looking. It is a fun look, but when I build our house I am going to do a modern north-woods (natural wood and metal) design.
riveroceanandmountain
Adventurer
I have been playing with Ram ipad mounts in my Tacoma as well.... getting rid of the shake is a challenge with such a heavy chart plotter.
I hope yours proves to be robust enough.
I hope yours proves to be robust enough.