"TrailTop" modular trailer building components

[jscherb]

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.

I moved everything back

[Hardryder56]

I am thinking the 60/30 angle design on the lower left scaled up so the front is the height of the pickup cab would make a very nice slouchy slide in camper. Extend the length to eight feet and I think you would have a winner. I am not a CAD designer or I might try expanding it myself.
Tom

[jscherb]

I am thinking the 60/30 angle design on the lower left scaled up so the front is the height of the pickup cab would make a very nice slouchy slide in camper. Extend the length to eight feet and I think you would have a winner. I am not a CAD designer or I might try expanding it myself.
Tom

I put this concept on a Chevy 1500 shortbed; I made the camper top the same width as the truck bed, although there's no reason it couldn't be wider. Could also extend over the cab if that was desired, or it could be taller...

[Hardryder56]

My truck is a 06 Silverado Extended cab with a short bed so your picture shows me a lot how it would look. I think a bit taller would better serve me. Have the front wall the same as your picture but slope the roof up and back as you show in the 60/30 design. I am not opposed to a camper that requires the tailgate to remain down with the camper mounted.
Tom

[mezmo]

The Expedition Portal thread. Other's questions on there can
be of help too, 10 pages so far on there.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/t ... components

[jscherb]

When I first started the TrailTop design process, I was thinking I might make molds for doors and door jambs - side doors and rear barn doors. But a quick search for "Teardrop Door" on eBay suggests there are already plenty of door options out there already. Here are some door images I grabbed from ebay. I've scaled them accurately for these drawings, so you should be able to get a good idea of what the choices I found on eBay look like.



If anyone has other good sources for ready-to-use doors I'd be interested in hearing about them.

I'm still thinking about whether or not it would be worthwhile to make mold for a fiberglass rear teardrop hatch though, haven't decided if that would be worth the cost to the average builder or if they'd rather build the hatch themselves.

[danlott]

I'm still thinking about whether or not it would be worthwhile to make mold for a fiberglass rear teardrop hatch though, haven't decided if that would be worth the cost to the average builder or if they'd rather build the hatch themselves.

Although a hatch sounds like a good idea, I do not think many people would use it. It sounds like it would be specific to the 36 inch radius, which would be ok if that is what you wanted to use for your hatch. I also still think there would be a good amount of construction even if you provide a kit of some sort. The only fool proof way is to completly built the hatch for someone, but then the cost and shipping would prevent most from buying it.

Dan

[jscherb]

Although a hatch sounds like a good idea, I do not think many people would use it. It sounds like it would be specific to the 36 inch radius, which would be ok if that is what you wanted to use for your hatch. I also still think there would be a good about of construction even if you provide a kit of some sort. The only fool proof way is to completly built the hatch for someone, but then the cost and shipping would prevent most from buying it.

Dan

Yes it would be 36" radius, to match the 36" TrailTop frame curves.

I've got two designs for building in fiberglass, neither of which would compare well price-wise to building it yourself from 1/4" plywood and a little bit of framing lumber.

One method would be to mold it in one piece; this would also have a one-piece inner bonded to the outer skin to provide structure. Shipping would be high, because it would box up roughly 5'x5'x3'. Not terribly heavy, but over the UPS Ground size limit.

The second way is to mold it in modular sections, there would be three identical curved outer panels that the builder would join together to form the outer skin, and 4 inner rails for structure (two curved, two straight). The builder would bond all of this together. The modular design means the it could ship very economically, but I'm not sure it would be all that much less work to assemble than building a wooden one from scratch.

All of that suggests to me that I leave the teardrop rear hatch as a DIY item to be made from wood.

[jscherb]

Since unforseen circumstances have prevented me from molding the first TrailTop parts yet, I've been amusing myself by doing some anim drawings showing how the parts will assemble .



The photo is of the "Extended Dinoot Extended" tub kit (7'5" long) in my workshop with 30's/40's-style fenders. In successive views, the following TrailTop parts are added - a 36" radius curve, a straight section (3'5" long), a 12" radius curve, and another straight section (24" long). A plywood skin is added, and a window installed.

When building an actual TrailTop (instead of a digital Trailtop like this), you'd probably assemble the TrailTop framing parts flat on the floor, add the plywood skin and the window while the framework is still on the floor, and then erect the completed walls on the tub (or directly on the trailer frame, if you're not using a tub as I am in this example). So not only are the TrailTop parts modular, the assembly sequence is intended to be modular as well.

Depending on how long circumstances prevent me from doing the molding of the actual parts, I may expand this anim series to include the complete shell (the other side and the roof), and some interior components as well.

[grant whipp]

Looks great, Jeff ... ...!

I'm anxious to see this concept progress through to the prototype stage! Like I've already said, lots of possibilities, here ... ...!

As always ...

CHEERS!

[jscherb]

Looks great, Jeff ... ...!

I'm anxious to see this concept progress through to the prototype stage! Like I've already said, lots of possibilities, here ... ...!

As always ...

CHEERS!

Thanks Grant! Nobody's more anxious to get this to the prototype stage than I am... I'm looking forward to getting home so I can mold the parts and start assembling them. In the meantime, I'm continuing to amuse myself and pass the time by working on a more complete assembly animation that includes both sides, the roof, a door, a few insulation details, etc. I hope to have it done and posted soon.

Cheers,
Jeff

[grant whipp]

Hey, Jeff!

I just had a thought ... if you took this piece:
[/quote]

... and turned it inside out (you know, an inside 90º corner) and then turned one of the straight 3-1/2" radius pieces into an inside "cove", you could open this concept up to a DYI overhead pickup camper ... ... ...!

Like I keep saying ... possibilities!

CHEERS!

[jscherb]

Hey, Jeff!

I just had a thought ... if you took this piece:

... and turned it inside out (you know, an inside 90º corner) and then turned one of the straight 3-1/2" radius pieces into an inside "cove", you could open this concept up to a DYI overhead pickup camper ... ... ...!

Like I keep saying ... possibilities!

CHEERS!

Grant,
Once again you and I are on the same wavelength - I had the same thought as I was drawing the TrailTop-based pickup-cap camper the other day for Hardryder56. I didn't post it or do a drawing of it then because I didn't think people would want this thread to get too far afield from the topic of trailer-based campers.

I did have one slightly alternate thought about the inside corner though - rather than make the corners with a 3.5" radius inside curve, which would require the inside cove straight piece you mentioned, the corner could have an inside sharp 90-degree angle. That would eliminate the need for the cove piece because it would be easy for the DIY-er to join boards to a 90-degree corner but it would still provide nice curves on the outside of the box.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Hardryder56]

Jeff,
I am liking the way you are working on this. Will send you a PM here soon.
Tom

[jscherb]

Here's another TrailTop assembly animation. Since I don't have 3-d drawing software, I'm doing these animations in my 2-d drawing program, so they may be a little rough in spots, but I think they're good enough to illustrate the main points. Also this particular animation file is pretty large, so it may take a while to download if you don't see it right away.

This time I drew a "breadbox" shaped camper rather than a teardrop, and it's got a rear barn door. The driver's side wall is going up first; it's got a 1/4" plywood outer skin, a layer of foam insulation, and the inside of the wall is covered with 1/8" plywood. Also notice in frame 8 a sill piece is secured to the bottom of the wall; this is used to bolt the wall to the Jeep tub, in the same way that a jeep hardtop bolts to the Jeep. Similar sills would go on the front and rear walls as well. The rear door is 3' wide, which is the size of the Jeep tailgate opening.



As with the last animation I posted, even though the animation shows all of the parts being assembled in place, what probably would be the best assembly plan would be to fully assemble each side panel, install them on the tub (or on the trailer frame if a tub wasn't being used), and then assemble the roof and ends to the installed sides.

This one uses straight rail pieces, 12" radius curves in the front and a fiberglass 12" radius curved roof section, and 3.5" radius 90-degree corners in the back.