Summertime Benroy Build- Finally named: The "Towster"!

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Summertime Benroy Build- Finally named: The "Towster"!

Postby Babartlett » Thu Jun 19, 2014 11:15 pm

Hey Folks,

I am new to the forum and I am finally getting started on my long awaited build!

For a little background on me here is what I recently posted on the newbie column:

My name is Brian, and I am a mechanical engineering student at the University of Alabama. I spend most weekends traveling and getting involved in more outdoor sports than I should. My biggest time commitment is whitewater kayaking and I have been the president of the whitewater kayaking club at the university for three years now. I met my fiancee in the kayak club and she is a crucial part of many of the trips. I have always considered myself handy, and thanks to my dad, I have had access to a garage full of tools since I was a kid. For the last couple years, I have worked as a mechanical engineering co-op at Nucor Steel in Tuscaloosa AL where I have picked up valuable steel fabrication skills.

I have always enjoyed camping for recreation, but now most of the camping I do is a primitive place to stay after a day on the river. After packing up one too many wet tents, I decided one day that there has to be an easier way to camp. I went back and forth with designs for a couple years until I discovered the world of teardrop trailers. After finding this site and a final month of heavy research, I am starting my build. This will be my last summer with a flexible schedule and I am hoping to finish my little camper before school starts back in August.

My build is a 5' by 9.5' benroy and I am starting from scratch. Both tow vehicles in the family are 4 cylinders so I am being conscious of weight and adding electric brakes. With the absurd amount of kayaks that I transport, I am adding a yakima roof rack for extra roof capacity.

I cant express how helpful this forum has been with my design process, and I hope that others can learn from my mistakes over the next few months!


Here is a very preliminary CAD dwg of my build:
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The exterior dimensions are 5' by 9.5' and I plan to include a few extras. I am building in a removable Yakima roof rack for hauling kayaks. I am also adding a basement between the doors that has two removable hatches. On of the hatches will turn into a table which will allow the bed to also act as a booth.

Here is my design for the chassis that I am currently fabricating:
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I am using a flexride 2000# axle. If flexride axles are build to the exact width of the outside box frame then there will be a couple inch gap between the inside of the tires and the outside wall. To reduce the gap, I replaced a section of the box frame with an overlapping section of heavy duty angle on the inside of the box frame. I also drilled multiple holes so that the axle can be moved to 5 locations over 16 inches. This will allow me to dial in the tongue weight when the trailer is finished. The basement is shown by the orange rectangle.

Anyways here are a couple pictures of the first day of real fabrication:
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With how uneven my garage floor is it took me nearly 4 hours to get the box frame squared how I wanted it!

I just got in a bunch of parts from eTrailer so tomorrow is going to be a good day!
Last edited by Babartlett on Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby StockCube » Fri Jun 20, 2014 4:40 am

Looks like a good start - keep the pics coming.
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby rowerwet » Fri Jun 20, 2014 6:07 am

looks great! I love boating also, not sure where you normally camp/kayak, but we found we wanted the kayaks on the TV roof. We set up the tear in a campsite, then drive to the launch area. Having to move the boats back and forth from the tear to the TV is a pain. Weight wise for towing, it is better to have the extra load of boats and gear on the TV.
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Re: Drilling

Postby noseoil » Fri Jun 20, 2014 7:38 am

I really like the idea of drilling for different load locations & weight distribution. What about the fender location if you start moving things around, any provisions for that as well? Nice design and want to see how things go with weight. Looking forward to more...
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The time you spend planning is more important than the time you spend building.........

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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby KCStudly » Fri Jun 20, 2014 1:33 pm

StockCube wrote:Looks like a good start - keep the pics coming.

+1 :thumbsup:
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby Babartlett » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:00 pm

rowerwet wrote:looks great! I love boating also, not sure where you normally camp/kayak, but we found we wanted the kayaks on the TV roof. We set up the tear in a campsite, then drive to the launch area. Having to move the boats back and forth from the tear to the TV is a pain. Weight wise for towing, it is better to have the extra load of boats and gear on the TV.


Thanks for the heads up. I had a similar feeling about the roof rack. I plan to primarily use the TV rack an move overflow onto the TD. We go to kayak races each year where we take more canoe and kayaks than can fit on one roof so that's where I got the idea.

I run the whitewater kayaking club at the University of Alabama and I recently finished this trailer to carry the club's boats:
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It started out as a 6 by 10 utility trailer but now its a massive structure that totes 18 kayaks! A little too big for my Subaru though hah
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Re: Drilling

Postby Babartlett » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:07 pm

noseoil wrote:I really like the idea of drilling for different load locations & weight distribution. What about the fender location if you start moving things around, any provisions for that as well? Nice design and want to see how things go with weight. Looking forward to more...


I have thought about that..

My first attempt will be to fabricate a fender mount that will reach behind the tire and attach to the Flexride axle mount. That way if I move the axle, the fender will follow.

Next option is to bolt the fender to the frame via a steel mount and add extra holes so it can move.

Last resort is to weld it once I am happy with the weight distribution then cut if I change my mind haha.
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby Babartlett » Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:25 pm

It was quite the productive weekend! After three straight days of grinding and welding the chassis is finally finished! Having to wear long sleeves in the 100 degree seasonal sauna (garage) motivated me to finish the hot work asap.

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With the primer.
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How the tongue situation is going to work.
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My inset Flexride axle mount theory in action. This should keep the wheels close to the side of the camper.
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Flexride axle with movable mounting positions.
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Fnally got the little 120V wire welder dialed in good! Unfortunately it liked to flip the breaker when running bigger beads. Ended up turning the fans off and welding in the dark. Didn't have the heart to turn the radio off though!
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Now onto the wood and electrical!

Just have to figure out how to get all of the wood to the house..
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby KCStudly » Sun Jun 22, 2014 11:12 pm

Nice beads. :thumbsup:
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby StockCube » Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:21 pm

You look like you could do that with your eyes shut.
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby Babartlett » Sat Jun 28, 2014 10:32 pm

Sorry I have been a little behind on the updates. I had a productive day yesterday but ended up helping a friend move furniture until 1 am!

Since I last posted I have painted the frame gloss black and now I am on to the wood. Speaking of which, I was excited to have my 30 sheets of baltic birch be delivered early yesterday morning. My theory is to keep it simple and use baltic birch for just about everything. It is strong and consistent enough to rip into dimensional lumber and ascetic enough to finish the interior. Another big reason is that the sheets come in 5x5 which makes my 5' wide build much easier. The sheets range from from 1/8" to 3/4".

Painted Frame
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Flexride 2000 with dexter 7" electric brakes and hubs
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Rabbet joint to combine my 3/4" birch floor. At least thats what I think. I dont know all of technical terms.. Doing two of these took some time and made me proud of my little router! They also produced large amounts of saw dust.
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Routing the second half of the 3/4" floor
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Hole cut for the basement/ foot well between the doors. There is also going to be another basement (more like a tray) under the bed aft of the big one.
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Getting the elevator bolts lined up. I used ten; four on each half of the floor and two that run through both pieces on the joint. I later routed out the location of the elevator bolts to make them flush.
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Dry fitting the basement before committing with the glue. Glad I have lots of straps laying around. Im sure they will come in handy later too.
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Gluing up the basement
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Im pretty sure I used enough screws. Maybe I should rename it the storm shelter!
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Working on the second basement/tray.
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Gluing the floor together!
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Tomorrow I plan on flipping to floor to tar it up and hopefully get started on the profile!
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby Babartlett » Mon Jun 30, 2014 10:21 pm

Since I last posted, I finished up the floor then flipped it and smeared on the black stuff. Hopefully it will be fully dried before before the second day is up.
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Today I cut out the exterior profiles and started working on the framing. The wheels also came in today so now my trailer is mobile!
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I dont think I have ever made this much saw dust in four days before!
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Im currently debating how to finish the wood on the interior. I don't have much experience on finishing wood and I would like to know what other people are using and why. I would like to keep the walls bright and close to what the birch looks like now. I plan to stain the cabinets in the cabin and galley to add a little contrast. I would also like to coat the floor with something that will give it some resilience in case water gets on it. I'm thinking polyurethane for this?? I have some laying around.

I would also like to be conscious of VOC levels inside. I also plan to add carpet to the interior floor of the cabin. Are there any good low VOC adhesives to use for this? Also, is it worth it to coat, stain interior walls/ ceilings before they are installed?
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby KCStudly » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:13 am

I have been pre-finishing everything on my build, mostly for the convenience of being able to work on the bench ( :thumbsup: ) and partly because I am using contrasting finishes (natural maple cabinets with Red Chestnut stained panels and skins). The downside is that you spend more time masking, and unmasking, but I hate glue blotches under stain, so I would be going there anyway. Much easier to work on the bench and I haven't got poly in my hair yet! :lol:

I had very little wood finishing experience prior to my build. The polyurethane can be frustrating to get the hang of (...still don't have it down perfect), but to most casual observers it is not hard to get nice results (...I tend to look a little closer). There is a lot of good advice on here about techniques. The biggest lesson I learned is don't even bother reading the drying times on the can. In my climate the high build oil based takes days (at least one sometimes more), not hours, to set up hard enough to scuff for the next coat. Also, don't forget to wipe down with a rag damped with mineral spirits just before applying the next coat.

A well lit work area would help a lot; you need to be able to look down at an angle in good light to see any dry spots.

From what I have read, carpeting has its ups and downs. It can add some insulation value, dampens acoustics, and is an "instant finish", but on the other side it can collect moisture and odors. No point in putting it on the floor; your mattress will cover it anyway. If you want a little more cushion and insulation on the floor, look into those interlocking exercise foam tile mats. Several people report good results.
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby 225 » Tue Jul 01, 2014 7:59 am

Looks good! Where are you located?
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Re: Summertime Benroy!

Postby Babartlett » Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:19 am

Mccalla AL. It's half way between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, right off the interstate.
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