The Odd Box Trailer – Just for fun.

[cracker39]

Ok, can I just have a little fun here??? This is the “Odd Box” trailer. But don’t take it too seriously.

Kris said he liked my Squidget design, but if he built something like it he’d turn it around, low end to the front, to improve air flow. Ok, that’s an idea. I thought about it and decided to design it just for fun. But, there were some problems to overcome. The bed had to be moved to the front and the wheel well position, being toward the rear of the cabin, didn’t leave room for the side door with the galley on the rear wall. After moving the galley to the side and putting in a rear entrance door, and storage on the side opposite the galley, there wasn’t enough standing room left. So, I widened it to 6’ 3” and turned the bed 90 degrees, end to end across the cabin. This made for a nicer dinette area. To keep the 60” wide bed, and a galley at least 3’ wide, I kept the 9’ chassis length. Now, it’s bigger than the Squidget, but is it more aerodynamic? Putting the door in the rear left a large flat rear surface to really induce drag. I am now making it worse, not better. So, I designed a rear fairing to help streamline it somewhat since it covers the door, it can be raised and serves as an awning when parked. I’m not sure how effective the fairing would be, but it has to help some.

The front fairing has battery storage in the lower part, accessible from and the upper part is open to the inside. The rear fairing raises to be supported by two poles as an awning. It is constructed as light as possible as there is no structural stress put on it. It just has a light frame and a single layer of 1/8” plywood resined inside and out to seal it and painted. The rear of the interior has a galley on the right side, and on the left side, a porti-potti cabinet and a closet. It has large windows on either side of the bed, a smaller one over the galley, and one in the rear door.

Remember, this is not a serious design exercise; it was just for fun, something to do and I thought might like to see the results.

I started the pictures with quarter views to give you an overall impression of the shape, then side, front, rear, top, and layout views. The drawings are not in serious detail, as I didn’t intend to use them as plans. So, here is the “Odd Box” trailer.

[angib]

Now, it’s bigger than the Squidget, but is it more aerodynamic?

It is almost impossible for aerodynamics to be improved enough to give a bigger trailer less drag. Cross sectional area matters most.

The one exception to this is where a dimension of the trailer (width, height or ground clearance) is inside the outline of the tow vehicle - much further reduction won't save much.

So, I designed a rear fairing to help streamline it somewhat since it covers the door, it can be raised and serves as an awning when parked. I’m not sure how effective the fairing would be, but it has to help some.

And I don't think it will help the slightest bit (nope, not a bit) - but it's a cracking good idea for creating an extra room on the back. The awning sides are now just simple rectangles that anyone can make. In fact a single sheet could do all three sides and some straight self-adhesive velcro strips could be used to secure it, for the 'sewing challenged'.

The front fairing .........

Sorry to disappoint, but I don't think this fairing does anything to reduce drag either. Significantly rounding (say, 4" radius or more) the corners on either side or across the roof would do some real good, but these 'pointy' front fairings are strictly for styling, not aerodynamics.

That lift-up awning is still a great idea, though. Deserves to be stolen by someone real soon!

Andrew

[st]

My current plan has a rear lid in a similar way (though without the cone shape). It is similar to the weekender, but without the chamfer at the rear.

I saw the main advantage as being protection from rain when using the kitchen, which you don't get from a normal teardrop. Also the vertical rear end gives a bit more space inside. Having a flattish roof also makes it easy to hook up a tarp, covering the trailer and a large additional area, and have it seal fairly well against the trailer.