5x9 Hard-Sided Square Drop With Raised Roof

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Original Member Title: 5x9 hard side raised roof
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A member shared progress on a compact 5x9 hard-sided square drop camper designed to be tall enough to stand in, reaching 76 inches when raised. The build is being done indoors during an Iowa winter, is planned to disassemble into 11 pieces for moving onto a trailer, uses modified actuators for a 24-inch lift, and includes two 40 x 54 slideouts that are 16 inches deep for seating and sleeping.

Other members were interested in how the slideout seals will be handled and noted that wind-driven...
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DuaneK

New Member
Joined
Apr 9, 2026
Posts
4
Location
Iowa
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.
 

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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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 

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