"TrailTop" modular trailer topper building components

[yj-hank]

Sounds good. Just keep me in mind. Really respect all work you are able to do both with your hands and your computer . Really loving all the teardrop style trailers you keep coming up with. Good luck to you on selling the idea. Amazing to have a mind like yours that is able to keep coming up with new ideas.

Henry

 

[jscherb]

A while back I came across a camper that I thought would make a great candidate for implementing with TrailTop parts. It's called the Daytona.

Specs for this trailer includes a 2000-lb. capacity frame with 5-on-4.5 bolt circle hubs (basically the same specs as the Harbor Freight 94564 1720-lb. capacity frame). The sleeping area is 58-1/2" wide x 77" long x 44" tall, which would fit very nicely on either that Harbor Freight frame or on a "Double Dinoot" Jeep-tub trailer.

The Daytona seems to be discontinued by the manufacturer, but the I think the price was about $5800, which was pretty much for the bare trailer - no real outfitting included.

Here's a similar design using TrailTop parts... the front curve could easily be implemented with TrailTop 36" radius parts; the top rear corners would be the 3.5" radius 90-degree parts.

The first drawing is on a Jeep-tub trailer. This Jeep-tub trailer is 7'5" long, so it's a little shorter than the 8' Daytona (or an 8'3" Double Dinoot Jeep-tub trailer).

And this one is on a base frame without a Jeep-tub:

Built on a Harbor Freight frame, and depending on your choice of siding, windows and doors, I think you could build a similar camper for roughly 1/4 of what the Daytona/Venice cost when they were available.

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Project update: after a two-week unplanned delay, I'm now back at home, so tomorrow I plan to mold the first set of prototype TrailTop parts. I'll be making a 12" curve, a 36" curve and an 8' straight section, which is more than enough to do one side of a teardrop. Photos tomorrow.

 

[jscherb]

Sounds good. Just keep me in mind. Really respect all work you are able to do both with your hands and your computer . Really loving all the teardrop style trailers you keep coming up with. Good luck to you on selling the idea. Amazing to have a mind like yours that is able to keep coming up with new ideas.

Henry

Henry,
Thanks for the kind words. You know what, a lot of the new ideas are spawned out of questions and discussion in threads like this - posting lots of details and people questioning what I'm doing and commenting/criticizing adds a lot of new ideas and value to the process.
jeff

 

[ajmaudio]

It's not exactly identical to the Sawtooth you linked to (inset left below), but here's something you could do with TrailTop 30, 60 and 90 degree parts. The side door is available on eBay, I grabbed the image from an auction for the door.

Thanks very much for taking the time to draw that up... I'm thinking the rear with those angle options might not be a great use of space.. however turning the entire thing around might actually workout good and look decent. Would it bee too much to ask to redraw flipped around? Once again I appreciate your time!

 

[jscherb]

Thanks very much for taking the time to draw that up... I'm thinking the rear with those angle options might not be a great use of space.. however turning the entire thing around might actually workout good and look decent. Would it bee too much to ask to redraw flipped around? Once again I appreciate your time!

Sure, no problem:

 

[jscherb]

I molded a bunch of TrailTop parts today, here they are curing in the molds. A 36" curve and an 8' straight section:

And a 12" curved section:

Tomorrow morning I'll pop them out of the molds, trim up the ragged edges, and mock them up into a teardrop shape.

 

[ajmaudio]

Sure, no problem:

that actually looks like it would work rather well! Thoughts? thanks again

 

[jscherb]

that actually looks like it would work rather well! Thoughts? thanks again

It's certainly very buildable with TrailTop parts. You might consider eliminating the front bottom angle, it seems to me that angle does nothing except reduce the usable sleeping area, and also makes it a little awkward for storage on the tongue. How about this?

 

[jscherb]

Here are a few photos of the first TrailTop parts immediately after I popped them out of the molds this morning. They're not trimmed yet, nor is the mold release washed off, so they're slightly greenish.

This morning I'll trim them and test fit them together into a teardrop shape.

 

[jscherb]

Test fitting the 12" radius corner to a straight piece (sorry the photo is slightly overexposed):

Parts roughly clamped together to form a teardrop side panel for my Jeep-tub trailer:

Don't mind that the parts aren't perfectly lined up in these photos, I haven't done the final fitting and trimming yet. These are just quick photos to show how things will go together.

 

[jscherb]

Trying out a 90-degree corner. Things haven't had final fitting and trimming yet, so the joints aren't perfect at this point.

I haven't trimmed the 90-degree corner at all, or the horizontal piece at right, these quick shots are just to give a rough idea of how things go together.

 

[lqdchkn]

kewl

 

[jscherb]

Trying the parts on my yellow Jeep-tub trailer outside in the cold... I haven't trimmed the parts to the precise length to fit on this tub yet, so the assembly is a little long still.

The parts are ever so slightly greenish because I haven't washed the water-based PVA mold release off yet. Usually I do that with the hose outside, you can see from the photo above why I don't have the hose going today.

Now in the warmth of the basement workshop, trying the parts on the Dinoot fiberglass Jeep-tub trailer. This tub is exactly the same length as the yellow trailer, so I can do all of my work in the nice warm workshop, and anything I do will also fit perfectly on the yellow trailer.

If you're wondering about some of the dimensions... this tub is 7' 5" long. These particular TrailTop parts are 36" high, so with the tub floor-rim height of about 16", the headroom would be 52". I'm 6'6" BTW, so the trailer may look a little small next to me, but I could sleep just fine in a 7'5" camper.

A "Double Dinoot" Jeep-tub at 8'3", or building it 8'7" without a Jeep-tub on an 8' Harbor Freight frame, would be perfect.

Tomorrow I'll be molding another set of parts for the other side.

 

[mhiscox]

Thanks for posting this, as well as all the previous drawings and photos. All of us really appreciate you sharing your considerable time and expertise with us.

 

[java]

Great work. Ive been lurking in this thread for a while. Honestly I think that if you made these pars your would sell a ton of them. It seems like a great way to get people who aren't quite all the way comfortable with building a TD to do it. It seems to make it so simple!