DIY Slide in Pop-Up Truck Camper

toomuchDIY · May 6, 2021

long time creeper on here finally getting around to posting.

i decided to do something similar to, albiet quiet different than, the ambition strikes build on YT.

exoskeleton built with 3" x 3" 3/16" aluminum. panels built with .040 aluminum glued to 1" blueboard glued to 1/4" birch.

its been quite the process so far and ive learned a lot. like not all rivets are waterproof. been talking about that one a lot lately. a lot a lot. didnt know that was one of the causes for the titanic sinking as well. thankfully this isnt the titanic.

this is made to fit an a 2500 silverado with an 8' bed for reference.

vulcan omnipro 220 welder with spoolgun

buying a three axis jig has been a huge help and has gotten everything within a 1/16" of an inch.

and a chinese air fan for welding has helped with my lungs

as you can see i plan on using this for skiing and hunting mostly with some biking and surf trips in the mix.

Vic Harder · May 6, 2021

whoa, is that a monoski I see in your collection? I've skied on one of those for a decade or two....

toomuchDIY · May 6, 2021

second step was going up and bumping out for the wheel wells.

here is the jig in action.

well shoot if i didnt miss this little bump out in the truck bed that captures the tailgate.

in hindsight i should have made a cardboard template and actually tested. lesson learned, the hard way.

and the fix.

toomuchDIY · May 6, 2021

Vic - ya ive taken it out a few times. way harder than i thought. also some ski blades just to the left.

gotta have the whole quiver ya know.

steve whiteside · May 6, 2021

Very cool and adventurous of you to embark on this. Was it very difficult to get those Aluminum welds? Did you get many burn through spots?

Steve

toomuchDIY · May 7, 2021

steve - as you can see here yes. the edges of the angle have a rounded edge and where they met it became tricky to not burn through. inevitably i would go through and just build it back up.