The TARDIS - A Four Wheel Camper Build

Overland Hadley

on a journey
Lifting Strut Rigging

Finished the rigging for the lifting struts. Hope this keeps things happy.


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With the temps staying around 0*F I have had no opportunity to work on the camper itself. But I did order the parts and start the assembly of the strap to work in conjunction with lifting struts. Decided to go with the best marine solution, SS wire rope and SS quick release fittings. Now, I just need things to warm up and find some free time to open up the camper and make real progress.

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It would be yet another thing to remove when you were setting up camp, but you could continue using the same lower end mounting setup for your struts and fabricating a system to hold the sides of your camper together while the top is down/struts are installed. It could be as simple as a cam strap or self-camming rope system (even a truckers hitch would work) or you could get shiny with it and create a cable/turnbuckle arrangement. Just a thought.

Cheers,
West

That is a fantastic idea! Wire rope would be best as it would have no stretch, and we are only talking about a little deflection. Great idea West, thanks! Time to order some SS wire rope and do some rigging....



Yes, there is always a reason. Although sometimes more complicated than others. I was waiting to post about this until I found a solution, but here is the problem.

(First, a note about the struts mounted to the exterior of the camper. FWC feels very strongly that this is not the way to do it. In fact, I read that doing the exterior strut mount will void the warranty.)

After installing the lifting struts in the interior of the camper I started to notice that they were spreading the frame of the camper where the base of the struts are mounted. I was very careful with the installation of the struts, being aware of the pushing force they would have when the roof is down. I studied photos of factory installed struts and felt confident that my installation was equally if not more solid and force distributing. Needless to say I was a bit distressed when I noticed that the struts were warping the top of the frame. I figured that the factory must build the frame differently on campers that are ordered with lifting struts, but I found this not to be the case, so I am not sure why I am having this problem. Also, the factory uses up to 80lb struts and mine are 50lb, so I am not "over" on the strut pressure.

So I took the struts off for the winter while I figure a solution.

The struts are mounted as close to frame reinforcement as possible, so simply moving the mount does not look like it will help. At this point I am thinking I will just mount them to the bed slide frame. Not ideal, as I will need to remove the struts to slide the bed out, but I do have the marine quick release hardware so that will help. Of-course I could pull out the interior and weld in some reinforcement, but that is not happening at this point.

That is the complicated answer to a simple question.
 
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Super Doody

Explorer
Hi Jim, sorry I missed your question last week.

Because I do not like to totally deflate them each morning, what I have been doing is to unfold them and let them protrude into the main cabin space from the cabover. (This also leaves some room in the cabover for sleeping bag etc.) With the layout that I have this works fine for me, but I can see that with other layouts it might be more in the way. Also, if I am planning on spending the night in stealth mode (with the top down) the pad and sleeping bag need to be down in the cabin.

Thanks Nathanael, so you basically leave the thermal rest in the same orientation (North to South) and shift your sleeping bag (East to West) when the top is closed?
 

Overland Hadley

on a journey
Thanks Nathanael, so you basically leave the thermal rest in the same orientation (North to South) and shift your sleeping bag (East to West) when the top is closed?

If I am using my big winter bag, then it needs to get stuffed into a duffel. If I just have a lightweight summer bag it is possible (with the ThermaRest) to leave it up in the cabover. With the sleeping bag in the cabover it stays N-S, just scrunched up.

I just read in Overland Journal about the ThermaRest NeoAir Dreamtime. Looks like it would easily deflate to less than two inches, and that would make storing a sleeping bag in the cabover really easy. Tempting to order one and try it out.
 

Overland Hadley

on a journey
Wow! I feel so spoiled here in CA! Camper works & camping year round! Keep at it Overland, Rig looks excellent! :smiley_drive:

You are spoiled! ;-)

But there is something about the summer being sweeter after coming through a long winter. A long, dark, cold winter.....
 

Redline

Likes to Drive and Ride
Not here either. Figures, I bought a moto on Sat. snip...

But with the snow flying maybe you were able to get a good price on the moto. I too purchased a moto this winter.

Here is looking forward to many nights in the campers, this spring and happily ever after.
 

Overland Hadley

on a journey

SLO_F-250

Explorer
snip.....n the end there was no way I could swing it financially, so my old mountain bike will have to keep me happy on the two wheeled front.

Were in the same boat. After I built my new mountain bike the moto is financially a ways out! haha Not like we have enough hobbies right. :snorkel:
 

Redline

Likes to Drive and Ride
snip...You guys are killing me. I spent most of the winter "needing" a small dual sport bike. In the end there was no way I could swing it financially, so my old mountain bike will have to keep me happy on the two wheeled front.

I purchased a used and inexpensive moto, a rare move for me.

I'm FWC poor ;)
 

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