"TrailTop" modular trailer building components

[Hardryder56]

Very nice concept and execution. I think that by supplying the corner blocks you have designed people would be able to build trailers of different sizes as they need. If I understand your 60/30 and 37/16 corner block you have simply cut the 12" 90* block to a shorter length? I like the shape of your rear door design and think it would work well as a slide in truck camper for a pick up. I will be following this thread with interest.
Tom

[danlott]

I also think you could use the mouldings on the bottom of the trailer. They would cover the frame and the moulding flange would bolt to the bottom of the frame. Here are a couple SketchUp ideas that I had. The first one is 8 feet long and the second one is 10 feet long. Also if you do end up making other radius size corners then you could do just about any design you wanted.





Dan

[grant whipp]

My thoughts, precisely, Dan ... ...!

[jscherb]

I also think you could use the mouldings on the bottom of the trailer. They would cover the frame and the moulding flange would bolt to the bottom of the frame. Here are a couple SketchUp ideas that I had. The first one is 8 feet long and the second one is 10 feet long. Also if you do end up making other radius size corners then you could do just about any design you wanted.





Dan

Dan,
Yes I have thought about that - in fact Grant and I talked about it the other day. I just hadn't gotten time to do any sketches yet, thanks for doing them! I was going to use the 90-degree corners at the bottom of my sketch just like your first sketch but your "canned ham" version with the 12" corners on the bottom looks great!
jeff

[jscherb]

Very nice concept and execution. I think that by supplying the corner blocks you have designed people would be able to build trailers of different sizes as they need. If I understand your 60/30 and 37/16 corner block you have simply cut the 12" 90* block to a shorter length?

Not exactly - there are tabs on each end of the curved parts for joining them to the adjacent straight parts, so it's more like taking a pie cut out of the middle of the 90-degree curve so the tabs remain. Of course the builder would care about how the mold master was made, they'd be getting a one-piece molded part of the correct angle with joiner tabs on both ends.

I like the shape of your rear door design and think it would work well as a slide in truck camper for a pick up. I will be following this thread with interest.
Tom

Funny you should mention pickups... I've built to custom Jeep pickups. And I've designed a new one that uses a Dinoot fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer tub kit as a bed, and TrailTop parts for a pickup cap...



Here's a Dinoot trailer tub kit mocked up to be a pickup bed and the back of the cab, with a half-cab hardtop of my own design, and a TrailTop pickup cab drawn in place:



Sorry for the non-trailer interruption, now back to our regularly scheduled program .

[jscherb]

if you get one of the teardrop oriented parts suppliers to sell this stuff many of the lurkers around here will end up being builders
not to mention the manufacturing possibilities...

I hope that's what would happen, of course that assumes some company is interested in marketing the TrailTop concept. Until then it's just a hobby project of mine .

[jscherb]

Wow! that is a lot of options. If this thing takes off, there will be lots of cool trailers getting built. All of those shown look very good.

Bill,

Thanks. I don't want this to be a "one size fits all" set of parts - my goal is to make it easier to build all sorts of creative designs for campers.

But I am thinking that of the new angles I posted last night, either the 60 and 30 degree parts OR the 37/16 angles would be made, but probably not both, although that would be a decision that a company that signed up to market the TrailTop system could make. Assuming some company signs up of course, because at this point TrailTop is just another one of my hobby projects .

jeff

[Hardryder56]

That's a good looking Jeep (real jeeps have round head lights )
Thanks for explaining the different curved pieces. I figure you have a winner in the camper or low cost emergence/homeless shelter world.
Tom

[jscherb]

You guys are all probably familiar with the Benroy, a small teardrop that was manufactured for a while in the early 1950's:



A few photos of restored Benroy trailers:



That's Ben in the photo (you get one guess as to what his business partner's name was ).

Here's a Benroy plan view I found on the 'net (thanks to Mike Schneider):



Below, I've overlaid a TrailTop on that plan. It's on a Harbor Freight 4x8 frame. The door is a ready-to-install item I found on eBay, so it's different from the original Benroy door. And yes, that's Ben himself. I hope he'd approve .



And the original photo I removed Ben from.



Part of the reason for this post is that there are plans available that one could nicely and easily implement with TrailTop parts. Plans are available for the Benroy, for example, that show details for the rear panty area, and those plans could be used in a TrailTop-based "Benroy" with only minor modifications.

Or, exiting plans could be modified for different uses... next is one a version I've made a bit taller for better headroom and raised the ground clearance a bit from the original low-slung Benroy and given it 31" tires to give it better overlanding/off-road capability.

[jscherb]

Project update: A week ago I finished the molds for the main TrailTop framing parts, and I had planned to mold the first sets of test parts this coming week. I've been traveling the past week, and unforseen circumstances will delay my return home for at least a week, so unfortunately it'll be a little bit before I can mold the parts. In the meantime, I've been working on design for a "finish free" method of assembling a TrailTop.

So far most of the concept drawings I've shown have used plywood side panels. These would get bonded or bolted to the TrailTop framing pieces, and sealed/finished appropriately.

For a "Finish Free" assembly, plywood would be used as an inner layer, with a fiberglass outer skin. Here's one way it could be done...

Home Depot sells 4x8 sheets of 1/8" "FRP" fiberglass-reinforced wall panels intended for use in wet environments like bathrooms. They also sell 4x8 sheets of 1/8" plywood. The drawing below shows how these could be used to skin a TrailTop. The fiberglass panel is bonded to the plywood using contact cement applied evenly with a roller; once they're bonded they form a 1/4"-thick fiberglass-skinned panel. The edges of these panels are sealed with a rubber u-channel molding, and the panel assembly is bolted to the TrailTop framework with 1/8" neoprene/edpm soft rubber weatherstrip.



Probably it would be best to apply the u-channel to the panel with a bead of seam-sealer inside the u-channel to form an impenetrable weather seal for the edge of the plywood. Instead of bolting/using 1/8" weatherstrip, the panels could also be bonded to the TrailTop framework, and the bonding adhesive (two-part urethane is a good choice) would also form the weather seal between the panel and the framework.

A rough concept drawing of a Finish-free TrailTop teardrop on a Harbor Freight frame. I've drawn the rubber u-channel moldings in black so it's clear where they'd be used, but I believe white is available as well.

[rowerwet]

unless it is painted, FRP isn't UV stable, Filon is the version of FRP that is stable it seems to be easier to find in areas where RV's are made, expensive to get for the rest of us. If I was building using your awesome corners I would cover the plywood with painted canvas.

[jscherb]

unless it is painted, FRP isn't UV stable, Filon is the version of FRP that is stable it seems to be easier to find in areas where RV's are made, expensive to get for the rest of us. If I was building using your awesome corners I would cover the plywood with painted canvas.

I'm still researching panels that have better UV stability, was hoping my post might chase some out of hiding .

Aluminum sheet could also be used, but I'm hoping to find more good fiberglass options.

[jscherb]

More on the UV topic...

The Home Depot/Lowes FRP panels are do not have UV-protection additives, which may be a problem depending on the environment and usage of the trailer, although in my research I've found many people report success with it.

Non-UV-protected fiberglass will "chalk" over time and eventually can even lose structural integrity under long exposure in very harsh environments. Depending on the type and formulation of the resin, it may yellow in the process or it may not. The definition of "over time" depends on how the fiberglass item is used and the environmental conditions it's exposed to.

An non-UV-fiberglass-wrapped camper that's kept outside in the weather all year will probably go some years before it gets to the point that some remedial action is needed. In South Florida, for example, due to the intensity of the sun, the time could be much shorter; in overcast upstate NY it could be a lot longer.

If it's garage-kept and only outside for some weeks of the year during camping trips, it should last a good long time.

Stored outside, it can be protected with a breathable car cover that filters light but lets moisture out; that will significantly reduce UV effects on the fiberglass.

To some degree, a quality marine wax with UV additives will delay the onset of UV damage, although wax doesn't really provide very good UV protection and needs to be reapplied regularly to have any meaningful effect.

Fiberglass is easily painted with most paints; automotive paints work particularly well. A strategy for a budget-minded build could be to leave the fiberglass bare for the first year or two (or more, depending on the environmental conditions and usage) and paint it later as finances permit. Some people may find it easier to get a high-quality finish on fiberglass than on wood, so an FRP skin would be a good option if the plan is to paint the shell.

Based on the Home Depot/Lowes pricing, which for most people wouldn't require shipping costs added on vs. the pricing plus shipping of the typical UV-protected skin products (like Filon) the non-UV stuff is about $1.00 per square foot when bought in a 4x8 sheet locally, and the UV stuff can be about 6x more ($200 or more shipped for a 4' length or 102"-wide Filon from http://www.factoryrvsurplus.com/products.php?product_id=2122, for example), so depending on the environment, usage and budget requirements of the builder, either the Home Depot/Lowes FRP or the RV-industry Filon (or equivalent) might be the right choice.

Another alternative would be to use something such as aluminum sheet, in the same manner as I've drawn for the FRP sheet.

[jscherb]

I also think you could use the mouldings on the bottom of the trailer. They would cover the frame and the moulding flange would bolt to the bottom of the frame. Here are a couple SketchUp ideas that I had. The first one is 8 feet long and the second one is 10 feet long. Also if you do end up making other radius size corners then you could do just about any design you wanted.





Dan

Dan,
I took the liberty of adding some detail to your 10' idea...



Thanks, Dan. I hope you like what I've done to your idea .

[rowerwet]

I like the sketch with graphics, but unless it is a slouchy, that door is gonna be a major pain, you want the door on a teardrop to be lined up with where your butt ends up on the bed lying down in normal sleeping position. The easy way to figure this, lie down in your bed, now sit up and turn, put your feet on the floor, measure from the head of the bed to your thighs, that is the general area you want the door at, space it back a few inches to clear your shoulder without having to scooch sideways to clear.