Gull wing canopy WIP Version 1.2

[Gawry]

Top Set-Up!

[sutto6285]

Mark im getting a similar canopy built at the moment. The manufacturer only puts a single 50x50 tube slot in each corner for the legs to slide into. Im planing on having a rooftop tent on top of mine and want to be able to sleep in it with it off the ute.

Noticing that you have 2x 50x50? slots in your canopy i was wondering if you thought my design would be stable enough to sleep on top of?

Cheers

Bodhi

[Skog07]

Welcome to the forum Bodhi. Is MW toolbox doing yours? With regards to the legs I have lifted mine off with around 500 kg of stuff inside and it can take the weight no problem at all. You have to level it up otherwise the doors won't open. I had a back door put in mine which does weaken it a little. It does move around a little on the Jack's when lifted off but I reckon if you crossed braced the legs with ratchet straps it would stop it moving around when camping. Also be wary of your door setup if you have a look at mine when open the hinged door is higher than the roof which could interfere with your tent. This door design is the strongest and gives the widest opening . Also if I was to get it made again I would get the floor put under the subframe which would give me another 40mm of space inside the canopy. If you have a look underneath you will see the frame. Cheers Mark

[Skog07]

The next stage of the fitout. This is the left hand side. The dividing wall to the kitchen is nearly finished. It's going to be flashed to the roof and floor to strengthen the canopy up like the monocock designs like Alby, Boatie and McSUMWAY run. Don't get to critical, I wanted to get this made out of alloy but this time of year nobody is open. Used some left over gal 1mm sheet from a job that I didn't chuck out. This will brace the roof as well.

I do carry around a bottle of E2 Argon all the time and wanted to incorporate it into the front box. However I think a smaller and lighter D size cylinder might be better.
I want to make a box at the front of the canopy to hold all the heavy stuff for touring and also hold the agm battery. Thought about using squat 10 litre water containers I should fit 4 in hopefully. This would be another bolt in addition will use the old plywood from the original fridge divider for a prefab.

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[Skog07]

Cut up all the old plywood from the fridge divider and pre fabed this box the agm will sit right up behind the fridge on the rhs of pic. Will also use the spread mesh to hold all the gear on top. Will cut it to size later its just Tec screwed in for the shot.

Will also think about either making a removable tank or use 25 litre cubes to go inside the box.

During the week will use this area to store all my Makita cordless tools in milk crates in here. Bugger bunnings for not being open at 7.00pm on New years eve. Needed hinges.

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[Skog07]

Ive ordered 3 oversize gas struts for my canopy doors today. 600 Newtons ones as apposed to the 320N ones that came with the canopy. Hopefully I can one set on one side to keep the doors open.
Cheers
Skog

[patl]

Bugger bunnings for not being open at 7.00pm on New years eve. Needed hinges.

Gotta have a life sometimes, they only shut 3 days a year

[patl]

Oh, by the wya, the canopy is looking good

[Phatlux]

Where did u order your gas struts from? I need some for my work trailor

[Skog07]

Where did u order your gas struts from? I need some for my work trailor

They arrived today. Will fit this arvo. They have nearly double the closing force so hopefully I can get away with only having one on each side. I got them from an online store called caravansplus. They were $19.50 each plus postage which I thought was pretty good. They have quite a few combinations, and sized on opening length, stroke length and compression force.

[sutto6285]

Cheers Mark,

It is great to have such a detailed write up on something that im doing at the moment.
Mine is getting made by GT Fabrication in Bunbury, they do a really good job. You do pay for it though haha.

Ill put up some pics of mine when i pick it up this week.

I dont have a rear door because i wanted the strength and also to be able to mount a second spare and jerry cans ext on the back.

Ive checked the doors and it should be all clear. I like the idea of the cross bracing with ratchet straps, hopefully dont need them though.

Cheers

[07luxyTD]

Canopy looks great! Im over my alloy roof canvas one and a mate built one similar. checker plate walls and doors that jacks off, except he put 12v actuators in so the roof lifts up 30inchs with vinal flymesh walls. and his bed sits in the top. Went and had a look at it today now i think ill be broke for next couple months

You will never go back to a tub now you have the tray and canopy

[Skog07]

Hey everyone.
Ive been getting a few questions via PM about the canopy itself. Im going to post up all messages that have been sent to me but remove all member details of who asked the question and photos. You will have to read up from the bottom for it to make sense when reading a PM quoted on the forum.. If anyone objects to this please let me know and I will remove your PM. However my answers are mine so they will stay.
For the benefit of the forum whilst I certainly dont mind answering a PM question it may help others on here if you post the questions on this thread.
Regards
Mark.

Re: MW canopy

Sent: Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:38 am
by Skog07

Hey XXXX.
Their quality has improved somewhat. I had a look a few years ago at getting the canopy made and held back as I didnt have the funds at the time and wanst that keen on their finished product. The showroom ones were quite rough. Especially the timnner wall ones ie 1.6mm wall thickness you could see where the mig burnt through on the outer skin. Went back a few months ago and had a look and their quality had improved but I decided to go with the 3mm propellor plate. They did a pretty good job for the price of course their are some areas that were a little rough but they were alot cheaper than anywhere else for the same thing.
Ive removed the canopy with about 500kg of gear in it it seems stable enough it does rock around a little bit on the jacks but I reckon if you cross braced the legs with a few ratchet straps it would stiffen it up quite a bit for camping. I also had a back door fitted which does compromise the strength a little the canopy itself does twist a bit and the doors wont close properly unless it is perfectly level but thats to be expected. I plan on using the fridge unit that I put in as a support from the floor to roof to give the canopy a little more lateral strength
If I got it built again I would change a few things. If you have a look at the thread where my canopy is and I have a shot from underneath you will see it has a frame to support the floor on top. If I got it made again I would get them to put the floor underneath this frame which would give me another 40mm of internal height in the canopy. Not a biggy but neverthe less. Also the back boor hinges above the canopy so if you want to put lengths of timber pipe or whatever you cannot open the door. Be wary of the hinge setup as it will foul your RTT, have a look at mine when all the doors are open. However the way the doors are made give it the most strength an opening height which is what I wanted.
Hope this helps mate, give me a call on xxxxxxxxxxx if you want to ask me anymore things.
Cheers
Mark





MW canopy

Sent: Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:09 am
by XXXX

Hey Skog07 I am looking at getting rid of my canvas sided canopy to go to solid doors & jack off (biggest regret not doing it originally) got some quotes and MW always come in cheapest I saw on a thread you have one of there canopies, what's the finished product like?

I had them make my under tray toolboxes and they haven't failed just the finished product wasn't that good etc welds not cleaned up & a lot of metal dags & filings left around the doors.

And mostly how stable is it when it's jacked off? I want to use my rtt when it's jacked off.

Any help much appreciated

Cheers

XXXX

[Skog07]

Re: Canopy

Sent: Sun Jan 06, 2013 9:06 pm
by xxxx

It is a very nice jigga, alot of money and time has gone into that cruiser. Tho its been through hell and back. He is now living outta it in NT
That'd be awesome if you could post up the questions and so. These canopies are just the go now, drop em off set them up and leave them for a week or so. Leaves your ute free to do what you want once setup. will be watching your thread

Yer im planning on doing it all mig as i have sorta like parkinsons and cant hold hands still enough to do lo





Re: Canopy

Sent: Sun Jan 06, 2013 8:37 pm
by Skog07

Hey xxxx. The whole of mine is made from alloy. Having the liftoff frame increases the weight quite a bit though as the way the MW ones are designed they need a chassis to support the weight in them. I also specified that I wanted the ability to have 800kg of weight inside when I lifted it off. Was told.the approximate weight of mine was 200kg empty and no fitout. I've had a bit of interest in this thread so Im going to post up a lot of the questions that I've been asked about the canopy in PM'S. I've gained a fair bit of confidence in my ability to Mig weld alloy, I've always AC Tig it so far without much success Mig welding is so much easier and effective. Love the cruiser in the last shot. Had to go for the heavier design for maximum security of work tools that I also carry around. Cheers Mark





Canopy

Sent: Sun Jan 06, 2013 8:01 pm
by xxxx

Hey mark, was wondering what the base of your new canopy was made of? Looking to fabricate a new one along the line of your except sleep up the top in a pop top.fully alloy construction. I have 2 mates that fabricated theirs up except they used steel, and said if they were to do it again would use alloy.
Also do you have an idea of the weight of your canopy
few pics of what im looking to do. Wish my mate would join the forum and share his nt/cape knowledge

Cheer xxxx

Click for fully size especially the bottom

[Skog07]

Sent: Thu Jul 12, 2012 6:14 pm
by Skog07

Hi xxxx.
Think the quote was $5300 off the top of my head. This was out of 3mm propellor plate, rear barn door fitted recessed doors to prevent dust and water ingress. Also comes with 4 jack off legs at $150 each. It was a couple of hundred cheaper if it was done in 2.4mm plate. If you were to pay cash I believe they drop the prices further, but running this through my business.
Cant wait for it to arrive. Hopefully have it before the fourum trip next week.
Regards
Mark





Gull Wing Canopy

Sent: Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:35 pm
by xxxx

Hey mark just having a read through the gull wing canopy thread and I see you have ordered one from mw toolboxes ? Can I ask how much they quoted you for the build ? Reason I ask is I'm leaning towards ordering one for my lux and I wasn't sure as to what they are worth...

Any help would be great mate

Cheers xxxx

[Skog07]

Where did u order your gas struts from? I need some for my work trailor

They arrived today. Will fit this arvo. They have nearly double the closing force so hopefully I can get away with only having one on each side. I got them from an online store called caravansplus. They were $19.50 each plus postage which I thought was pretty good. They have quite a few combinations, and sized on opening length, stroke length and compression force.

Phatlux. Not bad they delivered the next day.... The 600N ones just arent quite capable of keeping the doors open with only using a single strut on the gull wings (as opposed to 2off 320N (680N total) on each door) unfortunately using the existing mounting points. I might have to increase the length from the fulcrum to give the strut a better mechanical advantage or get some custom struts made up...
Cheers
Skog

[Skog07]

Finally got around to fixing the doors so that only one strut is required to keep the doors open. The rear door wasn't a problem it is much lighter than the side doors and no modification to the fulcrum point was needed.

The side doors however needed extending.

This fulcrum point can be removed now as it interferes with area on top of the shelf. This is the reason why I could only have one strut on the door as it clashes with the kitchen. The strut now is on the fridge side.

This is a shot of the strut with the door closed.

Will weld some support brackets on as it is only pop rivited at the moment.
Cheers Skog

[Bullzye]

B

[Skog07]

B

Haha.
The fold out table arrived back from the folder today. Pretty pleased with the result.


This is in the folded up position. It keeps the bottom draws closed in transit, with the gull wing closed the tops draws are held shut. Still open access to the fridge and the top 3 draws.

You can see the fold detail in this pic. The sides and end rolled around and a tounge folded in to hold it onto the side of the tray.

Cheers
Mark

[dute]

Well done Mark all this looks great . But when are you going to use all this new setup