"TrailTop" modular trailer topper building components

[jscherb]

I shot the gelcoat on the parts I'm molding today about 90 minutes ago; it usually takes gelcoat about 2 hours to cure to the proper point where it's ready for the fiberglass layup to begin. So I'm killing time with drawing again, here's a concept similar to the previous concept with the 36" radius curved bottoms, this one's a little more rectangular.

This one could also have a galley in the back similar to a teardrop galley. The curve in the hatch would be made from on of the fiberglass 12" radius skin sections that I just made the mold for. Here's how the hatch would open:

The door on this one is a 20"-wide x 42"-high unit I found on eBay.

 

[jscherb]

Today I molded the teardrop hatch ribs and a 12" radius skin section. The part on the left is actually 2 ribs, they get molded as one piece and then cut into two ribs after they come out of the mold.

Tomorrow these parts will come out of the molds and I'll begin trying them out on the proof-of-concept build.

 

[dcollier32]

Still anxious to see the end results...

 

[jscherb]

Fresh out of the molds; the parts I molded yesterday. I've trimmed the sharp edges off but they're still a little greenish because I haven't washed the mold release off yet.

In this next photo I've roughly marked where the rib molding will be cut to yields identical right and left ribs:

And here I'm doing a quick test-fit of the 12" radius skin piece... I haven't trimmed it to length yet, but it fits very well. You can see how all of the rest of the skin pieces will be simple flat plywood (well, except for the hatch, but that's where the curved ribs should make things easy).

Looks just like the concept drawing I did a week or so ago (except the concept part isn't greenish with mold release ).

By lunchtime today the forecast calls for the temperature to be above freezing, so before I go much further I think I'll be able to use the hose outside and finally wash the mold release off all of the parts. More photos to come...

Another concept drawing from a week or so ago showing the flat plywood side panels in place:

 

[jscherb]

Still anxious to see the end results...

I'm getting there .

Doing the initial design and development work on new fiberglass parts is a bit of work, I haven't posted all of the steps but hopefully I've shown enough of the steps so people can see what's involved. I've got to design the parts, make the mold masters, put a nice finish on them, prep them for molding, make the molds, trim and prep the molds to make parts, mold the parts, trim the parts... then I can finally assemble the parts.

But, once the parts are done, assembling them into a camper shell will be much quicker than building a camper from scratch .

 

[dcollier32]

Well I must say you are doing a great job my friend... :cheers:

 

[jscherb]

I've trimmed the curved skin panel to length and clamped it in place. It only took about 10 minutes to trim it. To compare that to the framework+curved plywood method of doing it from scratch, it took me the better part of a day to make the framework and do the plywood curving to make the mold master for this part. The fiberglass part offers a huge savings in time and effort to build a curve like this. It's also quite a bit lighter, since it doesn't need a curved framework to support it.

The only section the builder has to curve is the rear hatch; using the fiberglass curved ribs that should be fairly easy. Stay tuned for that.

Of course if you were building something like the "bread loaf" shape below, all of the panels would be flat, there would be nothing to curve...

The mercury is nearing the freezing point, so the next thing I'll be doing is washing the mold release off everything. Photos of the clean parts assembled later today.

 

[jscherb]

Well I must say you are doing a great job my friend... :cheers:

Thank you very much!

 

[jscherb]

Some photos of the assembled parts, finally with the mold release washed off so they're nice white fiberglass...

 

[bonomonster]

How about a straight piece so that multiple sheets of 4x8 plywood can be joined for larger trailer sizes. I drew a line through a previous diagram trying to show what I mean. For this instance let's pretend the trailer was 8' long and 6' tall. The distance could be split so that sheets larger than 4x8 wouldn't be needed.

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[bonomonster]

The extra straight pieces could easily be used on the sides and roofs of smaller trailers to increase structural stability.

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[ajmaudio]

Here you go...

Looks Like the Sawtooth I brought up is quite popular.. does look good!

 

[summerprophet]

How about a straight piece so that multiple sheets of 4x8 plywood can be joined for larger trailer sizes. I drew a line through a previous diagram trying to show what I mean. For this instance let's pretend the trailer was 8' long and 6' tall. The distance could be split so that sheets larger than 4x8 wouldn't be needed.

If you can't figure out how to butt join two pieces of plywood together, I am guessing assembling a trailer (even from a kit) may be over your head. Tongue and groove with glue, wood backing, aluminum 'H' Channel, or multi-sheet lamination are all viable means to achieve what you are looking for.

And while I am posting…..

Jeff, you do fantastic work, I have followed a number of your threads and am astounded by your craftsmanship. I seriously wish you were a guy that owed me favors.

 

[dcollier32]

Looks Like the Sawtooth I brought up is quite popular.. does look good!

Yes, it is... And I am wishing I had 1 right now also... I believe my trailer isn't going to do well on the trails, but this one should be awesome on the trails, it's got a lower center of gravity. :drool:

 

[grimbo]

If you can't figure out how to butt join two pieces of plywood together, I am guessing assembling a trailer (even from a kit) may be over your head. Tongue and groove with glue, wood backing, aluminum 'H' Channel, or multi-sheet lamination are all viable means to achieve what you are looking for.

And while I am posting…..

Jeff, you do fantastic work, I have followed a number of your threads and am astounded by your craftsmanship. I seriously wish you were a guy that owed me favors.

Yeah but then why would you buy the kit in the first place? The whole point of the kit is that it is easily adapted to various outcomes and the addition of a piece as described would be a nice addition to allow for the kit to be adapted for larger trailers etc