Crowdsource camper design for Cybertruck

[Tinker71]

That's a great idea too. Yakima has that design, if I'm following you correctly.
https://yakima.com/products/skyrise-tent-green

Not really. There are lots of rooftop tent that fit many vehicles. This would be custom to just the ct. To expand. Climbing into the bed area wouldn't require acrobatics. It would only be 3" taller than the roof. 40"? If the hinge was beefy enough you could actually move around in deployed mode. Say move to a better spot without unpacking and folding down.

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[FutureBoy]

I missed a critical arrow showing the operation of the hingle. It rotates 195 degrees. In travel mode the whole camper only adds 3 inches to the height of the rolling cover. (Which would either be retracted or removed.) It does not extend over the hood.

I did a quick sketch (2 actually) based on what I am understanding of your idea. These are REALLY rough. But I rough traced the shape of the CT exoskeleton picture as the base so the relative size should be somewhat reasonable.

Anyway, looking at the tent opened up I think you were drawing something like this:

The vertical height and shape is not in any way defined here. Just a box so that I could label the various areas and how they might be used. In this drawing the shaded area of the frame could essentially be a roof rack and tie directly into the roof rack attachment points. Once attached though it could potentially fold down at an angle to be parallel to the hypotenuse of the truck bed triangle.

The second drawing is of the folded state (if the frame is essentially a roof rack).

I don't know how much infrastructure would be needed to allow for the unfolding of such a large tent area. But if the "hinge" were actually back at the post at the top of the tonneau cover, the overall length of the tent area would be considerably smaller and not extend out past the front of the CT.

I do like the idea of making this tenting system long enough to get lots of room but not extending out over the sides of the truck. Thus no bonked heads or sleeping out over the edge of the truck where movement would cause extra sway.

One question I would have right away is if there will be roof rack attachment points on the front hood anywhere. I know some roof racks on ICE trucks for pipe or other long items actually extend out to the front bumper and have posts extending up from the bumper to support the rack.

But overall, I'd say for an elevated tent this design would provide about the maximum size possible. And would allow for easy standing in the truck bed area so that things like changing clothes (and potentially a shower?) could be done inside the tent area.

Now, to be honest, if the tent is tall enough to stand up in the back, and that same height was to extend all the way out to the front sleeping area, it would involve a very large amount of tent fabric. Additionally, there would need to be a support structure of some sort. I'm not sure how easy it would be to wrangle all that fabric and structure back into the folded up state. And if one was not careful it seems like it would be easy to "pinch" or otherwise damage the fabric resulting in water leaks.

And to top it off, this structure would be adding quite a bit of "internal" space. I know Elon is saying that the truck bed will have conditioned air but blowing the internal area out this large might tax that system beyond what it might be built for. Especially in the hot or cold areas of the country.

But that is just my initial take on the design.

Good starter idea. Maybe some of the engineering types around here can do some magic calculations and let us know how it can be built / improved. And I know you asked for help getting an image made. Perhaps someone around here knows how to do that. Or perhaps you can find a friendly friend out on the internet with those skills.

 

[Luke42]

I did a quick sketch (2 actually) based on what I am understanding of your idea. These are REALLY rough. But I rough traced the shape of the CT exoskeleton picture as the base so the relative size should be somewhat reasonable.

Anyway, looking at the tent opened up I think you were drawing something like this:

You can just buy this:
https://manofmany.com/lifestyle/travel/best-rooftop-tents

You just need a roofrack.

 

[Crissa]

I'm pretty sure that the intent is to have the floor of the tent inside the truck bed and the tent just be a roof over that and the roof-rack space.

So it would look more like a back-pack parallel to the triangular sails instead of sticking up in the air.

-Crissa

 

[Tinker71]

I think it's a great idea to design a camper for CT, but maybe the purpose should be first considered. Truck campers can cover a wide range of lifestyles from multiple slide outs, full dry bathroom and a big basement to a light weight pop up roof, a porta potti, 2 burner stove and icebox. What are the top priorities for camper concept?

To me it is max comfort without destroying the range. No porta potty for me. I would also prefer to do most of my cooking outside. AC on a hot night is also high on my list.
No

I did a quick sketch (2 actually) based on what I am understanding of your idea. These are REALLY rough. But I rough traced the shape of the CT exoskeleton picture as the base so the relative size should be somewhat reasonable.

Anyway, looking at the tent opened up I think you were drawing something like this:

The vertical height and shape is not in any way defined here. Just a box so that I could label the various areas and how they might be used. In this drawing the shaded area of the frame could essentially be a roof rack and tie directly into the roof rack attachment points. Once attached though it could potentially fold down at an angle to be parallel to the hypotenuse of the truck bed triangle.

The second drawing is of the folded state (if the frame is essentially a roof rack).

I don't know how much infrastructure would be needed to allow for the unfolding of such a large tent area. But if the "hinge" were actually back at the post at the top of the tonneau cover, the overall length of the tent area would be considerably smaller and not extend out past the front of the CT.

I do like the idea of making this tenting system long enough to get lots of room but not extending out over the sides of the truck. Thus no bonked heads or sleeping out over the edge of the truck where movement would cause extra sway.

One question I would have right away is if there will be roof rack attachment points on the front hood anywhere. I know some roof racks on ICE trucks for pipe or other long items actually extend out to the front bumper and have posts extending up from the bumper to support the rack.

But overall, I'd say for an elevated tent this design would provide about the maximum size possible. And would allow for easy standing in the truck bed area so that things like changing clothes (and potentially a shower?) could be done inside the tent area.

Now, to be honest, if the tent is tall enough to stand up in the back, and that same height was to extend all the way out to the front sleeping area, it would involve a very large amount of tent fabric. Additionally, there would need to be a support structure of some sort. I'm not sure how easy it would be to wrangle all that fabric and structure back into the folded up state. And if one was not careful it seems like it would be easy to "pinch" or otherwise damage the fabric resulting in water leaks.

And to top it off, this structure would be adding quite a bit of "internal" space. I know Elon is saying that the truck bed will have conditioned air but blowing the internal area out this large might tax that system beyond what it might be built for. Especially in the hot or cold areas of the country.

But that is just my initial take on the design.

Good starter idea. Maybe some of the engineering types around here can do some magic calculations and let us know how it can be built / improved. And I know you asked for help getting an image made. Perhaps someone around here knows how to do that. Or perhaps you can find a friendly friend out on the internet with those skills.

Futureboy - Thanks for your feedback.
1.) I intended this the lay back on an angle directly on the tonneau cover in travel mode. (Most of the time). This would create a seal against the tailgate. You wouldn't really be able to get in very easily until it was deployed but it would remain aerodynamic. Unless you were traveling very light I would imaging you would need a low profile/light trailer to haul your bulky gear. That being said I think there would be times when you would want to prop it up as you have shown to carry some extra gear and avoid the trailer.
2.) I am glad you labeled the transition area and scaled everything better. It highlights a problem. I am not exactly sure what to do with that space. Perhaps a folding hinge to elevate the platform like the post you have shown. Then the flopping bed area is only 7 ' long instead of 9' . I think I could do some drawings with bluebeam with pretty tight dimensions. I will play around with a sketch this weekend.
3.) I would also be concerned with overtaxing the truck hvac so the tented area would only be tall enough to stand in the back. Since you are already on your knees the sleeping area would be less than 4' tall. Heat reflecting/double wall/insulated fabric is a must.
4.) The platform/hinges are really fairly easy. Pop up tents are an art and engineering feet. Not having it spill out the sides, easy deployment, maintaining ventilation with insect control, wind/snow resistance are all tricky. Hopefully we can get the attention of somebody with talent in this area.
5.) As far as deployment. I am thinking some winch straps. I will sketch that as well.

 

[Luke42]

I'm pretty sure that the intent is to have the floor of the tent inside the truck bed and the tent just be a roof over that and the roof-rack space.

So it would look more like a back-pack parallel to the triangular sails instead of sticking up in the air.

-Crissa

I missed the "side panel" note on the diagram. My bad.

 

[Tinker71]

To me it is max comfort without destroying the range. No porta potty for me. I would also prefer to do most of my cooking outside. AC on a hot night is also high on my list.
No

Futureboy - Thanks for your feedback.
1.) I intended this the lay back on an angle directly on the tonneau cover in travel mode. (Most of the time). This would create a seal against the tailgate. You wouldn't really be able to get in very easily until it was deployed but it would remain aerodynamic. Unless you were traveling very light I would imaging you would need a low profile/light trailer to haul your bulky gear. That being said I think there would be times when you would want to prop it up as you have shown to carry some extra gear and avoid the trailer.
2.) I am glad you labeled the transition area and scaled everything better. It highlights a problem. I am not exactly sure what to do with that space. Perhaps a folding hinge to elevate the platform like the post you have shown. Then the flopping bed area is only 7 ' long instead of 9' . I think I could do some drawings with bluebeam with pretty tight dimensions. I will play around with a sketch this weekend.
3.) I would also be concerned with overtaxing the truck hvac so the tented area would only be tall enough to stand in the back. Since you are already on your knees the sleeping area would be less than 4' tall. Heat reflecting/double wall/insulated fabric is a must.
4.) The platform/hinges are really fairly easy. Pop up tents are an art and engineering feet. Not having it spill out the sides, easy deployment, maintaining ventilation with insect control, wind/snow resistance are all tricky. Hopefully we can get the attention of somebody with talent in this area.
5.) As far as deployment. I am thinking some winch straps. I will sketch that as well.

As promised here is the fold out tent/bed platform with some scaling. An even better variant might be to fit the entire mattress frame inside the side sails so you would not even be able to see it from the side. The plate/double hinge set up would be even better because it would sit flush. I will post a sketch of a tent on top in a new post under this topic. Note: the truck bed is advertised as 6.5' Assuming the tail gate is 2.3" thick this puts the bed into the rear door. I will research known info on the tailgate and may start a new thread.

 

[FutureBoy]

As promised here is the fold out tent/bed platform with some scaling. An even better variant might be to fit the entire mattress frame inside the side sails so you would not even be able to see it from the side. The plate/double hinge set up would be even better because it would sit flush. I will post a sketch of a tent on top in a new post under this topic. Note: the truck bed is advertised as 6.5' Assuming the tail gate is 2.3" thick this puts the bed into the rear door. I will research known info on the tailgate and may start a new thread.

Cool! Now I have a much better understanding of how you see it laid out. With the 6.5 ft bed the platform gets to be just about the perfect length for sleeping. And with the cantilevered platform it allows for a stable platform. But the hinge will need to be solidly attached to the truck. Not sure how that will work with the stock bed cover. Would be helpful to see the real CT up close to verify what's possible.

Overall though with a full tent cover over both the platform and bed, this should make for a nice setup. Folded up there should be almost no drag impacts.

 

[Tinker71]

As promised here is the fold out tent/bed platform with some scaling. An even better variant might be to fit the entire mattress frame inside the side sails so you would not even be able to see it from the side. The plate/double hinge set up would be even better because it would sit flush. I will post a sketch of a tent on top in a new post under this topic. Note: the truck bed is advertised as 6.5' Assuming the tail gate is 2.3" thick this puts the bed into the rear door. I will research known info on the tailgate and may start a new thread.

This is an ultra simple tent without complicated folding mechanism. Hopefully a person could crawl out the back seat area into the vault or access the back by opening the tailgate. Flop the mattress frame onto the peak of the truck. Lock the hinge. Assemble and insert the first fiberglass arch. (All of that would suck especially if full of gear) Then build and insert the remaining fiberglass arches and last the spring bar. If the bottom is well secured. The tension on the fabric should make for a very sturdy tent. That is about my tent making skills....looking for suggestions here.

 

[Crissa]

I'm really digging this design.

I'd use arches for the roof of the pop-up; you can make them go say 200° so that they bow outside the footprint of the Cybertruck to give you a little more breathing space.

-Crissa

 

[FullyGrounded]

I did a quick sketch (2 actually) based on what I am understanding of your idea. These are REALLY rough. But I rough traced the shape of the CT exoskeleton picture as the base so the relative size should be somewhat reasonable.

Anyway, looking at the tent opened up I think you were drawing something like this:

The vertical height and shape is not in any way defined here. Just a box so that I could label the various areas and how they might be used. In this drawing the shaded area of the frame could essentially be a roof rack and tie directly into the roof rack attachment points. Once attached though it could potentially fold down at an angle to be parallel to the hypotenuse of the truck bed triangle.

The second drawing is of the folded state (if the frame is essentially a roof rack).

I don't know how much infrastructure would be needed to allow for the unfolding of such a large tent area. But if the "hinge" were actually back at the post at the top of the tonneau cover, the overall length of the tent area would be considerably smaller and not extend out past the front of the CT.

I do like the idea of making this tenting system long enough to get lots of room but not extending out over the sides of the truck. Thus no bonked heads or sleeping out over the edge of the truck where movement would cause extra sway.

One question I would have right away is if there will be roof rack attachment points on the front hood anywhere. I know some roof racks on ICE trucks for pipe or other long items actually extend out to the front bumper and have posts extending up from the bumper to support the rack.

But overall, I'd say for an elevated tent this design would provide about the maximum size possible. And would allow for easy standing in the truck bed area so that things like changing clothes (and potentially a shower?) could be done inside the tent area.

Now, to be honest, if the tent is tall enough to stand up in the back, and that same height was to extend all the way out to the front sleeping area, it would involve a very large amount of tent fabric. Additionally, there would need to be a support structure of some sort. I'm not sure how easy it would be to wrangle all that fabric and structure back into the folded up state. And if one was not careful it seems like it would be easy to "pinch" or otherwise damage the fabric resulting in water leaks.

And to top it off, this structure would be adding quite a bit of "internal" space. I know Elon is saying that the truck bed will have conditioned air but blowing the internal area out this large might tax that system beyond what it might be built for. Especially in the hot or cold areas of the country.

But that is just my initial take on the design.

Good starter idea. Maybe some of the engineering types around here can do some magic calculations and let us know how it can be built / improved. And I know you asked for help getting an image made. Perhaps someone around here knows how to do that. Or perhaps you can find a friendly friend out on the internet with those skills.

Nice pic FB. Very similar to your pic here is the design that I preferred in rooftop tents 5-6 years ago through now. What I liked most was the opening to the cap, that allowed nighttime toilet access in a covered/protected area (no need to clothe just to pee). These are/were expensive and several have gone bust, as they are much more expensive, and people just don't want to pay $7-10,000 and more, for their tent.

Another huge bonus to this style tent is the abundance of useable space. Typically, the bed would have either a cap with rack, or a simple rack system that the base of the tent connects to. The fold over then has struts that you pull down, that connect to the hood or front bumper with a cotter pin, to provide structural support up front. Great design, but not worth it to some. peace

 

[FutureBoy]

Nice pic FB. Very similar to your pic here is the design that I preferred in rooftop tents 5-6 years ago through now. What I liked most was the opening to the cap, that allowed nighttime toilet access in a covered/protected area (no need to clothe just to pee). These are/were expensive and several have gone bust, as they are much more expensive, and people just don't want to pay $7-10,000 and more, for their tent.

Another huge bonus to this style tent is the abundance of useable space. Typically, the bed would have either a cap with rack, or a simple rack system that the base of the tent connects to. The fold over then has struts that you pull down, that connect to the hood or front bumper with a cotter pin, to provide structural support up front. Great design, but not worth it to some. peace

Thanks! I was just trying to get clarity on the design by Tinker71. But I do like the layout of this kind of tent. Gives lots of room and you can move throughout the vehicle and tent without going outside to get cold/wet. I've seen some Jeep tents that are on top but have a hatch that you can go through to the enclosed back area of the jeep. I find that appealing.

One thing I'm not sure about though is that in order to actually be able to move around, one would need to have some room. Which means either the truck bed needs to be packed only partially full or some stuff needs to be stored outside the truck while the tent is up. If done correctly, the stuff stored outside while sleeping would not be needed at night and would not be any of the food that might attract furry friends.

 

[Crissa]

I wonder how the CT would fare against a grizzly, now that you mention it.

-Crissa

 

[FutureBoy]

I wonder how the CT would fare against a grizzly, now that you mention it.

-Crissa

I'm thinking that the CT itself with the tonneau closed would be relatively safe from a grizzly. But they are pretty ingenious so who really knows. But I'd say the CT would be far safer than any other vehicle.

But once you put up a tent on top and have the tonneau open, all bets would be off. Keep your bear spray close and your food stuffs far away. I was thinking though about having some way to string up the food high on a pole somehow. But ultimately that would still bring a bear to the CT even if it couldn't get the food. Better to just keep the bear and the people apart as much as possible.

Does anyone have any experience/advice for camping in bear country?

 

[Crissa]

Bear vaults, keep scents of food down, avoid crumbs and open wrappers in the vehicle.

I don't know if this works, per se, but it's what I've always done with my vehicle camping.

The hard exterior of the Cybertruck will be much more resistant to the animal dancing atop it.

-Crissa