5x9 Hard-Sided Square Drop With Raised Roof

[DuaneK]

Square drop build

I wanted a camper that was small but also tall enough to standup in. Getting too old to be crawling around on my hands and knees so I came up with this design. It is a 5 x 9 and 76" tall when raised and should work well.

Been a busy winter in an empty nest bedroom building a hard sided sq drop.

I will be able to disassemble it into 11 pieces to move it out and get it onto a trailer. Used 30" actuators modified to 24" placing one in each corner.

Also made 2 40 x 54 slideouts 16 inches deep for seating and sleeping. Quite happy with the progress so far.

 

[Pmullen503]

I like it! I'm looking forward to seeing how you handle the seals on the slide outs.

(The roof raising to touch the ceiling fan was hilarious!)

 

[DuaneK]

I have been studying seals and shapes. Still running ideas through my head. Yeah the fun of building in a bedroom. I have no heat in my shop and with Iowa winters there was no way I would work unheated lol.

 

[Pmullen503]

The Hi-Lo style roof will help with sealing. The bigger problem with slide out seals is wind driven water while you are traveling at 70 MPH. Water can come at the seals from any direction due to turbulence.

 

[coal_burner]

Word of advise from someone using 4 actuators to raise a hard side pop-up: have each actuator controlled by a different switch.

Identical actuators with identical loads do not raise at identical speeds.

 

[DuaneK]

I understand about the individual switches. So far these are controlled by remotes. One per pair. I also modified the actuators cutting 6" out of the internal track to move the limit switch down to make it 24" lift. So far enough tolerance has been built in to accommodate the variation in speed of the DC motors. There is a difference but nothing that causes binding. I plan on controlling these with switches. If needed I also have motor controllers to regulate the speeds.

 

[DuaneK]

Got my harbor freight 5 x 10 a month ago. Solid trailer. Hauled the bottom half out and put it together before the trailer was complete. I left some floor planks out to keep weight down. Had to winch body on. Also got the bottom half canvased and just put first coat of kilz2 primer on watered down 20/80.

 

[DuaneK]

Completed painting the lower half in 3 coats of primer. Finish coated in 3 coats of white gloss to the top 5 inches while i could reach it. Put the roof on with the actuators. Wired all 4 actuators to the same circuit and one reverse polarity switch. Ran wire for roof vent.

I can now raise the roof and run the fan with the power bank. Also built the outside cover for the ac hole. Progress has been made again.

 

[DuaneK]

Spent some time on the outside of the roof. 1 1/2" foam added. Took one 4 x 8 sheet to do all of it. After that added the luan skins to the window areas. I can finish the rest in shop. I am pleased with the look so far. Hope to finish the exterior roof then get ready to canvas it.

 

[DuaneK]

Finished the exterior this morning. Also got the roof top on. Next will be some body work and router trimming.