Sb_Moto Overland camper build.

S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
So I wanted to contribute back to the community since I have received tons of help to this point from this forum. The idea came a while back when me and the girlfriend went on a trip to Tn, and spent 800+ in hotels over 4 days. We were not particularly happy with the hotels, and when I mentioned a trailer she lit up light a Christmas tree. I just bought a 2016 Tacoma TRD Sport so a large heavy trailer was not an option, and I wanted it to be able to go down some dirt roads/ trails without falling apart. Popups were too poorly built, utility trailers didn't have the clearance or design I wanted so I took it to the drawing board.

Step one was figuring out my design so I started with my known variables, and built from there. The truck is 71" high, 74" wide, and hub to hub is 65". I also wanted to skin with Aluminum, and since I only had access to 48" sheets I needed the roof to be 48". With 2 adults and a full size dog I wanted as much interior room as possible (Approx 65") . I also wanted to run the same tire and wheel as the truck. 265/70/17.

I looked at multiple axle options and opted for the Timbren Axle less 2000HD with long spindles. This put the inner frame and fender well 8" from the hub which cut the interior width down to 47 after the thickness of the walls. 47" wasn't wide enough for my liking so I decided to extend the walls/ recess the fender wells into the cabin. This gave me 64" of width up top around the arms and 47" around the torso area. The dog will sleep above our heads in the Vnose.

Frame material was set at 3x3 3/16 for main tongue with a 2.5"x2.5" 3/16 removable tongue for lock N roll, and 2" ball, and the main frame is 2x3" .120. The cabin will be 1"x1" .120 with aluminum skin .090 that will attach with 3m tape to prevent corrosion.

18 Gallon water tank under the trailer, tankless hot water heater for galley sink and external shower, 12v system for the lights/water pump/ vent fan, 110 shore power for AC/ Heat. I already have a Honda 2000 generator to run everything off of.

I spent countless hours mocking up various things, and getting the dims to workout for what I wanted. Figuring out the trailer tongue height compared to the truck height, axle placement, and various dimensions took forever it felt like. I will go a walk through on the axle placement in a couple days since I had some engineer buddies guide me on that to make it perfect.

Ok so enough of the rambling now onto the fun stuff! Time to build!

We started the frame build last night. We managed to get it within a 1/8" square with some persuasion. The Timbren setup allows for some adjustability so I am pretty confident that I can have it towing great. I am very happy with the outcome and it seems to be solid. I have bracing for the tongue to add and the outrigers for the wall to ride on. My goal this week is to get the axles mounted and the trailer rolling.

 
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S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
Tutorial on axle placement:

Step 1. Figure out the design. I would recommend to draw it all out on graphing paper so that you can accurately measure the distance from a known point.

Step 2. Bust out the ole trusty excel and start logging every piece of material, item, etc. You will want to know that items weight is. For steel, alum, etc. I would recommend getting the weight per inch. Then you can multiply it out by the length of the piece and get the total weight of that piece. You will need the distance from a known point (Tongue), and the weight of that piece. You can use www.metalsdepot.com as a guide for the weight for each piece.

So for instance the front cross member on my frame is 60" from the tongue. It is 2"x3" .120 wall so it weights 3.76 per ft or .31lbs/in. This piece is 64" long so that puts the weight at 19.84 lbs.

Then you take the 19.84 lbs x 60" = 1190.40. the 1190.40 is a moment based on the tongue position.

I would STRONGLY recommend that you make a spreadsheet to keep track of all of this. I started by just listing out the pieces of metal, hot water heater, water tank, etc. Then added the distance to tongue, then weight, etc..

Once you get it all listed out then get the total weight and the total Moments. You will divide total moment by total weight to get the COG (Center of Gravity).

Example: 105600 moments / 1200 total lbs = 88" from tongue for COG.

Now to calculate the actual axle placement: Take total weight- preferred tongue weight = axle weight.

Example: 1200 lbs - 200 lbs = 1000 lbs axle weight.

Now to get the Axle placement just take the total Moment/ Axle load to get the axle placement.

Example: 105600 Moment / 1000 lbs axle weight = 106" from the tongue.

I had all of this in excel, and played around with it to see what adding 100lbs 6" back vs 12" back would do. After playing around I decided to go ahead and mount the axle at 108" from the tongue for safety. It gives a big enough margin of error that I dont have to worry about 300lbs of tongue weight, or too little.

Also I did not take into account the wheel/ tire/ axle weight when computing this since it will not impact the "Balance" of the trailer".
 
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S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
Will do! I started mounting up the passenger side axle today. Going to grab some 1/4 plate to make the inner brace and use it in addition to the crossmember to support the tibren setup. They recommend to do one or the other, so why not go ahead and do both to minimize flexing right?

Tow truck pics.

Original plans for frame and shape.
The frame has changed some, but this gets you the general idea.

Here is a side profile of the main framing. It will vary some, but shows the basic profile.
 
Haf-E

Haf-E

Expedition Leader
Not looking much like a teardrop shape...

Sorry - just a pet-peeve of mine...
 
S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
Yea I called it based on the concept. Later I decided to change the subject, but can't figure out how to change it?
 
fireball

fireball

Explorer
I think the partially inset wheels is the way to go to give larger size and keep the overall track width inline with most vehicles. Nice design, I'll be following along to watching the execution!
 
S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
fireball said:
I think the partially inset wheels is the way to go to give larger size and keep the overall track width inline with most vehicles. Nice design, I'll be following along to watching the execution!
Click to expand...

To me it is the only way. I did not want to have a really wide trailer, but had to have more room that 48". I taped this layout off in the living room, and it seemed like there was enough room to sleep without being claustrophobic. Personally I feel like the main area that you need room is up by your head. I like to roll around, and arms fly all over the place so having room to do so is a plus!
 
S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
got a couple more hours into it tonight.

The axles are bolted in, and the crossmember cut for the Timbren setup. I still have to cut the 1/4" plate for the bracing inside the frame rail.

I also cut the removable 2.5"x2.5" 3/16 tongue. It fits like a glove!



 
S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
Picked up a standard 2" ball hitch at hf tonight and got that all setup. Grabbed a 6" led brake/ turn signal like this, but I am undecided on it. Thinking about putting them into the frame on the far outside. Worried a little about strength loss and damage if I was to back into a tree or something. I really don't want them in the body so anyone have ideas?

Here is the light in question.
http://m.harborfreight.com/6-inch-s...t-67064.html?utm_referrer=direct/not provided
 
S

Sb_Moto

Adventurer
Made some progress today!!

Took it out for a quick drive to see how it pulled. I was pleased to find that is seemed to pull perfect. No noticeable wagging or anything out of the ordinary.




then i made the braces for the tongue, built the v nose, and started the side rails.


 
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