Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

As I'm drawing my ideas out, I realize that I'm just a little short on space, and I need more width (84 in wide outside) to make a better galley. So, I came up with the idea of sliding the whole galley out about 16 inches or so... None of that seems difficult, but I'm having some difficulty coming up with an idea to secure it very solidly while both open and closed. The open isn't so critical, but closed definitely is, because you're travelling and it's going to need very solid attachment so that it doesn't wiggle when closed. My idea for making it slide, is that it will have walls on each side, so the idea is to build the galley into a "box" and attach the galley to the rest at the ends, suspended on industrial strength drawer slides - a total of 6 or so. It adds weight ( probably not 100lbs), but clears the way to have a much nicer, livable space inside. The idea is to have it move about 16 inches outward, and everything including the cooktop, counterspace, sink, and over-counter cabinets slides outward - around 6 feed wide, and about 3 inches shorter than the ceiling.

But how to make it very convenient to open, and yet all but impossible to wiggle, jiggle, or come open while travelling? It will be possible to get in and out with it "in", just very cramped. I'd like to come up with something that happens solely from the outside, so you can observe it without going inside, to verify it's secure.

I like where your going with this do you have any pictures of your design so that we could get a better idea

When I was thinking about slide out elements in my galley, which I haven't really stopped thinking about now that you mention it, I was thinking about using brass or stainless steel door hardware to secure my slide outs in both the in and out positions. The kind with a sliding hasp that engages a hole or slot in a metal plate, i.e.:



Just turn that pic on it's side and mount them on the sides of the slide out and recess the latch plates into the galley floor in both extended and stowed positions. Pull up the latches to slide out the galley, then lock it in place in the outer position. Repeat to stow it back for travel.

--Mike C.

Jeep styl hood catches on four corners



Tent trailer style catches
then you can also pin or lock

mike_c wrote:When I was thinking about slide out elements in my galley, which I haven't really stopped thinking about now that you mention it, I was thinking about using brass or stainless steel door hardware to secure my slide outs in both the in and out positions. The kind with a sliding hasp that engages a hole or slot in a metal plate, i.e.:



Just turn that pic on it's side and mount them on the sides of the slide out and recess the latch plates into the galley floor in both extended and stowed positions. Pull up the latches to slide out the galley, then lock it in place in the outer position. Repeat to stow it back for travel.

--Mike C.

My very first travel trailer was a Boles Aero I paid some small sum for ( 600 dollars?) and used for a few years until the paneling began peeling so bad you woke up with stuff all over you and everything, just from sleeping at night. I still have the shell, but it's too big for anything I want. I lent it for storage to a neighbor. But it had been towed a lot, because every metal catch it was worn, BIG TIME. I tried to start fixing some and discovered the reason why it was that way. Vibration. The small motions that occur between the two things the catch holds will wear and loosen stuff faster than you can blink. I saw solid aluminum catches for doors wear through in a few thousand miles. And then realized why it had been "fixed" repeatedly before me.

Those catches are close, but NOT "vibration proof". They move a little. And for a rough road trailer, that's enough to have serious issues in a short time. I've been thinking about having two metal retainers that hook at the top and fasten down at the bottom on the outside, rock solid tight, with tension, over each side - but it seems inelegant and a little hokey. On the other hand, I LOVE the idea of those things for holding it OPEN. I like it so much I'm sure that's THE definitive "hold open" mechanism.

Somehow, I need to find something that will hold the whole thing in, solid, tight, both top and bottom, and be easily reached from the ground.

droid_ca wrote:I like where your going with this do you have any pictures of your design so that we could get a better idea

I wish. I am such a horrible artist with a pencil and paper I shame myself.

And I haven't the patience to learn to use a CAD program.

I typically spend quite a bit of time each day in a vehicle, or otherwise not seriously engaged in something demanding, so during those times, I put the idle cpu in my head to work imagining stuff. It's how I came up with my first foam idea / design a few years ago. I'd never heard of anyone using it for anything like that. (not even on here, I read the mikenchell forum a long time, too, and then it went away). It came to me while I was reading about a guy fixing an old Class C motorhome with water damage and looking at the way it was constructed in his pictures and it just popped into my head.

Obviously, great minds think alike, and there must be a lot of them here LOL!

A number of year ago, I got interested in RC airplanes and before that, model trains. And the construction techniques for both started me thinking about how overbuilt we make stuff, to make up for lousy design and engineering. To test the theory, I built boxes for a 2-300 lb portable car port out of 1/4 and 3/16 ply, using gorilla glue, screws, and some 3/4 x 3/4 cedar. The empty box weighed only a few pounds, but held enormous weight and didn't break until years in the weather and getting dropped repeatedly from feet up. And it got me interested in learning about how to use shape and grain and whatnot, for strength, rather than just making stuff big and heavy.

So, now I'm fascinated by it and wish I had someone who could draw all this out so you could critique it. After all, you guys are the builders, I'm the new guy with no experience and very little knowledge!

It might work well but you would lose the longitudinal stiffness of the cabinet work. No never having built a TD, but having some background in building stuff it seems you might need some bulkhead or such.

Find an old wooden desk in a antique shop and look at the drawer locking mechanism. It is released when the center locking drawer is pulled out releasing the other drawers.
The same basic technique is used in a 9 drawer mechanics tool bow locking all drawers when the lid closes. It should be a simple copy to make something similar.

So what did you end up doing??

droid_ca wrote:So what did you end up doing??

Everything is on hold until some workmen's comp insurance matters are finished. I hope to revisiting this idea soon and start on the project.

I think Martiangod has the right idea with the rubber restraints. They give a bit when things flex but put constant pressure on things to keep them tight against each other. Catches like like Martiangod posted or perhaps restraints made out of bungee cord would work well.

Any latch that permits any movement will tend to wear and get looser at time goes on.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

Well, here I am unzombifying an ancient thread from the death zone... and I'm still "on hold". And we're STILL fighting with workmen's comp, though that should (emphasis on should) be done in a couple weeks.

Further, we've made the decision to move most of the way across the country. I live in a west coast state, and we're moving to the Chicago area - about 2000 miles. My wife's going to continue her education at a university there.

I traded some services to a guy for a really NICE double axle trailer frame (I want an off-road capable trailer and the two axles do wonders for rough going) but now it's going to cost more to take the frame across the country than it is worth, so I'm back to square zero. So, I"m going to start an all new thread about a new plan...

Good luck on the move. Also have you seen this pic before? Is this close to what you’re trying to do?




If you install a rubber block in the back where the galley meets the wall, push the galley all the way back against
the block and then install a Pin or a screw down type of holding device that will help in the vibration area.

Junkboy999 wrote:Good luck on the move. Also have you seen this pic before? Is this close to what you’re trying to do?


http://s22.photobucket.com/user/PbTerry/media/Teardrop%20others/BC-SOG_zps6924f991.jpg.html

If you install a rubber block in the back where the galley meets the wall, push the galley all the way back against
the block and then install a Pin or a screw down type of holding device that will help in the vibration area.

wow, that's pretty cool.

The idea was to make a rather traditional rv slide - that being a large area that slides to the side to widen the inside. Still rethinking that now, though.

Well, I am now in Illinois. No longer do I have any place to work at all, so all I can do is dream. 4-5 years from now, I'm heading back west, and hope that by then, I can make what I want.

Until then, I'm stuck in this land of "no mountains, no space, and millions of people everywhere", and it's just depressing.

Anyway, my new idea still involves slides... But I'm trying to figure out how to have a spacious trailer that's only 6 feet wide ( before the slides come out).