DIY Canopy for SFA and IFS

[niclemaitre]

My last attempt at a DIY canopy was attached to my previous SFA when it was "shopped" and I've been toying with the idea of building another one to go on Rooies for some time without really getting anywhere. One reason was because I needed to redesign it totally as Rooies has an import bin while my old SFA had a local bin and the dimensions are sufficiently different to require a new design. Also, the tail gate on Rooies has some bad rust patches and so I was planning on a full rear door rather than the normal tailgate and door of my previous attempt.

My buddy, Matt, recently bought an IFS with a fibreglass canopy and he's been wanting to replace it with a metal one for some time. He's looked at all the bespoke AluCab etc options and basically the prices are ridiculous. Starting at 15k without side doors and a non-full-width rear door. So I suggested that we do it ourselves, to save some cash to spend on fuel and trips. Anyway he's really into this idea and has been on my case to get it done.

Since I neither have the skill, experience or equipment required to weld aluminium (and Matt's never welded anything before) we went for a steel frame with aluminium cladding option. Both canopies will have full length side doors and Matt's will have a full width rear half door, while mine will have a full height rear door, which will have the added bonus that I can mount the spare there and free up the wheel well for an extra tank.

We're going to be using 38x25x2 steel tubing with 2mm aluminium tread-plate.

The complete SFA canopy:

Full door canopy

The base of the canopy:

The roof of the canopy:

The rear door:

The frame of the rear door:

The uprights and the back brace:

Matt's design is based on Piet's design for his. With the exception that the side doors are full length and the rear door is the full width of the load bin.

Pricing and more info to come as we go along.

[niclemaitre]

Fittings and buying the steel:

Fittings are from 4x4 direct and McNaughtans in Parow. We're using these hinges for the side doors and these locks. We went for plastic hinges because there will be no galvanic corrosion issues that we might get with aluminium hinges on the steel frame.

I'm using beefier hinges from McNaughtans for the rear door:

And beefier locks with a big "throat" to go around the door frame:

Gas lifts are also from McNaughtans.

Buying the steel.
Quick summary: DON'T go to MacSteel. What a bunch of idiots. They cannot read a simple diagram, or a cut list or anything. You'd think that the largest steel supplier in CT would be able to do any of those things. Their lead time is really long too, 3-6 working days. Should have gone to Crawfords Steel in Strand.

All the bolts, nuts, washers etc are from Apple Tool and Gas in Strand, in beautiful stainless steel.

The alu cladding we'll get from Non-Ferrous Metals, cut to size, once we've made the frame.

[Haboob]

Hi Nic, Looks good on the drawings.
I built a similar canopy on my previous 1994 D/C 2.4 P. I used 25x25 mm all round, but must admit that I did not fit the spare wheel on the back door.
The spare was underneath the vehicle and I fitted a side by side tank and veered the exhaust out the side of the vehicle, just behind the left back passenger door.
I currently have a Camper built by Alu-Cab and they build heavy duty back doors similar to those on refridgeration trucks.
Without skills I would be careful of fitting the spare wheel on the back door, unless you havre a lot more confidence than I have.
Good luck with your project.

[niclemaitre]

Yes, thanks for raising this, I have considered it and there are going to be three hinges, all heavy duty ones, top, middle and bottom as well as two heavy duty locks that you can adjust the throat on. The hinges will hold it steady I'm sure and the lock's tongue is going to run up a slight lip so that it is constantly pulling the door in. If I do see issues I can add more bracing to the upright of the frame or the door quite easily. I can also add gussets to the edges of the door frame.

[ThysdJ]

Yes, thanks for raising this, I have considered it and there are going to be three hinges, all heavy duty ones, top, middle and bottom as well as two heavy duty locks that you can adjust the throat on. The hinges will hold it steady I'm sure and the lock's tongue is going to run up a slight lip so that it is constantly pulling the door in. If I do see issues I can add more bracing to the upright of the frame or the door quite easily. I can also add gussets to the edges of the door frame.

Nic You can go 25x25x2 on the sq tubing and it should be more than sufficient for the uprights and the rest of the frames. I only went 50x25x2 sq tubing for the top section above the doors, for added strength there.

Even for the rear door I used 25x25x2 on 3 sides and 50x25x2 on the side where the hinges went. On Kaspaas I built a full rear door with a 33" spare fitted on it. The main thing is to brace the corners of the door well, as well as the side pillar the hinges mount on. Also make sure the mounting area where the wheel gets bolted on is strong enough. Once the door is closed it fits inside the frame so that the frame assists in supporting the rear door and not the hinges alone. Have a look here: viewtopic.php?p=41142#p41142" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Dingo]

Looks good

I also built my own canopy and if I may suggest - dome the top of the roof cross supports slightly upwards ( approx. 10-20mm higher in the middle), this will dome the roof a bit so that no water can pool on the roof.

[niclemaitre]

Thanks Thys, I'll add some gussets to the door frame and to the pillar. There is also going to be a 25x25x2 angle on the door pillar for the seal which will also add strength. My last canopy was 50x25x2 all round and that was total overkill so I scaled back a bit here. I would have tried different dimensions of tubes but these MacSteel people are soooo thick that it'd be far more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks Dingo, I'll look into that for sure. I should be able to get the entire roof in a single piece which will help too.

[Dingo]

Thanks Dingo, I'll look into that for sure. I should be able to get the entire roof in a single piece which will help too.

You should be able to, my roof is one piece. All the cladding on my canopy came from 2 sheets of alu and there was more than enough to do other bits and pieces inside the canopy.

[niclemaitre]

Should be getting the steel this week!

Here are the costs so far:

[niclemaitre]

And four weeks after ordering the steel we have it. In short, never, ever use MacSteel. The employ people who have no idea what they are selling, have no comprehension of customer service or even what feedback is.

So it's all downhill from here. Time to start welding!

[Hilux 1]

Should be getting the steel this week!

Here are the costs so far:

Screenshot 2014-09-11 08.30.45.jpg

where do you get the gaslifts for so cheap?? is it Gabriel??

[george]

Should be getting the steel this week!

Here are the costs so far:

Screenshot 2014-09-11 08.30.45.jpg

where do you get the gaslifts for so cheap?? is it Gabriel??

Kom kuier by ons.Net vir jou is dit sommer R90

[niclemaitre]

Gas lifts are from McNaughtans in Parow, not Gabriel, Struts Australia

[niclemaitre]

Progress:

Roof and base for Matt's canopy:

Roof and base for mine:

Mine still needs the door, door frame and roof braces added

[niclemaitre]

Faster and faster it goes:

Roof complete

Made some slight changes because MacSteel messed up the cut list and gave me 2x the steel for the roof cross braces. So I added another set.

Door complete (except the gussets):

IMG_20141021_074012.jpg

(122.51 KiB) Downloaded 1104 times

Just the uprights, door frame, gussets and a couple of miscellaneous braces to add.

[niclemaitre]

More progress on my canopy. Matt's is ready to have the uprights welded to the roof.

Something I should have done before putting the uprights in place on mine was to build a jig to hold the base flat and square. Because of the wide opening it pulled out of square while finishing the welding and getting the roof and uprights to fit properly was tricky to say the least. It's still not perfect but it's pretty close to square.

Now I need some advice for the mounting of the spare on the door. I had thought to use something like this:

Untitled.jpg (33.68 KiB) Viewed 6940 times

like I have seen on Landcruisers but I want to know if anyone had some better advice/ideas

[Oupa Stig]

Welding can be tricky... You can tack as much as you like, as soon as you throw full welds everything goes krom! Measure diagonaly corner to corner to check squares etc.
Looking good so far!

[Obelix and Dogmatix]

re the spare wheel on the door,

I think your major concern should be if the door has enough bracing and that the door hinges are strong enough,

The bracket does look like it can do the job.

[niclemaitre]

The door is all 38x25x2 rectangular section. It's a rectangle with a cross pattern brace. Each corner has 100x100x5 gussets. I think it'll take the weight fine. I was hoping that some one else might have done this before and have some ideas. Thys?

[Oupa Stig]

Strong hinges, and also strong locking mechanism. Remember, back there bumps you feel in the cab are much bigger, and a wheel ain't light.
You may consider some plan with a wedge-type setup where when the door is closed the side on the lock rests on the wedge so as to reduce strain on both the lock and hinge.

[niclemaitre]

The hinges are beefy enough, they even have grease nipples for the bearings :D

Locks are pretty potent too and I can adjust them so that they take up really tight on the frame. Also when the door is closed, I'm going to set it so it rests on the bottom frame (or wedges on the bottom) so that the hinges aren't carrying all the weight

[niclemaitre]

The frame is nearing completion, just need to clean up some welds and drill the holes for the hinges in the door pillar. Sorry, no new pictures right now.

Next thing is to get it painted, galvanized, powder coated or E-coated but I'd like some advice/recommendations on which is best please?

Thanks in advance

[niclemaitre]

Completed and ready to be set for galvanizing

Completed canopy, with all the holes for the galvanizing. Next time (if there is a next time) I will remember to drill the holes before welding the tubes in place!

The complete rear door.

The spare wheel mount, 5mm plate mounted onto 75x75x3 tubing with 25x25x3 angle as gussets. Will also have 3 M14 threaded rod sections running right through the plate and the door

The rear door frame with flat bar to mount the sealing rubbers on. The left hand side will be where the locks close, hence the extensive welding

[niclemaitre]

The canopies loaded to go to the galvanizer

R1683 for galvanizing 97.7kgs (60.0[mine]+37.7[Matt]) and then R820 for powder coating. Should take about 1 week and then it's just fitting and gluing the alu cladding to the frame and we're done!

[Mars]

Kom nou mooi aan!!!

[Thunder02]

Can't wait to see the end product

[niclemaitre]

I'm really keen to get it back from the powder coaters! Can't wait!

[niclemaitre]

And they are back from the powder coaters

R3468.93 for galvanising and powder coating 97.7kgs in matt black.

[FIRSTGEER]

Looks great I can't wait to see the finnished product.

[Masekind]

Baie nice

[niclemaitre]

Got the alu sheet yesterday and started cutting. Might be done this evening!

[4x4BEES]

Any progress yet??

Would like to see the end result

[niclemaitre]

Eskom and a serious blonde moment have slowed progress somewhat but will hopefully be finished this week! I'll post pictures tomorrow if I get a chance

[niclemaitre]

And here are the pictures:

The spare wheel on the rear door

The rear of the canopy

The blonde moment: the doors are around 1400mm long and needed to be cut out of the length of a 2500x1250 sheet and we marked them to be cut out of the width.

The size of the problem...

I'm going to get a section of flat bar and build a frame with it to cover the gap. That's the easiest way out without buying another sheet of aluminium

[niclemaitre]

So they are finally finished, just in time for the annual pilgrimage to Dwarsrivier in the Cederberg.

Cost for the aluminium for both and replacement sheet for me to rectify the stuffup was R3900, rubber seals came to around R1400 from ProAuto Rubber.