Boat tail project based on a single wheel trailer...

[BamZipPow]

Had to pull the side panel bottoms in order to pull the rear in. The new width of the rear is now 38" wide. You can see how I ended up turning the rear brackets so the height isn't so tall. The new height of the rear on the inside is now 13" tall. Of course that will increase a little once I git the lid designed and built. I cut the license plate light out of the left tail light and mounted it on it's own in the center of the rear panel. I'll have to custom build a housing fer it and wire it in.






Fer the front gap, I only had to pull the 2 right panels and cut the hole in one of them. I just realigned the inner panel so the gap would disappear.

[BamZipPow]

Progress on framing out the hatch...





Open...




Gonna have fun skinning the hatch with the remaining 18"x24" signs I have. It will git a cover of Tyvek just to make sure it matches the sides.

[BamZipPow]

Got most of the top Coroplast panels in place. Just 5 small areas to cover up before I apply the Tyvek on top of the Coroplast. Here's a quick update from yesterday.

Closed...







Opened...

[jeff88]

Does the aerocap rest on the top of the trailer butted up against the sloped part on top?

Also, are you going to paint everything when all is said and done?

Excellent work so far, keep it up!

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by jeff88

Does the aerocap rest on the top of the trailer butted up against the sloped part on top?

Also, are you going to paint everything when all is said and done?

Excellent work so far, keep it up!

The aero cap can't butt up against the sloped part of the trailer or it will impact it when the trailer pivots/pitches (up/down) around the hitch. If you look back a few pages, you'll see where I jacked up the rear of the trailer to see how far the trailer can pitch up before the front of the lid impacts the aero cap.

Not sure about painting it yet. This is only a design/shape test so far. I still have a long ways to go before I build it to a point where I might paint it. I might throw a quick cover of flat black on it but that would just mean I would have to rely on the reflectors fer people to see it. Maybe a zebra pattern on the trailer in the meantime...

Thanks fer the encouragement!

[BamZipPow]

Post #86 is where I jacked up the rear of the trailer (fiberglass tub installed)...
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post403430

[jeff88]

Thanks, somehow I missed that post.

I'm just wondering what you plan on doing with this area, or if it even matters.


The first thing that came to mind are those brush type things that allow things to go through them. Like these:

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by jeff88

Thanks, somehow I missed that post.

I'm just wondering what you plan on doing with this area, or if it even matters.


The first thing that came to mind are those brush type things that allow things to go through them. Like these:

Oh...that gap.

I'll attempt to reuse the poly gap cover I used in December's trip to Jacksonville, FL and see if I can make it work with the new lid. You can see what I did starting at post #111.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post404367



If that works, I might try to build up the transition area behind the gap cover and see if it pans out. I think I'll need to add in a rear camera before I make any attempt as it will be very hard to see behind me once I build up that transition area.

Hopefully I'll be able to Tyvek the lid tomorrow and go fer a quick spin.

[BamZipPow]

With the rain and cold front that arrived on Sunday, I was limited to the amount of work I could do to the trailer lid. At least I could remove the lid to work on it inside the house. I was able to tape the seams with some Tyvek tape and threw a quick Tyvek cover on top. The Tyvek cover isn't glued down yet...

I revamped the clear gap cover fer the new version of the trailer. I still have more work to do to it so this is just a quick mock up.








Testing out some ideas fer the horizontal gap covers between the top of the bed to the top of the trailer...









I know I'll have to attach the horizontal gap covers along the extended side of the aero cap and maybe together under the clear gap cover. I'll need to devote more brain cell power to this area. I know the trailer isn't perfect and rolls about 6" (left/right) so I'll have to account fer that in my build.

[UtopiaCRD]

Great project! I was wondering when someone would start looking into single wheel trailers for this purpose.

I have some experience with this type of trailer, and I wanted to make a suggestion on the ride quality issues you had at first (and I assume still have, although you have moved on).

It is VITAL that the trailer (or more specifically, the wheel pivot) is level. If there is a slope, it can be slightly toward the front (i.e., the front of the trailer slightly lower than the rear), but never ever should the front of the trailer be higher than the rear. The physics of this causes the wheel to try to move to the side rather than line up as it is being towed.

The reason that adding weight helped you get a better tow is that it leveled out the trailer and corrected the physics. That's why there is usually an adjustment on the hitch attachment for the ride height to be able to level the trailer.

Looking forward to your success on this project so I can copy it!