DIY pop-up camper build part 3: Folding wall system

[Howard]

To level it for sleeping.

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[Sector009]

I am super interested in doing the same thing for my maverick. I really like the hardsided pop up idea. I have a couple questions. What have you spent so far and what has been your total time/days invested. I understand there is wait time on products arriving but you are the first person I have found doing the hardside and want to know before I start investing in this similar project of yours.

 

[zolland]

I am super interested in doing the same thing for my maverick. I really like the hardsided pop up idea. I have a couple questions. What have you spent so far and what has been your total time/days invested. I understand there is wait time on products arriving but you are the first person I have found doing the hardside and want to know before I start investing in this similar project of yours.

Hm, I'm not sure how much total time I've spent on this so far. I got my first order in from Tnutz on April 2 which is a good landmark. It is also worth noting that I don't have a job right now and have definitely put in plenty of full days worth of work, possibly full weeks.

Most of my time has been spent trying to get these folding walls working. Below I'll list the most time consuming things I had to figure out, with specific tools bolded:

• Measurements
  • I didn't really know how much space to account for the hinges and just guessed... kinda feel lucky that it all fits lol
  • I ended up having to adjust some pieces here and there which took a bit of time
• Wood sourcing
  • I used a local lumber shop that was able to get me 1" by 1" by something like 8-10 feet pieces to use as the frame for the panels. Took them a few days to get these finished and a couple days for me to find someone near me that could do it.
• Wood cutting
  • I used a friends miter saw but spent a while trying to find a friend that had one
• Panel assembly
  • Getting the frames together wasn't a huge deal but gluing everything was a huge pain... takes a long time to dry and I didn't have enough tools to dry it in one go
• Hinges
  • it took me a lot of adjustment and a lot of attempts to get the hinges mounted correctly...

I have also needed to use a mill and drill press to get my specific design working for the access door and rear double doors.

Let me know if you want me to dive deeper into any of these or if you have any other questions.

It's also worth noting that my roof has to be 0.5" wider than the base due to the wall design... I'd probably go back and try to change that if I redo the walls, but I'm not really sure how. I'd probably try to bring the walls down to 0.75" thick, but the woman at the lumber shop said 1" was already running a high risk of splitting while they were being cut (although none of my pieces split) and I'm not sure where to get 0.75" insulation.

 

[Baja_Roamer]

Got any updates for us get!? I’ve been patiently waiting and have plans to build something similar

 

[zolland]

Got any updates for us get!? I’ve been patiently waiting and have plans to build something similar

I had a few setbacks honestly I've just been slacking on making a new video. I'll try to get it out this week! If you ever want to just chat about the build let me know, always down for that.

I almost have the pop up walls completely finished and finalized!

 

[zolland]

Here's part 4! Sorry this video took so long, it's only 3 minutes but it took me weeks to troubleshoot the 2x4 issues...such a pain. Hopefully I can get the next one out sooner, I've completely finished the folding wall mechanism with gas struts and everything. Just have to chop up the video and upload it!

@Baja_Roamer

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