Thompsre08
Well-Known Member
Got an opportunity to pickup an ikamper from my overlanding buddy on the cheap. I started looking at Alu-cab and RSI canopies but didn’t want to spend 4-5,000 on another canopy plus mine is already paint matched. So I set to work sourcing aluminum and steel unistrut.
I swapped out all the existing roof rail hardware for larger diameter stainless machine screws that tie into the under roof aluminum frame. From there I built a lower bed rail frame that bolts into the canopy clamps.
It took me a while to figure out how to tie the roof frame and bedrail frames together but I finally settled on steel unistrut to pickup the vertical load. I’m about 95% complete at this point and just waiting on a few more brackets that should be here in the morning for the front rail supports but overall I’m happy with the solution for some canopy reinforcement. And for the weight increase, I never take my canopy off as I’ve got a dump trailer for bigger stuff and a bumper pull toy hauler.
I swapped out all the existing roof rail hardware for larger diameter stainless machine screws that tie into the under roof aluminum frame. From there I built a lower bed rail frame that bolts into the canopy clamps.
It took me a while to figure out how to tie the roof frame and bedrail frames together but I finally settled on steel unistrut to pickup the vertical load. I’m about 95% complete at this point and just waiting on a few more brackets that should be here in the morning for the front rail supports but overall I’m happy with the solution for some canopy reinforcement. And for the weight increase, I never take my canopy off as I’ve got a dump trailer for bigger stuff and a bumper pull toy hauler.
