Sapperman wrote:So I am thinking about pulling the trigger on one these trailers, but two questions:
Have driven any distance yet and how is the frame holding up?
Also what's the deal with your bed? Is it going to be width or length wise and what are dimensions for it going to be?
Darn good questions; here's what I got so far...
The trailer itself is literally bulletproof. The wood frame, despite piss poor design has held up surprisingly well. I really should have scrapped the original 2 ft tall frame and rebuilt with full length vertical beams ~4ft tall. This afterthought style makes it weaker in the middle, however the frame alone survived my 260lb friend swinging it back and forth without loosening it at all. Adding sheer wall strength with the outside skin made it super sturdy. I beat it up a small trail nearby and aimed for ditches and bumps, then rocked it back and forth by the frame trying to loosen it up... no such luck, perfectly sturdy. Since it is not completed, I can't say how well it will hold up after the 50th trip up the Rubicon, but early indicators are all good. I highly recommend doing 1" square steel frame to anyone who can afford it... I personally cannot.
In terms of the bed, its just me and my 12yo girl, so we don't need much. We can almost fit a full size mattress and lay long ways if we build over the fenders with a sleeping deck, which is the current plan. We have a 60"x69" sleeping deck with the kitchen retracted, about 90" x 69" with it extended. For size reference, a queen bed is 60" x 80" and a full bed is 54"x75".
So, as you can see from the latest concept below, the area above the kitchen can be used as a storage area, or even a sleeping area for a child, roughly 28"x 69", (twin bed is 39" x 75") with 22" head room. You will likely have variations also depending on the sizes of things you get to build with.
Here are the basic dimensions of the M116A3 (small squares=3", large=12") Please note these are rough measurements, +/- 1-2" in some cases:
Hope this helps, sorry it's not at the level of documentation I prefer, but hopefully its enough to spark your imagination.I didn't think anyone was really watching the build so I had actually trashed the original plans yesterday... good timing and sorry about the coffee stains... hahaha
