Planning:
I'm working on a way to make a budget style camper setup that is along the lines of a GFC or OVRLND camper.
Needs / Wants:
- sleep 3-4 people - this makes a soft shell tent which doubles in size when unfolded much more applicable
- relatively cost effective (hence the desire to keep the shell and not start from scratch)
- relatively lightweight
- not permanent - I want to be able to return to just a camper shell without a ton of work
- room for mountain bikes in the bed when in transit
I plan to build a rack to offer better support than the fiberglass shell alone and mount a RTT on top. I could then cut the top of the shell and the bottom aluminum panel of the RTT to have the tent be accessible from inside, and allow for standing room in the bed when the tent is folded out. If the rack is made right it would support both the shell and tent being weaker from having large rectangles cut out of them. I would make a folding bottom panel for the tent to replace when sleeping. The idea of cutting the bottom out of a RTT was confirmed when I saw this video:
My favorite approach so far is having the rack be internal like the A.R.E. CX HD shells which have an aluminum extrusion backbone.
From the A.R.E. website:
The benefit to this setup is that I could remove the RTT, fab up a cover for the big rectangular cutout in the top of the shell, and return to just the shell.
If I go this route and make the bars out of 80/20, the structure itself would be pretty easy. Mounting is where I get hung up. Is there a better idea than mounting to the top of the bed rails? I'm not sure I want to attach to the bed rails because that would mean mounting on top of the fiberglass shell, but the other option would be notching the shell and attaching directly to the bed. Any ideas on this?
