Lifting roof XPStream - making improvements

[OP827]

Thank you KC and Michael for the compliments.
As I mentioned before this build is experiemental, so I am prepared to run into some issues, I've already had a few issues and design changes as you could see in the thread.

The design idea is rather simple, implementation is a different story, spent at least 10 times more time thinking that actual building.

[OP827]

Michael, thanks for the spray tip, will do it next time.
BTW the black lines you see on the side are black marker lines on glass cloth strips.
Cheers!

[Atomic77]

Looks great. Your innovation is awesome.

[OP827]

In my above explanation of the design I forgot to mention the side folding walls that are hinged on the bottom and will fill the gap between the lifting roof and lower walls. They fold down inside while in transport.

[angib]

Best of all for sliding surfaces is to fit a HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) wear surface to one side - preferably with a gel coat finish in contact with it, or even better another HDPE surface. You may need to go to a plastic supply shop to get some. It comes in sheet form down to 1-1.5mm (4-6 thou) thick so it can even be applied as a removable wear surface with double-sided tape. Most composite surfaces will be harder than HDPE, so the HDPE will take all the wear if it's on one side only.

But if you only have 1/16" gap to play with, I guess adding anything isn't going to work - though if you can build the parts to better than 1/16" tolerance, I'll be impressed.

[lincolnlerner]

I'm still a little fuzzy on how this is all going to come together, but it is surely obvious that the quality of your work is top notch!

Thanks for asking!
Glad I am not the only one! I have followed this build from beginning and got lost somewhere. Time to re-read, again! Very interested in the design just lost a bit of focus on the picture. I remember the alta safari that I thought this might be a bit like.
Are your side walls hinged on the bottom, from the lower section? or hinged and fall down when you raise the top?

Thanks!

[OP827]

Best of all for sliding surfaces is to fit a HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) wear surface to one side - preferably with a gel coat finish in contact with it, or even better another HDPE surface. You may need to go to a plastic supply shop to get some. It comes in sheet form down to 1-1.5mm (4-6 thou) thick so it can even be applied as a removable wear surface with double-sided tape. Most composite surfaces will be harder than HDPE, so the HDPE will take all the wear if it's on one side only.

But if you only have 1/16" gap to play with, I guess adding anything isn't going to work - though if you can build the parts to better than 1/16" tolerance, I'll be impressed.

Thanks for checking my build, Andrew.

[OP827]

Lincolnlerner, to answer your second question, Alta Safari may look alike but it has completely different design. That design is next to impossible to build at home, honeycomb tall wall structures and roof panel, and a side glass wall that slides up from the inside which needs another (much higher) level of weather seals, and also the back wall is folding completely differently.

[OP827]

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[MidTNJasonF]

OP I am very inspired by your overall design and shape for this build. The curved or rounded V nose is very attractive and the storage solutions there for the gas and batteries is outstanding. The arc or taper to the roof panel is also extremely attractive.

I am very interested in borrowing a few of these ideas for a scaled down foamy build in the 5' x 8' or 5' x 9' range as a pseudo toy hauler with for my motorcycle.

The build quality and attention to detail is outstanding. Keep up the great work, I will be watching for further updates.

[OP827]

Thanks very much Jason for your kind compliments. Here is the update. Lately I was working on front upper wall that will be fixed to lifting roof and sides. The foam was glued and curved, added with wooden hard points for lifting and tie-downs and laminated on both sides as of today. More fiberglass reinforcement, fairing, sanding etc. are still required to finish the part, which I plan on doing after the roof is assembled with side, back, and front parts. In the pictures the front piece is temporarily clamped to where it will be during transportation mode. To make front pictures I had to open the garage and you can see we have snow here (a few white spots in the picture), a lot of it coming down today. Had to install a 240V 5000W electric heater to be able to work on the trailer in my garage.

[Atomic77]

Fine work OP! Looking forward to seeing it further along so i can see how it all works! Excellent craftsmanship...

[KCStudly]

Still can't get over how the shortness of the bottom section makes the width and length seem so much larger. I suppose it will all shrink drastically when you get it outside; they all seem to (...except the Astroliner got bigger!)

I have a whole new appreciation now for all of the glass work you have been doing. As ever, nice work!

[dales133]

Nice work bud ive been meaning to put this pic up for a while.
Its a kimberly karavan made bere in oz.
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=kimbe ... zrMU-sM%3A.
Is that something like yours will end up?

[OP827]

KC, Michael, Dale, thanks for kind words and support.

Michael, I cannot wait myself to see how this idea will work when I get the roof lifted with the designed mechanism and fit all parts together. I never built trailers before and I know I am pushing the envelope with many details being not traditional for a trailer build.
I want to see how rigid and strong the structure will be and how much it will be weatherproof, among other things and issues such a concept can get.

KC, you are right, the trailer is about 1.8m high from the ground in transport mode (same as medium SUV like my Nissan Pathfinder) and the interior height of 1.35m, internal space is 1.92m wide by 4.5m long (including front curve). With roof lifted it will be almost 0.6m higher.

Dale, there is some similarities with Kimberly caravan, but they are different. My build side walls are also folding inside for the part of their height. The idea behind folding side wall is to somewhat reduce the trailer frontal area and the air drag. But due to curved frontal section there is still some portion of the side walls that overlap over lower part as you can see in the above pictures.

Please bear with me for a relatively slow build, I often spend a lot of time thinking of a best way doing certain details before I turn it into a real thing and then real life gets in the way as many people noted here with their builds.