Optimized Winter Warrior O.W.W. OWW

[aggie79]

Thanks for reposting the drawings, Mike. I can see advantages to both.

I'm curious, Mike. What is the overall height opened and closed?

Good question, Mike. Garage clearance - height and length - plus shower and toilet are my design parameters.

Seems like a lot of work for a foot or two.

It does seem like a lot of work. That is why I rotate between these and a version of the Compact like yours, Mike. Accomodating a shower in the Compact is what trips me up.

Take care Mike and Mike,
Tom

[myoung]

Don't know about Alto but both of my WW are 77" when up and 60" when down. It is abit of work for just 2' but it sure does make a difference comfort wise. Being able to stand up to pull your pants up and having room to take wet clothes off where it is warm and dry is wonderful. Guess I'm getting old and soft.

Gary

Six-foot five-inches of interior height is quite a bit. Do you think it would make much difference to simply have a standee with the height you want and eliminate the extra pivoting section and possible weather/dust sealing issues the may be involved? The aerodynamic difference would be minimal, it would seem.

[RockyMountainTeardrops]

And I've concluded that an exterior membrane is a requirement for any RV. So that means I have to use either fiberglass with polyester resin, or canvas with glue or paint.

Is that the conclusion you guys are coming to also?

Mike...

Mike, polyester resin is not suitable to be used over plywood.
Boat building forum-Protecting plywood with polyester
A Google search will come up with many more examples.
I researched this pretty heavily when I was coming up with my design of the "Test Mule" and the only answer I found was using suitable core material, either PVC foam, urethane foam, or balsa.

[starleen2]

Don't know about Alto but both of my WW are 77" when up and 60" when down. It is abit of work for just 2' but it sure does make a difference comfort wise. Being able to stand up to pull your pants up and having room to take wet clothes off where it is warm and dry is wonderful. Guess I'm getting old and soft.

Gary

Six-foot five-inches of interior height is quite a bit. Do you think it would make much difference to simply have a standee with the height you want and eliminate the extra pivoting section and possible weather/dust sealing issues the may be involved? The aerodynamic difference would be minimal, it would seem.

it does make a difference - when towing the ladybug in the up position - you could "feel" the drag. The collapsible design also makes it garagable. The hinge and side seals were never an issue with the lady bug - similar design - Its first outing was towed two hours in a driving rain all the way to the campsite!

[bdosborn]

Don't know about Alto but both of my WW are 77" when up and 60" when down. It is abit of work for just 2' but it sure does make a difference comfort wise. Being able to stand up to pull your pants up and having room to take wet clothes off where it is warm and dry is wonderful. Guess I'm getting old and soft.

Gary

Six-foot five-inches of interior height is quite a bit. Do you think it would make much difference to simply have a standee with the height you want and eliminate the extra pivoting section and possible weather/dust sealing issues the may be involved? The aerodynamic difference would be minimal, it would seem.

it does make a difference - when towing the ladybug in the up position - you could "feel" the drag. The collapsible design also makes it garagable. The hinge and side seals were never an issue with the lady bug - similar design - Its first outing was towed two hours in a driving rain all the way to the campsite!

The pop up design is wonderful for us, for all the reasons given above. I'd build another one without giving is a second thought. FWIW, we have 72" from the floor to the roof in ours, which is plenty for us but Jean and I are both 5'6".

Bruce

[myoung]

it does make a difference - when towing the ladybug in the up position - you could "feel" the drag. The collapsible design also makes it garagable. The hinge and side seals were never an issue with the lady bug - similar design - Its first outing was towed two hours in a driving rain all the way to the campsite!

Certainly, fitting a trailer in a typical garage with an opening of about 82 inches makes sense and was the reason I opted for a pop-up. That said, I doubt that the rest of the configuration makes much of a difference at legal highway speeds. Intuition argues for a tapered rear section, but the reduction in turbulence doesn't amount to much worth bothering about unless you have a low-powered tow vehicle, I suppose. Beveling or rounding the top front edge helps, but most trailer designs have that feature without the extra contraptions involved in building a moveable shell.

Don't have a wind tunnel handy, but it would be interesting to see just how much drag decreases with the taper versus a square back or one with just a slight taper. If what you are looking for is a Kamm-effect tail, then the amount of taper need not be so great and the shape would be easier to achieve with fixed sides.

I'm 5'-8" and all it takes to stand up inside is a pop-up of six inches or so. That's pretty easy to do.

I suppose the aesthetic or artistic reasons count a great deal for the curves that most people prefer even on the larger, non-TD trailers.

There's something for every taste, which makes this such a wonderful activity. We all get to express ourselves thru our creations. That's terrific.

[RAYVILLIAN]

Mike when it comes to the aerodynamics I can only tell you what my experience is. With the old WW that had a round teardrop front end I got 14 to 16 m mpg with the new WW with a chisel nose I get 15 to 17 mpg over the same roads with the same tow vehicle. The old one was 5' wide and 5' high the new one is 6' wide and 5' high when top is down and the new one is 400 lbs heavier. The new one's nose is the same height as the back of the truck and is only 3' wide.
This is the only Pic I have of the two of them together.



Gary

[RAYVILLIAN]

Mike S
Have you ever considered boat upholstery material for the outside covering. Warpony and Darrin have used it on the tops of their woody's with good success and it's under $20 a yard

Gary

[mikeschn]

Okay, so if I go the fiberglass route, then one of these epoxies would work?

http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html

Mike...

[RAYVILLIAN]

Mike
Sorry but Trudy and I both have to work this week.

On the resin I went with Marine epoxy on the first WW.

Gary