A different kind of pop-up (11-5-17) fixing lessons learned

[les45]

I will have four joints to weatherproof where the wall panels butt up to each other and have been scratching my head on how to do that without creating more hardware. The gap in these joints varies from zero to about 1/4". I found an item online called Shurtape Floormate. It is a plastic tape that comes in white and is used as masking tape and temporary gym floor markings on hardwood floors. It comes in 2" wide X 50 yd rolls and only costs about $10.00. It is a low adhesion material that is supposed to be good for up to 30 days and will peel off easily. I bought a roll and am running a test on a short section on two of my panels. I plan to leave it on for about three days (typical camping period for me). If it works, I plan to simply seal each of the four seams with this tape while camping. It will be much easier than dealing with a mechanical seal like a tee bar, rubber seal, or a velcro panel. I figure it will take about five minutes to cut and apply the tape on each trip and 50 yards will last me for at least 7 camping trips. The white color will tie in the white of the top and the bottom shells.

This is available on Amazon for about $10.00


Short test piece inside the garage. If this works, I will do another test outside where I can see how it works in the heat of the sun and water.

[rustytoolss]

like they say...you can fix anything with (duck) tape

[KCStudly]

Hope it doesn't peel your paint up.

Even low tack tapes can take enough of a set to be a PITA.

[les45]

Hope it doesn't peel your paint up.

Even low tack tapes can take enough of a set to be a PITA.

I'm testing in an area on two panels where I will be applying velcro for my corner panels later so I'm not worried if it messes with the paint during the test. I've had masking tape on this paint for an entire week with no problems. My main concern is how well the tape works to seal the gaps from water. I'll be taking it outdoors later to see how it works in sun and rain.

[S. Heisley]

If it's only temporary, you could use Frog tape or 3M Painter's tape. I think that will stick but will come off without taking the paint with it. The surface is supposed to be dry before you apply any tape. This could be a problem if you have to put up the walls up in rainy weather.

One of the problems of folding walls is the weather stripping. I find myself replacing the interior weather stripping every year or two, where the folding walls meet. Taking down and lifting up the walls causes it to get rubbed so much that it wears out or pulls/falls off quickly. If you park on a surface that isn't level, such as a hillside, one wall will rub on the other even more than usual. Because of this, I make it a practice to inspect the weather stripping at the beginning of each camping season.

I found a weather stripping that's similar to a garage door seal, only smaller, that I'm going to try out this season; but, for me, it's just a second seal as I have hinged metal strips that take the brunt of any rain. If you're interested and I forget to post it, feel free to ask me about it later this summer.

[les45]

:thinking: If it's only temporary, you could use Frog tape or 3M Painter's tape. I think that will stick but will come off without taking the paint with it. The surface is supposed to be dry before you apply any tape. This could be a problem if you have to put up the walls up in rainy weather.

One of the problems of folding walls is the weather stripping. I find myself replacing the interior weather stripping every year or two, where the folding walls meet. Taking down and lifting up the walls causes it to get rubbed so much that it wears out or pulls/falls off quickly. If you park on a surface that isn't level, such as a hillside, one wall will rub on the other even more than usual. Because of this, I make it a practice to inspect the weather stripping at the beginning of each camping season.

I found a weather stripping that's similar to a garage door seal, only smaller, that I'm going to try out this season; but, for me, it's just a second seal as I have hinged metal strips that take the brunt of any rain. If you're interested and I forget to post it, feel free to ask me about it later this summer.

I used Frog tape for my painting and that is what gave me the idea to tape the joints rather than use other options. I wanted white tape to complement the color scheme and I couldn't find any masking tape in pure white. Also, I was concerned about masking tape holding up to weather due to its paper base. The Floormate was the only thing I could find in white and it has a plastic base which I figured would hold up to weather if it sticks well. I did not use any weatherstripping on the portable wall panels for the reason you gave about wear due to repeated use. My vinyl corner strips will fasten with velcro and weatherproof the corners and I'm hoping the tape takes care of the remaining joints.

[S. Heisley]

Your being on the other side of the continent, I'll probably have to just look at pictures, darn it!

[les45]

While waiting on my upholstery guy to finish my corner panels, I went down to the DMV and picked up my title and tag this week. Property tax was all of $14 on the 28 year old pop-up. I took the license plate bracket from the front of my Nissan Xterra TV and added a running light. This covers the four holes in the shell where the spare tire carrier used to be mounted (I plan to carry the spare tire loose inside my TV when traveling). My upholstery guy also finished this week and did a great job. I need a good weather day to set up the camper and finish installing the vinyl corner panels with the velcro fasteners. I'll have a complete update on that as soon as I am finished. That's the last thing I need to declare victory and go camping.

[S. Heisley]

Congrats on being street legal! I look forward to seeing the final pics and a picture of it set up in the wild!

I added you into the thread that lists trailers with lifting roofs:

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=50969

I'm just adding to the list as they are built; so, you'll need to scroll down quite a ways to find the reference; but, it's there. It'll also be an easy way to find your build thread years from now. (They get buried pretty fast among all the other newer build threads.)

Best Wishes!

[les45]

Finally got my vinyl corner pieces installed so getting close to declaring victory and going camping. I found an excellent upholsterer who literally did the work in one day at a very reasonable price. I bought the boat upholstery vinyl material and Velcro online and made the patterns for the upholsterer to use. After he completed the corner pieces, all I had to do was install the hook side of the Velcro on the wall panels and fasten the panels in place. The following pics provide a recap how the different kind of pop-up works.

Just a reminder of what this project looked like in the beginning.


This is how it looks today with corner jacks in place and ready to open.


Roof hoisted 4' and ready to install wall panels.


During the installation of the wall panels, I secure the roof with temporary braces (simple 1X2's and quick clamps). This will be part of my permanent setup process. Without the original canvas, the legs become very shaky when hoisted all the way. Since the telescoping legs are so small, I figured it would be best to secure them until the wall panels are in place with the roof resting on them. Maybe overkill but I'm still an OCD engineer.


Wall panels in place and supporting the roof. The side panels stiffen the fore and aft motion and the end panels stiffen the side to side motion of the roof. When all the panels are in place, the entire superstructure is solid as a stick built house.


Front view of vinyl panels in place.


Rear view of vinyl panels in place.


Vinyl panel partially installed. Velcro hooks installed on painted wood panels with adhesive backing. It was a warm day in direct sunlight and the Velcro worked great with no loosening of the tape.


The only thing left to do is to fabricate some small wedge shaped pieces to fill the gaps at the top and bottom of the vinyl pieces and then we are ready to do a test run to a nearby state park.

[S. Heisley]

They look nice.

[les45]

Finally got the last of the little things done this week and am declaring victory. The most significant item was the permanent braces that will be used to stabilize the roof until the walls are up. When the top is supported with just the four telescoping legs it is really shaky. The old canvas kept it stable in its original configuration and the new foamy walls keep it stable after they are installed. I have used sticks and quick clamps to cross brace it during construction but I built the portable braces shown in these pics that will make it quicker and easier to store (they simply lay on brackets I installed in the front of the shell over the winch cables). Materials for the braces were spare parts that I had laying around the shop. The braces are removed and stored again when I have the two sides and the rear end panels in place and stabilized.

Braces fasten to the top of the front left leg with simple clamps that are bolted to a piece of 1X2.


The bottom of the front brace fastens to a tube screwed into the front frame and held in place with a clip.


The bottom of the side brace fastens to a pin that fits in a special bracket that I fabricated from an old angle and is held in place with a clip.


This is a collage showing each step of the setup process from start to finish.


Interior view showing the front half of the cabin. Still need to add a few things to the walls (final decorating is my wife's job).


Interior view showing the rear half of the cabin.


It's getting hot here in the South and we are fair weather campers so we may not get to check it out until fall. In the meantime, I'm sure well find some little things to add to it during the summer. I'll be posting final pics when we actually take it camping for the first time. Stay tuned.

[me&z]

Wow! Well done.

How much time does it take to raise the roof and install the sides?

[les45]

Wow! Well done.

How much time does it take to raise the roof and install the sides?

I was taking pics as I went so I wasn't really timing myself. I would estimate that it will take about 20 minutes to set everything up from start to finish after I get it all organized. That's about the same amount of time it took to set up the canvas with the outrigger beds.

[rustytoolss]

Looks good. I'll bet that it will get very toasty in there with so few windows.