"TrailTop" modular trailer building components

[jscherb]

I molded a bunch of TrailTop parts today, here they are curing in the molds. A 36" curve and an 8' straight section:



And a 12" curved section:



Tomorrow morning I'll pop them out of the molds, trim up the ragged edges, and mock them up into a teardrop shape.

Jeff,
I am really liking what you have come up with and am waiting to see how the molding of the parts goes. Lots of great plans and ideas there.
Tom

Oh have some faith my friend... I've made many dozens of fiberglass molds and parts in my home garage over the past few years, and I haven't failed yet to produce parts that work as intended .

[Rhino Ray]

What a fun and rewarding hobby! Who knows, you may just pioneer a whole new industry in tear drops and tiny trailer construction. I'm glad you fond this site and am able to share your insights with us.

[jscherb]

What a fun and rewarding hobby! Who knows, you may just pioneer a whole new industry in tear drops and tiny trailer construction. I'm glad you fond this site and am able to share your insights with us.

Thanks Ray, and thanks to everyone who has been participating in this thread. I'm very grateful for all of the comments and criticisms people here have posted about my design ideas. Being able to tap into the expertise that's present in this forum has really has helped me improve the TrailTop design.

[jscherb]

Here's another variant of the "Sawtooth-styled" TrailTop concept. I suggested to him that he might consider eliminating the front bottom angle, it seems to me that angle does nothing except reduce the usable sleeping area, and also makes it a little awkward for storage on the tongue.

[jscherb]

Here are a few photos of the first TrailTop parts immediately after I popped them out of the molds this morning. They're not trimmed yet, nor is the mold release washed off, so they're slightly greenish.



This morning I'll trim them and test fit them together into a teardrop shape.

[jscherb]

Test fitting the 12" radius corner to a straight piece (sorry the photo is slightly overexposed):



Parts roughly clamped together to form a teardrop side panel for my Jeep-tub trailer:



Don't mind that the parts aren't perfectly lined up in these photos, I haven't done the final fitting and trimming yet. These are just quick photos to show how things will go together.

[jscherb]

Trying out a 90-degree corner. Things haven't had final fitting and trimming yet, so the joints aren't perfect at this point.





I haven't trimmed the 90-degree corner at all, or the horizontal piece at right, these quick shots are just to give a rough idea of how things go together.

[jscherb]

Trying the parts on my yellow Jeep-tub trailer outside in the cold... I haven't trimmed the parts to the precise length to fit on this tub yet, so the assembly is a little long still.



The parts are ever so slightly greenish because I haven't washed the water-based PVA mold release off yet. Usually I do that with the hose outside, you can see from the photo above why I don't have the hose going today.

Now in the warmth of the basement workshop, trying the parts on the Dinoot fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer. This tub is exactly the same length as the yellow trailer, so I can do all of my work in the nice warm workshop, and anything I do will also fit perfectly on the yellow trailer.



If you're wondering about some of the dimensions... this tub is 7' 5" long. These particular TrailTop parts are 36" high, so with the tub floor-rim height of about 16", the headroom would be 52". I'm 6'6" BTW, so the trailer may look a little small next to me, but I could sleep just fine in a 7'5" camper.

A "Double Dinoot" Jeep-tub at 8'3", or building it 8'7" without a Jeep-tub on an 8' Harbor Freight frame, would be perfect.

Tomorrow I'll be molding another set of parts for the other side.

[Hardryder56]

Jeff,
Excellent work, the parts look great. I can see the parts epoxied together with an insulating foam liner glued to a thin outer skin mounted to a trailer or used as a pick up truck topper.
Tom

[jscherb]

Jeff,
Excellent work, the parts look great. I can see the parts epoxied together with an insulating foam liner glued to a thin outer skin mounted to a trailer or used as a pick up truck topper.
Tom

Tom,
Here's your thin outer skin (1/4" plywood), it's just a scrap piece but this photo shows how it fits in the recessed flange:

[Hardryder56]

Jeff,
Looking good there.
Tom

[jscherb]

I molded some more TrailTop parts today. These plus the parts I molded on Wednesday make more than enough to complete a teardrop. Tomorrow I'll pop these out of the molds and get them trimmed up.

[jscherb]

A few days ago I posted some photos of a commercial camper called the Daytona, and a concept drawing showing how a similar shape could be built with TrailTop parts. Yesterday I received a request from someone who wanted to see a Daytona-style camper mocked up, so I did that for him...

This mockup is a little longer than my tub because I didn't want to cut the straight sections to length just for this photo; it's only a few inches shorter than the length of a Double Dinoot though, which would make a good platform for it. Also the read vertical piece is a bit long, again I didn't want to cut parts just for this photo.



And some shots of the original Daytona and my concept drawing for comparison:





Or built without a Jeep-tub trailer underneath, just would need a longer rear vertical piece and an 18" or so vertical piece under the front curve:

[jscherb]

Now that I've got a bunch of TrailTop parts molded, this post is just thinking out loud... if the TrailTop system were to become a commercial product, "parts kits" for specific shapes/sizes of TrailTops could be offered. Here are three different style TrailTops for Jeep-tub trailers, along with the set of TrailTop framing parts necessary to build the top. (The straight pieces in these photos aren't necessarily the proper length for each particular design, I've just reused the same straight parts in each photo for illustration purposes).



Each kit could come with plans and instructions showing how to assemble and complete the specific model the kit was for.

Also, kits could be made with longer straight pieces for assembling trailers without Jeep-tub bases, like this one on a Harbor Freight frame I've posted before...



And for builders with their own designs in mind, the TrailTop parts could be sold individually so you could buy whatever you needed to implement your particular design.

Of course this is all just thinking out loud, because I do this as a hobby - I'm not in business to sell anything, nor do I plan to be. If these "kits" were to be sold, some company would have to sign up to market them, it wouldn't be me.

[jscherb]

The TrailTop parts I've molded so far...





The straights are molded 8' long, all of the straight sections above have been cut from 8' pieces.

I guess it's now time to build something out of these .