Metamorphosis

[slomove]

A while ago I had promised to post some pics of my "new" trailer when finished. Well, took a little longer than planned (i.e. had to rework one or the other detail) but here it is.....

 

For comparison the old trailer: this was a modified dual bike tilt bed trailer.

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1776373019_Before.JPG

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/530140502_OnlyFlatbed.jpg

 

Tear-down started:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/756595594_Teardown.jpg

 

Frame strengthened and expanded:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1148762990_ExpandFrame.jpg

 

New floor installed:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1035288674_PlatformFinished.jpg

 

Starting the shell:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1034379146_ShellStarted.jpg

 

Shell finished:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/485786647_ShellFinished.jpg

 

Doors and windows cut, rear hatch mounted:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1650885128_DoorsWindows.jpg

 

Painted, all done!!!!

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1724850679_DoneLeft.jpg

 

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1060835471_DoneRight.jpg

 

Hatch Open:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/704034389_RearOpen.jpg

 

Inside look:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1401454760_Inside.jpg

 

Tilted for loading:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/272358228_Tilted.jpg

 

Going up:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/1786712094_GoingUp.jpg

 

Strapped down:

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/481773533_StrappedDown.jpg

 

Not the best camping trailer but it kind of works....

http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/upload/351727203_TrailerCamping.jpg

 

 

Took me only 5 months

 

 

Gert

[Mandurath]

Still, thats pretty slick!

[slngsht]

Great job Gert.

[Boxologist]

Great job Gert.

 

yup. next year u need to start a competetion with kevin and Loren to make Monster Trailer. i see big sreen LCD and a cleveland bed in ur trailer future

[11Budlite]

Nice job Gert! :thumbs:

 

Do you notice much difference in the way it tows?

 

Bruce :7drive:

[Al N.]

The ingenuity, determination, and craftsmanship of our forum members never ceases to amaze me. Nice work Gert.

[southwind25]

pretty slickity...was there a reason you choose wood over perhaps aluminum tube and walls? or fiberglass/composite walls?

price?...how did the weight turn out?

[slomove]

Thanks for the praise

 

 

pretty slickity...was there a reason you choose wood over perhaps aluminum tube and walls? or fiberglass/composite walls?

price?...how did the weight turn out?

 

I used wood for several reasons: it is lightweight, rigid, easy to repair, (relatively) cheap and easy to work with. The whole floor and shell was maybe $600 in lumber. I considered enameled aluminum paneling over thin plywood like commercially built trailers but this material is hard to get by and quite expensive in smaller quantity. Dents are also difficult to repair. So I settled on good quality exterior paint outside. Not the same smooth finish as aluminum but I think it is pretty decent.

 

I did make the mistake of paneling the roof and front with white PVC flashing. That looked great until the different thermal expansion lifted the glue off and made it completely wavy :cuss: . That was the major rework I had to do, ripping off the PVC sheets, laminating the sticky PVC glue mess over with glass/epoxy and painting again. But 80% of the work was all the small things, hardware, aluminum trim edges, doors, windows, electrical etc.

 

The empty trailer is now about 1400 pounds, fully loaded with car, spare wheel, winches, battery etc. it is a tad under 3000 pounds. For that reason I had to upgrade from the maxed-out 13" wheels to low profile 14" wheels.

 

It does actually tow better and more stable than before because I can now move the car further forward and give the hitch more load. On our 900-mile test drive I never noticed any swaying tendency. Obviously the 40% increase in towed weight makes it a little slower but Highway49 in Norcal has some good grades and my Hyundai Santa Fe with a 2.7l V6 did not have any trouble with it. Fuel consumption is about 17 mpg with trailer and 21 without.

 

Gert