Southern Ohio Squaredrop Build

[DarknessFalls]

I've been wanting to build my little camper for a few years now but I didn't really have the money or knowledge to do it. This past summer, I really buckled down and dove headfirst into my build. I officially committed to the project 1 week before Independence Day when I ordered a set of Timbren's. I'd like to start making a photo documentary as I build my trailer and see how far I've come and how far I have left to go.

And so it begins.

[DarknessFalls]

I decided I wanted to use metal for my build. I created a 3D blueprint in Shapr3D and ordered some 1x1 steel tubing to get everything started.

[DarknessFalls]

With the help of a portable band saw and this Hercules saw holder, I was able to easily cut out and fabricate the walls. I bought a Lincoln Weld-Pak 180 to do my welding. This was my first time.






This is the first wall after cutting and fitting.

[twisted lines]

I have a red portaband that spent 8 months of this year broken, that was tough
Ill raise a Question I am struggling with on my Roof.
14-1/4" Hole for a Vent ?

[tony.latham]

14-1/4" Hole for a Vent ?

That's the size I recommend. Just make sure you have enough wood for the screws to hit.



Tony

[DarknessFalls]

I was assembling the Timbren’s when I attempted to torque the spindle bolts to the required specs. One of the factory bolts snapped off around 60-70ftlbs. I ended up just buying all new grade 8 hardware and swapping them in. They torque’d to the proper ftlbs without issue.

[DarknessFalls]

This is the main trailer frame. It is made from 2x2x3/16” square-tube steel. The box area is 66”x108” with an overall length of 13’ 6”.




I fitted the Timbren’s to get an idea where I wanted them and marked the bolt holes for drilling.










I finished up by test fitting the suspension with the bolts in place. Next step is to take it back off, sand down the frame, and get it ready for painting.

[KCStudly]

Did you install anti-crush sleeves? When bolting thru box tube it's important, otherwise the side walls of the tube will flex under load and the fasteners will loosen.

Without them it might not seem like it when you first tighten the bolt, but you can actually see and feel the tube crushing in. Over time the crush will relax and the fastener will loosen and wallow out.

Anti-crush sleeves are just simple pieces of round tube or pipe, that your bolt fits thru nicely, welded flush into slightly bigger holes.

The can even be done without welding by drilling a standard clearance hole on one side and a hole the same size as the OD of the pipe on the other side; make the length of the sleeve the same width as the box tube minus one wall thickness.

[DarknessFalls]

Did you install anti-crush sleeves? When bolting thru box tube it's important, otherwise the side walls of the tube will flex under load and the fasteners will loosen.

Without them it might not seem like it when you first tighten the bolt, but you can actually see and feel the tube crushing in. Over time the crush will relax and the fastener will loosen and wallow out.

Anti-crush sleeves are just simple pieces of round tube or pipe, that your bolt fits thru nicely, welded flush into slightly bigger holes.

The can even be done without welding by drilling a standard clearance hole on one side and a hole the same size as the OD of the pipe on the other side; make the length of the sleeve the same width as the box tube minus one wall thickness.

I did not. The tube wall is thicker than normal at 3/16 and I used oversized washers to help distribute the pressure. I could add them in still. The trailer hasn’t been on the road yet so I imagine and crushing of the tubes would be minimal at this point.

[DarknessFalls]

It was a pain to get this flipped upside down so I could prep the metal and paint it. I found this Suface Conditioning Tool at Harbor Freight. It really made removing the grime and rust easy. Just need to wear a mask.


The bottom is prepped and ready for primer.


Rustoleum Clean Metal Primer is used here.

[DarknessFalls]

Bottom of frame is painted.

[DarknessFalls]

Frame is flipped right-side up. Did some test fitting of the walls.

[DarknessFalls]

The next step was fitting the floor sheet. It started out as a 6x10x14 gauge steel sheet. This was very taxing to move around by myself.

I don’t have a plasma cutter so I ordered some metal cutting blades for my jigsaw, marked my line, and used cutting fluid to make things easier. It was as loud as you think it was. I used the tires to help deaden the sound. Also at this time, my 1 month old Dewalt grinder started seizing up internally. That put an end to the idea of using cutting disc.


I removed the sheet and started sanding down the top and sides of the frame to prep them for painting.

[S. Heisley]

Your design looks very attractive. From the work you've already done, I suspect you will do well.

[DarknessFalls]

Your design looks very attractive. From the work you've already done, I suspect you will do well.

Thank you! I’m actually ahead of where my updates are, it just takes me a bit to get everything uploaded.