"TrailTop" modular trailer topper building components

[jscherb]

Nice stuff! Thanks for posting.

I've drawn up similar ideas to this one below --- with drawers that open and slide out to the side of the trailer under the bed.

Thanks! We think alike - here's are a few concepts I did very early in the design process that has a kitchen in a drawer; it fits under the floor.

I've got a few more "fleshed out" concepts showing the kitchen in a drawer, water storage, a place for the battery, propane tanks, etc., I can dig up those drawing and post them if people are interested.

 

[Hilldweller]

My design had the kitchen in back under the lid but it was a slide out too. Batteries on the tongue. The side drawers were for chairs or other whatnots. I also drew it up with just an access door.

Your modular approach is neat.
What ever happened to the Safari Cab? I don't have a Jeep anymore but I think that it would be a big hit for JK Unlimiteds...

 

[jscherb]

My design had the kitchen in back under the lid but it was a slide out too. Batteries on the tongue. The side drawers were for chairs or other whatnots. I also drew it up with just an access door.

Your modular approach is neat.

Before I came up with the TrailTop modular component design, I drew the one below. I was experimenting with a lot of ideas before I came up with the TrailTop stuff. This one's on a Jeep tub trailer too, and the kitchen would slide out of the tailgate opening.

What ever happened to the Safari Cab? I don't have a Jeep anymore but I think that it would be a big hit for JK Unlimiteds...

Mine is still on top of the LJ ...

I've done a design for a JK version of the hardtop, but since I don't currently have a JK, I haven't built it. The JK design has the same features as the TJ/LJ version, things like swappable hard sides/roll up side curtains, rear barn door, ability to support a roof-top tent, etc., but the lines are a bit more angular to better integrate with the styling of the JK. I've never posted any drawings of the JK design because I don't want to give it away until I start building it .

 

[lqdchkn]

This is a tad off topic but your PM box is full so I'm posting here.

So post #13 was obviously replying to my post on tventuring. In my tracking of the Dinoot on tventuring I had gotten the impression that Scott was the designer since he was posting all the designs. Are you the real guy behind Scott? Seriously I've had my eye on this concept for a while and would love to see something come to market so I can understand price range and practical feasibility for myself.

P.S. Barn door style is the best.

 

[jscherb]

This is a tad off topic but your PM box is full so I'm posting here.

Yes, my PM box fills up too fast, so if people want to contact me privately, the same menu you pull down to send a PM offers you the option of sending me an email, so that's the best way to reach me.

So post #13 was obviously replying to my post on tventuring. In my tracking of the Dinoot on tventuring I had gotten the impression that Scott was the designer since he was posting all the designs. Are you the real guy behind Scott? Seriously I've had my eye on this concept for a while and would love to see something come to market so I can understand price range and practical feasibility for myself.

I did the drawings in that thread on tventuring. Initially, Scott was borrowing my early concept drawings from my personal design project, and as he developed his ideas further, he asked me to do some drawings specifically for him, which resulted in the "Dinoot TRK" drawings in that thread. Dinoot TRK is Scott's design, and I was just doing the drawings for him as a favor. Once he got drawings he liked from me of his Dinoot TRK design, I went on with my personal design project, which is the TrailTop modular part set.

As for me being the "real guy behind Scott", no that's not the case at all. Scott's a very experienced and expert camper and business man, the last thing he needs is me "behind him" . True, the Dinoot j-series Jeep-tub trailer and the m-series military trailer are my designs, but I did them as personal hobby projects before he licensed them from me.

P.S. Barn door style is the best.

That's one of the nice things about the TrailTop design, the parts can be used to build a Teardrop, a rectangular camper with a rear barn door, or many other things .

Seriously I've had my eye on this concept for a while and would love to see something come to market so I can understand price range and practical feasibility for myself.

What specifically is it about practical feasibility and price range you're trying to understand, maybe I can help?

 

[jscherb]

I'm almost ready to make the molds for the main TrailTop parts, here are the mold masters just after I shot them this morning with high build primer.

The 12" radius corner:

The 8' straight rail stock (final part would be trimmed to whatever length needed):

And the 3' radius corner:

The mold masters have much larger flanges on them than the final part will have, that's to facilitate molding. Also, the final parts will have a flange on each side for the plywood sides/roof to attach to; these masters only have a flange on one side for the plywood. The reason for that is having both flanges on the mold master would lock the master into the mold that's going to be made from it, and similarly, having a mold with both flanges on it would lock the final part into the mold. So these will all be two-part molds, with a bolt-on form to make the second flange. I can provide more detail on the flanges and molding if anyone is interested in that level of detail.

 

[jscherb]

Another way to use the TrailTop parts... on the left is a cargo top, I've shown those before, but on the right is a lower version - it's a camp platform for a roof top tent, and a cargo box/chuck wagon. It would be built to come off the Jeep tub so the trailer could be used as an open cargo trailer when it's not being used as a camper.

This next drawing shows the TrailTop parts in white, and the plywood in tan; this is on a shorter Jeep-tub trailer than the drawing above:

Another concept drawing of a short Jeep-tub trailer with the RTT platform/chuck wagon top in place:

I'm interesting in your ideas for outfitting a camp trailer like this. What gear would you carry, what type of storage would be useful? I'll do some more concept drawings based on your input.

 

[lqdchkn]

What specifically is it about practical feasibility and price range you're trying to understand, maybe I can help?

Mostly component price range, work load to assemble, assumption of basic "non-kit" components and durability. ie cost of kit, plus time/materials to assemble for say a harbor freight trailer chassis, the basic total cost vs unit durability. For me this will determine if something like this will be cost effective and durable enough at the very basic level; or if I will want/need a upgraded chassis, whether that will still be cost effective; or whether I should just go with an all out "custom" off road trailer ie Aspen X Trails, etc.

What I really like about this concept though are the options.

 

[jscherb]

Mostly component price range, work load to assemble, assumption of basic "non-kit" components and durability. ie cost of kit, plus time/materials to assemble for say a harbor freight trailer chassis, the basic total cost vs unit durability. For me this will determine if something like this will be cost effective and durable enough at the very basic level; or if I will want/need a upgraded chassis, whether that will still be cost effective; or whether I should just go with an all out "custom" off road trailer ie Aspen X Trails, etc.

What I really like about this concept though are the options.

Because there are so many options with the TrailTop approach, it's hard to come up with one simple answer to what you're
looking for.

My design goal is to make it possible to build a 5x8 TrailTop Teardrop or "Box" Camper complete shell, ready to roll for $1500 on a basic frame trailer or $2500 on a Dinoot Jeep-tub trailer, in both cases using the Harbor Freight 94564 1720-lb. capacity 4x8 frame. The spend would increase if you decided you needed a custom welded frame. That cost target does not include outfitting for camping, it's the complete shell without outfitting.

You'd have to compare that to other options you might consider to decide if building a camper completely from scratch, doing a TrailTop-based camper, or buying one ready-made would be the right choice for your situation, budget and usage plans. Something like the least expensive Aspen X Trails Rock Pod runs in the neighborhood of $15,000 with a reasonable equipment list, but from my $1500/$2500 design target up to the $15,000 you'd spend on something like that there's loads of room for outfitting and enhancing a TrailTop/Dinoot-based camper and you could still come out way ahead financially.

 

[jscherb]

I finished up the TrailTop basic framing mold masters yesterday, here they are right after being shot with a final coat of white epoxy primer. The next step is to make molds from these.

 

[jscherb]

Another assembly simulation...

As I mentioned in a post the other day, until I make the molds for the parts in the previous post, the only TrailTop part I've made a mold for so far is the 90-degree corner. Here are a few photos of one of the molded corners.

In this next photo, one of the corners is just sitting on top of my Jeep-tub trailer, this shows how the radius of the corner matches the radius of the tub.

Four of those corners sitting on my workbench:

Here's how a simple TrailTop would go together using only those corners and straight pieces. Until I've got some straight pieces molded, I did some digital doodling to show how these parts would be used.

Straight pieces overlap the recessed flanges on the corners. They also have recessed flanges along their sides. (Obviously a real TrailTop would be larger than the 18" square these pieces are set up on the workbench to make in this example).

Four straight pieces complete the frame, then a piece of plywood goes in the recessed flanges:

Straight pieces also frame the sides and plywood is used there too (only one side shown below):

For teardrop or other shapes, the larger radius corners I'm about to mold would be used instead of these 90-degree corners.

 

[lqdchkn]

 

[bonomonster]

I love this design...... It goes right in line with a trailer design I've been piecing together..... Quick question though. If you're just designing as a hobby, do we have to hope a company will approach you about mass production so the rest of us can get our hands on these?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[jscherb]

I love this design...... It goes right in line with a trailer design I've been piecing together..... Quick question though. If you're just designing as a hobby, do we have to hope a company will approach you about mass production so the rest of us can get our hands on these?

Funny coincidence that you ask that question tonight... earlier today I received a phone call from a company that expressed interest. I told them that I was doing this as a "design experiment" hobby project, and that once I've molded some parts and assembled a prototype, I'd think about whether I might be interested in letting a company make this a commercial product or not.

For now though, I'm doing this as a hobby project with no plans other than to design and build the best and most flexible system of component parts I can. Speaking of that, I really appreciate all the feedback I've gotten already, so everyone please keep the comments, suggestions and criticisms coming - I really like to make my design projects interactive. I subscribe to the theory that "everyone is smarter than anyone", and I learn a lot every time I post my design ideas for comment. With all of your wisdom added to the design, maybe this will turn out to be something we'd all be proud to see become a commercial product.

 

[jscherb]

A few "x-ray" TrailTop concepts...

This first drawing shows a teardrop with a raised bed platform; there's storage underneath (more on that in a moment). This trailer is 8'3" long; the bed is 58" wide x 80" long, which is the same length and only 2" narrower than a standard queen bed.

Next is the same camper, the couple is sitting. There's about 42" of headroom, even with the raised bed platform. There's 18" of floor space in the back of the camper behind the bed where he's resting his feet.

This one is a "barn door" version instead of a teardrop. It uses a few different TrailTop framing parts than the teardrop and offers a little more room inside because of the boxy shape. It features a swinging rear "barn door".

This one is the same "barn door" version, but it's built without a Jeep-tub base. The TrailTop framing goes all the way to the floor. I've drawn "30's/40's style" fenders on this one, they're a favorite of mine (you'll see more about them as this thread progresses ). Because these are simplified x-ray views, it's a little hard to tell this one doesn't have a Jeep-tub base, but maybe the Wrangler flares on the previous concepts vs. 30's fenders on ths one will be the clue.

The teardrop version of course can also be built without a Jeep-tub base.

And finally, some outfitting ideas... storage under the sleeping platform is shown, including a pull-out kitchen, space for a battery and water tanks (those heavy items are just forward of the axle for good weight balance), and a large storage compartment under a fold-up section at the rear of the bed. On the tongue is a storage box, a propane tank for the stove in the pull-out kitchen, and a jerry can for fuel or water. Probably two jerry cans could be fitted there, one for water, one for fuel.

I'm sure you guys have better outfitting ideas than a camping amateur like me . Let's hear them - I'll do up some new concept drawings incorporating your ideas.