Camper Topper Ideas

[angryasianguy]

Greetings!

I just got a free trailer. It looks a lot like this one, but is slightly different. It is a 5x8 trailer with metal walls and floor. I will try to get a pic of it up here as soon as I can.



While I am happy hauling rocks with it, I thought it would be cool to make it a dual-purpose trailer, in order to use for hunting, camping, etc. while still being able to convert it back to a trash hauler. I wanted to do a teardrop, but the wife said, "too small", perhaps reaction to doing the truck camping thing a bit too much. Looking online, I saw a wonderful Vardo trailer build, and thought, "Why not make a topper that is like a vardo?" This would allow me to have a relatively small camper while still keeping the wife happy (She tends to get claustrophobic and punches in her sleep when confronted with zombies).

The mockup idea is to make the width 7' wide to allow for sideways sleeping in the front, as well as extending the topper forward 2' to give a 4' sleeping area that can fold away to give room to have a folding table and benches on the side. The widened areas to the sides to the rear can be used to hold camping material. The key requirements I wish to keep with this trailer are to:

1) Make the camper attach to the trailer while still keeping most of the original trailer
2) Fairly easy to remove/attach without being too flimsy
3) Keep the family dry in the rather unpredictable weather of the NW.

This is my idea, drawn up (poorly) in sketchup and converted to jpgs:














This may be too much, but I want to see if it is possible. I am still unsure of plywood/stabilizer thickness and how exactly to clamp it to the trailer. I also have no idea of what materials to use to keep it lightweight for the trailer and for my pocketbook. Any input would be awesome, and I will be trolling the designs on the forum for inspirations/etc. I will do my best to answer questions and give any other info as needed before I start digging into the project. Thanks again everyone, and am loving the site so far!

Lee

[mezmo]

Hi AAG,

Welcome to the forum !

Maybe it's an obvious question, but:
Are you going to modify the metal trailer at all ?
Otherwise, the front corners are way to high, and the
side's rails are also, to use it as a base for a removable
Vardo style camper. I would also consider taking off the
top horizontal side panels as well, so that it is three
panel/sections high. One of them could be used to make
the front three high also. Trying to build it so that it would
fit up and over the top side panels would be much too complicated
I think. The best sidewall trailer height here would be what
would give you a comfortable seating height inside - @17-19inches.
If the three panels are higher, you could build up the floor some
to achieve that height. That would give you much more freedom
in designing it. Just checking out Vardo builds, and even PU camper
builds, can help you figure out the structure you'd need.

Also, check out the Foamie section, besides lightweight construction
ideas, there are a couple PU campers in progress I believe.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

P.S. Here is a pasted portion of a post I did for another thread, 'don't
have time to look that up, but I came across this in the meanwhile:

...
I think SIPs are a good idea and I will probably use a form of them
whenever I get to build. [Too many house projects are a priority
at the moment.] For a larger size construction, I'd seriously look
into them. I consider them a Foamie variation.

Anyway, check out linuxmanxxx's post/builds.
Here's the link to them:
search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&author_id=11546
He is using a small scale version of them and gives details on how he did them -
they'll be a reference for me in the future. He uses them in his business:
http://www.microcampers.com/ Just browse through them until you reach one
that pertains to his SIPs and then click on the thrtead title if you need context.

Here are some links to a SIP builder with a differance. [compared to those
SIPs that are used for house construction.] They are in Washington State,
and make many different kinds/thicknesses of them. Quite an interesting product.
http://www.superhoneycomb.com/
http://singcore.com/
http://singcore.com/tiny_index.html
http://media.designerpages.com/3rings/2 ... ing-homes/

You should be quite interested in the following:
A gal in Washington State is building a tenwide Tiny House, using them:
http://mytinyabode.blogspot.com/
And her Dad is using them to remodel a vintage Airfloat TT:
http://www.everyonecandance.com/Airfloat_Process.html

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo


I've also been wondering about a variation on the Mini-SIP that'd use
the stitch-n-glue boat building method. http://www.boatbuilder.org/
With that I'd basically build the inside walls of 1/4in plywood with the S-n-G
method, frame any/the openings perimeters and the outside edges
with the appropriate size 1x wood or such, and then glue in the foam
[most likely in the appropriate shaped/sized pieces vs a large sheet]
to cover the outside of the interior 1/4in plywood walls and thus help
insulate [an uninsulated trailer is a poor accomodation in my personal
view] and fill out the form of the body of the trailer. Any seams and gaps
would be minimized while applying the foam pieces, but any remaining
can be filled in with one of the canned gap filling foams, and then all
that'd be faired out with some kind of fillers to try and make a smooth
surface for the outside skin. After that, I'd probably go with either a
fabric and glue and paint or fiberglass cloth and epoxy as the outside
skin. It all depends on costs and if I could even tolerate the fiberglassing
fumes. [Epoxy is supposedly less "fumey" than the polyester type, but I
do have allergy problems with some chemicals, so it'll remain to be seen
if that could even be a possibility.] Some kind of foamcoat is another
alternative too, but they are more expensive than the old-time fabric-
glue-paint method.

[angib]

Going 7 feet wide and extending 2 feet forwards of the current box might give you serious problems of hitting the tow vehicle when turning corners or backing up. It would be worth making a light wood frame (or cardboard box mock-up), lashing that temporarily to the trailer and then doing some parking lot manoeuvres to see if it will actually be a problem.

Taking out a back corner of your tow vehicle and a front corner of the topper when making a tight turn some time would be bad news.

[angryasianguy]

Angib, you have a very good point! Once I get the trailer I will place a mockup in front and see if it will clear my truck properly If not, might have to shorten it.

Norm, you also have some very very valid points. The attachment process for the extended vardo walls to the trailer wallls would be quite a lot more difficult than I had planned. I think I had a good plan for it with plywood and 2x4, but it would increase the weight and might be in the way. Looking a a traditional Vardo design, I really should start from the ground up, or start at a much lower trailer height. My wife loves the Vardo look, and has a plan in the future to have a mobile cupcake business with a vardo-style trailer. There were two styles on Instructables I really liked, particularly the Ren-Faire trailer.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Gypsy-t ... nce-Faire/

Also, paleotool's vardo would be fantastic as well. Either one would definitely be a much more involved build, but when we get to that project I think a brand new trailer would be in order for a good starting point.

One of the big problems that I saw with making the camper out of wood/plywood would be the whole weight issue. Preferably, I would like for it to be as light as possible so me and one or two others can remove it, otherwise it might end up on the trailer all the time. I have been looking at the foamie threads (great googullymoogully they have a big post) and these guys have some freaking cool ideas. I even threw out the idea of using EMT as a frame to one of my mechanical engineering buddies, who thinks it could work pretty good. However, all ideas usually sound good on the initial thought process, and I am sure there is a LOT more to think about. I really wish I had a 3d printer, so I could make mini mockups of each design and test them out. However, cardboard is cheap too


Thank you guys again for the input, and I look forward to discussing it more with y'all! Cheers!

Lee

[angryasianguy]

Well... just got notice that my disposable income may dry up depending on our economy. With that said I may have to go to something.... less ideal. It will work to keep me warmer than a tent during the winter but.... it will be more of a just me camper I think.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/31822-Utility-trailer-conversion

I would be able to build that one fast and super cheap but it definitely is different. On an up note it can be easily used for external storage during the winter.

While I have a "useable" trailer I would still be able to get the plan for the next trailer in the works and spend a lot more time doing research. I am loving the free thinking nature of this community and would like to explore all options before diving in.

[angryasianguy]

Well, I finally got the trailer to my house.



Overall it is in okay shape. The hitch is slightly twisted but will go on the ball with little effort. The tongue is too short to allow for a two-foot extension out. It is 60 1/4" to outside edges for width and 8' exactly to its outside edge in length. As I will probably be making this more as a MK1 design for a single person, I was considering doing a plywood topper for it in that expedition portal square instead of a vardo shape. Does anyone have any ideas? I have been floating all over the place between EMT frames and aircraft-style dacron shell to OSB and KILZ latex paint. What do you guys think?

[Irmo Atomics]

Here's an old article on building a pop-up truck camper similar to Alaskans.

http://www.vintageprojects.com/misc/Pop ... -plans.pdf

B08b.jpg (6.44 KiB) Viewed 5859 times

Here's a picture of a slide in camper in a trailer

akpic02.jpg (17.36 KiB) Viewed 5632 times

[angryasianguy]

Irmo, that looks awesome! I would totally do that for my truck! I like the idea of the jacked up pop-up! I will be definitely thinking about it in my vodka/ibuprofen induced coma tonight (hopefully these chiropractic visits will help in time).

Cheers,

Lee

[Martiangod]

Most if not all truck campers fit within the 4 foot space between the wheel wells then step out at the box hight. Looks like an old Uhaul. Built tough.
If you boxed out the sides to the fender and tail light extensions width, would give you some great storage space, fold out tables and such and support for the slide-in overhange.
Something I'm contemplating if I do another build.
Should easily get 6 foot wide if not 6.5 feet, do a rear entry door to the side. bed cross ways at the front, then lay up the remaining space.
I say completely doable for a small two person sleeper.
Looks like a starting point that many on here would envy.
You could mount propane, battery compartment on the toungue with side access and have a Vee cabinnette above the rails to accomodate inside storage or a location for small bar fridge ahead of Bed/dinnette.

Build On

[Junkboy999]

Hey angryasianguy

If you have not see this thread before you might want to take a look. Other talking about a pop up Vardo
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3740&start=30

[angryasianguy]

Oooh! Thanks!

[Junkboy999]

And... if you're still thinking of making the camper part removable look at this link. It is buried in the Gathering section of the forums.

Completed convertible TD, all comments welcome

Not sure if the guy will answer any questions, He had not been posted in a few year.

[angryasianguy]

Another very cool idea! If I had more funds I would definitely try for something similar. Once this month is over (honey do's and annual training) I hope to start on designing a couple low-cost mockups mashing the multitude of ideas in my head to see what will work out best for me. What I like about the topper idea is that if mk1 does not work out mk2 can then be made.