Really mini & removable toy hauler build

Titanpat57

Expedition Leader
The aluminum angle is MUCH cheaper from a metal supply yard than say HD or Lowes. You can buy a 20' pc. for almost the same price as an 8'pc. from the big box stores.

As far as something to prevent racking, on my build the metal tailight holders help to prevent that. If you can come off the back of the trailer with some sort of "removable" brace ( something similar to what the anchor a guy cable in with, for say a power pole, but maybe not that large). Then you could crank it down to the trailer, and would prevent to much movement. I did a quick drawing but it shows them solid, just to save time, I think you know what I mean.

At the top I just gussetted the seam with 3/4 ply and glued and screwed it.

As far as the ramp door, maybe you can buy one of those alredy made ramps and just incorporate some pywood and framing to hold it together. Once it drops down, drive right in.
 

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Blderman

New member
The aluminum angle is MUCH cheaper from a metal supply yard than say HD or Lowes. You can buy a 20' pc. for almost the same price as an 8'pc. from the big box stores.

As far as something to prevent racking, on my build the metal tailight holders help to prevent that. If you can come off the back of the trailer with some sort of "removable" brace ( something similar to what the anchor a guy cable in with, for say a power pole, but maybe not that large). Then you could crank it down to the trailer, and would prevent to much movement. I did a quick drawing but it shows them solid, just to save time, I think you know what I mean.

At the top I just gussetted the seam with 3/4 ply and glued and screwed it.

As far as the ramp door, maybe you can buy one of those alredy made ramps and just incorporate some pywood and framing to hold it together. Once it drops down, drive right in.

Thanks for drawing that! I have some ideas spinning in my head now; I'll see what I can work up this weekend if there is time. The top of mine will be covered with 1/2" plywood, glued and screwed (inside & out) so that will gusset the header together very well.

I did a search but didn't find any pre-made door ramps.....did you have something specific in mind that I could lookup? I am afraid I might be trying to complicate this too much...I have a tendency to do that. :D
 

Blderman

New member
Something like this?

http://discount-ramps.amazonwebstor...tm_medium=CSE&utm_source=FIND&affId=the005-20

Not sure how big the opening is on the back of your trailer, but I'm sure you could customize the length, but probably not the width.

Gotcha, I already have some of those. I thought you were saying there was a company that pre-fabricated ramp DOORS. I think I am just going to cross laminate (2) sheets of 1/2' ACX and then design the door to cover the entire back of the trailer and clamp to the side walls. I believe that will take up most of the lateral strength issues that I am worrying about. Thanks for the continued input.

Have a great 4th!
 

Ozarker

Pontoon Admiral
I'm not an engineer but I'm thinking you are making this harder by design. In the small pic above posted last, there are gussets on the outside that are not on yours... yet, maybe that's what you meant by gussets. But That won't help racking higher up, IMO, it depends on how tight the ramp door fits and as you said, if you bolt it closed that would certainly help alot.

What I have seen is a rear wall with a rear ramp that folds out of the wall, not a wall that was also the ramp. Another way to explain is that there should be (IMO) about a foot of wall at the coners in the back. If it were steel that would be different, I have never seen a wood jam at a corner. Anyone can say what they would have done at this point, but if the jam were incorporated into the header, I thinkthat would help, with the jam notched into the header.
The returns from the corners would be blocked as well.

I didn't see the ramp on the trailer, is it folded level with the trailer floor and you built on top of it?

I'd suggest not having a ramp attached to the pod to walk up or drive anything on, I just don't any kind of hinge being attached to ply that would last and it could be dangerous depending on the load. Mt ramp is bolted to the frame of the trailer through the sides, if it were wider I could drive my car on it.

Absolutely, angle is waaay to expensive at box stores, I meant the flashing. If you frame the back door in angle stock that would give you something to weld a hinge to. Unless there is a lip for the ramp door to rest on when it is down, seems the hinge(s) will be carring the weight of the ramp and what ever is loaded on it.

That's pretty much why I'm using the trailer ramp which is steel and having by doors open upward or as barn doors or to either side. The less space there is around any door the easier it will be to make it weather tight, not just the gap but the length of the jams or girth of the opening.

I'm no trailer expert, but I have never seen manufactured doors being available except as a replacement for existing rigs maybe, so the opening would need to be made to that door/ramp. I also think those ramps are fabricated with internal bracing, something that 3/4 ply would not equal by itself. I guess you were also saying you would use angle, two or three pieces running from the bottom of the frame to the top spaced in the field of the ramp door on the bottom.

IMHO, trying to fabricate some things that engineers have designed for a commercial venture can be hard to do in any garage and usually if one succeeds, it's not to the commercial standard. Homebuilders aren't using the same materials, jigs and other equipment the factories have. Such is beyond my skills anyway.

I suggest you search for "Teardrops and Tiny Trailers Forums". Sorry I can't give you a link, I'm also technologically deficient. You'll find all kinds of doors and ramp arrangements there.

The biggest problem I see is fitting the door for a good weather tight seal. Maybe there are rubber seals available that could do that....don't know.

I have the same problem with any door the width I need to get my bike in, so if anyone can solve the issues, let me know. :coffeedrink:
 
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Blderman

New member
Ozarker,

My trailer has detachable sides and ramps so that's why you don't see them in the picture.

For the ramp I am trying to copy the basic design of a Wells Cargo car hauler: http://wellscargo.com/wellscargo-trailers/auto-trailers/#

I by no means expect to match the strength or design. My only intent is use it to load my 550lb quad which 1" of plywood on a 5ft span can easily accomodate. I have a rear spoiler which will extend past the top of the ramp by 3". That should help alleviate leakage from the top. I will use a perimeter bulb seal around the edges. The door will clamp to the sides of the trailer frame and I am going to mount alignment pins to the ramp that will go into holes drilled into the wall framing. I am hoping that all of these components will result in a water tight door that will also pick up the shear forces well enough to not rack the rear corners apart. Thanks again to both you and Pat for your input....it keeps all the ideas flowing.

On to the next subject, I removed the POD tonight and flipped my trailer over to inspect the frame. I am going to do some primer and paint touch up but everything else looks good. Should I add some add some braces from the frame to the tongue? I also figured out how am I going to anchor the POD to the trailer. I am going weld flat stock to the side of the trailer and then bolt flat stock with a welded nut to the inside of the floor framing. I will bolt through the flat stock on the trailer through the frame to the plate inside the floor framing. I think this will be adequate at 4 corners but will do some testing to be sure.
 

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Blderman

New member
Made some good progress today. Got the underside plywood and skids installed and painted. The inside floor insulated, plywood installed and the entire exterior primed. Good news is I can still, just barely, move it around by myself. It did take me and my 15 year old son to flip it over so I could work on the underside though. I also tested the fitment of my quad but forgot to take a picture. Beautiful, sunny weather in Oregon today; we have seen very little sun this year so I stayed outside till in got dark. :)
 

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Blderman

New member
Made quite a bit of progress the past couple of days: Got the rear gussets in, VCT flooring in, angle braces welded on the front of my trailer, rubber roof installed and side doors cut out.

I don't know if it has been mentioned on this site before but EPDM rubber can be purchased very costly effectively by buying pond liner. My 9x5 piece was only $27.00, "roof grade" would have been at least $100. I am going to coat mine with the white Elastomeric Roof Coating to keep help keep the inside cool.

I am hung up on how to build my side doors though. I would like to frame and trim them in aluminum but since I am trying to not spend much money that is not an option right now. Any ideas on how to get a watertight seal only building them out of plywood?

Thanks!
 

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Blderman

New member
More pics
 

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Blderman

New member
Some more updates:

I decided to ditch the ramp idea and go with the suggestions from Ozarker, Pat and my Wife! :) The back door is going lift up instead and will be supported by poles to provide a shaded area for eating, working on equipment etc. I built the frame with perimeter 1x3 and then used steel studs for infill. The steel provides superior weight to stiffness ratio over 1x2 wood but has poor screw holding ability. To fix that I glued and screwed two layer of 5/8" plywood splines on the inside steel stud channels. This provided a good bite for the screws and will be the nailing surface for the interior plywood. The door will be hung with a continuous hinge and covered by a rubber strip from the top of the door to the wall. Almost ready to start siding.......just have to do the side doors now.


I also got the POD back up onto the trailer tonight.....It is MUCH heavier now and I had to use a come a long to get in on the trailer. I think I will build some saw horses a few inches taller than the trailer and run a double 2x4 across them to store the POD on when not in use. Then I can just back the trailer under the POD, pull out the 2x4s and it will drop onto the trailer.

Unfortunately it looks like I will be losing my house in two weeks so I may have to take an extended break from working on this....we'll see.
 

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Titanpat57

Expedition Leader
Sorry to hear about the house thing, hope it all works out in your favor..

Back door looks great, and an overhang will come in handy. Maybe you can get away with one of those folding aluminum ramps to get the load inside.

Roof came out good too! Just remember to squeeze some silicone betweeen the finished trim and rubber roofing before you screw it down

Nice progress...good luck

Pat
 

Blderman

New member
Thanks Pat! Made some stupid financial decisions about 5 years ago and they have caught up to me now, plus my wife lost her job last year; such is life.......just gotta keep pushing forward.

At the rear door I think I am going to either store my folding ramps inside the trailer or weld some angle on to store them underneath. Still thinking about that one, I am quickly reaching the limitations of my 2,000lb axle so I am trying as hard as I can to stay simple, but it's just not in my nature! :)

I got my side doors framed last night so I really am ready for siding now, but just can't find anything cheap enough. I thought for sure I would find some used sheet metal on Craigslist, but I have been looking for a month and there hasn't been anything. I may have to spend a little and buy those ABS sheets I was talking about last week, but I will also have to coat them with a UV stabilizer.
 

Blderman

New member
Well, summer has been crazy the past 6 weeks but I finally have a chance to update some of my progress. I took the POD out for it's maiden voyage two weeks ago and it did very well. However, it weighs more than I anticipated and I ended up being 200 pounds over my axle limit. Fortunately it made it through our 400 mile trip without a problem but we blew a tire right as well pulled into the driveway; thankfully it was not at 60mph on the highway!! So that prompted me to do an axle/tire upgrade. I purchased a 3,500 Rockwell/American axle and found a set of 4 used Jeep tires for 80.00. Got everything welded up this weekend and the axle installed. Looking forward to my next outing in three weeks when I will take it up hunting for 9 days. It is going to be my sleeping camper/storage.

Couple of things I have learned:

1) This consumed MUCH more time than I had anticipated. I didn't even put any quality details into this build and it is still taking me forever to finish. I am starting to re-think my idea on building a larger one this fall. It would require a lot of my attention that should be given to the family so that might be a problem

2) Even with all the free material I had I am still into this $500.00. I think the larger build that I want to do would cost me about $5-6,000.00

3) Driving screws to tight on the flashing at the roof will cause the EPDM to bubble.......stupid mistake. It's watertight but looks like crap.

4) I would use 1/4" ply next time, the 1/2" is overkill and weighs WAY too much.

5) Even with how crappy my build looks I still had a guy come up and take pictures two weeks ago at camp. He said he was thinking about building the same kind of thing and then saw mine and it sold him on it.


That's all for now.
 

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Blderman

New member
Well, my POD is as done as it is going to get for now. I have to move next week and my rental house doesn't have much room to work so I am not sure how much more work I will be able to do on the POD. So for now it has 3 coats of elastomeric paint and 1 coat of semi-gloss acrylic to protect the plywood. This spring I hope to get some sheet metal siding for it or I might sell it on Craigslist and build a slightly larger one. As it sits right now it is fully loaded up with all of my hunting and camping gear ready to head to Eastern Oregon for the last week of bow season. It's pretty nice to have everything loaded, protected and ready to go.

I didn't mention this before but I made a pretty critical and embarrassing error during the build. At some point when I was gluing up the roofing panels my rear door opening racked a 1/2" out of square. I didn't notice at first as I was mainly working on it when it was almost dark out. It doesn't affect the utility of the POD but it does cause the rear to be about 3/4" out of level so the POD looks slightly twisted.....I am pretty frustrated as I build warehouses that aren't that far out of square!:mad: Lesson learned: don't be in such a rush next time.

I'll post some pics when I get back from hunting.
 

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loren85022

Explorer
I like it. Driving with it empty and a cross-wind might be a bit hairy. Great place to escape an afternoon shower out there.
 

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