1961 Shasta Areoflyte reproduction for 2019
Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 5:41 pmI designed this trailer as a food trailer for my children's startup food truck business. I liked the old Shasta trailers look. so I drew up some plans and modified it so it looks very 60's.
I started the build on February 15th 2019 and finished with a few exceptions on May 1st 2019. I had a local utility trailer company make the custom frame from their standard 5ft by 10ft frame bed. I had them put in a 3500 lb. 4inch drop axle, and add a extra foot on each side of the frame to enclose the wheels and make the overall size 7 ft wide. With the overall length being 12 ft long, with the curve of the front and back, and a interior height of 6ft 5 inches for my tall son-in-law. I used my CNC router to machine the the interior frame parts which are made of 3/4 inch exterior ply glued together to make a 1 1/2inch wall thickness. The sides are 1/4 exterior birch ply on the outside and the insides and top are 1/8 inch bending ply. this gives a total wall thickness of 1 7/8 inches. I was not concerned with weight on this trailer, just durability. The exterior walls have a coating of epoxy on the outside, along with coating the bottom edges and about 6 inches up from the frame. The top has a epoxy fiberglass over the plywood for water protection. Followed by 2 coats of marine primer and 2 coats of boat paint. In keeping with the original design of the Shasta. I added Jalousie windows. 6 of them to be exact. This will allow maximum ventilation on hot days. I figure the trailer weight to be around 2200 to 2500 lbs. Not lightweight by any means, but durable enough for commercial use. I will add some other build photos later.
I started the build on February 15th 2019 and finished with a few exceptions on May 1st 2019. I had a local utility trailer company make the custom frame from their standard 5ft by 10ft frame bed. I had them put in a 3500 lb. 4inch drop axle, and add a extra foot on each side of the frame to enclose the wheels and make the overall size 7 ft wide. With the overall length being 12 ft long, with the curve of the front and back, and a interior height of 6ft 5 inches for my tall son-in-law. I used my CNC router to machine the the interior frame parts which are made of 3/4 inch exterior ply glued together to make a 1 1/2inch wall thickness. The sides are 1/4 exterior birch ply on the outside and the insides and top are 1/8 inch bending ply. this gives a total wall thickness of 1 7/8 inches. I was not concerned with weight on this trailer, just durability. The exterior walls have a coating of epoxy on the outside, along with coating the bottom edges and about 6 inches up from the frame. The top has a epoxy fiberglass over the plywood for water protection. Followed by 2 coats of marine primer and 2 coats of boat paint. In keeping with the original design of the Shasta. I added Jalousie windows. 6 of them to be exact. This will allow maximum ventilation on hot days. I figure the trailer weight to be around 2200 to 2500 lbs. Not lightweight by any means, but durable enough for commercial use. I will add some other build photos later.
Danny