Off-Road Hard Sided Popup Trailer

[railman]

as I have said in your other threads....you do amazing work

makes me want to tackle something like this.....but, I don't have the space or the tools

l8r, John

 

[schanusa]

as I have said in your other threads....you do amazing work

makes me want to tackle something like this.....but, I don't have the space or the tools

l8r, John

Thanks!

Yeah, I had decent space to work on the trailer, though it filled up pretty fast. We'd have to stop every couple days and clean up to keep from stumbling over stuff.

 

[4.0B2]

this thing looks awesome! i want a smaller expo trailer w/ RTT.... guess i'll build one someday.

 

[schanusa]

Another angle of the windows.

The door turned out to be tricky. Lots of weird angles.

A better shot of the lower rear section

 

[schanusa]

On to the upper roof section. Following the same bending technique we form the outer roof supports and weld in place.

Supports and lower tubing welded on.

Cross bar and window tubing are welded on then set on the main body.

The other side is then built. Then both sides are connected together.

 

[schanusa]

After all the major parts are welded we hook the trailer to the truck. We drive over to a flat part of the yard to see how it looks. Then take measurements to for the air bag setup for proper ride height.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Really good build. Subscribed.

Richard

 

[schanusa]

The upper roof section is pulled off and set on the floor. Its skinning time.

We start at the rear. The end sections have to be pre-bent by hand to fit the curve. We attached the skin with 3M's VHB tape. This was a very tedious process and no room for error. The VHB tape is super strong and once it touches, there's no pulling it off. The VHB tape was used in place of rivets. Rivets would take a long time to install, plus are another place to leak.

The rest of the sheets were laid over each other. This made all the seams face rearward. So during movement water and dust will roll over the seams and keep going.

 

[schanusa]

Inside view.

Rear kick-up skin was cut and bent.

 

[schanusa]

Before getting to far ahead, some steel work needs to be finished. The step is filled in with 3/16inch plate.

The front section is given a 3/16 inch gusset since the base step frame is only 1/8inch thick.

Corner marker lights are given 1/4 inch guards.

As well as the brake lights.

The tongue is given 1/4 inch plate reinforcements where the 2x4 tubing is welded together.

 

[schanusa]

On to air bags. I spent a while to figure out the geometry in CAD for the suspension. I wanted to make sure the air bags didn't overextend, compress too much or tear from the axle swinging forward. Then I had a neighboring shop cut the parts out with their PlasmaCam. Upper and lower air bag plates are then fastened to the air bags.

Shock mount/reinforcing brackets are tacked on lower air bag plate.

A 2x4 section of chassis tubing is welded on to attach upper plate of air bag.

Upper shock tabs are welded on to chassis and gussets are welded on upper air bag plate.

After everything is tacked in place air bags and shocks are removed for final welding. The shock used is just temporary. The shocks ordered didn't arrive in time, so we used some cheap ones that were the same length.

 

[Ranger Kip]

very very nice, loving the weld jobs and the design

 

[schanusa]

very very nice, loving the weld jobs and the design

Thanks

 

[schanusa]

Next I pull off the body from the frame.

Then take it outside to sand blast.

The tires are covered and chassis is cleaned with thinner.

The whole chassis gets a layer of heavy duty paint. (Customer requested paint over powder coat)

 

[schanusa]

Once dry I roll it back inside and place strips of neoprene foam on the edges. This is to keep the aluminum from rubbing against the steel chassis.

Suspension components are installed. Air line is connected and electrical wires are run.