Sawtooth Unlimited - Off Road Pop Top Camper Trailer

[stomperxj]

This is unbelievably well thought out and put together. Inspiring stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Since this is an off road trailer, are there any concerns with the box being built directly onto the chassis, rather than built separately and then attached to the chassis with a mounting system? Truck campers seem to use mounting system - do they experience more flex in the chassis? Perhaps a stiff frame design and suspension means its not necessary?

I've seen some builds here that simply use heavy objects to weigh down the sandwich layers of a DIY composite FRP wall. How critical do you think the vacuum table is?

Thanks Jonny for the nice comments. This chassis is incredibly stiff compared to a pickup chassis. The other factor is that pickups twist due to having 4 contact points with the ground. Trailers only have 2 points of contact and pivot around the tow ball so even a lighter chassis would not flex at all like a truck chassis.

I have been reading about lamination and composite panel building for a few years and I think using weights to laminate panels works pretty good. Lots of people have done it. I just went a bit further with the vac table. If you use even pressure across the whole panel, even if it's only a few psi, you get great adhesion. I read a lot about fiberglass construction and vacuum bagging and that is the general consensus. I had a few air bubbles in the first few panels due to some mistakes I made while laminating but the rest of them have come out with very little air bubbles under the skin.

I guess there's a tradeoff. The vac table has about $500 in materials to build it. Sheets of plywood and buckets of water or sand would be a lot cheaper but that's a lot of labor (exercise) to set that up. I don't know that I gained a huge advantage by using a vac table but it was fun to build and satisfying to see it work as intended.

 

[Jonny_Rotten]

Thanks Jonny for the nice comments. This chassis is incredibly stiff compared to a pickup chassis. The other factor is that pickups twist due to having 4 contact points with the ground. Trailers only have 2 points of contact and pivot around the tow ball so even a lighter chassis would not flex at all like a truck chassis.

Of course. This makes absolute sense. Thanks for the response.

 

[Terra Ops]

Just found your build, excellent documentation! Guess you had the FRP shipped or did you find it locally? Does the Teroson have superior quality over the Sikaflex? And lastly, do you think the Soller epoxy was the best adhesive for the panels? Mine have held up great, just getting some chatter on my thread. Thanks for the vids, they really took me back to 2017 when I started. Time to get her done

 

[stomperxj]

Just found your build, excellent documentation! Guess you had the FRP shipped or did you find it locally? Does the Teroson have superior quality over the Sikaflex? And lastly, do you think the Soller epoxy was the best adhesive for the panels? Mine have held up great, just getting some chatter on my thread. Thanks for the vids, they really took me back to 2017 when I started. Time to get her done

Thanks Terra - Yes I had an entire roll of FRP shipped to me. The would only ship if I bought a 200ft roll of it. That was a bit of a fiasco in itself. The roll got damaged in transit and they shipped me the wrong product on top of that. They sent meG300 instead of G400. I ended up getting a partial refund for the damage and the incorrect product. I should have pushed them to get me the right stuff but I was too nice and wanted to get started with lamination.

The Teroson is unbelievably strong stuff. Styromax has a video on FB showcasing the strength. I tried to link it but it didn't work. You can search Styromax and find it pretty easy.

I'm a bit torn on the Soller epoxy. It has great adhesion but for laminated panels like this I think it's slightly on the brittle side. I think something that cured just a tad softer would be a little better but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Once all the panels are glued in place it will be pretty bomb proof with the Teroson.

Your thread was a huge help in pushing me over the threshold to get started and giving me confidence I could do this myself. I appreciate you posting all of your pics and info. It is greatly appreciated

 

[Terra Ops]

Thanks Terra - Yes I had an entire roll of FRP shipped to me. The would only ship if I bought a 200ft roll of it. That was a bit of a fiasco in itself. The roll got damaged in transit and they shipped me the wrong product on top of that. They sent meG300 instead of G400. I ended up getting a partial refund for the damage and the incorrect product. I should have pushed them to get me the right stuff but I was too nice and wanted to get started with lamination.

The Teroson is unbelievably strong stuff. Styromax has a video on FB showcasing the strength. I tried to link it but it didn't work. You can search Styromax and find it pretty easy.

I'm a bit torn on the Soller epoxy. It has great adhesion but for laminated panels like this I think it's slightly on the brittle side. I think something that cured just a tad softer would be a little better but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Once all the panels are glued in place it will be pretty bomb proof with the Teroson.

Your thread was a huge help in pushing me over the threshold to get started and giving me confidence I could do this myself. I appreciate you posting all of your pics and info. It is greatly appreciated

Yeah, once the panels come together its definitely solid. I hear what your saying about a softer bond, but I wonder if that would result in less rigidity/strength. One thing that impressed me with the epoxy/frp/foam board, was the ability to have the cabover floor strong enough for sleeping without flexing. And no reinforcement in the panel.
Glad my thread helped. I think once people see the steps, its not that overwhelming.

 

[stomperxj]

Got some work done this past weekend. I got a wall installed!


Used tape for clean adhesive lines on visible corners. I was sloppy on non-visible corners and under the angle supports. Hopefully more panels glued on next weekend. Video link at the bottom

 

[ITTOG]

Looking good and thanks for sharing with us.

Is that a new riviting gun? If yes, what is the brand/model.

 

[stomperxj]

Looking good and thanks for sharing with us.

Is that a new riviting gun? If yes, what is the brand/model.

Thanks

I've had this one for awhile. Works great for the price. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002GQ51Y6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a new one that will be here tomorrow that has a low profile head. I have a few tight spots I need to get into: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0796JZF7X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Harbor Freight gun is getting smashed with a hammer and set on fire

 

[Terra Ops]

Starting to shape up!
I watched a few of those Styromax vids, didn't realize they used the Teroson to bond the corners instead of L angle.
Have you tried using the Teroson to make a test panel instead of epoxy? Is it viable?

 

[stomperxj]

Starting to shape up!
I watched a few of those Styromax vids, didn't realize they used the Teroson to bond the corners instead of L angle.
Have you tried using the Teroson to make a test panel instead of epoxy? Is it viable?

Thanks

Yes Styro relies solely on the Teroson for panel joins. I am paranoid so you can see I am using 18ga steel and pop rivets everywhere. I haven't done a test panel with the Teroson. It is pretty thick so spreading it out would be a chore I think. Not sure how it would work but maybe I'll do a small panel just to see. The Teroson is about the consistency of toothpaste

 

[ITTOG]

Thanks

I've had this one for awhile. Works great for the price. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002GQ51Y6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a new one that will be here tomorrow that has a low profile head. I have a few tight spots I need to get into: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0796JZF7X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Harbor Freight gun is getting smashed with a hammer and set on fire

Thanks. I haven't decided for sure but may use rivits on my build and the tool can sometimes be as cool as the build. Make sure you film the demolition of the HF gun for us.

Are you using terosen MS 939?

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[stomperxj]

Are you using terosen MS 939?

I love buying tools that actually work well.

Yes. Purchased from https://www.rshughes.com/

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

A couple of pounds of tannerite will launch it into orbit in little bits and pieces.

And the wife wonders how I am going to clear 20 acres of tree stumps.

 

[ITTOG]

A couple of pounds of tannerite will launch it into orbit in little bits and pieces.

And the wife wonders how I am going to clear 20 acres of tree stumps.

Given your username clearing that land could be fun video.

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[Hillbilly Heaven]

Given your username clearing that land could be fun video.

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Throw a little redneck into it and look out.