Elmo's Camper Build

[jeeper92]

Wow

I jsut found your post and was curious if you could post more pics of the fold out platform? what are the dimensions? How did you ensure that water didnt pool up ontop of trailer when the tent is ontop? I was also wondering what materials your build it out of and what it weighs????? I have a gvr im limited to of 1350. What size tent is that you have on there? How do you get to teh tent. I really like your build. Any input that you could give would be great. I look forward to your response
thanks again

 

[elmo_4_vt]

I jsut found your post and was curious if you could post more pics of the fold out platform? what are the dimensions? How did you ensure that water didnt pool up ontop of trailer when the tent is ontop? I was also wondering what materials your build it out of and what it weighs????? I have a gvr im limited to of 1350. What size tent is that you have on there? How do you get to teh tent. I really like your build. Any input that you could give would be great. I look forward to your response
thanks again

Sorry for not posting a reply 4 months ago... I didn't even notice that there was an un-answered post... I'll post a couple more pictures tonight, but I'm not sure that I have many more than what are already posted.

As far as the tent pooling water, it did a little. Most was kept off by the over hanging tarp that was stretched better than what the picture shows. I did however have a little bit in the trough in the morning when I woke that I had to lift the tarp to get out. Not bad though.

The weight, I think completely loaded, it was a little under 2,000lbs wet, so pretty heavy, but it didn't seem to bother my Bronco luckily. On sever off road I will probably notice it a little more on ledges and such, but so far it's done everything I've asked very easily, and there have been some pretty narly forest service roads with 2'+ ditches and ruts.

With you lighter GVWR, I'm not sure that a utility body trailer is for you. Even this one, being all alum weighs in at about 350lbs without any mods. It'll be pretty easy to get above your weight mark.

Look into the coming posts for some fixes I'm hoping to try and make.

Don

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[elmo_4_vt]

A new direction...

So as of late, I've been a bit down on the trailer as I haven't been able to find anyone willing or able to make a custom tent for the top. Well, I guess that's not completely true, I've gotten quotes from boat top makers in the order of $2,000-$2,500, and I've gotten some quotes for custom "wall" tents a little cheaper, but neither of those seem like they will work as well as I want, and will take a lot make work on the trailer and still have a long set up and take down time.

I could leave it like I have it currently, and it's been working alright, but it's certainly not been great. The setup time for the cheap tent I'm using is already getting old and has lots of problems. I've come to the decision, that I need to stop trying to build everything, and maybe try using something that's already available and has been engineered by someone else. Even though I'm sure this will cost more money (a lot more), it's still less than buying a "regular" tent camper that the wife is starting to talk about because of the issues with this setup, and will make things a lot easier for us rather than taking 45 min to an hour trying to set up and keep track of a 1 year old running around the camp site getting into trouble.

So what I'm going to try and do is get a roof top tent like the 1800 or 2200 Eezi-Awn T-top, and mount it to the top of the trailer where I currently have the lid. Basically, the lid will come off, the sides will get moved in a little closer and I can bolt the new T-top directly to the existing wood frame I have on top of my utility body.

The issues: Since I've been searching, I can see that it's been thought of a few times, and the issues seems to be with "getting" one in the states.

The benefits: I can cut out a portion of the tent floor that is over the inside of the body, and will still be able to stand in the tent with about 6'-5" at the peak. I will also get easy access to all the "stuff" I want keep in the trailer and have a easy time adding heat and electric pieces. I'll have enough room for me, my wife, the kid, and any possibly additions.

I haven't seen many of the "T-Top" tents on trailers. There is a pic in one of threads here somewhere. And I've see a couple on trucks, like here, but haven't been able to get much detail on the overall setup. The mounting surface on my trailer is about 5'-3" off of the ground, so it should provide adequate headroom in the T-top area once setup.

Does anyone know of pictures of the T-top on a trailer?

Do you think it would work?

I'll try and put up a couple pictures of the wooden frame that it would mount to (once my hosting service starts working), while still hopefully allowing the weather cover to still work the way it's supposed to. Basically, the notch that I cut in my wooden frame to allow the lid to sit flush, will be use as the seat for the cover. Hard for me to explain, but once I get a couple pictures up, it should make sense.

Don

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[elmo_4_vt]

So, I've heard back from the US vendors about the Family T-top. The good news is, I should be able to get one, the bad is that it probably won't be until next spring. Not that I'll be camping much before then anyway. So I think I'm going to put my deposit down towards the end of the month, and start the mods to the trailer to accept the tent. One was shipped this month, so hopefully we'll get some real pictures of what one will look like. I still can't find that many pictures of the T-top.

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[jeeper92]

Hinges

I will be building a wood lid on my trailer as well, I plan on rhino lining the top so its can withstand some rain without rotting.
What tyep of hinges did you use ? Cost? I will be using 2x4s screwed into the trailer sides and the lid screwed into those two bys. How sis you seal yours where the top close so no water got inside?

THANKS

 

[Deleted member 9101]

I love it.. way to go

 

[elmo_4_vt]

I will be building a wood lid on my trailer as well, I plan on rhino lining the top so its can withstand some rain without rotting.
What tyep of hinges did you use ? Cost? I will be using 2x4s screwed into the trailer sides and the lid screwed into those two bys. How sis you seal yours where the top close so no water got inside?

THANKS

I used a 5' long, 1/4" stainless piano hinge. It was kind of pricey @ $60 online, but I needed something really heavy duty because it had to support the weight of the lid (~200lbs) and the weight of 2-3 people on it when camping. If you'd like I can get a couple of pictures of it, but it really isn't anything special other than it's stainless, and larger than normal. As for the seal, I use my table saw to put a 1"x1" grove in the outside perimeter that the lid would sit in, then just used a bulb type seal. It did extremely well keeping weather out. You should be able to see how I did it with the pictures I posted earlier, but I think I have a couple I could add here.

The Hinge:

The lip:

How everything fit together:

Let me know if you have any other questions...

Don

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[Titanpat57]

That body type offers lots of possibilites...but I'm not sure if I would modify a new tent. The ladder is enclosed in the back (the tent area) so why would you need to stand up in the tent? Of course..I could be missing the obvious.

I threw this together quick to give you an example...I love the utility body platform....esp. with all the doors

 

[Titanpat57]

A little bit better scale....first one was a cob job, sorry :ylsmoke:

 

[elmo_4_vt]

...but I'm not sure if I would modify a new tent. The ladder is enclosed in the back (the tent area) so why would you need to stand up in the tent? Of course..I could be missing the obvious.

I know what your saying, but I'd only be modifying the wooden floor area, and that's pretty easy to put back to stock if I ever had to sell it. Besides that, I think it actually be a more secure way to mount the tent, that is around it's entire perimeter rather than just on the extruded alum. The main point of doing that wouldn't be for the standing room, although I think it would be nice to be able to sit or stand up while in the top area, it would really be for access to supplies and equipment in the trailer and for heating, electrical stuff. I can make that happen in other places, with other configurations as I've thought it through more, so it's turning out to be less of an issue, or lower priority than I originally though it to be.

A little bit better scale....first one was a cob job, sorry :ylsmoke:

Thanks, that's a nice rendering Pat... You've gotten really good at that software. I've seen your build, but I never thought about placing the tent off of the back of the trailer... That would give me the additional sleeping area I was after with a smaller (and cheaper) tent. My son could sleep in the bottom of the trailer after removing some of the supplies. The width of my trailer body is 5'-6" at it's widest point, so the 1600 T-top would fit pretty well with it's 63" width. The down side would be weight distribution at the back of the trailer. I'm not sure it'd be that much of problem though, since I still have to add a large battery, propane, and a kitchen slide, so it would probably be just fine. I'd just have to think about placement a little when working it out.

There are just TOO many ways to make it work, and it's tough to figure out which is best. Honestly, I still keep going back and forth between the Globetrotter and the Family T-top. The T-top gives all the room I'd need, but maybe at the expense of setup time and convenience. The Globetrotter is really nice too though, and would still give a lot of room. We'd just have to make a bed system in the lower area once my son get's older. I think in the end, it will be one of those two. Still need to work things out in my head to figure out which one for sure and how/what modifications would need to be done to my current trailer.

Another thing I keep looking at is the future. I still think about having a "non-setup" style trailer like a tear-drop. I've always liked that idea and I'm sure at some point I'll build one, even if it's just for fun, or out of hobby. The thing that's held me back in the past is the kid's sleeping area, but that could be remedied by a roof-top tent, so that keeps coming into play also. What tent would be best for re-use in the future on top of another trailer. In that scenario, the Globetrotter usually wins out. It'd be pretty sweet to use the Globetrotter to cover the entrance to the tear-drop.

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement. Keep any suggestions coming as I love thinking about different options for this.

Don

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[Titanpat57]

Oh..check back in about 10 mins or so...........lolol

 

[Titanpat57]

I forgot how slick the Bronco was..:smiley_drive:

Get me all the measurements of the trailer..and I'll make everything to scale

If theres anything you want to change PM me..i'll try to help you out

 

[elmo_4_vt]

Well, I took the plunge... Purchased a Globetrotter tonight to throw on the top of the trailer. So the existing wooden top that I put so much time into will come off next week and I'll be redoing a wooden frame that I can mount the tent directly to with wood screws. At least that's the plan for now. That way should allow me to keep the lowest profile while still keeping the inside of the storage area water proof.

I'm also going to change the layout of the compartment doors, but I still don't have that much done on those, so I should only be using a few hours there. The starboard side will be for everything house. A luggage area in the front, heater in the back compartment, and lights and bathroom sink in the horizontal compartment. The port side will stay mostly the same.

I'll update as I get stuff in.

Don

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[elmo_4_vt]

Just in case anyone is reading this, does anyone know where to get cargo hatch covers? I'm trying to find something like this: Ebay

But I need to find one as close to 20" wide by 14" high with a bottom hinge to use for my pull out kitchen. If anyone has any leads, let me know.

Don

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[Jay S.]

This is a total guess, but have you tried www.mcmaster.com ??