Flat pack trailer kit. pop top works, and we have a tent

[saltydawg]

1,880 . Surprised. I thought it would be less.

Here's a random comparison.
My 6x10 V-nose cargo conversion weighed 1,660 after the build. It was originally 1200 stock , so I've added 440lbs even with keeping the 3/8" walls.
Was starting to feel bad about that , but now a bit better.



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What are you using for a bed, does that include water?

if I took out the extra weight I have for upping the tongue weight temporarily, and went to a lighter mattress I could trim hundreds of pounds.
bed 75 lbs or so
100 pounds of sand
31 in tire on a rim, 60 to 75, heck while we are at it if I went to a smaller tire I would trim 50 lbs from the permanent weight.
A nice heavy blackstone griddle, could loose 10 to 15 lbs there.
Heck the drawer glides for the kitchen slide out weigh 75 lbs.

so weight i could loose if I wanted to cheat the numbers or build a trailer not how I want it.
100 sand, acting as replacement for the water that will be there. thats 25 gallons of water. how many people carry 5 gallons. so if I went to 5 gallons i would save 160 lbs there
50 lighter bed
125 ( spare and smaller tires )
100 for a lighter kitchen
50 for not doing the rear hatch
50 for not having lots of under bed storage ( ie mattress on the floor )

thats 375 lbs I could shed but then its not what I want. I am also built a lot stronger than most cargo trailers.

Also you and I are on the light side, I have seen weights for some 5x9 tear drops that weigh in at 3k.

[Modstock]

Oh good. I was starting to think I'd need to lighten up some.

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[saltydawg]

I just looked up the 12 foot box aliner, they are about the same as mine for weight, but I have twice the water, I probably have twice the battery. And I would bet I am built a lot stronger.

I just looked up the uev 440, they are 3300 dry. wow. now yes they are built even stronger than me.

[saltydawg]

Okay, couple of minor things and two bigger items.



The big items where I installed the diamond plate on the front to save the fiberglass from rocks. Part of that is also a bracket that my table slides down into. For now the table will be visible, but at some point the box That I need to make will hide most or all of it.



Also mounted up the weather proof box for the water heater, made the heat shield so I dont melt the box. The water heater is not really mounted yet, just checking the fit.



I also installed the out side power point, and finished up the removable counter that mounts on the wheel well. The counter is cut down bamboo cutting board so it can be used for that if needed, but not prefered

[S. Heisley]

Good Job!

[GPW]

“ Making the wet weight around 2100, my axle was built at 2200 lbs. “ … What about the extra 100 lbs. ?? That all you can carry ?

[MickinOz]

“ Making the wet weight around 2100, my axle was built at 2200 lbs. “ … What about the extra 100 lbs. ?? That all you can carry ?

I believe the actual weight was 1880 total with 220 of that on the hitch, the rest on the wheels.
Are springs in your neck of the woods classified the same way they are in Oz?
If they are, the 2200 lbs axle is probably just right. 1660 on the wheels, and some of that is un-sprung weight (wheels and tyres).
Scott says the wheels are 60-75 lbs. So say the un-sprung weight is 120 lbs.
So there is yet room for 660 lbs of extra materials and cargo.

Here's my thinking:
My trailer has ALKO 600kg springs.
It weighed 465kg total, with 420 of that on the wheels, 45 on the hitch.
I wanted to be able to use the full 750 kg allowable un-braked weight if necessary, so did some checking up.
An ALKO spring set is rated as the weight required to cause 50mm (~2 inches) of deflection when the weight is applied to two springs.
https://www.alko.com.au/vehicle-technol ... e/springs/
i.e. when there is 600kg of weight sitting on my two springs, I can expect them to flatten out 2 inches.
So in consultation with my mate who is a mechanic, I left those springs in.
They will not break if I get to 750 kg. For starters, some of the weight, about 50kg, is unsprung axle and wheels. So I might max out at 700kg of actual weight to be supported by the springs. This will not break them, merely cause a little more deflection.
Next size up is 900 kg, too hard.

So if Scott's axle is rated at 2200lbs, and he's got 1880 wet weight total, minus 220 on the tongue, minus any unspring weight such as the weight of the tyres, then its probably just nice.

[saltydawg]

Mick has it right. I can put another 600lbs on it and be right at the designed weight. The only other weight I could put in it is food, and there is no way I could put several hundred pounds of food it. I wont carry a spare tire ( matches TV ), so the weight for that is what I will be adding in propane, and stuff like that on the tongue.

I can also say from jacking it up, my suspension is only moving about 1 inches. Dexter states I should have more than that for the designed weight, so I am not even close to what it will do at designed weight.

I just looked up the weight for the tire 43 lbs each no rim. They are toyota alloy rims per a google search they are 26 to 29 lbs per rim. So closer to 70 lbs each.

edit math time.

2200 plus the wheel/tires is 2340 , plus tongue weight of 15 % puts me at 2640 GVW. Thats how dexter says to spec the axle rating. It also shows how far over sprung a lot of trailers are. Say you get a 2k axle, a very common size, for that size your GVW should be about 22-2300 and most tear drops ( just did a survey on facebook the other day ) are in the 13-1500 loaded range.

[MickinOz]

2200 plus the wheel/tires is 2340 , plus tongue weight of 15 % puts me at 2640 GVW. Thats how dexter says to spec the axle rating. It also shows how far over sprung a lot of trailers are. Say you get a 2k axle, a very common size, for that size your GVW should be about 22-2300 and most tear drops ( just did a survey on facebook the other day ) are in the 13-1500 loaded range.

My friend the mechanic is in the process of buying a new caravan. ~$80K!
His missus is doing most of the specifying.

He used to deliver caravans all over this Wide Brown Land.
He has laid down the law about one thing - no off-road suspension.

"Why not?" I asked.
"They make the bloody springs too heavy and it bashes the crap out of the van.
Show me an off-road van that hasn't got got cupboards falling to bits.
To add insult to injury, they then give it a 'heavy duty chassis', more weight."

He said, "Think of it this way - the heavier the springs, the closer you are to just bolting the hubs straight to the frame with no springs at all. Would you ever think it a good idea to have no springs at all?"
"Far better to be running the springs close to capacity, so they actually flex when you hit a bump."

He is spot on, I think. I was watching my trailer in the mirrors pretty closely on that first trip. It was a pleasure to see the wheels moving up quite a way on the bumps and the trailer barely moving at all. None of that banging and crashing you'd hear on a nearly empty cargo trailer,

[MickinOz]

Of course, I've made life pretty simple for myself. I'm using leaf springs. It's about $100 max to change to heavier springs if it ever seems necessary.

[saltydawg]

Okay, since its a little wet, cold, snowy etc outside. I started on things that can be done inside. I made the awning, its not complete yet, still needs a few stitches cleaned up, a little more reinforcing, but far enough to put it up to see how it looks. It attaches to a sail track on the pop up roof, so if the roof it up it will just be higher, it is 12 long, comes out 8 feet and is half a hexgon in shape. Its made from 1.1 oz silnylon, so light weight, and water proof, plus it packs down really small.

It covers basically the whole side, so you could cook, the window can be open etc, plenty of room.

[twisted lines]

Looks Very nice.

[western traveler]

What an interesting build. Clean! Nicely done...

[saywhatthat]

Thank you Scott for posting .I was worried about the top seam. As most flat pack trailers have a frame that the panels slide in your way looks much cleaner . I like that you can store flat panales tell you build.
I cut out Tony's trailer design on some panales . Making a MDF pattern and cutting with a router and a coller to make the top lip.So should start in JAN 2003 . So Will give me time to reread your and Sawtooth post a few hundred times As I have 6 trailtop trailers to finish .Long fire season 2020.
I see this as the way of future of home built trailers.
Do you think that top seam will be good for off road where you may get a branch hit.
Again thank you for posting
Seen a press that a kit helicopter manufacturer was using a waterbed bladder hook up to air in a framing press don't know if that be better as you don,t need all that vacuum for gluing foam to skins

[saltydawg]

I see this as the way of future of home built trailers.
Do you think that top seam will be good for off road where you may get a branch hit.
Again thank you for posting
Seen a press that a kit helicopter manufacturer was using a waterbed bladder hook up to air in a framing press don't know if that be better as you don,t need all that vacuum for gluing foam to skins

Yes I think it will hold up to branches, but I honestly doubt I will be doing an tree trimming with it.

As for vacuum, yes it better esp for a home builder, just build a table and buy a rubber sheet. The idea of a frame that you inflate a balloon of air or water in is an interesting idea that makes a lot of sense as you can get higher pressure. But building the press to handle it is the hard part. A perfect vacuum on a 6 by 12 sheet is around 120000 lbs of force, kind of hard for a home builder to build a press to handle that, or more if you run the pressure higher. You can use a 50 buck rubber pond liner and 75 buck vac pump, then build the table on the frame like I did.

I think someone could make a killing by getting in with a commercial panel maker that has cnc equipment to make and cut the panels, then drop ship them. Just come up with a few designs and sell them. Then send with the order a kit, with the adhesive, angles for joints, rivets, air powered rivet and caulk guns. etc. ( yes I have thought about doing it )