"TrailTop" modular trailer topper building components

[jscherb]

Are any of these ever going to be available

I haven't decided yet. Two companies are interested in marketing the TrailTop parts, I'm just not sure yet if there would be enough people interested in building their own campers, etc., using TrailTop parts to make it worthwhile to work with one or both of these companies to turn the parts into commercial products.

 

[jonnyquest]

I hope you proceed. I really want a tear drop trailer behind my Nissan Pathfinder. Doable with or without your concept. But your concept makes it easier, lighter, and cheaper.

 

[lqdchkn]

I haven't decided yet. Two companies are interested in marketing the TrailTop parts, I'm just not sure yet if there would be enough people interested in building their own campers, etc., using TrailTop parts to make it worthwhile to work with one or both of these companies to turn the parts into commercial products.

Whats to decide? Pick the better deal for you, between the two companies and let them worry about the customer base. If they can't step up and hustle the product why would you care? Some $$$ is better than no $$$ isn't it?


***EDIT*** Jeff, I mean the above only rhetorically, please dont think you need to explain yourself but I just wanted to throw out my perceived opinion on why wouldn't one want to allow it to be made available.

 

[jscherb]

A few more views of what a TrailTop tilt-up camper might look like on my yellow trailer. The guy laying down is about 6'2".

My trailer is 7' 5" long, if you built a Dinoot tub trailer as a base for this camper the standard Dinoot sizes are 6' 6" and 8' 3".

 

[jscherb]

Whats to decide? Pick the better deal for you, between the two companies and let them worry about the customer base. If they can't step up and hustle the product why would you care? Some $$$ is better than no $$$ isn't it?


***EDIT*** Jeff, I mean the above only rhetorically, please dont think you need to explain yourself but I just wanted to throw out my perceived opinion on why wouldn't one want to allow it to be made available.

Making the TrailTop stuff available commercially would almost certainly involve more work for me than just telling a company "Come pick up the TrailTop mold masters and you're on your own getting them to market."

 

[lqdchkn]

Making the TrailTop stuff available commercially would almost certainly involve more work for me than just telling a company "Come pick up the TrailTop mold masters and you're on your own getting them to market."

Ahhh ha. I suppose that's what we (I know definitely myself) didn't necessarily understand.

 

[screwball48]

Of interest to me is the chuck wagon version of the trail top. It would serve not only as a trailer for camping but also as a trailer that I could use for vacations and family trips. One thing that constantly bothers me on these trips is the fact that the back of either mine or my wife's 4 runners are overfull to the point I feel it is a safety issue with my young twins in the back seat. I understand that myself and others on here have no idea what is involved in developing these items and bringing them to commercial market. This design is one that I feel is solid and also aesthetically pleasing enough that my wife would approve of it (as long as I don't "redneck it up"). The modularity of this design does not end with the possible configurations but also the multiple uses of each design. I am unable to commit to a budget or even a timeline for a trailer at this time but would like to see these products brought to market. If the decision is made to not produce them then thank you for all the time you have committed to this project just in sharing your work with us.

 

[jscherb]

Of interest to me is the chuck wagon version of the trail top. It would serve not only as a trailer for camping but also as a trailer that I could use for vacations and family trips. One thing that constantly bothers me on these trips is the fact that the back of either mine or my wife's 4 runners are overfull to the point I feel it is a safety issue with my young twins in the back seat. I understand that myself and others on here have no idea what is involved in developing these items and bringing them to commercial market. This design is one that I feel is solid and also aesthetically pleasing enough that my wife would approve of it (as long as I don't "redneck it up"). The modularity of this design does not end with the possible configurations but also the multiple uses of each design. I am unable to commit to a budget or even a timeline for a trailer at this time but would like to see these products brought to market.

The chuck wagon/cargo/tent platform top was one of the earliest concepts I drew when I was first designing the TrailTop system. It seemed to me to be a perfect way to increase the utility of a simple Jeep-tub trailer like the Dinoot kit. These drawings are from last summer:

I made the mold and molded the 90-degree corners that are used in that design way back in October of last year as a first test of the concept of the TrailTop framing pieces, here's the very first part out of the mold:

I'm actually going to be working with those earliest molded pieces today, stay tuned for some step-by-step photos...

If the decision is made to not produce them then thank you for all the time you have committed to this project just in sharing your work with us.

Everyone who has added their comments, suggestions and criticisms to this thread has added to the design. Without everyone's input I'm sure I wouldn't have developed all the different TrailTop ideas, concepts and parts that you've seen in this thread, so thank you everyone for the participation in the project so far, and please keep the input and questions coming!

 

[jscherb]

Here's another chuck wagon type concept I did way back in 2011 when I was doing the project that became the Dinoot trailer tub kit:

This was way before I came up with the TrailTop idea; in this case, the storage module would be a second set of Dinoot tub panels stacked on top of the main tub.

 

[jscherb]

I've been busy with a few other projects so I haven't had time to begin the assembly of the TrailTop proof-of-concept #2 until now. Here's some of the assembly steps.

First I needed to trim the as-molded corners to remove the bottom flange. The corners have flanges on all sides so they can be used in any corner situation, but for the simple hard cover, a flange on the bottom isn't necessary. In this photo, the corner on the left is as-molded, the center one is trimmed for this application, and on the right is the scrap that was trimmed off. It's a handy scrap to hang on to because it can serve as a joiner piece in the event two straight pieces need to be joined into a longer piece. (BTW if you were building a chuck wagon top as pictured earlier today you'd leave the bottom flange in place, the vertical framing pieces would attach there).

Next, test-fitting the corner on the tub. A little bit of sanding was required on inside of the bottom where the flange was trimmed off to make the corner fit precisely.

Next I'm test-fitting a straight section so I can mark the correct length.

With the straight section cut to length, I trimmed the tabs so the straight butted perfectly to the corners. Here it is on the bench temporarily held together with clamps and masking tape:

And sitting in place on the tub for a test fit before a little final trimming for a perfect fit.

After doing a little final trimming, the parts will be ready to bond together. I'll make a second end piece identical to this one, and once that's done I can trim straight sections to the proper length to fit the sides and then bond everything together into a completed frame.

 

[jscherb]

The two end pieces ready to bond together.

Once they're bonded I'll trim to straight pieces for the sides and bond them to the ends to form the complete frame.

 

[jscherb]

When I assembled the TrailTop parts to make the proof-of-concept Teardrop, I bonded the fiberglass parts together with auto body filler. The body filler worked great - it's inexpensive, cures quickly and it's gap-filling. But this being the second proof-of-concept, I decided to bond the parts together a different way to test another method. This time I'm using fiberglass - I put two layers of 1.5 oz. fiberglass mat saturated with polyester resin in the joints, clamped the joints, and I'll let it cure overnight. Here are a few photos.

Fiberglass mat in place and saturated with resin:

I applied the resin with a brush until the fiberglass was well saturated, and then clamped the joint together. Any resin that oozed out was wiped off with a paper towel with a little acetone on it.

This will make a very strong joint, but it's got to cure overnight.

Next up: cutting the side pieces to length and bonding everything together into the complete frame.

 

[jscherb]

I disassembled the teardrop this morning because I need the yellow trailer for the second proof-of-concept build. In the process I made this disassembly anim:

 

[jscherb]

Here's the "kit" of parts for the teardrop:

And running the animation in the other direction, it's an assembly anim .

 

[jscherb]

Test fitting one of the hard cover end rails I bonded the other day:

It needs a little trimming along the edges for a perfect fit, but for a first test fit it's pretty much there.

I then fit the other end rail, and trimmed two side rails to complete the frame. Here's everything clamped
together:

Next I'll do some final fitting/trimming and bond the sides to the ends, using the same fiberglass technique I used to bond the end rails together.