Newbie question: what's the name for my design idea?

[boojieboy]

Hi All! Just starting in here because I am finally starting a trailer/camper project that I've been meaning to do since teardrops first caught my eye about ten years ago.

A little background on me: I'm 40-ish, wife and ten year old boy who's growing like mad, despite a pasta-and-dairy-only diet that makes me cringe.

So we have limited funds, but oodles of time and creative energy this summer. I am moderately handy and endowed with power tools. I have an old steel frame trailer that I bought when I sold my pickup, to haul stuff around. It's made to have a 4x8 footprint, though I could go a bit wider and longer if need be. There are ten metal anchor points that accept 2inch square stock vertical inserts, to create vertical supports for side rails. I am currently cleaning and repainting it, and will likely upgrade the springs and wheels to an approx 1500# load rating.

Any way, here's my thoughts:

What I'd like to do is make the trailer a hybrid cargo hauler/pop up camper. When in cargo mode, it'd have four side walls, approx 30inchs high, with a solid roof. Pulling it behind my subaru outback, it'd have a lower profile and would not create as much drag as a full height box trailer. Why haul around all that dead air space? Cleverly compacting it could make it much more efficient, if not nearly as cool looking as a tear drop.

When we're travelling, I'd drive with in in cargo mode. Only thing is that in addition to the food, supplies, etc, part of my cargo would be four additional wall panels (with windows probably). When we arrive for camp, our setup would be as follows:

Step 1: remove top and cargo.
Step 2: Place prefab wall panels on top of those that are already in place.
Step 3: Put up roof (probably a 2 person job)
Step 4: apply fasteners/clamps/straps/whatever to make it stiff.
Step 5: set up internal structure (sleeping benches etc)

Looking around the net I've come across a number of design possibililities of the sort of "box on top of a box sliding upward" design like the Kimberley Karavans. I had pondered such a design for a while, but I think the problem of the lifting mechanism is not one I'd like to deal with. Plus, I think I like the possibilities of my sectional prefab design better. Partly because with this design I could indulge my desire to do a big mortise-and-tenon joinery project. Not sure how I'd do the door(s) but I don't think that would be too hard really.

If done well, when it was in place it would look like a little cabin you see in the woods, complete with wood siding and possibly a tin roof, only on a trailer. Maybe even a little wood-burning pot belly stove. Hopefully setup/teardown could be 30 minutes for a well-practiced pair of individuals.

I've browsed around the site and done some searches, but the problem is I'm not sure what you would call such a thing, so I haven't found very much yet.

My question for all of you is: have any of you seen or heard of such a thing? Could you point me in the right direction, even if that is to warn me that such an idea is an inherently poor design, or harder to pull off, or whatever?

Thanks in advance,

boojieboy from Wisconsin

[drcurran]

Sounds like a lot of good ideas. The one issue which pops out at me right away would be the weight in lifting off the top and then getting it on top of the walls. You might be able to build it out of material that is light enough to handle. I love your imagination. Good luck!

Dan

[mikeschn]

I think this one goes up in a similar fashion. But what you describe certainly sounds prettier.

http://www.mikenchell.com/VintagePlans/popuptrailer.pdf

Mike...

[Crazylegs]

Check out this pop up.

http://home.earthlink.net/~g.teague/

[boojieboy]

Crazylegs:

I actually discovered Mr Teague's page a few days ago, which set off my recent spate of thinking on the topic. I like his pop up mechanism--very simple, sort of like a collapsible box. Problem is that I'd like my top to cover the whole thing, which if you do a single piece roof starts to get heavy and unwieldy, especially in windy weather.

My thought right now is to have several roof sections, made in such a way that there is a ridge in the middle, with the upper section slightly overlapping the lower. Now, making such a thing weatherproof while it is collapsed and on the road would be nigh impossible, but I'm not really concerned about that.

There is a collapsible A-Frame described somewhere on this site, and it turns out that there is a commercially made A-Frame of similar design to that one, which is actually quite an elegant design (I think). I had pondered an A-frame of some type, but really am leaning toward the "little cabin in the woods" idea as the one I'd be proudest to take on the road, the one that would be the most rewarding for me.

If I only care to make it weatherproof while it is stationary and set up for sleeping, then that a much easier task. Making it bug proof on the other hand, that is a more difficult thing.

[Crazylegs]

Another cabin in the woods

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbRvsWuWNUM

[ho-do]

"Step 1: remove top and cargo.
Step 2: Place prefab wall panels on top of those that are already in place.
Step 3: Put up roof (probably a 2 person job)
Step 4: apply fasteners/clamps/straps/whatever to make it stiff.
Step 5: set up internal structure (sleeping benches etc)"

I have been RVing for some 21 years now, and I started out with a pop-up tent trailer. When I read this part of your idea, it struck me as a lot to do to save a very little bit on gas money via hauling a more aerodynamic design. What if it is raining when you arrive at camp? How about when you are needing to leave camp and it is pouring buckets? We found that setting up that pop-up and taking it down in the rain was a real pain. Plus having to set it back up at home to let everything air-out. An extending design type of trailer is a good idea (ie Hi-Lo or A0liner or TrailManor...), but I would definitely think about making it as user friendly as possible during bad weather.