Hello, I'm BUGWuBber, and this is my trailer.

[Bugwubber]

Hello, so first a bit of an introduction.
For our 2014 adventure, our family (of 5)is going to spend 2 months on the road camping. I fear the leader of our team may be a lunatic but I digress.

Anyway, I love the look of handmade teardrops but, just don't see 5 people surviving in one. If anyone has a diagram for a 3 twin, 1 queen bed Tear, I'd love to see it.

So, I built a 5x5x8 enclosure for our utility trailer. I used 1/4" Luann ply on the sides and top, and 1/2" ply in the front. Empty, the trailer and cover weigh 604 lbs and have a GVWR of 2000. I've set a 500lb margin so we are allowing 900lbs for gear max. The finish on the wood is from the oops bins. BEHR semi-transparent waterproofing wood stain on the outside and Pittsburgh Paints Grand Distiction exterior satin paint on the inside. Guess we'll see how they hold up.

The only thing left for me to decide at this point is whether to just use sacrificial ply for the floor or try and seal it. The expanded steel floor is going to chew through any finish so not sure that's really an option without resorting to laying down strips of steel in between.





The lid is designed to be removable. I'll most likely add a living hinge in front to let the roof just pivot up so loading is easier.



For night time use, I added a LED motion activated solar light. Went this route so I didn't have to be hooked up to a tow vehicle or have a permanently installed battery in the trailer to have light if I need to load or get something from the trailer at night. I love the motion activated part since I can approach with hands full and the light comes on.



Adventure is out there!

[lrrowe]

Welcome to this great site. You should find a lot of information and ideas here.

Your project is interesting. What you have done is what I was going to build on my 5x10 utility trailer, mainly for use as a hunting sleeping pod. But then I found TNTTT and gave held off on my idea so I could look into building a camper out of a CT. If I don't get going soon, I will be building one like yours for this fall.

Bob

[racingchef]

WOW 5 people in there.....
Well anyway..i have had this kind of design in my head for a while...weekend camping mainly
CONGRATS on going ahead and getting it done.
My utility trailer is 4x8 with a wood plank floor....
would love to hear how you made out with your family

[bc toys]

Yes how was this adventure 3 kids and 2 adults

[Bugwubber]

Our adventure continues. We are currently camping along the Pacific coast South of Big Sur. Our tent was shredded and our coleman stove blown off a table by wind on Antelope Island in Salt Lake. Turns out the place is calm until close to Sunset and then a 40-50mph wind (est) kicks up for a couple hours. We ALMOST pulled our gear out of the trailer to sleep in it, but the spider population convinced my wife that a hotel room for the night was preferred. We replaced the tent the next day with one designed to handle higher winds.

Regarding the trailer performance, it has done really well except for one problem- the inner crossbar that the tongue is bolted to has bent some. Think I'm going to add a square steel tube to reinforce that section. Most likely this was due to the "road" to Yosemite Creek campground which has a sign posted "Trailers, RVs Not Advised".

Thanks,

BUGWuBber

[Bugwubber]

So a bit of an update on the trailer and question.

In examining the tongue of the trailer, I noticed I had a crack in the front crossbar on the vertical side of the angle iron. I added 1/4" flat by 1-1/2" steel bars to the first and second crossbars which I drilled and bolted with 1/4" grade 8 bolts. Apparently the trailer was a little lighter duty than I was thinking.

So the bolts and bars are just a patch until we get home at the end of the month. Any advice on how to do a permanent repair? I'd want to beef up the bars so they are less prone to damage.

[pchast]

Pictures would help better evaluate what you are trying to describe.

Thanks,

[Bugwubber]

Pictures would help better evaluate what you are trying to describe.

Thanks,

Finally got to an area with a better cell signal. Uploaded some pictures to my album





These are taken after I made the repairs adding 1/4" stock to the crossbars

[pchast]

First - I am not an engineer.... But I have an opinion....

So if I understand correctly, you added a 1/4 flat bar to the inside of the front crossbar by bolting.

Had you removed or lifted the trailer box when this was done to take the stress off the metal? You need to remove those bolts and jack the dropped end to get a straight front cord and reattach the flat bar, at the very least.

Otherwise;
One or 2 things is happening. Either there is too much weight on the edge from the added box or the tongue is flexing the bottom cord of the trailer or both. It appears the trailer has a simple welded square support. Besides welding and strengthening that fatigued angle iron I would improve the truss with welded diagonal cords from the top of the center angle iron toward either end.

[Bugwubber]

First - I am not an engineer.... But I have an opinion....

So if I understand correctly, you added a 1/4 flat bar to the inside of the front crossbar by bolting.

Had you removed or lifted the trailer box when this was done to take the stress off the metal? You need to remove those bolts and jack the dropped end to get a straight front cord and reattach the flat bar, at the very least.

Otherwise;
One or 2 things is happening. Either there is too much weight on the edge from the added box or the tongue is flexing the bottom cord of the trailer or both. It appears the trailer has a simple welded square support. Besides welding and strengthening that fatigued angle iron I would improve the truss with welded diagonal cords from the top of the center angle iron toward either end.

I think the issue is just a weak tongue attachment design. The tongue is held in place by two bolts and the bolts are smaller than the holes allowing some slop. The 1/4" longitudinal pieces of frame that the tongue bolts to are spaced wider than the tongue allowing more slop. Additionally, the trailer cross braces are made out of weaker 1/8" angle. I'm a fan of triangles so this thing is going to get a dose of gussets and diagonal cross braces when we get home.

[pchast]

Hmm,

Can you pull a string over the different pieces and prove what is actually bent?
That frame member separated when it cracked so something is bent. The tongue
attachment is a problem. IT may be a different problem. How far does it extend
under the trailer? Is it really just attached at the front cross member?


Triangles are good. I like them in truss design too.

[AZ_Desert_Rat]

Welcome BugWuBber,
You have started an interesting adventure in a tiny space with 5 on board. I hope everyone has a great time and will be able to settle back in to a "Normal" lifestyle when you get home ... Sounds like a great education for the kids ... I am assuming 2 grownups and 3 kids ...

I loved camping when I was a kid and 2 months on the road would have been a trip of a lifetime ... good luck and hope you get your trailer fixed so its safe ...

[Bugwubber]

Thanks for the comments and thoughts. We are now in Eastern Montanna after visiting Glacier NP. Wow, we are definitely going back one day. I made the repairs in Abalone Point near Westport, CA and trailer seems very happy with the reinforcements. We also put a new set of tires on. I guess we were approaching 8-10k miles since we bought the trailer in CO in January.

[Bugwubber]

Hmm,

Can you pull a string over the different pieces and prove what is actually bent?
That frame member separated when it cracked so something is bent. The tongue
attachment is a problem. IT may be a different problem. How far does it extend
under the trailer? Is it really just attached at the front cross member?


Triangles are good. I like them in truss design too.

What bent was the second crossbar. It caused the tongue to rotate up 5-10 deg. I THINK this caused the front crossbar to break.