Introduction and a Request for Suggestions

[grizzly73]

Hi Folks,

My first travel trailer experience was with a Sylvansport Go that I purchased second hand. While I liked the look and the size of it, the put up and take down was horrendous and after every trip I swore that I was going to sell it. Well, I finally did last summer and my plan to replace it was to build my own trailer and minimize the effort required to set it up and take it down.

I like to paddle and spend time outdoors with my wife and three kids, so my plan was to make a trailer that was about the same height as a teardrop, but slightly larger and have a more conventional trailer shape. Along with running boards on each side, this will allow me to put the canoe, kayaks, and bikes on top.

I am starting with a 77”x12' aluminum trailer and all of the structure will be welded aluminum square tube. The top will be 1/8” diamond plate, and the sides will be charcoal gray painted aluminum. Front to back, there will be two 1 gallon propane tanks in front of the tongue box which will house the batteries and all of the electronics. Next, inside the trailer will be a sleeping area with roughly a king size bed, with storage above the head area. Slightly above and offset to the rear will be a twin bed, sideways across the trailer. This will be in two parts and removable. The offset portion of the bed will be above the 46 gallon water tank. Behind this will be a roughly 16-18” storage space where the water pump, pop-up shower room, generator, A/C, chairs, and all other items will go. Behind this will be the galley, which will consist of a refrigerator, compact dishwasher, pull-out two-burner stove, sink, propane hot water heater, and storage.

The area that I am really struggling with is the rear hatch. The rear of my trailer will look similar to the galley on 91kuhndog's trailer. However, instead of a pull-up or left/right doors, I really want to make a two-piece door, one above the other, that can be completely removed and used as tables behind the trailer. I figure that they will both be roughly 26”x75”, made out of 1.5” square aluminum tube, skinned on one side with the charcoal gray aluminum, and the other side will have some sort of solid surface (white lexan?) table top. What I am having a hard time with is how to robustly attach the doors/tables to the back of the trailer so that 1) I don't have to worry about them falling off, and 2) the table top doesn't have some large protrusion or sharp aluminum trim all the way around it. Sorry for the rudimentary cad, I haven't updated it lately and the software has some bugs that make it a bit hard to use.





In addition to suggestions on the rest of the design, I was hoping that someone might have some good suggestions on how to weatherproof and secure the back hatch. Construction begins when I finalize the plans and we get some warm weather so I can start the welding.

Shawn

[lrrowe]

Hi Grizzy73
You have come to the right place up ideas. Your 6 and 1/2 ft width should serve you well.
With 12 ft in length, I think you will find it tight to fit all the amentities that you want, but nevertheless, doable if you plan things out well. I do recommend that that try and go thru both the CT and TD forum posts and look for ideas. That approach has worked very well for me. There is a lot of reading,here, but well woth it.

By the way, I am about 30 miles away at SML. Maybe as our progress contunues, we can meet up and compare projects. I am preparing my CT to carry a 10 and 12ft SOT kayaks.

[grizzly73]

Bob,

Thanks for the reply. I figured that there must be at least one person in the area that is on this board.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have looked through many pages on the site, but I know I haven't read all of them. I have been slowly acquiring all of the parts required for my build, so I hope that everything fits! Some of the biggest decisions were whether to put storage towards the front, and sleeping are behind or not since I was a little bit worried about weight distribution. When I start the framing, I am going to fill up the water tank and put most of the heavy things in their place to see how much tongue weight I still have. Luckily, I will have three batteries in the box up on the tongue.

Another hard decision was where to put the A/C. I have a CliateRight 5000 (heat & air) and my plans are to remove it from the storage area and place it on the ground with ductwork plumbed to the main cabin. I was thinking that this would reduce vibration and condensation problems, albeit add setup steps - but only when it is needed.

Hopefully I can make some good progress this spring as I have some trips planned that I would like to be able to use the trailer for. Unfortunately, looking at some of the build threads, I notice that they start in one year and are still going over a year later I am hoping that avoiding wood wherever possible will take the finishing steps out of the equation.

If I have made any progress by early summer, I would love to meet up and compare notes.

Shawn

[lrrowe]

I was/am concerned also about weight distribution. My plan calls for 4 6v batteries which will probably weight about 250 lbs total. My current plan is to have them under the driver's side bunk almost over the single axle, but favored towards the front side of the CT. Now this means I need to try and put about the same weight towards the front and to the passenger's side. I do not quite know how, I am going to make that happen except for a water tank and a full cooler.

I am using a window AC 5000 BTU unit and i will have a bulkhead wall 18" inside the back doors. I am not familar with the AC unit you are using.