Trailer in Design stage

[The Artisan]

I'm not certain on this whole idea of fiberglass frame.. It still needs to be skinned, interior and exterior. If I was to frame, then probably aluminum framing. It's the whole framing thing to me.. On a space so small, framing to me means insulation in the walls, nothing more. Wiring comes up through the floor and cabinetry. Roof/ceiling light.. 18650 batteries come to mind.

Take some design notes off mine. My kits are a rivet together corner to angle exo cage. Glue in frp panels into cage with sika and add poptopper. You can buy one of my kits or build your own, you can not get anymore simple then that. Build or have a trailer built and mount the finished pod onto the frame.
Kevin

 

[opp]

I'm not certain on this whole idea of fiberglass frame.. aluminum framing bad. Starts to die after first weld are stress point . And just square profile shape I like some kick in my Jell-O .With floating cross ties can not mess up keep lips some what square trim on cross ties . Your eyes can not pick up any oh-os
Our first trailer that a rental Was hit in the back on the 28 of June . Tow co has informed me need 2 tires and one rim to be able to tow home and set of lights. It will be interesting to me how well the glass/foam held up will receive on July 3 Been informed vehicles in front stopped on I80 east .Car striking never tried to stop All this happen at 02.15 /2.15am .
Got trailer out of the tow yard .Had to replace one rim & tire . Air one tire up replace guts on receiver one chain safety was rip off .Used this frame http://tnttt.com/Design_Library/The Ultralight Chassis.htm With lite bars to slide over speed bumps . Smashed back of fenders. small bow to frame rail. Damage to pod one bolt to the frame ripped through fiberglass foam floor. ripping steel pad from frame . Tore heads of 8 pop rivets . bent side door frame, in about 1 inch back to front . The whole pod flexed . Big gouge in front& back. Was laying on side as tow truck received it Less than one square foot of foam came free . will fix with can foam . tote off 1 inch of bottom fiberglass frame. The whole pod was a bumper .Did the wheels, replace guts on receiver and went camping .Not pricing fenders under $30.00 US to Fix. heads of 8 pop rivets #2 picture bottom make larger to see

 

[opp]

Beyond jscherb making some prototypes, I am not aware of any advertising.

"
How do you prototype something "
Infill building has been around for over a 1000 years.
fiberglass over 75 years."
The whole post look at what co that is referred to and product for 7 years.


"Where can I get these components?
Any fiberglass shop can do this. Door stop was used to make lip . What nice about this Can use any infill. Now there two trailers out that have snap in rip stop are screen .
Where can I get these components?
You can find the premade 41% & 90% . . See picture .I can not post price . The kit I received was under $10.00 US a running foot . It's at 41% premade bends and 90%. Had to trim my own 8% at top 4% per side in the top bend.
41% is same as Break away for the back of a jeep. Même comme Break away pour le dos d'une jeep .There are base trailers being made in under 20 hr. work time. Using woody look / pre made doors windows /Home depot cutting wood. Premade steel trailers frames Can receive 10 feet striate and cut your shelf . To do a 90% you will perform two 45% cuts to save shoulders. On the lips resets. These pictures are real no photo - shop
Edit from trailtop. org / trailtop .net They have a set buy in. 150 meters of this one profile for me

 

[jwiereng]

I don’t think the TrailTop components are available on the market yet.

If you have information that is contrary please post contact information of where such components are available.

 

[opp]

l like to thank Mr. Howel for letting us step on his post. Looking forward to seeing his build. Any other post about the trailtop fiberglass Components please go to. https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/50-hr-build-4-5-by-8-using-tailtop-fiberglass-components.196597/#post-2539309
I don’t think the TrailTop components are available on the market yet. .
Oh my pictures are photo- shop L O L


There a build going on that uses the Shawnee hills plans using trailtop fiberglass components .They hope To come in at 60% of origin Shawnee hills trailer weight . And 100 year trailer .

Any fiberglass shop can do this. I have found many profiles at older glass shop. Just need to add door stop to build resets are anything to make the resets In the fiberglass tooling

Been receiving over five years From trailtop fiberglass components . Most of what they build goes to grow chambers. They do hand laid fiberglass. Something about locking layer at the fiberglass resets. Chopper gun will pull away from gel-coat at the resets.=heavy weak crap and at $ 35.00 a running foot. That be over $ 1500.00 US just for outer ring on most teardrop trailers. That just nuts to me and chopper gun. Hell I do a kit with outer ring ,bottom rail and cross ties for under $900 with hand laid glass .

So it takes time to do right. That makes for a short supply. They also supply other builders that don't work on trailers 15 to 30 minutes every month like me. .They have a set buy in .For me it was 150 meters / 492.126 feet of one profile. Can do about 11 ea. 10 foot trailers.
They have the tooling for the 7’’ profile with many curves sides. Like the prototypes Jscherb was showing. When trailtop fiberglass components releases the 7'' profile .You could make your own fiberglass jeep style tub for under $400.00 US .Not the $1500.00 that some are charging . All my pictures are not pho-shop. From trailtop. org / trailtop .net They have a set buy in. 150 meters of this one profile for me
edit the 7'' radi trailtop fiberglass components Like the prototypes Jscherb was showing. have been released

 

[RJ Howell]

I've re-designed a bit, mostly moving the shore/toilet forward to allow better axle placement. I also like how it's flowing better.
The night stand is high for our needs, yet for another should be below mattress level so it can convert to a king easily.
The box you see next to the entry space is the toilet/shower. With a flip-up cover and draw around curtain in shower mode or cover down as more counter space. Still a design-in-progress, yet liking the possibilities.

Overall shape I like, it's long so anything to give a bit more entry/exiting of a stream and a bit of aerodynamic's helps. I'm also seeing lot's of convenient storage inside and out.


Backside the upper flip-up hatch will be continuous (not as shown). Lower flip-down shelves will be as drawn. Space between will be shelves mostly for inside, yet I my want some space (like my oversized solar panel that I love) outback.
One side would be for the cooktop/sink and the other for the grill. Yes, we like to cook and prefer doing so outside. I will have a propane tank up front, so a quick-connect outback for sure!
We're thinking right now of no drain for the sink. It's hat plumbing that makes it difficult and really why have it.. Water source definitely, for the outside shower and well as sink cleanup. Can't tell ya how many times on our current trailer we used a bowl in the sink to cleanup after cooking.

The roof you see will lift 16". I'm 6'-1" and want that extra space. The mechanism I'm researching, yet see 4 of whatever's.. Sides I see as vinyl and screen, also researching the material and how to make it work well.

Getting close to completing this stage so I can work out a materials list and factor weight. Then comes the tough part for me.. designing the trailer, but I'm getting ahead of myself..

As always, opinions/suggestions/improvements are welcomed.

There has been a lot of information passed on this thread and I thank each of you for doing so.

 

[The Artisan]

Looking good.
Kevin

 

[RJ Howell]

I've run my box weight and need to work on getting it lighter. I broke 1600 lbs. That is wet weight, including 2 30lb tanks (water & waste full), 2lb propane and estimated appliances / fixtures.

I am not a 'steel' guy and structural steel design I really could use some help on. I'm currently working with tubular 1/4 x 2 x 2 steel. Mainly cause I already have some.
Question one is: Is it strong enough?
My estimate of steel weight (no axle factored) is 700lbs.
I'm looking for the jacks/stabilizers in the 4 corners to be strong enough to assist in recovery as required. I'm thinking the steel may have too much flex..

Weight so far reaches <= 2400lbs.
Currently I only have 6" spacing between top of axle and bottom of frame.
Question two: Is that enough?



I already see the tongue as too short. Forgot the overhang of the box and factoring propane tank storage.
Also did draw in the additional steel front to rear to reduce the span for floor support.

 

[opp]

1/4 '' wall is quite a bit heavy most use 1/8 wall. If what you tow with can handle the weight. You use a few times a year and you have it. IT's all good. In a perfect world lite flexible is the best. With the high cost of steel and you have it go for it If what you tow with can handle it

 

[RJ Howell]

1/4 '' wall is quite a bit heavy most use 1/8 wall. If what you tow with can handle the weight. You use a few times a year and you have it. IT's all good. In a perfect world lite flexible is the best. With the high cost of steel and you have it go for it If what you tow with can handle it

My thought is stiff for recovery when required. I do read many going 3/16".. I need to dig back into some old info I have around here on how much flex would be involved. I guess I could move the jack/stabilizers in board a bit (especially front).

As far as my TV goes, I'm towing 3700lbs, loaded now with no issues (to speak of). My hope is to get right around 2800lbs loaded. I figure I'm 400lbs over right now..

 

[RJ Howell]

Axles, oh my.. I this new to me.. Looks like I can get in a 5200lb anywhere from $250-$500. Then leafs..
It's a must to match to the Tow Vehicle (TV) tires. Spacing... I had no clue there was such a thing.
Actually thought 6 lug was just that... Oh am I learning...

Who do you recommend to buy from?

I figure a 5,000lb or greater axle to insure durability. I am pushing to keep this unit under 2,800lbs wet and loaded.

 

[RJ Howell]

So from this picture you can potential support locations. I've come inboard more than I wished, which reduces the amount of lift I can achieve. Seems be my best solution for all I wish to have. Good stabilization for resting and decent for recovery.

 

[opp]

Have more space on axle hub face to trailer for loaded flat tire A few have forgot and tore the h#### out of there trailer and tire Trailer rims have 0 off set .The rims you plan to use what off set are they

 

[Louisd75]

My thought is stiff for recovery when required. I do read many going 3/16".. I need to dig back into some old info I have around here on how much flex would be involved. I guess I could move the jack/stabilizers in board a bit (especially front).

As far as my TV goes, I'm towing 3700lbs, loaded now with no issues (to speak of). My hope is to get right around 2800lbs loaded. I figure I'm 400lbs over right now..

What are your plans for recovery? It looks like the center tube (assuming it's 2.5" x 1/4" square tube) runs the length of the trailer, which would give you the most direct shot at a pull from behind. If you're planning on adding tow points on each side of the back of the frame, similar to most aftermarket offroad bumpers, you'll need to keep in mind how those forces are going to be transferred from the tow point to the hitch. The current frame design IMO looks to be problematic for that without additional bracing.

For the life of me I can't remember what wall thickness I used on the square tubing for my trailer, but I want to say it's 1/8". I used a weld on receiver for the tongue, which measures 2.5" x 2.5" x 1/4" thick. I'd thought about running it the full length of the trailer, but that stuff is pretty heavy. For my cross pieces, I used 2" square tubing, though if I were doing it again I'd use 2" angle on about half of my cross pieces, keeping the square tubing for the cross pieces at the axle. My frame has an outrigger of sorts made out of angle. I did this because my wheels are partially set into the body of the trailer. I wanted a straight shot of tubing from the recovery points on the back to the angled tongue braces without any additional bends in it. I'm pretty sure the tongue braces are 2" x 3" x 1/8" but I can double check in the morning.



As for the tongue design, I'd recommend making it as short as possible, as long as necessary. There's a design tool over on TNTTT that has a couple of spreadsheets that you can download. It will let you run the numbers for a straight tongue, an A frame tongue and a composite (like the tongue on my trailer)

http://tnttt.com/Design_Library/tear84.htm

Axles, oh my.. I this new to me.. Looks like I can get in a 5200lb anywhere from $250-$500. Then leafs..
It's a must to match to the Tow Vehicle (TV) tires. Spacing... I had no clue there was such a thing.
Actually thought 6 lug was just that... Oh am I learning...

Who do you recommend to buy from?

I figure a 5,000lb or greater axle to insure durability. I am pushing to keep this unit under 2,800lbs wet and loaded.

Oh, it gets better than that. Are you matching the wheels and tires or just the tires? Per your signature it looks like you're using a Tacoma. The Tacoma wheels are hubcentric. Trailer hubs are usually lug centric. I ended up needing to use adapters to get my hubcentric Toyota wheels to work on my lugcentric trailer hubs. Naturally, I didn't account for the width of the spacer when I ordered my initial axle, and I didn't catch the mistake til after I'd welded on my shock absorber mounts so I couldn't return the axle. I'll probably build a utility trailer with it.

So from this picture you can potential support locations. I've come inboard more than I wished, which reduces the amount of lift I can achieve. Seems be my best solution for all I wish to have. Good stabilization for resting and decent for recovery.

Have you chosen your stabilizers yet? I'd figure out which type you want to go with and then plan the reinforcements. I went with the BAL C style because they tuck up very close to the bottom of the trailer. The scissor jack style are common as well as welded on points for installing a tongue jack. The downside of the BAL C style is that you have to be careful not to sideload the stabilizer when you're putting them down. Once down I haven't noticed any issues.

 

[RJ Howell]

Have more space on axle hub face to trailer for loaded flat tire A few have forgot and tore the h#### out of there trailer and tire Trailer rims have 0 off set .The rims you plan to use what off set are they

Don't know.. wow.. Plan is to match the Taco's..