honeycomb aluminum in base and roof of RTT's

[chorky]

Disclaimer - I didn't know what portion of the forum to put this in, admins feel free to relocate as needed.

Ok - so I am considering the idea of a permanent modification to my current set-up. Everyone can thank a fellow forum member for this, you know who you are! hah. But it was actually in mind months ago.

I like my current tent and canopy. And it's paid for. Despite them both being on the heavy side. I also really like the alu-cab idea (too heavy and WAY too expensive for me), and also like a lot the OvrlndCamper - a great family and product. Both of those options offer something I don't have with a RTT - inside seating/standing space. Not that 'inside' space in a JT offers a lot anyway, but I do see the benefit in my personal situation where winter temps easily get to -20. So to extend camping season to 3 seasons (like late fall and early spring) one either has to suck it up (too old and broken for that) or find a fix.

The Idea I am considering is, well to just cut a big hole in the bottom of the tent and top of the canopy and make my own version of a pop-up canopy. What I am specifically curious about though is if anyone has any direct experience (pictures would be awesome) of the honeycomb aluminum all of our RTT's have. I have seen various videos and pictures online, but I am curious if those pics and videos align up with the real world. I have no fabrication experience with RTT's. Obviously cutting a big hole is a pretty permanent mod - although I can replace the floor as the entire tent is rebuildable as per the manufacturer, it would be nice to have an idea of what to expect and to determine if it's even a route I want to explore further.

Question two is - how are the floors of these tents married to the sides. They are all basically the same, some type of fancy extruded alum on the sides with a 1 to 1.5" C channel on the inside that the floor slides into. But are they bonded together with some type of adhesive? And are the sides (front and back) just bolted together, or bonded, or using some type of L bracket? I dont know about your tent but on mine, the rounded corners are plastic and I think they are just a cover for something. This matters as it could change how I consider attaching the tent to the canopy as well as if I even want to continue considering this option. But, with a large hole in both the tent and canopy, that means more stress loading on the frame of the tent instead of the extruded floor, so how the frame is attached to the floor, and how the frame sides are attached to each other is important. especially considering the frame is what the hinges and struts are attached to that lift the roof.

My idea, in a simple explanation, would result in cutting a big hole, then covering the exposed honeycomb with a C channel strip of alum (probably 1") on all 4 interior sides which, if I source C channel with an additional lip facing outward (so facing into the new hole) would also serve as a place to lay the new platform on for sleeping. This way it can lift up, essentially like all the other canopy campers, but have a solid base to rest on when occupied by my body weight. It also would reduce total weight - my canopy being stainless steel (supposedly) I am sure would lose at least 1/3 of the weight by removing almost the entire roof of the canopy. Additionally, I could use the cut out portion of the extruded floor as the hinged 'base' to lie on, or consider a different option - it would depend on the structural stability of the extruded floor itself, as well as the weight.

So just to restate the initial question - does anyone have experience with understanding the design and structure of these honeycomb alum panels - how they are structurally bonded to themselves, as well as the outside frame of these tents? @Dan Grec I think you might be best able to speak on this with your experience in composite panels?

Here is a quick video I found the other day for a reference -

And for those reading this totally confused on what honeycomb alum even is, here's some links to photos - but its basically thin thin material of aluminum (or fiberglass) formed into the shape of honeycomb, that is sandwiched by panels of wood, alum, glass, etc.... Usually very thin sheets though. I think most RTT panels are a total of 1" thick but the alum sheeting is as thick as a piece of card stock or crafting paper.
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...d=0CDQQMyh-ahcKEwjQuu7d2_GBAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQDA


Let the "your crazy" comments commence!

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[Dan Grec]

You're crazy!

( haha, I joke )

I like the sound of what you have planned, but unfortunately I have absolutely zero experience with the honeycomb aluminium. I've only just recently learned about fibreglass and carbon composites and honeycomb, so I'm very new to that as well.

I see no reason why what you're planning won't work, and like most projects it might just be a case of getting into it and learning what you need to as you go along and you realize there's more to it than you thought.

Good luck, I look forward to seeing it !

-Dan

 

[chorky]

Ok folks I'm bringing this topic back.

So, after 9 months of use, I realized my current tent is a little difficult for me personally to use. Fortunately, there are a lot of new copycat ideas to the current style. I am looking at 23zero Kabari X.

The base is different than my current one. My current one has a base honeycomb that is attached to essential aversion of what I think is 4040 extrusion. Meaning it has 2 slots on the side.

This is really cool because it has allowed me to mount my awning and shower cube directly to the tent, and the tent then is bolted directly to the canopy (my canopy does not accept cross bars). Here is a photo of a prototype bracket I am talking about.

So bracket bolts to the tent, and awning to the bracket. Pretty sweet really. And here is a photo to give an idea how the tent is bolted to the canopy. My canopy is stainless steel (supposedly) so I think it's pretty darn strong, and has the highest dynamic load rating of any canopy at the moment.

However, the new tent I am considering only has 1 T slot, not 2. So it's more like a 1540 series extrusion. The base is basically the same, honeycomb aluminum riveted together to the extrusion edges and corners. Here is a photo that the company sent me by request.

So.....I need to find a way to make the new tent work with the awning/shower cube. If you reference the prototype bracket, the hole mounting is I think 4" apart (standard) for the awning, and 2 or 3" (standard) for the shower cube. It appears the base structure of the new tent is not as robust. And if you look super close you can see where it is sealed for water intrusion and where it is riveted. Surprisingly the honeycomb base only goes into the extrusion what looks to be 1 or maybe 1.5 inches. Kinda surprising... So to make this new tent work, I need to probably have a custom bracket made. There is a shop in town willing to do that. But I would like ideas on what will work. A standard L bracket with braces? Or maybe a C style clamp with a bolt that goes through the extrusion and a flat 4" face for the awning to mount to? Or maybe some hybrid system where it also bolts into the canopy (I would prefer not to drill more holes in the canopy, but not the end of the world either). Any metallurgy guys or gals here? Any fabricators who know how to work with aluminum have any ideas?

I have not purchased the tent yet - so ifs someone has another idea I am open to it - although the tent is on sale until the end of the month so I would like to take advantage of that if possible.

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