Family built trailer

[Kel Schwab]

The kids and I decided to build some sort of adventure trailer as a summer project. Many designs and budgetary design revisions later we came up with a teardrop concept on a 4x8 frame. Its actually the box other trailers come in lol.
So specs. around 1600#. 2000# axle, new everything from the frame out.
Camper is 1/8" plywood inside and outside laminated to rigid foam insulation.
Roof is covered with canvas, glued with Tightbond and water 50% mix, then 2x Tremclad primer and 3x Tremclad white.
Sides are primed and painted Tremclad on the plywood. Corners and rock guard are laminated with the canvas as well.
Galley in the back. Sleeping cabin in the middle, storage and power system in the nose.
40W solar panel, solar charge controller, battery and distribution system. 12v and USB outlets throughout, LED lighting. Can boon dock for 4 days without recharge, indefinitely if there is sun.
Solar water heater on roof - hold 20 litres, use bicycle air pump to pressurize the tank and we get warm water on demand.
My 3 youngest learned much about mechanics and carpentry this summer. we had a camp ready product in 4 weeks. Still more to do - finishing touches etc. but we had our shakedown cruise and it worked.

 

[Kel Schwab]

we started with a "handy man's" special, flatbed. Added new springs, new draw bar, camper stabbers, new wiring etc.

 

[Kel Schwab]

Rigid foam lamented to Luan plywood inside and out. Nice and light but very strong. cedar framing to keep weight down as well (and because i had a bunch of cedar in the wood pile) primed and sealed anywhere water could get in and accumulate. Hurricane straps bind camper frame to trailer frame - hopefully to stop camper from falling off. Roof is also laminated with foam, and a 1x2 every 12 inches. Strong enough to stand on.

 

[Kel Schwab]

Roof is covered with "poor man's fibreglass" Its a canvas painter's drop cloth, saturated with TightBond II glue, mixed 50/50 with water. stretched tight and stapled. Coated with glue again to soak the cotton cloth's fibres completely. Once dried and trimmed, primed and painted with Tremclad water based paint. It really holds up and not a single drip or leak anywhere.

 

[HankinWI]

I like it!! Gotta let us know how it holds up to some off-road rigors...

 

[W4P]

Gorgeous! What a great family project! Would paint alone work if thinned etc? Clarify..it's luan,foam,luan right? Seems like the perfect idea. Even a ding seems repairable? Jealous but inspired!!!

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[Kel Schwab]

Ok, funny story. On our shakedown cruise. the kids learned something about torquing the wheel lug nuts properly. I learned something about checking their work. Anyway, on our way up north, the drivers side wheel on the trailer decided to race ahead of us to Sudbury. Well, needless to say we bent the axle and destroyed the bearing/hub. We got the wheel back after a brief foot chase.
We spent the better part of the day at a truck rest stop doing repairs, watching ORNGE air ambulance land and take off for a patient transfer (prop wash blew our lunch away) and ultimately put the trailer on a u-haul and took it home in shame. Had a new axle on it in about 2 hrs and resumed the vacation. (the old axle was a little bent and under rated to begin with - so we took the opportunity to up-rate the springs, axles, shackles and bolts)

 

[Kel Schwab]

Gorgeous! What a great family project! Would paint alone work if thinned etc? Clarify..it's luan,foam,luan right? Seems like the perfect idea. Even a ding seems repairable? Jealous but inspired!!!

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I googled this and some tests had the paint not adhere to the wood as well and a glue base.

Yes, luan/foam/luan. used foam/paneling adhesive to laminate the layers. Construction adhesive on the framing members. Air nailed everything together so it'd cure flat.

 

[Roger352]

Great project the children may have learnt a lot but most of all had some great fun doing it I bet

 

[Kel Schwab]

Great project the children may have learnt a lot but most of all had some great fun doing it I bet

It was the first "big" thing they built
I loved watching them step back and look at what they built, it's big it's real and I did that
Nothing like that feeling. I loved giving them that opportunity


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[SinCityOverland]

hey that pretty cool.

 

[W4P]

Re wheel,axle fail. Sorry but that's what Sudbury roads are for, to torture test suspension and esle ially

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[W4P]

Re wheel,axle fail. Sorry but that's what Sudbury roads are for, to torture test suspension and esle ially

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Oops hit enter... Sudbury roads eat boat,utility trailers. I believe it's a road engineers code to make our roads memorable but expensive. Sorry for wheel,axle fail....it's what Sudbury does to visitors!!

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[Kel Schwab]

Lol, i can believe it.