Mini Fithwheel Foamie for S10 pickup

[GPW]

Cool seat... how did you make it ?

[ebutler]

Cool seat... how did you make it ?

I built it from mostly emt conduit and brazed it together. the braces are made from tubing salvaged from old bikes and barrel nuts. the nuts are brazed on the bracket and the whole thing is split with a cutting wheel. then the top part of the nuts are drilled out to remove the threads. these brackets are from the WISL Site. the seat brace is a piece of 3/8" aluminum rod and the clamp at the rear axle is a piece of aluminum bar stock drilled for the rod and split on one side with a hacksaw and drilled for the mounting bolt.

I put some pictures on my personal album, ebutler. a simpler version is on the last pic in the album. the seat is copied from the econobent.
Elmo

[GPW]

COOL !!! Thanks

[GPW]

Looking at all those bike frames , this came to mind , just a drawing , much like all the rest ...

[mezmo]

Check out my recent post in the Foamie Aerodynamics thread:

viewtopic.php?p=1049134#p1049134
[Edit: Here's the link from that post: http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/c/curtiss/curtiss.htm ]

The @ 13th, 14th, 15th, 22nd, 32nd through 35th and 45th pics,
Counted Of The Trailer Pics Only, show good rear- end body taper
and the 14th and 15th trailer pics show very good 'aero' fronts on
the trailers - even though all of them look to have good attempts
in that area, the ones mentioned are especially good too, in my view,
as their front edges dip down below the top plane of the tow vehicle
roof, and they have a narrow prow beginning for the trailer body.
And these were lightweight, especially for their larger size,
comparatively. Remember, they utilized early aircraft design
principals, materials and construction methods adapted for use in
trailer construction.

These could all be referenced/adapted for a Foamie 5th wheel too.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[Ned B]

Elmo,
I just posted over in the Foamie Aerodynamics thread about a trailer I used to full time in: viewtopic.php?f=55&t=49036&start=165#p1049149

The trailer itself was a good entry level unit... the interior fit and finish weren't anything special, but it served me well enough for several years, and is still on the road today.

[ebutler]

Ned thanks for the post, it gives me some ideas.
Elmo

[atahoekid]

Thanks for that post, it does help with the aerodynamic issues. From what I see, there is a trade-off which is useable space vs aero styling. At some point, you end up with more unusable space than is desirable. I guess each builder/designer will need to determine where that point is for themselves.

[Ned B]

There was a closet in the main living space, and a pair of small cubbies on either side of the doorway. I had a blast with that rig. I even dragged it through your neck of the woods Mel! Just before thanksgiving one year I had a photo assignment at University of Nevada @ Reno. I camped at one of the casinos for a weekend. There was a snowfall and they closed Donner for a couple of days. I remember that calDOT had a chain up event , but they took one look at me, and passed me right through. I had ATX tires, and just under 900 lbs of pin weight over my drive axle. Oh the flat landers were annoyed as I motored on by, as they were in line to get chains installed.

[GPW]

Passed by a parked big 5th wheel trailer this morning .... Massive steel frame/bridge on the front .... called a Top Hat (in Big letters on the side )... Got a good look at it ... Interesting ... Trailer was a cargo on top trailer , tandem wheels .... HUGE !!! Never saw what towed it .... I assume equally Huge ...
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/80589787/Top-Hat-Gooseneck

[atahoekid]

The largest ones I've seen are triple axle toy haulers. Huge barely describes these things. I've literally seen people living full time in these monsters. Not what I'm looking for... I want it small enough to be easy to tow and park, small, light and aero enough to be easier on the pocketbook and the TV and just large enough to be comfortably cozy.

[KCStudly]

10k to 14k GVW. Perfect for hauling a large punkin flinger!

[atahoekid]

I know we're getting off topic here but there is a special about punkin chuckin on the Science channel (I think) on Thanksgiving night. I'm gonna pass on the last football game of the day to watch this... Now back to the topic....

[Ned B]

Mel, full-timers 5ers are certainly moveable mansions, and for their owners' purposes, they fill the need nicely. Among those large 5'ers however, there is one glaring issue which any home builder should pay close attention: the 'riser' section of the trailer is subject to a LOT of stress, and many of the commercial units are built on a supplied chassis. I don't recall which manufacturer supplies them at this hour, but there have been several threads over on the Escapees' forums about repairing the stress fractures.

I"d think one of those gooseneck trailers would be a fairly logical place to start building a home built 5er though. Personally I'd want a regular 5er hitch and whatnot, but that's because of my experience with my old rig. For all that they were entry level units, the shadow cruisers were decent trailers and there are a fair number of them still out there.

[ebutler]

I intend to build my frame from scratch. I have been looking at all the gooseneck trailers that I can find. When I was pulling trailers commercially I had a B&W hitch that would pull goose necks and fifth wheels and had a clear bed when not pulling trailers. I think that it was called turnover ball. This is what I used http://www.turnoverball.com/products/rv ... heel-hitch
It was pricey though.
Elmo