Nano weekender build

[rodtermaat]

I have been a member for many years and even attended a tear drop rally in Nebraska. As excited as I was to build a camper, I got caught up in truck campers for several years and now I have modified by jeep wrangler with a sleeping platform. All of these work ok and are better then a tent, but the jeep gets terrible mileage and I travel a bit for woodworking and woodcarving and want to do more. My wife's Prius does almost 45 MPG and the jeep gets about 15 on a good day. First order is to build a small lightweight camper to pull with a smaller car. I am not sure the Prius is a viable candidate, but something that gets 30 - 40 would be great. Anyway enough of the history.

I started searching for designs and really liked the motorcycle camper, harleycamper is building found here. viewtopic.php?f=50&t=54531
Of course the more I searched the more possiblities I found. Next came the Pico and it seemed more what I wanted, but I persisted and finally found the Nano weekender. For some reason I just knew that was the camper for me.

Fast forward, or backwards a bit. I ran out and bought the camper before seeing the Nano. I bought a harbor frieght mini tailor. Now that I found the Nano, I wish I had gone with the 8 footer. I cannot tell you how long I stood there debating with myself. In the end the 130 pounds won be over.

Now the hard part. as my desires have evolved the small trailor becomes somewhat of a liability. I would like to bulld the Nano 5 foot wide and 7 feet long. Since it is only 4ft on a good day that mean I need to overhand the rear and the front. When I review the Pico design that seems like a reasonable idea, but I fear I will have more weight past the axel then it does. OK I don't fear, I know.... So that leaves me with the option of shiting the camper forward. I am thinking 1 foot over the tongue and 2 off the rear. Is that insane? I would have to get a longer tongue which I imagine is possible, or an exention on the hitch. It seems like 22 inches was about the minimun tongue length recommended.

Since I want to go ~5 feet wide, I will overahang the sides about 8 inches on either side. I will build the floor level with the fenders and use them as support like the motorcycle camper above. I plan to follow the Pico build as much a possible to keep the weight down, but the floor is going to need to be more substantial to rise to the fender height. My concern here is if I do not create a torsion box floor there will be a lot of areas under the trailer for junk to collect and rot. If I skin the underside with 1/4 plywood that seems like essessive weight. Maybe that is my penalty for buying the shorty. Thoughts?

I know people do not want to read a book on post number 1 so I will stop now.

Here is the link of the camper I will be modeling mine after. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52724

Thanks for your time. rod

[leroadrunner]

Any progress on the Nano? I think I will build this one as well...Probably will make it wider than tho...

TTYL

[adam25]

Have you considered a tent topped trailer like the explorer box?


or possibly a foamie?

Both will work on the smaller trailer frame you already have. The nano weekender in foam shouldn't cause any weight issues and should be fairly simple build.

[rodtermaat]

I finished the floor today. Just need to tweak a few things so that I can tow it to the hardware store for walls and the roof. Building the floor on such a small trailer was taxing. More then once I considered buying a second trailer and starting again. I ended up building a 2 1/2 inch torsion box filled will insulation and skinned on both sides. I will post pics tomorrow

[Junkboy999]

Sound like a good start.

[mikeschn]

Sounds good. Lets see the pictures!

Mike...

[rodtermaat]

Here is a picture of the completed floor. I moved the wheels back about a foot to the back of the trailer. It is a torsion box filled with hard insulation. I have some concerns on the tongue length and think I will have to extend it before all is said and done.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371494022.380160.jpg (77.69 KiB) Viewed 2900 times

[rodtermaat]

Here is a picture of the framing as it goes up. Simplified the design a bit but in general I am pleased. Not sure about the doors yet. Build or buy? Rear hatch has me confused as I try an figure out the framing versus the hatch dimensions. More research here

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371495298.876842.jpg (107.67 KiB) Viewed 2895 times

before I commit. Will all be covered in 1/4 and 1/8 inch plywood and painted for the time being.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371495263.672124.jpg (105.29 KiB) Viewed 2895 times

[rodtermaat]

Did some more work on the framing last night and figured out the hatch layout thanks to some hall of fame pictures. Very tight fit in the garage, but my wife fiat does fit too. Already many things I would do smarter - I can see why many people build more then one.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371586181.922006.jpg (78 KiB) Viewed 2822 times

[rodtermaat]

More work tonight. Finished the framing except for a couple of pieces. Next is the plywood. Trying hard not to overbuild so my tow vehicle can handle the load.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371612593.596027.jpg (94.3 KiB) Viewed 2778 times

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371612607.713205.jpg (90.36 KiB) Viewed 2778 times

[iregan]

Nice, Rod!
I want to build the Nano weekender too, just got to get some funds together
Looking at the pic of the frame behind the car, I'm not sure if your wheels still aren't too far forward (maybe its the angle of the pic), your probably not going to be putting a lot in the back of the trailer but still looks like it might be a little tongue light loaded to me.
I would put a longer tongue on I think too.
Hopefully some of the experienced builders will pop in to comment
Regan

[rodtermaat]

Nothing on the camper today but I did get my tow hitch and installed it on the tow vehicle. Feeling rather insane right now.

Working to determine if I should go 1/4 or 1/8 on the plywood. Need to determine what weight I am at now. Is there a trick to doing that at home?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1371698290.812859.jpg (74.37 KiB) Viewed 2714 times

[Junkboy999]

Only way to track that is to know the weights of the items you use and keep a running total on them. If all the framing pieces are the same stock of wood. You can weigh a 6” or 12” long piece and just multiply that by how many feet of framing you used. some goes for a sheet of plywood. If the weight of a full sheet is known. you can weight the parts you cut off and subtract it. Always error on the heavy side, or round up.

People have use bathroom scales and measured both wheel weights and then the tongue weights. Should just be able to add them together to get the weight of it now.

[rodtermaat]

I weighted each wheel and the tongue weight sitting level or a bit under. 129 and 127 under the wheels. Less then 15 on the tongue. So around 275 so far. I think I will use 1/4 inch on the front and rear with 1/8 on the top. That will add another ~100 pounds. Then there is the doors and fan. Only going to have a counter in the rear and a shelf inside to start with. Not sure what I want so keeping it minimalist for now.

[NebraskaTeachr]

Nebraska Rod,

It looks good so far. I look forward to seeing the finished product. I did the UltraLight on a 4 x 8 HF trailer. I tow with an F 150 though, so weight was not a big deal. I don't know what my final weight was, but I would love to tow it behind my 99 Cavalier. My mechanic has advised against that though. For the short trips around Lincoln here, I don't think that it would matter.

Have fun with your build. That is the most important part of the DIY process.

Tim