My Tent Topper - Custom Wedge Tent

[SloW8]

So...

I went camping in my Gladiator last year, had an absolute blast and, decided to pursue some more opportunities to spend time in the outdoors.

I wanted a setup that would be able to fit in my garage, be really quick to set up and take down camp and be easy to use on short notice. In other words, I don't want to spend 2 hours setting up my rig to take it out and then another 2 hours taking it apart.

As I looked at all the different options on the market, nothing really fit what I wanted for a good setup meeting all of my requirements.

I think my ultimate set up would be an Alu-Cab and I had conversations with several installers but... Its huge to keep attached to a daily driver AND it will not fit in my garage. Unfortunately, I only have a 7' garage door. This would become a huge factor in my solution.

I looked at bed racks and RTTs, but none of them fit the bill. I really would like a cap like an RSI to keep the dust out of the stuff in the bed and protect my equipment, but by the time you stack a RTT on top, it was too tall to fit in the garage.

I looked into half racks and RTTs, but they don't offer any weather or theft protection for stuff in the bed. I could include a bed cover, but then most refrigerators would not fit under the cover.

I was pretty set on a Rebel Offroad Half Rack and a iKamper Skycamp Mini when I found a video of a guy who built his own wedge tent for the top of his truck. (He has a huge thread on Wedge Tents on the Tacoma World forum.) This looked cool but again, I don't have room to go above my cab and still fit in the garage so I took his plans and modified them to fold out. This gave me the same length sleeping area, but allowed me to keep it the same height as the cab.

I am not done with it, but I was able to get it complete enough to take it out camping and test to make sure it all worked. I love it! For solo trips, it is going to be perfect.

I plan on setting up a slide out kitchen or at least making a platform in half of the bed with modular bins underneath for a kitchen. Sorry, I don't have any interior pics but will try and add some soon.

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[dcmdon]

Wow. That is absolutely brilliant.
Sorry for the questions.

1) did you build the cap entirely yourself or purchase. I suspect you made it from scratch.
2) if it is made from scratch, can we see some interior shots? It looks like welded up box section aluminum.
3) do you know how much it weighs?

4) Did you sew the tent yourself? Or convert a commercially available product.

I don't know if you have any plans to commercialize this design, but it looks to be truly unique and frankly pretty amazing. If you watched your weight, I suspect it might not weigh much more than a base SmartCap.

Seriously. I'm blown away.

You might want to speak with a patent attorney. No joke.

 

[SloW8]

Wow. That is absolutely brilliant.
Sorry for the questions.

1) did you build the cap entirely yourself or purchase. I suspect you made it from scratch.
2) if it is made from scratch, can we see some interior shots? It looks like welded up box section aluminum.
3) do you know how much it weighs?

4) Did you sew the tent yourself? Or convert a commercially available product.

I don't know if you have any plans to commercialize this design, but it looks to be truly unique and frankly pretty amazing. If you watched your weight, I suspect it might not weigh much more than a base SmartCap.

Seriously. I'm blown away.

You might want to speak with a patent attorney. No joke.

1. I built it, but had the help of some fantastic people. Mostly, Dane, who spent the better part of a Saturday under the helmet welding the frame AND commented on my millions of pictures of ideas. And also my father who sewed the tent.

2. I will include some more build shots and interior shots soon. The frame is made of steel tubing and welded. Others have done similar with welded aluminum and aluminum extrusions.

3. I do not know how much it weighs, if I had to guess its close to 250lbs. I am new to fabrication and built it like a brick !@$#-house. I could drop an easy 50lbs the next time around. Most of the tubing is 1.5x2 14ga. It could easily have been 16 gauge, which would save 23% in weight and many of the tubes could have been 1". Version 2.0, if it ever happens, is in my head and will be much simpler. The paneling is made out of ACM, or Aluminum Composite Material. Most of it is 3mm, but the side panels and doors are all 6mm. I would do 3mm all around with stiffeners on the doors next time and save lots of weight.

4. My dad sewed it. Unfortunately his high dollar sewing machine likes quilt material better than tent material and did not like the heavy thread and we both would like to re-do the tent portion and once I get the rest of it finished, I likely will.

Thanks for the kind words. It has been a lot of work. I will try and get interior pics posted shortly.

 

[SloW8]

I will get interior pics but you can see the frame pretty clearly in these pics.

There is a large panel that is hinged at one end. This is the main sleeping area and can flip up to match the roof and creates quite a bit of head room inside the bed of the truck. You can flip that up and have room to change, or sit in the bed of the truck out of the elements.

There are also two smaller panels that pop into place to create the flat sleeping area and access the sleeping area when it is open. Since I plan on using this solo most of the time, I will probably leave the small panel out 99% of the time. I am 5'11" and 235 pounds and am able to fit just fine through the small hole to get up to the sleeping area.

And lastly, the fold out portion of the sleeping area. This is one large panel that folds open and extends the space.

I will try and add pics of the interior with the tent etc... so you can see what it looks like later today. I don't have any pics of that yet.

 

[SloW8]

These aren't the best pics. Some of the interior is still covered in desert dust and some of the panels still have the protective film (Arrows) on them.

Hopefully you can see the larger middle panel is in place with the smaller access panel removed. The length front to back is 89" the width is 50". Again, the two middle panels can both be removed and the larger panel can flip up to match the angle of the roof. That creates a nice open space in the bed of the truck where you can stand up to change or have a sitting area out of the elements.

Still lots to do but, it is really functional and all the bones are there. Will update as I get it finished.

 

[stingrey]

Nice design. I've often wondered why companies typically just extend over the roof rather than a cantilever (overhang/awning) design like yours.
I notice you don't have a ladder/pole support so I assume you find the overhang to be suitably stable as is. Can you sit in the overhanging part of the tent or is that 'pushing it'?
Again, nice work!

 

[Mules]

Great looking build! I'm doing my own, and was wondering what you used for the bed platform? Is it plywood, or something else and what thickness? Thanks.

 

[SloW8]

Thanks. There is a 6" cantilever on that part of the frame going to a 3/8" bolt pivot. It is strong enough to do pull ups on the frame but the panel isn't that strong. I can sit on the frame along the edge but try not to sit my fat hiney on the panel itself. It does fine supporting the weight of my head and shoulders as I sleep on it.

 

[SloW8]

The bed platform is 1.5" square tubing and 3mm ACM paneling. ACM is also called e-panel or m-panel or some other trade name depending on where you get it. The 1.5 tubing is overkill. I would probably do 1" next time.

 

[InvertedLogic]

That is so slick. Well done!

 

[AmishMike]

@SloW8
Great build!!!!
At 250 lbs. you are in the ballpark of any rack plus RTT. I am impressed! I agree with Dan-patented it! Alu-cabins start around $9K, a regular rack is close to $1K plus a $2K RTT. I mean you could make these as bare frame plus tent and let people put their own mattress etc. in them. Most people who are already camping have the mattress etc.. For people who are worried about the strength of the cantilever design, you could easily add a removeable truss that comes back to the bedrail.
You have a full height rack/cap plus a RTT that is still level with the roofline. Way better for mpg then most situations.

 

[Longleaf]

Really nice work. ?

 

[dcmdon]

I realize that Aluminum costs more and is more difficult to weld, but if you could make that out of 2" aluminum square section tubing, then wow. You would probably be under 200# with all that.

Its a very clever design.

 

[NotSo Bright White]

Great job! I like the father/son project aspect!

 

[A 2]

Inspiring.

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