The WilderNest Thread

[DaveInDenver]

Cleaning

Our urethane-coated nylon laminated tents are particularly sensitive to solvents and petroleum-based oils. Acetone and other strong solvents will soften the adhesives. WilderNest tents can be cleaned with a mild dish detergent, like dish soap, Ivory, or a commercial brand like Davis’s Sail Bath (diluted at least 80:1 or weaker) or Foaming Sail Cleaner, and a soft-bristled brush. A general cleaning will remove dirt and grit. After this bath, rinse well with water and let the tent air dry. If there is a specific stain to be removed, the laminate will break down with the use of solvents. Davis’s Foaming tent Cleaner works for spot cleaning.

Mildew

Prevention is the best tactic, but if mildew has attacked the tent, treat it immediately and isolate the area from the rest of the tent to prevent spreading. Do not use bleach on the nylon. Lysol is a fungicide that when sprayed on the tent will kill existing spores and inhibit any additional growth. After the organism is killed, most of the stain can be removed by lightly soaking (not scrubbing) in a fungicide for 12 or more hours. Always rinse thoroughly to ensure there is no residue left on the tent.

Rust

Rust can be removed with a thin paste of baking soda or toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush. Wash the area well with mild detergent and rinse thoroughly. This will not remove any stain embedded in the coating, but it will remove most of the surface stain. Remember, that using any abrasive on a tent reduces its life. For removing small areas of rust stain, a mild gel product named Magica is recommended.

Grease, Oil, Tar

Petroleum-based stains are best removed by using orange-based cleaning solvents. This cleaning solvent is also good for removing tape adhesive residue. Use any solvent sparingly. After dabbing the stain with a weak solvent, scrub the area with a mixture of solvent, mild detergent, and water before rinsing thoroughly. As with abrasives, solvents will reduce the tent’s life so use them sparingly.

Most stains are very difficult to remove totally, and they are not worth running the risk of decreasing the tent’s life expectancy by using excessive solvents or abrasion. Some stains, like mildew, will fade with use as the tent is flown in the sun.

Prior to storing tents make sure they’re dry. Detergent that is not completely rinsed off will continue to draw moisture from the air, and will abrade the fabric and threads. Such a moist environment encourages mildew growth. After cleaning and drying, you can spray the tent with Lysol to inhibit mildew growth.

Proper cleaning and storage will prolong the life of your tent.

Preventative maintenance should always be your first line of defense—a stain that never gets on your tent is one you won’t have to remove. After that, cleaning the tents, making any needed repairs, and properly stowing them at the end of the season will ensure that they’ll be ready for use next spring, and hopefully for many springs after.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Sealing
Once the fabric is clean, now would be a good time to re-seal (or even initially seal) the tent. We use a McNett seam sealer, their Seam Grip product. This is a urethane sealer that has worked great with the original WilderNest fabric (which is a urethane coated nylon). One 1-ounce tube is typically just perfect to seal all the seams, although have a second in case you run short.

It's best to clean all the oil and dirt from the seams with isopropyl alcohol first and work quickly. It is relatively easy to get all the seams except the one that runs over the middle of the tent at the peak. Creative use of your garage roof and careful parking of the truck works well, but ladders and climbing around will be necessary. This is much easier to do with the WilderNest on the floor of your shop!

Another product that we've been using is McNett's water-based urethane sealer called Seam Sure. This goes on very easy, but seems better suited for re-sealing than initial seals as it spreads thinner. But so far results have been encouraging for it's longevity.

In both cases you will need to give the sealer time to dry, so watch the weather and a warm day with no chance of rain is best. Start early and let the sealer cure for as long as possible before folding up the tent, overnight if possible. Unsealed seams are the number one reason why WilderNest tents leak. They were not sealed from the factory and if the dealer did not do it, then it's entirely possible that it was never done. With sealed seams the WilderNest does not leak in normal use and condensation is typically the reason why the inside would be wet. But being a single wall tent with no rain fly, with enough rain and humidity, it's possible that it gets damp inside. Sometimes there is just no way to beat Mother Nature.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Hey @DaveInDenver, I have a few leaks I'd like to take care of. Do you know what to use to properly seam seal a wildernest topper? I seem to recall it's NOT silicone.

BTW, that stuff is what I had posted on the old wildernestcampers.com site. I've personally always used Seam Grip. Dean (@L43dean) probably has a thought or two on all of this.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Came across a photo I'd squirreled away and thought you guys would get a kick out of seeing it.

This is what the original expandable van campers looked like. That's what it was called in the original patent and why that's on the serial number plate under Lowe Alpine, since they I think had to license it.

 

[DaveInDenver]

@L43dean

Does this fiberglass work at the rear of the shell look familiar?

 

[Stuckinthe80s]

@L43dean

Does this fiberglass work at the rear of the shell look familiar?

Now that's a cool way of repurposing something! I wonder how heavy it is though?

 

[dan1554]

Hey @DaveInDenver, saw your post a while back and ordered supplies, just wanted to say thanks! I need to pencil in a 'nest tlc day.

 

[L43dean]

@L43dean

Does this fiberglass work at the rear of the shell look familiar?

No. I appreciate the "heads up" though. My stolen nest with truck was on a 7 foot box. That trailer looks to be a full size truck width. Good eye though, because my old nest was shortened to 7' and as a result did have a plumb vertical rear door. That nest looks to be 6'in length. I have photos printed from Film that maybe I can scan and post up. They are of the whole outfit on some of it's last excursions. The nest was tan in color and had "snow tunnel" windows at the top of the ridge line. It was a early nest.

 

[DaveInDenver]

@TacoNM hit me with a PM. His question led to a description and I wanted to add this picture for him and general reference. The order of operation on how I bolt on a WilderNest isn't random. I put the bolts on in this order.

The reason for this is #1 and #2 locate the 'Nest on the bed squarely. Then #3 and #4 hold the left side fast so it can't move. I then will pull the right side wall in to close the gap created by the rear most lid spring that wants to push that side out. Once I pull the side in to close the gap in the rear window or at least as much as I feel comfortable trying I'll put in #5 and #6.

Now realize that by squeezing the right side in and bolting it to the bed rail that force is put on the bed wall. Which isn't ideal either since there's nothing on U.S. trucks holding the rear opening of the bed. Now @L43dean's tRusty with its proper tailgate latches can tolerate pulling the sides of a 'Nest up tight but trucks since 1982 have had center tail gate latches.

So if you get too greedy you end up with a gap that eventually becomes permanent...

Being even less substantial I put these on my Taco in an attempt to reinforce it.

 

[DaveInDenver]

More photos for @TacoNM.

This is the rear of my truck currently. The edges of the shell are equal, the opening is basically centered with the tailgate.



Close ups the left and right sides. You can see the gap is quite a bit larger on the passenger side. The reveal is even along the left side and around the top but slightly widens from top to bottom on the right. You can see the stress fracturing in the gel coat of this corner, too. But my 'Nest has a lot of miles. This corner was backed into by a UPS driver, the camper has been beat up on some harder trails (Rubicon). It's ready for a strip down and fiberglass work. Some day, some day...



But the rails are equal and in fact the right side is just slightly pulled in more.





The gap at the bottom of the rear window was wide enough that the latch wouldn't grab.



So my solution was to cut the rod and make a sleeve that lets me adjust it over enough so the right side is retained.

 

[Reh5108]

I have the same issue with the bed rails being pulled apart. I recently made some bed brackets to help. I pulled everything in with a ratchet strap so things were close to square. Once I let the ratchet strap off it still flexed the bed floor enough to pull the rail. It's much better than it was but I did need to extend the window latches.

I also had to make my own bed supports since the factory ones cracked and collapsed from the offroad abuse. Might not be an issue for the composite beds. But the first gen it is.

 

[dan1554]

This is so tempting. Maybe with a box cutter under my pillow for fast escape.