Cargo trailer roof option

[fourbtgait]

Hello everyone. First post though I have been lurking and thinking for months. Nothing set in stone yet but I wanted to throw out an idea, see it float or sink.
Thinking of converting a smaller cargo trailer for behind a Toyota 4runner. Not dedicated for offroad use but able to travel forest service roads in the west. Width of TV is 6', height is 6'. A 5' wide trailer only puts the wheels outside the TV 4" or so each side. Good on narrow roads. If I limit myself to overall height of 6' or 6'6 for a standard trailer for towing wind resistance on highway, the inside height is basically 4.5-5'. I am 6', hate the idea of kneeling all the time.
So..... Has anyone thought of or has cut out a center portion of the roof, weld in structural angles/gussets, then installed a hinged section back. Kind of along the lines of a few of the standies in the homebuilt section. Seems with the poptop in the down position and latched, structural strength from swaying on bad roads can be maintained.

Thoughts?

[Rainier70]

Welcome.
With extra bracing you might be able to do it, but it will be hard to have the cap hold well enough when traveling. Especially if you are going to be driving a good bit on the washboarded, potholed, rock ridden mountain roads like the ones I have been on. Over all I think it is going to be very hard to keep your structural integrity. Have you thought about only doing a small part of the roof rather than full length? Hate to be a nay sayer so work it out and maybe do some models.

Personally I like a little larger trailer. I have a 6x12. Not as good gas mileage, but the comfort factor is great.

[Rainier70]

Most people who have the smaller cargo trailers seem to treat them like a teardrop. Using them only for sitting or sleeping. Most carry a side tent as kind of a living room/kitchen/changing room.

[Prem]

Raising the roof, even just down a narrow center section, is a lot of work. I did it once. If you've got steel cross members (roof joists) and you can weld, yeah, it's do-able. You'll have to buy a fair amount of steel. I suggest 1" thin-wall, square tube with a MIG wire feed, not stick welding. Best to go with the same kind of sheeting (aluminum or steel) as the rest of the trailer. You'll have to wire the raised section, insulate it, install vent(s), cover the interior with something (luan?), buy fasteners, finish the interior sheathing with varnish or paint, have a helper on hand to hold things, etc.

Another alternative is to build the raised roof section on the ground and then just caulk and bolt in place. You could do it all in wood products with or without fiberglass cloth and resin for the exterior.

Either way makes the trailer top heavy.

Basically, what Cindy said is the least labor intensive and the safest in all regards.

Best wishes whatever you decide.

[fourbtgait]

Thank you for your replies.
I would not do the whole roof, maybe only 5' wide, 5-6' long.
I can weld, have built/repaired goosenecks, flatbeds, etc.
To build a wood top, bolt it on, looks tacky.
I thought of a side tent, may as well stick with our current 8x12 tent alone.
Stock trailer, 6' high inside would stick up giving me a mpg penalty. Then I might as well build it myself to a decent areodynamic shape as discussed on eccomodder.
Or buy an Aliner as they typically only drop ones mileage 2-3 mpg and have decent inside room.

[Prem]

P.S. The wood top does not look tacky IF you sheathe it with white sheet metal. It's also the fastest way to add on a raised-roof section. I did one (8 feet by 4 feet) on a friend's Brougham motorhome, matching the curvature of the original metal roof. It went fast.

[Rainier70]

It is hard to give advise on a forum when we don't know what your skills are. Sounds like you have enough know how to do this. With good welding and framing I think you could do it. If you want some extra bracing while traveling you could use a bolt-on/slide-in cross brace or two.

[Prem]

CTs are both boxy like houses (where everything is rectilinear) AND curved with compound curved corners. Few do boat cabinetry. BUT one can apply some boat building techniques. Over in the teardrop building forums (and the foam-building one also) there are some good ideas (and photos) for building with curves, like this one: One can cut kerfs on the back side of plywood, fill them with glue (epoxy being the strongest for gap filling) and easily bend the plywood to match the curves of a CT exactly. If one covers the plywood with sheet metal, it is a really good idea to pre-coat the plywood with a penetrating, water-proofing product (resin thinned with acetone or roofing tar). SS screws with SS cupped, neoprene washers make excellent fasteners for applying the sheet metal to the plywood.

A light weight, cedar-framed, wired, insulated and paneled, sheet metal-covered, raised roof section, easily bolted on, could match your CT and not look tacky. You could even just make it a low arch if the ends aren't too high to just leave vertical. Lots of possibilities to brain storm.

For what it's worth.

[fourbtgait]

Maybe tacky was the wrong word. If I were to build a center section on, to get headroom height on a 5' tall trailer, it would need to extend up more than a foot. Kind of dumb to do that, I suddenly have more wind resistance. Just buy a taller trailer in the first place, do modifications for a bit more areodynamics. I have not bought a trailer yet, thought that was mentioned/obvious in the first post.
My skill level? Besides the welding/fabricating skills, framing/finish carpenter, cabinet maker, built a half dozen small boats in various media (multiple compound curves, radious edges are easy on a trailer) including recoring fiberglass sailboat deck such the purchaser never realized, saddle maker, gaited horse training. No cad skills, I was trained on a drafting table.

The biggest aspect of a raising/tilting center section was to keep low profile for areodynamics, gas mileage, standing room, easy to build.

[Prem]

That's an excellent skill set for building your own RV!

Check this out: http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?mode=medium&album_id=964&image_id=72458

It's 12 ft. long. Make it 15 or 16 feet long and you have your aerodynamics AND headroom. The tail is round. The front curve begins where the pickup canopy ends. 1/2 inch MDO plywood, resined and covered with aluminum skin.

[fourbtgait]

To long.
12' maximum length, even then 10' would be better. A lot of the roads I traveled this summer were single track national forest where even in a jeep or 4runner you hope you dont meet anyone.
Though the basic shape you show is along the lines of my thoughts.
One thought on the cargo was to push the queen bed back to the doors, make it fold for a sofa, raised off the floor. Reason? To fit a pontoon boat partially deflated under it.
Or a deer/elk in the front portion for the trip home.

[Prem]

That Airstream is beautiful. The homebuilt Roundtail was fashioned after it in the tail section. The Airstream is more aerodynamic because it is narrower and lower and round (vertically) in the front. The homebuilt has more square footage, 6 ft. 2 in. of standing headroom with a 6 ft. tall RV door. Rick, the owner gets 1 MPG more towing it at 55 MPH than not towing it with a Chevy Blazer.