pop up top

[tjdale]

Does anyone have a design for a pop up top that would work on a squared off, nontraditional tear? Something that would be easy to build, allow standing or near standing head room, stay up in a wind, and not leak if it rains wether opened or closed? I used to own an old VW camper and liked its pop up top except that the canvas gradually rotted and fell apart. Has anyone built something like this? I have seen some in diagrams and pics on this site, but they all seem very complicated.

[mikeschn]

Take another look at George's photos in this thread. I don't think it gets much simplier than that!!!

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... 5435#25435

Mike...

P.S. Or you could consider something like this!!!

[jimqpublic]

You could also start with a small (8'x6'8"box) popup tent trailer and then modify it to be more like a Hi-lo (telescoping box over a box) trailer. Once the canvas and upholstry is rotted out the popup trailers are pretty much worthless so you should be able to pick one up for about the price of a trailer frame.

As long as it's a crank-up type lifting system of somewhat recent vintage then the lift mechanism should be stong enough for the added weight of sidewalls.

Models to look for are Coleman/Fleetwood Taos, Jayco Quest 8, and the smallest model from the other mfr's.

The 8' long box trailers are generally about 6" narrower than the longer models. Older ones seem to be narrower than newer ones.

[Big Guy with a Little Guy]

Abraham Lincoln was once asked how long a man's legs should be. He answered, "long enough to reach the ground."

Instead of messing with a roof that raises, why not use a floor that lowers---easily. If you take the idea of a footwell and extend it (almost) all the way to the ground, you'll be close to the headroom you need. The standing area would only be 2'x4', but you ain't hosting a dance in there. The footwell will hit the ground, you say. Nay, I say. Have the footwell removable so you place it inside the cabin for travel. A right-sized panel covers the hole to keep the weather out. Get where you're going, remove the panel, drop the footwell in place, stand at ease. When you're ready to snooze, place the panel over the footwell, flop the mattress out flat, put on your SpongeBob jammies, start sawing logs.

An added bonus: the footwell serves as a 2'x4' container in your tear to keep crap from rolling around while tootling down the two-lane.

[tjdale]

I am thinking about a small camper that will fit onto my utility trailer for camping and off for utility use. It will live on a small deck when not on the UT. Could be used on the deck as an extra room. One reason for wanting a pop up is that I also wish to carry recumbent bikes in the camper. I think to do this I would have to have the back nearly completely open rather than housing a rear facing galley. This would also mean having the galley positioned along the sides of the camper facing inward, either on one side only or on both sides facing each other. This would leave an isle in the rear in which the bikes could be rolled. It would also mean having to be inside when cooking. I was thinking it would be a little more comfortabe if there were some standing head room in the galley area. This is not absolutely neede but wanted. I have a small sail boat with a galley which is split and has a seat which slids out of one side and into the other. It is OK for sitting on while cooking, but not as nice as standing.