Teardrop for Ural motorcycle.

[Sparksalot]

Well, the local custom welding guy was a nice fellow, and seemed very knowledgeable and competent, but his idea for my build was going to be too heavy and too pricey.
So now I'm back to the little bolt-together trailers. Specifically the Ironton 40x48.


It has twice the weight capacity I want, and its only 150 lbs. The width is good, but its 2 feet too short. I'll have to figure out how to deal with that.

It's pretty easy to add length to the frame. I started with a Red Trailers 5x8, and lengthened it to 9'-7" achieve my 5x10 cabin. In my case the rails were lengthened by using two of the light gauge crossmembers. The frame doesn't carry much of the structural load, the cabin body does in my case.

[rebelrider.mike]

Still no real progress, but I've started to build the trailer in CAD based on my paper drawings:



Now I can start to see it a little in 3D:


I should be able to reposition the trailer on the frame once it's mostly together, so that there is a proper amount of weight on the tongue. That would be 10% of the trailer weight?

[swoody126]

post deleted

[Tomterrific]

You want LIGHT WEIGHT! I can't stress that enough. Also the biggest drag will be air drag. I like building a trailer that is like half an A frame. The front of the top/roof would be hinged to lift from the back. The back would be hinged to flip up and support under the top. The back would have the door. The roof/top would double as gear storage. The sides could be hard, like thin plywood, or canvas. It would look like a 2 foot high by 7 foot long box trailer as it is towed.

Tt

[swoody126]

please pardon my above comments i had a brain fart and thought i was responding to another build

sw

[rebelrider.mike]

Saving this thread for the way the shape was done:
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=33829

[rebelrider.mike]

I've just had an interesting idea. (Good or bad, only time will tell...) I've been planning to build a DIY swamp cooler for my trailer, but I've been concerned over the bulk, weight, water usage, and humidity.
It occurs to me, that I could build an A/C out of peltiers, fans and heat sinks. Other people have used the same idea to make camping coolers into electrically refrigerated coolers. No pumps or compressors, can be made almost any shape, lightweight, and would use very little power. If you're not familiar with peltiers, it's a flat, square sort of thing that if you run a current through it, one side will get hot, the other side will get cold. Often used for cooling processors. Here's an example of a rather powerful one: https://www.banggood.com/TEC1-12726-400W-12V-Thermoelectric-Cooler-Peltier-Cooling-Plate-Module-p-1059508.html?rmmds=mywishlist&cur_warehouse=CN

So the cool half would be inside the camper, and the hot half would be on the other side of the wall. Like this:


I've also been making refinements to my CAD drawing. Got some better angles, and arcs, so I've got a nicer overall shape for what I hope the trailer will actually look like. I'm thinking of adding a medium sized portal window on the driver's side, as well as a fresh air intake near where my head will be when sleeping.


Measuring the dimensions, it looks like I can make each wall out of a 4x8 sheet of whatever. I've not decided yet exactly what the shell will be made of. Presently, I'm leaning toward two sheets of very thin plywood with really thin foam board sandwiched in between. Like 1.25". No final decisions yet though. Also, I'm thinking of what the door will look like. I've got that and an exhaust fan on the passenger side. If I find myself closer to the side of a road than I'd like, I'd rather open the door on the side of the trailer facing away from traffic.


Unfortunately, my CAD program doesn't capture or save to pictures well. But it looks great in the program, and you get the general idea. Anyway, I won't have a hatch on the back for a galley. This is a minimalist setup after all, so food, cooking gear etc. will be stored on the bike. I have been thinking of how I'll set up the interior though. With the shape of the trailer, raising the floor up about 6 inches will give me much more length to lie down. 6'2" vs. 5'6". I'm 5'10" so that will be nice. And I'll have a bit of storage underneath for electrical stuff, or whatever. I think a fold-down table will be sufficient to set a few things on while camping. I might put some tiny shelves on the sides for things like books or cell phone and chargers. Not more that a couple inches though.


I've got interior stuff in blue in the above picture. I'm not sure if I should put a flat wall in the front interior for hiding more electronics, or just leave it curved like the outside. I'll have to gather up all the wiring and stuff and see how I want it layed out before I can decide for sure. Maybe I'll do a half-wall and make it a shelf. I did leave enough room for head space both laying down and sitting up. I also checked out several other motorcycle trailer builds, and have found that the 38 or so inches of width I'll have on the inside should be plenty. One guy I know used a utility box on his sidecar frame (also a Ural) and build up basically a sleeping box from that. Now that's cramped! My little sleeping box will be luxury compared to that.

I have 3 more pages of build journals to read through here, and I've been getting ideas and inspiration from the builds and solutions that folks here have come up with. Great stuff! I also just realized that I'll need to have a 24V outlet for my cpap machine. Everything I've got now is based on 12V so I'll have to plan on a Volt booster at some point. I already need a bucker for the 5V stuff, so no big deal as long as I remember. I also want to charge a laptop or tablet in there, so I'll need a booster for whatever that uses. My little net book uses 19V for example, but that's an ancient Windows XP machine and I will be wanting to upgrade at some point. I'll have to collect all the electrical stuff and then design the battery based on what I need to power. That part is particularly exciting for me, as I'm a battery-math nerd!

[Florida Native]

I would think you would need a huge peltier device and lots of power to cool something as large as a teardrop (and don't skimp on insulation). Don't forget to include fans (air circulation inside and heat sink cooling outside) in your power calcs. I would love to see what you come up with.

-Mike

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[rebelrider.mike]

Yeah, I'd think 4 low power peltiers would work better than one high power one. I think it's all about the surface area. But this particular teardrop is going to be pretty darn small, and even if all I get is a cool breeze, that will be enough. Here's one I found on Amazon that kind of approximates what I have in mind:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B074TX9CQC/ref=sspa_dk_detail_9?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B074TX9CQC&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=1713835751726239774&pf_rd_r=HWRVJ975BKSVEPVCA7XJ&pd_rd_wg=TyJZ3&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=91R7F&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=0587e68c-9a00-11e8-b703-03b2b02328cf

I guess I'd have to make some kind of cowel that will protect it from weather, but still allow air circulation on the hot side. Maybe something that opens...

[rebelrider.mike]

Saving this thread for the circle cutting technique: http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=67490&start=15
Still have over 2 pages of build threads to read. They are fantastic, and that's just one section of the forum!

I've been working on making my pictures more presentable. Perhaps these look better? Also, I've changed the interior a little. Added the interior table in both positions, and made the front wall into a half wall with a shelf.


I also gave up trying to make the different parts as different colors. They just don't show up well outside the CAD program. I've been wanting a fold-down table outside the trailer too, and it occurred to me that the table could double as a door to a shallow box protecting the intake vent and A/C ports.


I also added a gas can. I figure if I have 3 gas cans holding 2.5 gallons each (one is already on the bike) as well as the 4.5 gallon tank, that's 12 gallons total. I normally get 36mpg on the bike, and 32 when hauling camping gear, so I'll figure 30mpg for now with the trailer in tow. That gives me 360 miles of range. Won't know for sure until I actually try it out though.


Saw another build of an awning that I thought was a great idea. I'm not sure how well it looks as a line drawing, but the idea is that it attaches to the trailer and follows the curve, but flattens out at the opposite side. I figure 3 poles to hold it out, with maybe some lines and stakes or weights to keep it taught.

[rebelrider.mike]

Well, I don't like to leave threads unfinished, but I won't be building the trailer after all. Health stuff. I'll be working on a cargo conversion instead. (I hope.)
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73896 so just in case someone stumbles on this thread, at least it will have a sort of conclusion to it.

The designs were fun though, and I hope to apply what I've learned to the new project.