4xchinook4
Observer
Stickers coming soon. A friend made this. Shes starting her own custom stickers buisness for people
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Toyota chinook 4x4
- Thread starter 4xchinook4
- Start date
Stitebunny
Adventurer
Nice job on the camper!
I too am redoing mine. Albeit a van.
I kind of threw it together originally just to be able to use it. Now I want to make it nice and more convenient and easier to use.
It sure takes a lot of thought and time. I have a lot of respect for people who can put these together in a timely and quality fashion. I hope you get lots more use out of your home built camper!
I too am redoing mine. Albeit a van.
I kind of threw it together originally just to be able to use it. Now I want to make it nice and more convenient and easier to use.
It sure takes a lot of thought and time. I have a lot of respect for people who can put these together in a timely and quality fashion. I hope you get lots more use out of your home built camper!
4xchinook4
Observer
Thank you very much! I still look at her like it's our 1st date.
. I love driving around and just living and functioning out of it. This build so far is definitely my favorite. And makes the most sense with design of the space so far.What's your van build ?
Make model year. And your design?
Feel free to post a few pictures. I'm not a stickler against "thread jack" lol . Would love to see it . Respect back to you for wanting to do it with your own.
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Burlydirtyhippy
Chambon
Nice man! Very cool build
4xchinook4
Observer
Thanks for the replies . Everyone. I know this might sound crazy. Lol. But in a year or so maybe 2. I kinda have the itch to want to remove and sell the whole chinook camper. And try my hand at making the truck into a pop top trekker .. thoughts?
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4xchinook4
Observer
Let me know if you have any questions. Ive made plenty of mistakes along the way . Haha. Help the next guy not make the same ones
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4xchinook4
Observer
Some pictures from the past few weeks of the upgrades going on.
I'll explain later in another message for each pic.
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I'll explain later in another message for each pic.
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4xchinook4
Observer
Using 2 electric actuators .
The end result will be motorized. Since i intend to hold some weight up there now. Along with 2 gas struts to help with Stability once its in the raised position
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Hey, great work. I'd really like to know your plan for the lift mechanism. I installed linear actuators on mine and while it works, it does not work as well as I would have liked. My plan was to not change the lift mechanism at all, but just to add the linear actuators onto the mechanism to push the slide. The issue is getting over the initial "hump". When the top is down, the lift mechanism is folded down and is pretty much flat. Pushing on the mechanism at this point does not work to lift the top because there is no upward force. The "hump" can be overcome by placing a bit of upward force on the roof as the actuators are started. I used a broom handle from the back door to push up on the roof and it was enough for the system to work. I was thinking that a third actuator on the back pushing up on the roof would solve the issue, but I have decided to go another route.
For some reason I don't seem to have any good pictures of what I did, but you can get the idea from this one. I can take more if anyone wants to see the details.
For some reason I don't seem to have any good pictures of what I did, but you can get the idea from this one. I can take more if anyone wants to see the details.
4xchinook4
Observer
4xchinook4
Observer
Here are pics of my new install design .
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4xchinook4
Observer
I've up'ed the size of the lifting arms from 7/8 x 1/16 wall to 1" x ⅛" wall.
And you can see what I used for the new tracks.
.
As far as the initial "hump" . I assume you're talking about that starting of the up motion from laying flat.
To be honest I hadn't considered this. BUT something else of my design I feel MIGHT help.
& thats 2x 3ft 80 lb gas struts that will be installed on the back edge of the chinook camper "shelf" (same shelf rim the actuators and lifting mech is mounted to, but back edge above the back door)
. They'll be installed around 45° to act as stabilizers for sway with the roof up and with the canoe/ gear still on .
So perhaps they'll also help like your broom stick idea you would do ?
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And you can see what I used for the new tracks.
.
As far as the initial "hump" . I assume you're talking about that starting of the up motion from laying flat.
To be honest I hadn't considered this. BUT something else of my design I feel MIGHT help.
& thats 2x 3ft 80 lb gas struts that will be installed on the back edge of the chinook camper "shelf" (same shelf rim the actuators and lifting mech is mounted to, but back edge above the back door)
. They'll be installed around 45° to act as stabilizers for sway with the roof up and with the canoe/ gear still on .
So perhaps they'll also help like your broom stick idea you would do ?
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Wow! That is a sweet design. Much more than I was willing to attempt. Ya, the hump is that initial force required to get the springs working. You know how when you put it up manually you have to give it that good push at first and then after that it goes up all by itself. And when you bring it down you probably have also experienced how you have to pull down hard at the beginning and at the end it just drops into place.
I think that you may still have the problem I had even with the struts. If the struts are also horizontal, no angle, then they will not be adding any upward force. And if you do put them on an angle that means they are always exerting upward force, even when the roof is closed, meaning the latching/locking mechanism has to be able to hold it. While the broomstick approach works, I would still add another actuator since my whole purpose is to have to top go up by itself. One more actuator, in your closet that pokes through the top when activated, would give that initial push. Have it on the same switch as the two lift actuators (remote control in my case) and then have a switch for just that actuator (on the closet wall) that you can use to lower it. That actuator would not be connected to the roof and would not have to go up very much, not sure how much, just enough to get past the hump. Once the roof is raised you can use the switch for it on the closet wall to lower it back out of the way since it is not required to lower the roof.
I am also curious about how you intend to latch/lock the roof down. The biggest reason I want an automatic roof is because I don't wan't to have to get into the Chinook and undo all those straps (or do them up again for that matter). My Chinook was gutted when I got it so I'm not sure if having seats gives a better position to do this, but for me with the 4 foot ceiling height it is a pain in the buttocks so I wanted to have the roof and latching mechanism work without having to go inside. I'm curious if you are just going to rely on the actuators to keep the roof down or continue to use the straps or if you have something else in mind. For me, I'm not sure how I will do it, but the actuators will definitely hold down the middle of the roof and I'll probably add latches on the front and back and for that I was thinking of using generic power door locks.
I think that you may still have the problem I had even with the struts. If the struts are also horizontal, no angle, then they will not be adding any upward force. And if you do put them on an angle that means they are always exerting upward force, even when the roof is closed, meaning the latching/locking mechanism has to be able to hold it. While the broomstick approach works, I would still add another actuator since my whole purpose is to have to top go up by itself. One more actuator, in your closet that pokes through the top when activated, would give that initial push. Have it on the same switch as the two lift actuators (remote control in my case) and then have a switch for just that actuator (on the closet wall) that you can use to lower it. That actuator would not be connected to the roof and would not have to go up very much, not sure how much, just enough to get past the hump. Once the roof is raised you can use the switch for it on the closet wall to lower it back out of the way since it is not required to lower the roof.
I am also curious about how you intend to latch/lock the roof down. The biggest reason I want an automatic roof is because I don't wan't to have to get into the Chinook and undo all those straps (or do them up again for that matter). My Chinook was gutted when I got it so I'm not sure if having seats gives a better position to do this, but for me with the 4 foot ceiling height it is a pain in the buttocks so I wanted to have the roof and latching mechanism work without having to go inside. I'm curious if you are just going to rely on the actuators to keep the roof down or continue to use the straps or if you have something else in mind. For me, I'm not sure how I will do it, but the actuators will definitely hold down the middle of the roof and I'll probably add latches on the front and back and for that I was thinking of using generic power door locks.
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