All aluminum hard sided popup toy hauler

[coal_burner]

Once the second panel is added, it starts "feeling" just a bit like a camper.

[KCStudly]

Are you using a sealed rivet or any kind of sealant/goop to prevent water penetration?

I ask because that has been an issue for members here in the past, water coming through a standard open ended rivet, getting past the button head left behind by the mandrel and leaking through a reading light right onto a person's pillow.

[featherliteCT1]

WoW! I am fascinated by your build.

[OP827]

Looks nice. The walls look a bit low, are you building the toy hauler with a lifting rooftop.. ?

[coal_burner]

My rivet application is...non-standard.

I'm not sealing the rivets with anything because any water that gets through them is now inside the 1.5x1.5 square tube i framed the walls with, but not inside the cabin of the trailer itself.

I have holes drilled into the bottom of each wall stud so that any errant drops of water that get in through the rivets will drain out by gravity.

Just to be extra safe, I may paint the walls with the same clear sealant I used on the frame.


The lap joints between the aluminum wall sheets, however, are sealed with silicone before riveting.

[coal_burner]

I measured the height of both my motorcycles, and even the goldwing stands less than 4ft tall once I remove its windshield (a 10 minute job).

...so I made my side walls just barely high enough to fit that with the ceiling lowered in to travel-mode.

When the roof is popped up in to camp-mode, my ceiling should be just under 7 ft tall.

[KCStudly]

My rivet application is...

Understand all. Glad you worked this all out in advance.

[coal_burner]

I needed to use the trailer to drop off an extension ladder i borrowed, so i took this as a good excuse to do another freeway test.

At o er 7 ft wide and about 6ft tall, she needs about 567 watt hours per mile at 65mph.

With 600 horsepower and 4 wheel drive, ican't feel the trailer back there at all, but my energy use meter sure let's me know about it!

[OP827]

.... When the roof is popped up in to camp-mode, my ceiling should be just under 7 ft tall.

So it is some sort of lifting roof popup, I like it!

[coal_burner]

Spring is peeking around the corner so it's time to get moving on the build again.

Out of curiosity, I wanted to know my current weight.
Using an old bathroom scale inherited from my grandmother, I weighed the tongue and each wheel separately.

300 pounds on each tire and 145 pounds on the tongue jack gives me 645 pound trailer weight


Then I picked up 450 more pounds of aluminum and steel.

Aluminum for the roof, upper walls, interior cabinet frames, and seat frames.
Steel for the motorcycle loading ramp in the back.



(Elmo boxers legally required to flag the 20 foot material hanging out the back of a 16 foot trailer box)

[coal_burner]

Worked between the raindrops Sunday to cut most of the steel for the rear motorcycle loading ramp.


I figure the bike tires will roll up the 1.5x1.5x1/8 square steel tube in the middle, while my feet can maintain traction on the 2x2x1/8 angle iron cross members.

[featherliteCT1]

Looking great!

[coal_burner]

Easter Sunday, and what do I do? Weld a ramp.

I cleaned up the metal with an angle grinder, and laid the pieces out on one of my welding blankets on the picnic table.
Used diagonal measurement to square it up, and held it tight using a couple pipe clamps.


After welding I leand it up against a planter so I could jump on it a bit and make sure the welds were as solid as they looked.

[coal_burner]

...and there we are, one completed ramp panel.

Welds were tested by dropping the 20 pound sledge hammer repeatedly over every one, then checking for cracks.

[OP827]

Looks like a solid ramp. What kind of toys do you plan to haul, snowmobile?