A Disaster waiting to happen....

[ai4kk]

Or is that waiting for a disaster to happen?

I just started design work on my offroad TD buildup and figured I'd start this thread to figure it out. I'll start by talking about what I want this trailer to accomplish and go from there. I'm new to posting pictures and files, so if I screw it up, will be back later to fix it.

I work for a state emergency agency and a big part of my job will involve being among the first into a disaster zone. In some ways, this will be like offroading in the further reaches of the wilderness; it will perhaps involve driving over debris, through road washouts, through piles of sand piled on the road, over trees or power poles etc. There will often be no electricity or clean drinking water available, and these things have a nasty habit of happening at the hottest times of the year.

We will be working long hours and when it is time to sleep, I want to be able to sleep comfortably because in a few hours it will start again. I've instructed at survival schools and slept everywhere from a frozen foxhole to a rooftop in downtown New Orleans but for a good night's rest, I want AC and a real honest-to-God mattress, like a Simmons Beauty-rest or something...some place I can sleep deeply without feeling like I've been camping.

I want to carry extra water, food, and fuel along with the smallest practical AC and generator combo I can find, plus a really long drop-cord on a reel for those times that shore power is available. I want my primary limit on how much I can carry to be the payload capacity of my tow vehicle, either my Isuzu diesel 4x4 Trooper or a state-issued CUCV in which case I can carry more as needed.

I would also use this trailer for family camping trips or as a BOV

My design is based roughly on Steve's trailer at http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=15620. I just started playing with Google sketchup and have a rough sketch up that you can see below:

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You can also download the current sketchup file at http://www.rideforfatherhood.org/misc/trailer.skp. Feel free to mod it or use it as you see fit. For that matter, send it back to me, I might like what you've done and use it or incorporate some of your changes.

Some of the highlights are:

2x2 pine subframe, primarily to give something to screw the plywood panels to
Lightweight 1/8" or 1/4" plywood construction for the itnerior wall
1" foam sheets glued on the outside over interior walls, corners sanded round and covered with fiberglass. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJax6pqlEoI to see what I mean
Doors formed as per video
Full commercial mattress
2" receiver in rear, for accessories, extra fuel, or to help balance trailer
Cargo rack for rear receiver
Tongue box
Small Home Depot AC installed in fairing over kitchen hatch, blowing air into back of bedroom cabinet assembly, which then acts as a diffuser
Notches removed from lower corners of mattress, permitting use of a full mattress in spite of interference from wheelwells

I already have the trailer, a utility trailer with a 4x4x8 box currently on it. The chassis is to scale as show in the drawings, although I may be able to move the mattress further back in the box and not have to extend the box so far out on the tongue triangle.

Suspension is already coil spring and coilover shocks with a live beam axle located by trailing arms and a single airbag in the middle of the trailer. I will probably replace or supplement the single airbag with airbags inside the coils.
Axle moved to below the trailing arms rather than above it.
31" tires to match tow vehicle with big meaty treads to better withstand debris damage
Angle iron roof rack supports running up from the frame flush with the sidewalls, with the door hinges bolted to the front one and the door latch installed in the aft one.
Smaller rods pull out of roof rack to either hang a privacy room curtain from, or to make loading a canoe easier.

I could go one and on, but I need to leave work and head home...and I see no option for saving a draft. I may come back later tonight and edit this.

Thoughts?

[eatatjoz]

You're thinking it through. I just threw one together.

Mine is a BOV as well. I have ammo boxes mounted to the sides for things that need to be waterproof, and quick access without opening the camper. TP, first-aid, tender, ammunition, batteries. I loaded them up and chunked in some silica gel stuff used for drying flowers from the hobby store.
I keep canned goods in the galley to offset the weight of the batteries in the tongue box.
A Jerry can provides fresh water, and propane provides the needs for cooking and light. It will eventually get a small heater.
It has a receiver hitch for the same purpose as yours.
A real mattress would be nice, but I chose a self-inflating air bed so that I could roll it up into a compact unit and use the camper for storing or hauling other goods. It stays plugged in, and as soon as I turn the inverter on, it begins filling.
I suggest a rock guard of some sort to protect your front window. Even if it's expanded metal, it will protect your glass from rocks and debris.

The private room is an Idea that I added last week. It's made of 1" hollow tube that slides inside of a 1 1/4" tube. I built it for the GF to have some privacy while using the porta pottie. I just use a shower curtain to make the room.





My BOB stays in the camper, and my GHB stays in the truck.

Like I said, I just threw mine together with scrap junk. If I do it again, I'll make a plan and build it a little more like yours.

Start building! I need more Ideas!

[ai4kk]

Front window will be getting either a wooden storm shutter, or at least a heavy cloth/vinyl cover. I read on Steve's write-up where he found that the front window was not completely waterproof at 70MPH as he would have liked...I figure the best way to solve several problems is a cover of some sort...which could also be closed for additional privacy/darkness.

Building will not start until after MLK day....that's when my wife and I catch the Greydawg up to Richmond to pick up my truck; should be a nice drive back through the mountains. We obviously won't have the camper by then (and wouldn't have any way of taking it with us unless we convinced the bus driver to let us tow it), so we'll be couchsurfing on the way home.

One other detail that I forgot to mention was that the kitchen counter will be removable. Not only will this allow me to take the counter, including the sink and stove into a building or shelter to use it independently from the camper, but will also give me a way to get the mattress in and out....since the rear bulkhead will only extend down to the counter, not to the floor.