mrblacksemail@gmail.com
Observer
Before I begin, a couple caveats.
1) After several years of reading them, this is my VERY first time writing a thread so sorry if you cringe over my novice-ness, if that’s a thing.
2) I initially built this trailer a couple years ago so this is all coming from memory and old photos.
My goals for the trailer began simple enough. It must be ultra-light and compact for towing on long distance road trips behind my 2002 Volkswagen Jetta TDi. I was also looking for a project to build with my hands, which is an eloquent way of putting: it needed to be in my price range.
After scouring the interwebs for ideas, the original one being a tiny pop up or teardrop, I stumbled across the world of “Expedition Trailers”. How fantastic!, I thought. Tiny trailers with a rooftop tent, perfect. So the brainstorming began. Serendipitously, I had also begun dabbling in Google Sketchup, a free, uber simplified 3D CAD program. Spending the winter in rural eastern Kentucky, I had plenty of time to play around and sketch my trailer idea. I highly suggest checking the program out to anyone interested, and would be happy to email my actual file for this trailer. It can be viewed in 3D, along with a tape measurer function to see all the dimensions. Here are some screenshots.
This expedition trailer began life as a 4x6 tilting utility trailer purchased off Craigslist…. Here is also a good place to say that basically everything in/on/under this trailer came from Craigslist. It’s an incredible source for people who have too much stuff and willing to sell dirt cheap IF you live near the right cities. (I’m looking at you, Denver CO.) The reason for the rest of the raw materials usually had more to do with what I at my disposal/friend’s stashes/etc.
These photos aren’t from the original build, but after I blew it apart to repaint, and make a few tweaks. The prior work included: cutting off the low side bars and welding a “skeleton” of 1” square tubing. The tailgate is made from ¾” ABX plywood wrapped in a thin sheet of stainless on the exterior. I covered the expanded metal floor with a sheet of thin plywood that I treated in many coats of linseed oil to make waterproof, yet be super light. The sides were made from a couple 4x8 sheets of plastic (Can’t recall what kind, exactly). It’s flexible as not to break, and the lightest option I could find. Pretty cheap stuff. Doesn’t hold paint that great, but I haven’t heard any snickering yet from the woodland creatures over scuff marks.
(Roof) Top to bottom:
The rooftop tent is made by Mombasa, and is a million star hotel compared to the Ozark Trail tents I’m accustomed to. I have weathered at least one all night rain sesh in it, with zero leaks! The new price tag of $1k made me skeptical, but after purchasing one from CL (at a much, much lower price), I get it, they’re amazing. I went with a piano hinge as the mount for the tent, along with two junkyard sourced air lift supports. A 12v LED strip light on the bottom of the tent serves as illumination for night time scavenging of camp gear. The tent’s folded dimension is 4x4, leaving a 2’x4’ compartment on the front for easy access. This lid is made from the same ¾ plywood as the tailgate, with the top wrapped in aluminum diamond plate. I’m still looking for a better way to make the seal for this lid. When closed it, along with the tent, are sealed with a roll of foam padding. It’s pretty dustproof, and the tent overhangs slightly so its compartment stays quite dry. The metal lid makes great countertop space, but moving everything off to lift it was a pain. One day while staring at the thing for hours it hit me to use the same pin that locks the front as a point to flip it around and make the countertop usable while still being able to get inside goodies. I hinged a piece of 1” tubing to the back, which becomes the front, so it would rest on the tongue to provide support. Two pieces as a triangle would work better, but hey, that involves algebra and twice the tubing. Resting on the tongue rather than the ground solves the uneven terrain issue.
Electrical system:
Here comes the fun part, electricity, better known as magic. For the most part, this trailer’s system is all straight forward. Two 12V car batteries because I had them. Deep cycle will come when the funds do, as I spent it on things I didn’t already have. Kept the system 12v to make powering common things easy. I mounted a simple triple “cigarette lighter” plug. I also added a 1000w inverter for A/C power, though I find I never use it as it is less efficient due to the loss of conversion among other things (running the inverter fan, etc). Thanks to my master electrician father, who’d definitely frown on me for not wiring it better, I had the idea to add a GFCI outlet on each side of the exterior, wired with 14-guage NM-B wiring (UF would have been proper, sorry Dad) to the inverter. I hard wired a spare battery charger to the system; shoving it and the batteries into a Rubbermaid tote that lives in the front compartment due to that space being less waterproof than the rear 4’x4’ compartment. The cord for the trickle charger was routed to the tongue. Obviously, the point is to be away from shore power, so part two of the charging system came from a lucky find off CL, imagine that. While searching for solar panels I ran across a (China special) 200w kit. It included two 100w panels, hinged together, with one leg on each for support, and a cheap charge controller. It has buttons, a bunch of Chinese letters, and luckily some illustrations to indicate what all the wires go to. It even came with 20’ of 14g pos/neg wire. The whole kit for an incredible $100! The catch? The glass had shattered in shipping. I quickly snagged the deal, knowing even $1/watt was a deal just for a panel much less the other stuff. A friend suggested rather than replacing the glass, to simply use two part clear pour-on epoxy often used on bars and other high traffic counter tops. Luckily, the panels weren’t moved much and in the original package so the glass shattered but still there. The epoxy would (and did) seep into all the cracks, essentially sealing and “gluing” the glass in place. Epoxy cost: $26 from Amazon. “Envirotex Lite” brand I believe. Well, so far so good I can report. On a sunny day the panel outputs roughly 21v @ 8.0a. The lost ~1.5a (the kit is rated at 9.5a) is likely due to the cheapness panel. Either way, it’s much more than my current needs.
1) After several years of reading them, this is my VERY first time writing a thread so sorry if you cringe over my novice-ness, if that’s a thing.
2) I initially built this trailer a couple years ago so this is all coming from memory and old photos.
My goals for the trailer began simple enough. It must be ultra-light and compact for towing on long distance road trips behind my 2002 Volkswagen Jetta TDi. I was also looking for a project to build with my hands, which is an eloquent way of putting: it needed to be in my price range.
After scouring the interwebs for ideas, the original one being a tiny pop up or teardrop, I stumbled across the world of “Expedition Trailers”. How fantastic!, I thought. Tiny trailers with a rooftop tent, perfect. So the brainstorming began. Serendipitously, I had also begun dabbling in Google Sketchup, a free, uber simplified 3D CAD program. Spending the winter in rural eastern Kentucky, I had plenty of time to play around and sketch my trailer idea. I highly suggest checking the program out to anyone interested, and would be happy to email my actual file for this trailer. It can be viewed in 3D, along with a tape measurer function to see all the dimensions. Here are some screenshots.
This expedition trailer began life as a 4x6 tilting utility trailer purchased off Craigslist…. Here is also a good place to say that basically everything in/on/under this trailer came from Craigslist. It’s an incredible source for people who have too much stuff and willing to sell dirt cheap IF you live near the right cities. (I’m looking at you, Denver CO.) The reason for the rest of the raw materials usually had more to do with what I at my disposal/friend’s stashes/etc.
These photos aren’t from the original build, but after I blew it apart to repaint, and make a few tweaks. The prior work included: cutting off the low side bars and welding a “skeleton” of 1” square tubing. The tailgate is made from ¾” ABX plywood wrapped in a thin sheet of stainless on the exterior. I covered the expanded metal floor with a sheet of thin plywood that I treated in many coats of linseed oil to make waterproof, yet be super light. The sides were made from a couple 4x8 sheets of plastic (Can’t recall what kind, exactly). It’s flexible as not to break, and the lightest option I could find. Pretty cheap stuff. Doesn’t hold paint that great, but I haven’t heard any snickering yet from the woodland creatures over scuff marks.
(Roof) Top to bottom:
The rooftop tent is made by Mombasa, and is a million star hotel compared to the Ozark Trail tents I’m accustomed to. I have weathered at least one all night rain sesh in it, with zero leaks! The new price tag of $1k made me skeptical, but after purchasing one from CL (at a much, much lower price), I get it, they’re amazing. I went with a piano hinge as the mount for the tent, along with two junkyard sourced air lift supports. A 12v LED strip light on the bottom of the tent serves as illumination for night time scavenging of camp gear. The tent’s folded dimension is 4x4, leaving a 2’x4’ compartment on the front for easy access. This lid is made from the same ¾ plywood as the tailgate, with the top wrapped in aluminum diamond plate. I’m still looking for a better way to make the seal for this lid. When closed it, along with the tent, are sealed with a roll of foam padding. It’s pretty dustproof, and the tent overhangs slightly so its compartment stays quite dry. The metal lid makes great countertop space, but moving everything off to lift it was a pain. One day while staring at the thing for hours it hit me to use the same pin that locks the front as a point to flip it around and make the countertop usable while still being able to get inside goodies. I hinged a piece of 1” tubing to the back, which becomes the front, so it would rest on the tongue to provide support. Two pieces as a triangle would work better, but hey, that involves algebra and twice the tubing. Resting on the tongue rather than the ground solves the uneven terrain issue.
Electrical system:
Here comes the fun part, electricity, better known as magic. For the most part, this trailer’s system is all straight forward. Two 12V car batteries because I had them. Deep cycle will come when the funds do, as I spent it on things I didn’t already have. Kept the system 12v to make powering common things easy. I mounted a simple triple “cigarette lighter” plug. I also added a 1000w inverter for A/C power, though I find I never use it as it is less efficient due to the loss of conversion among other things (running the inverter fan, etc). Thanks to my master electrician father, who’d definitely frown on me for not wiring it better, I had the idea to add a GFCI outlet on each side of the exterior, wired with 14-guage NM-B wiring (UF would have been proper, sorry Dad) to the inverter. I hard wired a spare battery charger to the system; shoving it and the batteries into a Rubbermaid tote that lives in the front compartment due to that space being less waterproof than the rear 4’x4’ compartment. The cord for the trickle charger was routed to the tongue. Obviously, the point is to be away from shore power, so part two of the charging system came from a lucky find off CL, imagine that. While searching for solar panels I ran across a (China special) 200w kit. It included two 100w panels, hinged together, with one leg on each for support, and a cheap charge controller. It has buttons, a bunch of Chinese letters, and luckily some illustrations to indicate what all the wires go to. It even came with 20’ of 14g pos/neg wire. The whole kit for an incredible $100! The catch? The glass had shattered in shipping. I quickly snagged the deal, knowing even $1/watt was a deal just for a panel much less the other stuff. A friend suggested rather than replacing the glass, to simply use two part clear pour-on epoxy often used on bars and other high traffic counter tops. Luckily, the panels weren’t moved much and in the original package so the glass shattered but still there. The epoxy would (and did) seep into all the cracks, essentially sealing and “gluing” the glass in place. Epoxy cost: $26 from Amazon. “Envirotex Lite” brand I believe. Well, so far so good I can report. On a sunny day the panel outputs roughly 21v @ 8.0a. The lost ~1.5a (the kit is rated at 9.5a) is likely due to the cheapness panel. Either way, it’s much more than my current needs.
.
