A Moment From Any Current Manufacturers or Business Minded

[chuckburt28]

My ultimate dream is to walk through trailers that I have designed and take them camping. A huge plus would be to make money from this as well. I have designed 6 so far on Google Sketchup, and I'm sure there’s more to come. This is what I enjoy to say the least.

My best idea so far, but looking for thoughts, would be to find a manufacturer willing to build one of these, pay for the custom build, then "buy in" so that I receive a profit percentage. If it works out, I would have other designs built as well. Anyone else here in the depths of this industry and have any suggestions? Is this crazy? Any idea how much $? If it doesn't work out, I still have the custom trailer I wanted built in the first place.

Here is the one I would start with. I am not an engineer, just a serious enthusiast. Is this a terrible design?

https://app.sketchup.com/share/tc/n...zGNqtReS46RlQQmfNVzh8CKXAYW6tnjjaF&source=web


I have posted this trailer recently in here, but wanted to keep this post more concise. You'll need a basic understanding of SketchUp to manipulate this and see it from all angles. This is not a final design, just a very detailed idea.

 

[86scotty]

Linky no worky. I just get a revolving logo of some kind.

 

[chuckburt28]

Linky no worky. I just get a revolving logo of some kind.

Unfortunately it's a bit large. My phone took 28 seconds to load it

 

[chuckburt28]

Posted some pictures in case the Sketchup link doesn't work.

 

[ExpoMike]

Nice but where's the bed?

 

[Victorian]

At first glance I see that you will have too much weight behind the axle. In this configuration it will be dangerous to drive.
watch

 

[chuckburt28]

Nice but where's the bed?

Thanks for taking a look. I am imagining having 2 folding (lengthwise) twin beds that could act as a dinette along the sides, but fold out to meet in the middle to make a king size bed. Basically, teardrop in the front, necessary stuff in the back.

 

[chuckburt28]

At first glance I see that you will have too much weight behind the axle. In this configuration it will be dangerous to drive.
watch

This is a good point. I do realize there is a lot back there. I am imagining this to all be aluminum to keep the weight down. I can certainly be proved wrong easily since I'm not an engineer, but I thought I might be able to overlook this since most teardrops have almost everything out behind the wheels as well. This isn't all that much bigger than a teardrop and I am hoping for the batteries and a bunch of storage up front to counteract that a little. There could also be a spare tire and propane up front as well. You are right, there is a lot out back, but I tried to cut down on what was back there. Portable toilet, small-ish fridge, aluminum framing on everything. Do you still think it's salvageable with modifications or do you feel strongly this wouldn't work?

 

[Obsessed2findARuggedHybid]

Have you looked at WeeRoll trailers. Your design reminds me of them.

 

[chuckburt28]

Have you looked at WeeRoll trailers. Your design reminds me of them.

I have to admit that I have. They no longer sell the models that look similar to this, and they also only sell basically shells. I would rather not buy a shell and have to rip out walls and do all that work. I would rather design, not build. They also mention they don't build interiors. I do love how light they are, and they do have a 9 ft squaredrop I could maybe build out myself, but that doesn't sound appealing to me.

 

[Uncle Jeffy]

Why the lower roof at the front? Teardrops offset the lack of a stand-up interior with a lower overall height, but that is lost in this design. Looks cool, but you adding a disadvantage without the offsetting benefit.

Also, what is the track width? the outboard wheels might allow the axle to be moved rearwards to better manage tongue weight, and improve interior space, but the extra width might reduce off-pavement ability.

 

[chuckburt28]

Yeah, I am seriously thinking about moving the wheels back, I think that would be best. My Colorado has a payload of 1488, so I try to keep tongue weight down, but what I have here might be a bit tongue light.

Another thing I should mention is that my design is probably geared more towards those in between usual Camping World trailers and the Overlanding crowd. I don't feel comfortable totally in either category, and would like a few more amenities, but also love the rugged looks and abilities that overlanding trailers provide. I'd love to go off grid and on unpaved roads, but I doubt I'd take it on difficult trails. I'd love to take all that with me, but have it be tiny and lightweight. I'm trying to find that niche of "I want it to feel like a rugged squaredrop but have more inside-ability."

On top of that, I somewhat perhaps childishly want that rugged military survival spaceship feel that I've grown up with in so many science fiction movies. There are tons of examples, but let's take the Millenium Falcon. I don't know the right phrase, but it was Han's backpack, his stalion, his Knight Rider Kitt car, what's the phrase I'm needing here? It needs to look as cool as it functions. I am hoping for a little weight reduction by having the lower front roof, but ultimately looks are a big deal to me as well. There is no wood in any of the functional science fiction vehicles I can think of, and it feels like it takes away from the vibe if there's wood in these types of trailers. Sorry for the nerd out, just giving you a bigger picture.

Yes, it does lose some functionality with this shape, but I'm hoping with some off road suspension and everything placed in the best possible areas, maybe it can keep some of its off road use, even if there would be better off road trailers out there. I'm more interested in off-grid than off road anyway. I probably threw you off with the title of the trailer.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Tanks and batteries/ systems in the front would help with all the weight in the rear. You also have to run longer power and water lines. Keep in mind water is 8.5/ibs gallon.

The sketch up work looks good. Just some risk management thoughts.

 

[chuckburt28]

Tanks and batteries/ systems in the front would help with all the weight in the rear. You also have to run longer power and water lines. Keep in mind water is 8.5/ibs gallon.

The sketch up work looks good. Just some risk management thoughts.

Yes, the tank will be right above the axle once I move the wheels back a bit, and the gray tank can be moved up front. The battery, propane, zero breeze, and spare can be up front. The water tank is only 12.79 gallons, so that should equal 106 lbs when full.

 

[ExpoMike]

I'll add, from the years of overland camping and talking to a lot of people, plus reading/watching videos of a LOT of camper/trailer builds, one of the biggest things people regret is not having a permanent bed setup. Having to setup and take down bed daily, gets tiring very quickly. This is why teardrops work, as they are always "up". Sure it sounds like not that big of a deal until you're doing it. Just something to think about.