1:4 scale model prototype build

[CodigoRojo]

Hey everyone. I just signed up. Great forum. Great vibe.

I'm getting ready for my first ttt build. I've built plenty of other stuff before so not worried about technical skillz. Design details will be my biggest challenge. Since finishing my model I've changed my mind on a lot of stuff. Basic plan remains the same: 5x10 squaredrop with a medium-sized slide-out for the bunk. The frame will be 2x3 .120 tube with Timbren suspension and a removable a-frame. Was going to do aluminum skin but think I'll go with Filon instead.


Here's my prototype:
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https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN ... 5VanZrMkhn
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If you wanna see more pix I shared the google photos album:
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https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1 ... 5VanZrMkhn
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[Pmullen503]

Wow! Fantastic model.

RE: construction details. You might want to spray it with water to see if there is any place were water pools. It's water (and the rot it causes)that makes trailers fail.

[saywhatthat]

how did you build that over sides trash can? Great job.
Wish that I could do something like that

[tony.latham]

Impressive model. Beats mine:



What will you use for slides?

Tony

[saltydawg]

WOW thats all I can say on the model.

2x3 .120 is way over kill for the main frame, at least drop the cross members to 2x3 .085. It will save a lot of weight, over a pound a foot.

[CodigoRojo]

For the slide-out I was thinking doubling up on super heavy duty drawer slides. They're spendy but work. 5 years ago I built a pickup bed slide using them and I've loaded it with a yard of crushed rock among many other assorted overloads no problem. The one thing that caused the drawer slides the most problem was blowing sand. We live in Seattle and spend a lot of time down on the coast. The bed slide is great for camping and beach trips, it's like having a 4'x6' table and if it starts raining just slide it back inside the canopy shell. Anyway, for the slide out, I figure double 500 lb drawer slides and locking pins top and bottom of both sides should be about 2x or 3x of any possible load. Sealing is my biggest worry, but I plan to use RV slide-out lip seals, and bulb seals on an angle steel flange around both the inside and outside locked positions of the slide-out.

In fact, I did consider just building a 4x8 ttt with minimal (zero) kitchen provisions, and just using the bed slide as my kitchen. That would have the added advantage of moving the kitchen forward in the campsite. That's how I camp mostly anyway. Pitch the ez-up over the back of my truck and pull out the bed slide. At night just throw the kitchen storage tubs under the ez-up and roll out sleeping bags in the bed of the truck.

I live my life around a system of 27 gal Commander storage tubs. The black ones with a yellow lid that you see at Lowes and Depot. I probably have around 150 of them. If you look closely at my pictures you might be able to see a few on the shelves in my garage. They also nicely fill up my basement and attic, which is great if you have extra space and don't know what to put there. I have a label printer. I've taken photos of the contents of important ones, and they're all inventoried and entered in a spreadsheet. Every space in my house has a location code assigned. I mostly know where stuff is, but if not, a quick excel search and I've found it. I could move house in a heartbeat. Or pack to go camping. It's a good system, but a bit laborious at times. Satisfies my OCD nicely though and my family tolerates it.

[CodigoRojo]

I'll post up about frame design details in the chassis section, but for what it's worth, I might go with 2" square tube under the trailer box and just use 2x3 for the a-frame. That's definitely on the table.

[saltydawg]

For drawer slides, look up the guys who have used skate board bearings and steel tube. Its very low profile and stronger than drawer slides.

[CodigoRojo]

I considered building my pickup bed slide with DIY skate bearing slides. Thought long and hard about it actually. Drew up a handful of designs. I'm a skateboarder, so I've got lots of bearings rolling around here in the shop. After drawing up plans though, the skate bearing slide is actually bulkier than drawer slides, and only controls one degree of freedom. So you really need to build one set to control vertical and one set for lateral, and then they're about twice as bulky in cross section as HD drawer slides. Then there's the time factor to reinvent the wheel. And there's no cost saving either after you buy the steel/aluminum tube and a big pile of bearings and hardware. They could be stronger than drawer slides though. The ones in my pickup slide out are 5' long with 500 lbs capacity, and I've put much more than that on them. I didn't get the kind with lock in/out switches, so I had to fab up a locking lever system.

For a camper slide out application they would have a pretty easy life compared to my pickup bed slide which gets beat to h e double hockey sticks. It's still working though. After having a bed slide in my pickup, I couldn't live without one. Mine gets used almost every day and I love it. I would even buy an off the shelf one if I had to.

[img]http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?album_id=5197&image_id=164335
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[img]http://www.tnttt.com/gallery/image.php?album_id=5197&image_id=164336
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By the way, when I finished my model trailer, I gave it to a neighbor girl to play with her stuffed animals. Now her parents are tired of stepping around that thing in their rec room, so I'm giving it to a local adventure camping dealer to keep in their showroom.

[CodigoRojo]

[gudmund]

Camano Island here again - guess I should have read this first = looks like you have it figured out for your build. Good Luck and enjoy!!

[saltydawg]

The guys who do the skate board bearing slides, normally just run a hdmp strip down the side to stop/smooth any side to side movements.
Yes they are 1 inch per side in width and about 3 inches tall, they are lot stronger than drawer slides. I bought a set of 400 lb rated drawer slides and they failed pretty quick. The ones I have now weigh about 75lb for the set of 2 for 48 inch, and they are 3 inches tall and 3/4 inch thick. So not really any smaller than skate board bearing slides. Here is a thread with some good pics, of bearing slide over at expo portal. He actually sits in the drawer to show how strong it is.

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/thre ... ld.218336/

[*Inside]

Beautiful