teardrop toy hauler

[sumo]

It has been a while but i got a chance wo work on the camper a little this weekend. Got the roof hinge inplace and the lift sippors made. Goint to add some camo canvas or some solid colored vinyl.

[sumo]

I ordered some true timber camo 100% polyester material to inclose the roof section. I ended up moving the roof hinge to the fornt. Here are a few color ideas. Anyone ever painted FRP board, if so what paint did you use. I am thinking of using Krylon Fusion.

[sumo]

or black

[KCStudly]

The dark color looks better in the illustration, but may be harder to make look good in real life. Will also attract heat in the sun.

$.02

[sumo]

That is a good point. I am mainly concerned about the paint sticking to the frp board.

[DougH]

Not sure which paint to use but how about a two tone color scheme. Maybe dark green on the bottom half and white on the top half?

[sumo]

Got a little work done. I put the aluminum on the pop up top. My plan was to make a swing out roof rack to be used as the frame work for the awning but Santa brought me a 10 x 10 camo canopy so I decided to modify a rack that I alread had laying around . I will attach it directly to the pop top so that it moves with the top. This should also add to the strength of the pop top.

[RandyG]

Nice build! How's the inside coming?

[sumo]

I dont have alot done on the inside . I have the frame work for the bed and frig in place but that is about all.

[sumo]

Well.after alot of changed plans i decided to try to attach the old pop up canvas to the top. I think that it is going to work good.
I hope that after it gets hot that it will straighten out. I also have to clean it up.

[Martiangod]

Its fun makein something old work in a new buid, bravo. What kind of climate you think you will be camping in, that may help deciding light or dark on colour scheme

[sumo]

I live in south western virginia and probably only will be using this to camp on fishing/hunting trips and ATV trips. I wont me camping in very cold weather. Probably will usen it mainily spring summer and fall. I have some small 4 x 6 boats that I build that i plan to carry on the front deck.

[sumo]

Another pic. I got the internal brackets made and put in place. The old canvas straightened out alot when the brackets were in place

[sumo]

I am looking for some feedback. When I started building this thing I kind of went at it without understanding really what I was doing. I have come to realize that the way I laid this out may cause a problem when it comes to towing it. A lot of the weight is near the rear of the trailer. I have come to realize this may cause the trailer to sway or track for left to right. Also adding the weight of my 700 lb. atv is going to be a stretch at best. So where does that leave me. As I see I have a few options I can move the camper forward on the trailer . But this caused a problem with the door and the wheel well. I can move it forward and move the door but that is going to be a lot of work. I thought of switching back to the smaller wider wheels that were originally on the camper and lifting the axel enough for the wheels to clear the frame so that the box could be moved forward without interfering with the door. and Finally I thought of simply rotating the box and leaving everything how it is. The only drawbacks I can see to this is I will lose my ability to haul the atv ( but as I said that was going to be a stretch anyway) but I can still carry 2 of my boats. This will also put my door on the left side and my hook ups on the right side. I will only have water and power hook ups. What do you thing. Here is what it should look like rotated and the roof modified.

[KCStudly]

Have you tried it the way it is now, with and without the ATV? Have you taken "corner" weights (each wheel and the tongue) both ways to see what the balance is?

I would do those things first before jumping to any conclusions and undertaking a major redo that may not be necessary. $.02