Wildernest Spare Parts Info

[Clutch]

Judging by your reply, you are thinking of the bows, (the new ones I made are working fine). I am talking about the stabilizing poles for the camper top/sleeping shell.

The friction plate cut a groove into the pole, wedging itself on the pole. The clip holding the friction plate to the outer pole came apart too. The ends were fine.

I tend to flop about when I sleep, so the suspension of the truck flexes, putting pressure on the poles.

I have some ideas rollling around in my head for some stout poles. Maybe something like a tempary floor joice jacks they use in housing. Only a mini version.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Oh, I get it. I think you might have put too much force on those outrigger poles. They should not be holding up any weight, they just keep the rocking minimized. The bolted brackets on the topper are not all that strong and you can pull them out of the fiberglass, not to mention the poles breaking. I leave a couple of inches between the hose clamp and bottom section, but your poles work a little different than the original ones. The stock poles have a hose clamp that you snug down on the upper section, which is the travel stop when it hits the lower section. I let the poles move up and down, just enough that no one gets seasick. I'd bet that those original poles would work just fine if you replace the jam mechanism with a hose clamp. IIRC, you need to have force on the pole for the jamming plate to work, right? When I set up my 'Nest, the poles can compress 3" or so before the clamp touches the bottom section. You probably woke up to find the poles had sunk into the ground, too? That's another sign that your poles were too long, since they got driven down.

 

[Nonprophet]

Yakima rack extenders

Well, as I mentioned earlier in this thread I finally got my Yakima rack mounted to my WN, but I didn't like the way the racks looked with the offset needed on the passenger side to keep the racks on the WN when opened without punching through the widows. I also like as long a crossbar as possible to carry lumber, two kayaks, etc. on the racks.

So I decided to make some extenders that would give me the crossbar length I need, but could be easily removed when opening up my 'nest.

I took them to a welder, but he wound up taking forever, so I just did it myself.

The first pic is what the racks look like without extenders,

The second pic is what they look like with them,

The 3rd pic is a closeup of the extenders.


The OD on the Yakima crossbars is 1 1/16" (with the vinyl coating), so I got some 1" galvi pipe and cut it to length (about 13" is what I needed). In order to attach them to the Yakima bars, I got some 13/16" x10" galvi nipples from the hardware store, and pounded them into the 1" galvi extenders. The ID of the 1" galvi is about 3/4", and so the 13/16" OD galvi nipples fits nice an tight inside--I just used wood blocks and a hammer to pound them into the 1" extensions. The extension "sleeves" are about 5" long which gives me more than enough strength. Once the extenders were inserted into the Yakima crossbars I drilled a hole sideways through both sides, and then used a 1/4" stainless steel clevis pin and ring to hold it in place. Then I spray-painted the extenders black, and voila!:sombrero:

So now, when I want to open the WN, all I do is pull the pins, pull the extenders, out, and open er up.....

Here's some pics of the extenders:

 

[Clutch]

Dave,

Mine didn't come with the original poles.

Thanks for the advice, I'll rig up the new poles with hose clamps, and use them like you instructed. Maybe install a spring in the poles so they can "flex"

 

[grambo71]

wildernest waterproofing treatment

My WN fabric is pretty tired, and unfortunately the original waterproofing has cracked and leaks when it rains. I'm thinking of trying a product called Canvak on it: http://www.cabelas.com/information/CampingFoodPrep/Canvak.html. Has anyone tried this or have any thoughts? I know it's just water resistant, but it would be better than what I've got. I don't think it's good to use on nylon, and I can't remember if the WN fabric is cotton canvas or some sort of nylon.

 

[DaveInDenver]

The material is a heavy nylon and the old coating was urethane. Yeah, once the waterproofing goes, the material is pretty much useless. You could use the old tent as a pattern to have a new one sewn, but that would be pretty pricey. Another option would be to throw a tarp over the top, which would work with the downside being it will get pretty steamy inside.

 

[snowgeek]

'Nest manual pdf

Hey all,

I've posted a pdf of the Wildernest manual on my webpage (too big to post on this forum...):

http://www.warnercnr.colostate.edu/~deems/

Hope that's useful!

 

[outdoordrea]

Hey all,

I've posted a pdf of the Wildernest manual on my webpage (too big to post on this forum...):

http://www.warnercnr.colostate.edu/~deems/

Hope that's useful!

I'd love to get a copy, but your site tells me I don't have permissions to read that page.

 

[paulj]

Since I never got the seams of my WilderNest fully sealed, I ended up depending on a poly tarp for waterproofness, especially during extended rains. I don't recall for sure what size I used, but I think it was 9x16. It extended beyond the roof by about a foot on all sides. As such it did not interfer with ventillation from either the side windows or the peak vents. So I didn't notice any changed in interior condensation or 'steaminess'.

To make it easier to handle, I tied 9' long bamboo poles to two sides. With those, I could stand on the tailgate and lift the tarp over the open tent. I held the tarp down with lines from the poles to points under the pickup bed sides.

For travel, I rolled the tarp up, poles and all, and tied the bundle to the roof rack.

It wasn't a perfect solution, but it worked.

paulj

 

[adrenaline503]

Just ordered the bulb seal and SS hinges today. Thanks for making it so easy.

 

[outdoordrea]

My Wildernest's back door isn't closing (there's a gap of close to an inch on the driver's side, and a little less on the passenger side) and I'm wondering how far back does the nest need to sit on the truck bed? Right now, it's about 1/4" overhanging towards the cab, so I'm thinking it could come back almost an inch. Is this normal? I'm using it on a 2002 Toyota Tacoma X-Cab.

Link to pics.
. I can't figure out how to post them here.

Also, I want to bolt her down for the long haul, and I, too, have some spread in the back. What (and where), specifically, should I use to pull in the sides before bolting? I understand there is the need to make sure the door closes before the final drilling...

Thanks in advance,
Drea

 

[DaveInDenver]

My Wildernest's back door isn't closing (there's a gap of close to an inch on the driver's side, and a little less on the passenger side) and I'm wondering how far back does the nest need to sit on the truck bed? Right now, it's about 1/4" overhanging towards the cab, so I'm thinking it could come back almost an inch. Is this normal? I'm using it on a 2002 Toyota Tacoma X-Cab.

On a Taco the 'Nest should just about perfect. You do have to jockey front to back to get the right location, but on my truck (our beds are the same dimension and basically the same shape) the front lip of the 'Nest is just about even with the front edge of the bed, maybe a 1/16" of the bottom is leading the bed. Most of the front mounting surface sits inside of the front bed wall. Does that make sense? That puts the door in right about the perfect spot in the back and you only need to tweak the bottom edge of the bottom of the door just a bit. Photos will help and I'll try to get those for you this weekend.

Also, I want to bolt her down for the long haul, and I, too, have some spread in the back. What (and where), specifically, should I use to pull in the sides before bolting? I understand there is the need to make sure the door closes before the final drilling...

The way I pull them together is to take the screens out of the side windows and use a ratcheting strap laced through the windows and around the back to slowly pull the side together, drill and bolt. When you release the strap the side of your bed will bow out, so don't squeeze the 'Nest too tight. You only need the sides to be close enough to hold the door closed. You can also use a 6' bar clamp or one of those orange Pony clamps that use iron pipe. Use a piece of plywood or cardboard under the bar clamp saddles and squeeze the sides of the kicked out section together. I honestly find the ratcheting strap to be the easiest and most precise. It also gets in the way less when you're crawling around trying to bolt things down and you can almost close the door to check alignment.

 

[outdoordrea]

On a Taco the 'Nest should just about perfect. You do have to jockey front to back to get the right location, but on my truck (our beds are the same dimension and basically the same shape) the front lip of the 'Nest is just about even with the front edge of the bed, maybe a 1/16" of the bottom is leading the bed. Most of the front mounting surface sits inside of the front bed wall. Does that make sense? That puts the door in right about the perfect spot in the back and you only need to tweak the bottom edge of the bottom of the door just a bit. Photos will help and I'll try to get those for you this weekend.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Good pictures! Looks pretty close to where mine sits, maybe forward just a very little bit, not much though. Just talking maybe 1/4" or 3/16" back. The key to getting the back window to close is to bend that tab on the bottom of the back door, the wide black part where the rubber seal slides in. Best way I've found is to take two heavy aluminum pieces of flat material, say about 2" wide and thick enough not to bend much, say maybe 1/4" at least. Sandwich the tab part between them with as many C-clamps as you have. I have about 6 of them. Then /carefully/ bend that aluminum away from the tailgate until the door closes. The door will sit inside the frame and that aluminum tab with the rubber will just rub the tailgate. You have to be careful and work slowly because if you tweak the door too much the back glass can shatter (guess how I know that). Just work back and forth along the door, working the bend a little at a time. Might take you an hour, so be patient. Mine is probably 145 degree between the window and tab. Again, photos will help and hopefully I'll get home from work before dark. If you can hang loose for a couple more days, I WILL take a few by Monday. Promise. This weekend is super busy right now here at work.

 

[adrenaline503]

I have had to trim that metal "flap" on the bottom to clear my Nissan tailgate. I plan to remove the whole thing to achieve the best position. I looked at an older model Toyota and it appears that those tailgates are more angular than rounded styles found today. If this make no sense I will take some pictures when I get home.