Gladiator Expedition Rigs

[Mules]

It's about time to plan out the back hatch. While I was looking for a hatch hinge I came across this. This hinge/light mount won't fit my JT back top, but it fits JL tops. It would be nice if I didn't have to drill through my top to mount the back lights.

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[Mules]

Here is a debatable decision I made. I wanted my gasketted seal between two painted solid surfaces and not against the tent material. Because of this the tent material is connected to the inside of the lower shell and not the outside. The flaw to this design is that rain will run into the camper from the tent material. To solve this, I sewed on a rain skirt to the tent. When popped up, you have to spend a minute pulling the skirt over the lower shell rim. I hope the rain skirt is worth it in the end. The last photo shows the complicated overlap where the tent connects to itself.

 

[Mules]

Putting the velcro on the shell for the tent material. It looks like I'm adhering it to wood, but the wood has a layer of clear acrylic glass on top of it. This velcro has extremely strong peel and stick glue on it. It's made for marine applications. It should stay on, but it's hard to believe it won't come off when I pull the velcro apart. We'll see.

 

[kad's_Glad]

Here is a debatable decision I made. I wanted my gasketted seal between two painted solid surfaces and not against the tent material. Because of this the tent material is connected to the inside of the lower shell and not the outside. The flaw to this design is that rain will run into the camper from the tent material. To solve this, I sewed on a rain skirt to the tent. When popped up, you have to spend a minute pulling the skirt over the lower shell rim. I hope the rain skirt is worth it in the end. The last photo shows the complicated overlap where the tent connects to itself.

That rain skirt is a really nice solution to the issue. Between that and the inner gasket I’d say you’ll have a good seal. We’ll worth the effort. I’m continually impressed by your ingenuity and craftsmanship.

 

[rharr]

Putting the velcro on the shell for the tent material. It looks like I'm adhering it to wood, but the wood has a layer of clear acrylic glass on top of it. This velcro has extremely strong peel and stick glue on it. It's made for marine applications. It should stay on, but it's hard to believe it won't come off when I pull the velcro apart. We'll see.

You may want to shoot a few staples into that velcro into the wood. Those adhesives get real weird at cold temperatures and may loose their stickyness. I am fighting with using HD velco on the plastic tailgate cap, even after some light sanding and acetone bath the adhesive is sub par. Might need to try a adhesive promotor next.

 

[Mules]

You may want to shoot a few staples into that velcro into the wood. Those adhesives get real weird at cold temperatures and may loose their stickyness. I am fighting with using HD velco on the plastic tailgate cap, even after some light sanding and acetone bath the adhesive is sub par. Might need to try a adhesive promotor next.

Good call and easy to shoot staples into the wood!

 

[Mules]

Wow, wouldn't it be nice if Loki made an Icarus for a Jeep Gladiator? Oh and it was't $70,000. Pretty steep price, but man it is a nice slide in expedition camper.

 

[FitfulGoat]

Wow, wouldn't it be nice if Loki made an Icarus for a Jeep Gladiator? Oh and it was't $70,000. Pretty steep price, but man it is a nice slide expedition camper.

70k seems steep but the quality looks to be very high.

 

[Mules]

Someone just pointed out to me that the Icarus is built from a $10K Spacekap. Spacekap is a Contractor Shell company out of Quebec. Looks like a nice starting option to build your own full size expedition rig. Too bad they don't have a Tacoma or Gladiator sized shell.

 

[Mules]

We’ll this time it worked! I needed to do a fitting of the tent to locate my final seam. Looks like the rain skirt works also. It’s very stable front to back, but there’s a few inches of wobble left to right. I was hoping to get away without a stabilizer, but looks like I’ll need one. It’s 8ft. Tall inside. Maybe a bit tall, but plenty of room to sleep up top.

 

[Mules]

I can even have coffee on the outside deck if I ever make a roof rack over the freedom tops. I made a removable panel on front just in case.

 

[FitfulGoat]

Any idea on total weight so far?

 

[Mules]

Any idea on total weight so far?

I think I'm still shy of 200 lb. I'll weigh it again soon. The upper bed platform will be 30-40lb. I still haven't decided on materials for lower layout but it should be less than 70lb. All in, I'll try to keep it under 300lb. (without battery and water).

 

[kad's_Glad]

We’ll this time it worked! I needed to do a fitting of the tent to locate my final seam. Looks like the rain skirt works also. It’s very stable front to back, but there’s a few inches of wobble left to right. I was hoping to get away without a stabilizer, but looks like I’ll need one. It’s 8ft. Tall inside. Maybe a bit tall, but plenty of room to sleep up top.

Did you really say 8 feet tall…inside? That’s a foot taller than my basement ceiling height! Whoa ?

 

[Jaxmax]

“Might put a front deck on top out front”, anyone else saying that I would chuckle….you, I can only imagine it, with perhaps a fire pit.
Staying at 300 pounds for the camper shell is impressive. Really starting to come together, but that SpaceCap comment has me concerned, Ha!…..Jack

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