Lifting roof XPStream - making improvements

[aggie79-HILO]

 

[Tony Latham]

Fascinating project!



Tony

 

[OP827]

Tom, Tony, Sharon, Michael, and all who commented on this build thread,

Thank you very much for encouragement. Without this forum and all of you guys support I highly doubt that the build would be possible.

I took the trailer for a road run a couple of times now to check on wheel hubs temperature rise and fuel economy. She runs nice and smooth, and my TV can barely feel that I tow something in the back, except on a bumpy road. Freeway speed is no problem, it is very aerodynamic. Again comparing that to 17" Boler, which is a relatively light fibreglass trailer, I could definitely feel that I tow that trailer, although its dry weight according to manufacturer is only at 2200 lbs.

I tried building as light as possible from commonly available materials. Lower structure interior skin is 1/8" baltic birch and 1 layer of 6oz fibreglass outside. 1.5" XPS foam folding walls and roof are covered in 1 layer 6oz FG cloth with several stiffeners inside. Interior furniture is again mostly 1/8" Baltic birch with 1"x 3/4" pine sticks or small pieces of plywood and foam. The heavy parts are the donor popup trailer frame, 3 way fridge, battery, propane tank, two foam mattresses and then smaller things like furnace and a stove. Because of these parts the build will not be ultra light.

I wonder what the dry weight will be.... will look for scales around here.

Oleg

 

[Atomic77]

I'm proud of you Brotherman. It made me happy to see you resisting the urges to hire things out that you weren't sure of, then having the courage to dive in and tackle the rough jobs yourself!

And the result is Super Pro! Nice work.

I wouldn't fret about weight. It's a super light build and I have learned that a little weight actually helps in windy conditions.

My situation might be different from yours but I found scales at a grain elevator out in the country near my home. Also, truck stops sometimes have them. Our Pilot Truck Stop has one. They weighed mine for free, happily interested in the novelty of it all.

Cheers to you my friend on a job very well done...

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[OP827]

And I am proud to have a friend like you Michael, thank you for all the advise and support.
Fairing and painting was probably the most demanding part of the build for me due to my inexperience with the materials, tools and a proper technique.
Then you came in and helped me out with advice and I thank you again for that.

I wanted to make a short video of the trailer's setup and camping by the Huron Lake, but all parks and sites are closed now, will wait until they reopen.
Photos just do not show the design concept very well.

I am thinking of another similar, but smaller and much simpler to build design concept now, but I need to finish this build first...

 

[OP827]

Posted a short video on youtube showing how the lifting roof works

[youtube]SV1v1mvrD2E[/youtube]

 

[bdosborn-SMB]

Wow, that's pretty slick. Well done!

Bruce

 

[aguyfrom ohio]

Way cool

 

[OP827]

Bruce and aguyfromOhio,

Thank you guys for such a great reaction and support.



Oleg

 

[olddawgsrule]

Nice! Well done.

 

[S. Heisley]

Very Clever!

 

[OP827]

Nice! Well done.

Thanks RJ!

 

[OP827]

Very Clever!

Thanks Sharon, appreciate it! I sense an inquiring mind behind emoticon, care to ask a question?

 

[greygoos]

Wonderful build. Happy Camping

 

[OP827]

Wonderful build. Happy Camping

Thanks very much, greygoos. I shall switch from building to "testing" mode this camping season.

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[Atomic77]

Oleg!

Your creation is a Masterpiece and a Vision of Craftsmanship! It is Mechanical Art and your Professionalism and Engineering is Outstanding!

Very Fine Work my Friend,

Michael

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[OP827]

Oleg!

Your creation is a Masterpiece and a Vision of Craftsmanship! It is Mechanical Art and your Professionalism and Engineering is Outstanding!

Very Fine Work my Friend,

Michael

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WOW, Michael, thank you. I have received a lot of ideas, support and especially inspiration from you and all the great people on this forum. Being humbled a few times with a real life experiences I am not expecting some design idea to work before it is tested and many times, this build included, certain things did not work or yet will not work, but I find satisfaction in finding a solution by analyzing why something did not work and finding a way for it to actually work in all conditions. Does this make sense? I enjoyed mechanical theory in engineering school and this build reminded me of that feeling. Transformation to offer better function for changing design requirements, which in this case road mode and then camping mode seems to me as a natural trend for a trailer design. I know, it gets complicated, comparing to traditional static shape, and many did one variation or the other, but this where the fun part starts! If it was easy then why bother? The real disruption would be to make the design simple and easy to build and easily used by anyone and THEN that kind of design could be something special... That was a long ramble, but I wanted to get it out there. Thank you again for support and inspiration.

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[Atomic77]

It's a work of art and well deserved. Great job Brotherman

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[leblanda]

WOW did I say it WOW!

I plan to build someting with the same material and technique (foam and some wood reinforcement) but way more simpler.
I did read your build thread but did not understand the new technique with the score line instead of the hole in the styrofoam!?
And I did not find any picture of it.
Would you mind to explain your foam glassing method and materials?
epoxy type
cloth type and weight
filler
primer and paint type
I did see somewhere in the forum about using polycrylic!

Thanks for sharing.

Dan

 

[OP827]

Thanks Dan. I used one layer of 6oz e-glass everywhere on outside except two layers in frontal road chip areas. As epoxy I used west system, then east system, then generic 2:1 from local supplier, but west and east are better for lamination as being of less viscosity. I used scoring the foam for only portion of my build as I was experimenting with finding a way to eliminate potential delamination issues due extreme heat or cold. I don't have a picture handy of the tool I did, but it basically consist of aprox. Half inch spaced utility knife blades like 10 of them or so which are positioned at a light angle to the surface, so that the foam cuts clear without reeping. It is a hand tool. Depth of cut 1/8" to 3/16" would normally create a strong matrix that holds cloth so good that when you try to rip it off, the single layer of glass would reep in pieces. That is more than needed to protect fibreglass from delamination. But note that scoring will increase epoxy volume required for the lamination and weight of course, so it is not a free lunch. The boat construction pvc foam already comes pre-scored to basically create a honeycomb structure. I think this method does not work well for dry on dry layup. I had to wet scored foam and then lay cloth on top to avoid small bubbles to come up later. Hope this helps.