Customizing A Winter Warrior/ 01/09/2010 Got a profile!

[rxc463]

For the last week or so I have been working on several ideas for customizing a winter warrior build to suit (A) the chassis I have available, and (B) my 6'-4" 285 lb frame.

My basic outside frame measures 80" wide x 108" long excluding the tongue. Wheels inside the body. 1800 lb registered GVW. Working brakes.
Going to upgrade the 8" wheels to 13" with new tires. I'm figuring that an overall body length of 132" should be very doable on this frame. Planning a crosswise queen sleeper arrangement.

I am thinking of modifying the hatch as illustrated in this blatantly ripped off and amateurishly done pic below.
(Rayvillan, please forgive me for using your pic).

I figure this will give me stand up headroom right where the bed ends. This gives me a floor area of approx. 6'-8" wide x 5'-9" deep with near 6'-4" headroom throughout. This allows me to include a shower/pottie room and a nice size galley as well as some storage space in that area. All must haves if I ever plan on camping anything but solo.
The bed area will be a convertible dinette arrangement with storage benches. Probably a 55"-60" interior height in this section.

I'm planning to use the piano hinge/rubber cover arrangement with a diverter/gutter arrangement on the uphill side to keep most of the water off the joint wile driving in wet conditions. The top will be nearly vertical on that plane when in use and the forward roof section will be slightly pitched toward the hitch to insure runoff. Probably some kind of mechanical assist on the hatch for the Mrs.

I'm shooting for something between the escape hatch and the alto, designing more with comfort in mind than anything else. There are so many great places to camp close to home that I'm not so concerned with towing economy at this point as I am with getting this built to a camp-able stage and reserving some of those prime campsites.

As always your feedback is greatly appreciated

[RAYVILLIAN]

Hi Russ
First you can use any pics of mine that you want and any other ideas I might have had or might come up with. What you doing with the hatch is doable. Edevans built one that way but not quite as high as your doing. the only problem you might have is keeping it below the 1800 lb axle weight. Ours is 1600 lbs but several of the one's built since have come in around 1100 so if don't over build like I did you should make it.

I'm currently working on a WW design that is 12' long and 6' wide and might have to hump the hatch that way to get standing room in the 5 1/2' galley area.

I'll try to watch this thread so if you have any questions I'll be glad to help.

Gary

[starleen2]

Russ - We built the ladybug WW thinking as light as possible. The hatch portion is a little longer than Mike's WW and I came in at 1060 lbs. See build journal below. I used the piano hinge covered over with rubber and it proved itself leak proof(I did not add the diverter). Rayvillian was a great help to me and helped me avoid any pitfalls

[rxc463]

Thanks for the reply Gary and Scott. Both of your builds have provided a ton of ideas.

Let me throw this out there. Is there anything I can do after the fact if I find myself reaching a critical weight? The title for the popup lists the 1800 lb gvw. Maybe add some springs and beefier bearings and try to get a new title?

[starleen2]

Depends on the availability of parts for your axel. If heavy duty bearing are available, then it’s a route to go. However, I am reminded that the difference in weight ratings is not always the springs or bearings, but the diameter of the spindle – which would mean a new axel. Just think and build light and you’ll get it close.

[RAYVILLIAN]

I don't know how Penn. is but MO doesn't pay much attention to GVW on trailers but I agree with Scott your probably looking at a new axle to raise the limit. Your starting with a lighter weight trailer than I did all ready. Mine was 2 x 3 tubing and those fenders are strong enough to stand on. so that will give you a head start on me weight wise. If you notice that is 5/4 cedar deck boards which I used for 1" insulation I won't go that far again it's not needed. Most of that supports in the wall is overdone and you can't see what was in the inner wall. It's over done too. Mike claims that you only need insulation around the sleeping area and in hind site I tend to agree. we've camped in ours down to 7 degrees and was over warm with a 1500 watt bathroom heater. Actually a normal tear wall 3/4" thick with no insulation should have close to a 1.5 r value. so if your not planning on camping in the dead of winter or a southwestern desert in Aug you could say that any insulation is over kill.
GAry

[caseydog]

Actually a normal tear wall 3/4" thick with no insulation should have close to a 1.5 r value. so if your not planning on camping in the dead of winter or a southwestern desert in Aug you could say that any insulation is over kill.
GAry

My TD has 3/4 birch plywood walls and floor, and no insulation in the roof. I camped this past weekend in freezing temperatures, and my heater with thermostat only ran about ten-percent of the time all night.

CD

[RAYVILLIAN]

Here is a link to the post that Ed did on his version of the WW/EH type trailer. It was built on an old pop-up trailer if I remember right. He has some more pics in the album.

http://tnttt.com/viewto ... er+warrior

Like I said he used a raised roof on his but not as high as it looks like you are planning.

Gary

[starleen2]

. . . . And if I remember right, He brought it to Beavers Bend 2009 when we got a light dusting of snow and plenty of cold weather - and His was not insulated and did just fine with a small heater!

[rxc463]

I decided to do a bit of weight figuring and came up with these for reference, thought I would pass them along. Nothing special, just a little googleing on the materials.

5.2mm luan plywood 18 lbs./sheet or .5625 lbs. sq. ft.
1/8" masonite 19 lbs./ sheet or .59 lbs. sq. ft.

American Plywood Association says ply should weigh 3lbs. sq. ft. @ 1" thick average.
Roughly
3/4 2.25
5/8 1.90
1/2 1.50
3/8 1.13
1/4 0.75

#2 kiln dried white pine averages 2.2 lbs/ board ft. (1x12x12")
Average weight per running foot:
1x2 .34 lbs.
1x4 .68 lbs.
1x6 1.02 lbs.
1x8 1.36 lbs

Owens Corning foamular 250 3/4" rigid insulation board .1125 lbs. sq. ft.

Hope this is useful

[rxc463]

Got a few rough views of the profile. What do you think?
Preliminary figures put the empty body weight around 625 lbs using 5.2mm luan both sides with 1x 2 stiffiners and 3/4 owens corning pink board.
Now I have to get my butt in gear and finish stripping the body off the pop up chassis to get it weighed. Anyone want to offer a guestimate on what it might be?



And couldn't resist at least one color doodle


EXCITING POST SCRIPT!
An associate from work has offered the use of a bay in his heated garage for the winter so that I can build the Highlander! Don't even have to drag tools back and forth. How sweet is that?????

[RAYVILLIAN]

The place to build sounds great Russ. My shop is sorta heated when I run the heater but never very warm and the heater is too expense to run full time.
Just a suggestion. the square front in alot easier to build but you might want to lower your front roof line a bit and make the front drop down a bit more. That is mainly sleeping area so you don't need the head room and it should cut down on the air drag a bit. I use to tow with a Ranger with a camper shell and when I changed tow vehicles to a Sliverrado with a tonneau type cover my wind drag increased a lot.

Gary

[starleen2]

Maybe I’m a little biased on the design, but wouldn’t a curved hatch created essentially the same headroom and give a little more in aerodynamics?


You really couldn’t mount anything in this spot or you’ll hit your head when you get up out of the bed! IMO, why have a space for headroom if you can’t use it?

[Ageless]

Whoa! I was thinking the same when I first saw the design

[rxc463]

I had tried the curved design early on. Although more efficient in the aerodynamics, I just couldn't get it to please my eye. I love the look of the Ladybug, but it doesn't satisfy the space requirements for me.

This trailer is to be an interim unit until I can build my original design, The Tackle Box. The original T Box design has evolved into something closer to the size of the Alto Warrior. It will be designed for longer stays and is realistically 2-3 years in the future.

The idea of the sharp up angle on the hatch is to give full 6'-4" headroom right out of the sleeping space. My wife and I are both big people and we each have a bit of claustrophobia to contend with. A compact tear is just not possible for us.

My basic galley space will be just outside the bed area on both sides of the walkway. I want to stand upright to work in my galley. My rear door will be slightly offset to the right side to accommodate the shower/ pottie room at the rear with some storage in between. I am actually working on popup shelf arrangement of sorts for the galley to take advantage of the height there.

Creature size and creature comforts are the main design criteria for this trailer. Most of our excursions will be less than two hours drive from home on two lane roads. I will concede the aerodynamic advantages for the comfort on this one. It has to please my wife as well or there will nothing but solo camping in my future!

Please don't think that I don't appreciate the ideas!!! Keep them coming. Old dogs sometimes do learn new tricks. It's just when they are old Dutchie dogs, it takes a few more swats on the nose with the newspaper to get a point across.

Thanks again