Pop Top camper build thread and Baja Road beating/test results!

[rifleshooter]

No night-driving and stay alert on the Mex100....crazy tight.
GOod luck.
Fraser[/QUOTE]

No night driving? Will you elaborate? How is getting through the border? Any saftey concerns with bringing my wife and kids on such an adventure? Thanks. Awesome rig!

 

[bajaphile]

No night driving? Will you elaborate? How is getting through the border? Any saftey concerns with bringing my wife and kids on such an adventure? Thanks. Awesome rig!

No night driving is just the standard "Rule #1" about Baja. The trans peninsular hwy (Mex 1) is a single laned, very narrow road that is traveled heavily by semi truck drivers. Its 19ft wide through the "old" road that run through El Rosario down into BCS... Also, there are no shoulders along this stretch, and it weaves through the high desert with constant switch backs. You've also got lots of cows, sheep, horses that are roaming free through most of the countryside. The semi truck drivers are absolutely insane and take the corners 3x faster than you would in a Porsche.

After you get through Ensenada, its a beautiful drive. I generally do not drive at night unless I'm really in a hurry. Its best to take it all in, see the sights, stop and get food, look through little shops, get fresh fruit/fish/etc...

Getting through the border going south is basically a non issue as long as you don't try going after 3pm (lots of traffic going down south once work is out). I work about 15mi north of the border and am pretty savvy on the area. I travel down anywhere from 0-10 times a month, and have been for 30 years (my entire life) and haven't had any issues. Even through the recent cartel wars about 10 years ago, I never had a problem. That said, you still shouldn't be driving at night, hanging out in TJ or Cabo, etc. I think Cabo area is sketchy and will not drive through there on my trips.

Getting back across the border is a pain in the butt. However, if you apply for a passport card, you can use the READY lanes... And if you really like Baja, you can apply for a SENTRI pass which cuts the border wait from 3hrs to about 3 minutes. (Got mine and its the best thing in the world for a frequent traveler).

 

[bajaphile]

Oh and to the OP. I had some friends down in Conejo in May. They said it was insane and not many people around. Very cool. Last 4x I've been there I've been completely alone however the surf was horrible.

East cape this time of year must've been nice and toasty! I dig it though... less crowds than the spring, thats for sure!

And to the guy saying he's going to Scorpion bay...Don't do it! Go someplace else. There are SO many awesome waves in Baja. Why travel all that way and camp with 100 of your "best friends"??? I boycott that place!! not to mention the land disputes there with the co-ops and gringos sound stupid.

 

[Teebo]

Wow, that is a beautiful truck. I like the idea of the airline storage.

 

[ab1985]

Nice work!

 

[western flyer]

To everybody considering Baja trips: I have done over a 100 trips down into Baja over the last 20 years, and for all the reasons noted above and a few more, do not drive at night. That being said, I used to do it even though I thought I knew full well how dangerous it is. Not any more. Too many risks. Such as the night my friends and I worked hard to get a family of 5 out of truck after they hit a flatbed trailer that was stopped without lights on the main road in the middle of the desert south of Loreto. This included a fatality, a pinned passenger (my high-lift jack got her out by spreading the crushed full-size truck cab apart), a broken hip, and a 45 minute ambulance wait for the survivors. Plan your trip appropriately. Take our word for it. Stay in a hotel if you get caught out late; they are relatively common and most hotels are pretty cheap (and the person at the front desk can usually figure out what you want if you do not speak Spanish).

Considering other safety issues often in the press, I will now no longer camp north of El Rosario, and will only camp in the northern half of the peninsula in selected places. Just my preference based on first-hand accounts from my friends that work down there of what is going on with drug running, etc. OTH, I feel that it is much like the old days in the southern half of the peninsula and will camp with little worry in the usual old places. Sorry for the lack of tech and hijack. PM me if you want more info.

To the OP: again, you need to make a kit. Great pics and bomber rig.

 

[ness]

Just wondering....who would cut a hole in their roof and be interested in a kit like this? Production model....
Anybody keen!?!

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Why do you need to cut your roof?

 

[Flank]

Just wondering....who would cut a hole in their roof and be interested in a kit like this? Production model....
Anybody keen!?!

Short answer, Yes. Long answer is that this will be an eventual goal for me when my truck is no longer a DD. So get a price range, drum up a ton of business, and stay around until I am ready for my pop top. Loved them ever since my dad had a Vanagon Westfalia camper brand new back in the day.

 

[NLXTACY]

Short answer, Yes. Long answer is that this will be an eventual goal for me when my truck is no longer a DD. So get a price range, drum up a ton of business, and stay around until I am ready for my pop top. Loved them ever since my dad had a Vanagon Westfalia camper brand new back in the day.

I'm in the same boat. I LOVE the CampTeq design but didn't love the price although I still would have eventually worked my way up to it. Next thing you know the guy is gone and not making anymore. Its frustrating.

 

[DetroitStyle]

 

[ness]

Cool. Thx for the feedback.
With my design I was trying to keep it as low-profile as possible, which means I wanted to avoid the whole assembly looking like Val Kilmer's flat-top in Top Gun.
The slim design means that the bed platform sits inside the roof of the vehicle, and not on top of the roof. If I didn't cut the whole, then the flat bed would sit proud on top of the sheet metal, which would add probably about 3 inches to the overall height of the pop-top (due to curvature of the factory roof, side to side and front to back). The hole also allows you to stand upright in the back of the vehicle when the roof and bed platform are pushed up and out of the way. This means you can cook and live in the back when the rain is pouring, like it often is here in the winter time, when surfing on the coast. Vanagon style....which was a hard design requirement for my assembly, since I wanted to live in the back, inside the vehicle....otherwise, I would have just gone for maggiolina roof tent.

Anyhoo- the slim design is what I was after, and it seemed to pay off, since most guys on my trip south indicated that they had no idea it was a pop top when standing beside the vehicle.

As this is a prototype, there's still room for plenty of improvements, which include opening higher at the back to accommodate even more bedroom living space and standing room, simplified hinge mechanism, one-piece design to eliminate front wind fairing (still keeping LED integrated light), and the list goes on etc etc.

Always room to improve!
Thanks for your comments and I'll keep an eye on this one to see what kind of interest there is for the next, improved version.
All the best

Fraser

 

[Qball]

I so miss baja! One of these days I'll grow a pair of balls and go down there again. I love that place.


...Misspelled via IH8MUD app

 

[bajaphile]

Same as it ever was Qball... My dad and his buddies who had been going down with their dads in the 50's don't go down either anymore...

But I'll tell you what...Last year was busy with other surfers... Which obviously isn't my favorite thing, but at least Baja is getting the economy boost from tourism again. 2008-2013 was literally empty. We drove to the tip a few times and hardly even saw other surfers.

I'd say you shouldn't have anything to worry about but its not worth using your vacation time going someplace where its in the back of your head the entire time

 

[rickashay]

Very cool build. Really like all the pre planning in order to have a better execution. It looks very good! Your overlanding trip doesn't look that bad either, what a nice way to "transition"... I might need to do this one day.

I'd be interested in a production run. I'll ad my personal want-list below for your reference if a kit was to be designed:

- I'm not keen on cutting the roof but I see the benefits if you keep overall height lower. As with anything of this nature, I'd be concerned with water ingress and rust/corrosion.
- I'm personally most stoked about the sleeping quarters and easy setup/teardown of the pop top. Standing in the rear is cool but Im not sure I would use it. Im sure there is a market for it though...
- Pertaining to the above, I personally would sacrifice 2-3" of additional height if I could avoid cutting the roof. Especially if the fiberglass top had a decent mold and aerodynamic looking shape (maybe similar to the top of a Autohome/James Baroud tent). I'm more thinking aesthetically here. If it looks decent and sat a little higher, I would be happy to keep my roof intact.
- Price: as stated above, the CampTeq system looks awesome but the price is a little high, although I too would eventually work up to it.
- Strength: It would have to sustain some hit from the od fallen log or branch. Our trails are pretty tight and it would probably take the of bump off a log.
- Maybe a very minimalist rack incorporated into the top. Something for a shovel and axe.
- Interior storage on the backside of the pop-up for clothes etc. Maybe a flip down pocket to store your shoes if entering through a ladder
- LED interior light. Even battery powered would be fine but solar option would be deadly.

Bookmarking this to see what unfolds!

 

[thebus]

yes i would love this...seeing i just found a one for the JK and was going to go shopping

... campteq is around the same price as the JK. i don't care about cutting a hole in the roof the lower the profile the better! i will be following this and i am amazed on how yours turned out!

 

[MoeGasim]

amazing and VERY creative

 

[sfcruiser]

Very cool! I appreciate the pics of the build process. Inspiration to complete mine. Keep us posted on the revisions

 

[LS1FJ40]

I've always been against cutting the roof but I would do it for one like this. I like how it looks like it isn't there. Beautiful. Would love to know an approximate cost...

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS Jr]

Wow. I have never generally been a fan of added poptops, but that looks factory and even lower than a Prinsu roof rack! Awesome job

X2 on a rough estimated cost. I just don't think I could ever cut my roof. Then again, this is that awesome.