Pop Up Ultralight Vardo

[Sage]

I tried to post this earlier and can't seem to find the post so if it was removed please message me so I know why. If that other post somehow regenerates also let me know so i can delete this or that one.

So I would like to start a open discussion about the design of a pop up style/inspired camper for Burningman or just general camping. The final design would ideally be brought to regional burns
and a few camping outings in various conditions before I would make a trek to the playa with it. My primary goals are for this trailer to be under 1000 lbs, able to be set up with 3 people or less, withstand
rain and playa dust, be secure so that it does not flip in high winds, and resemble a reading style Romany Gypsy wagon "Vardo". Secondary goals are for a possible attached shade awning, cost under $3000,
and fun?

I would like to state that I am a manufacturing engineer who can weld and had access to CNC's and other production equipment but would like to shy away from such tools or methods so that this project
can be open sourced though instructables or other sites to allow other burners to replicate it. So lets think in terms of the everyman if we can. If welding or other techniques prove to be required then
minimal use can be allowed though.

My general idea right now is use a harbor freight stock hauling trailer as the base. Then build a box on top of the trailer that goes over the wheel wells to allow for understorage and provide the floor and
foundation of the upper sleeping quarters. The walls of the vardo will be framed wood or metal "alum/steel" that is skinned in either coroplast sheets or foam insulation used for hexayurts. The walls
will be attached to the box floor via bolts and connected to 4 wall joists in the corners so that the walls stand together.The outside will be covered in alum siding or something water retardant.
The roof will be curved and most likely keep its shape either from rods in compression or simply curved wood/metal with tin roofing attached over that. Sleeping quarters will be large enough for a ful
l size or queen bed and I would ideally like to allow for a micro AC/heating unit for whatever nature throws at us.

I can provide sketches soon but wanted to get this on here ASAP so that I can read comments and add or change the design a bit before the first sketches go up. Thanks if you guys choose to help!

[FIGJAM]

https://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic ... t=playapod

That was the first one.

Then I built one on a boat trailer and increased my fuel mileage by 4 mpg.

Scroll down on page 10 for finished pics.

[Captain Goddammit]

Sounds cool, the main input I have is not to skimp too much on the trailer itself. Harbor Freight calls their 1700-lb capacity trailer "Super Duty", with "heavy duty 12" wheels". That's a laugh. You don't see "teardrop" trailers, the closest thing to what you're describing, running such wimpy running gear for a reason.
I wouldn't run less than 14" wheels on a decent axle. Those dinky little things don't survive well on extended freeway travel. The small tires spin too fast, heating up the wheel bearings and the tires tend to fatigue.

[[jim]]

Sounds cool, the main input I have is not to skimp too much on the trailer itself. Harbor Freight calls their 1700-lb capacity trailer "Super Duty", with "heavy duty 12" wheels". That's a laugh. You don't see "teardrop" trailers, the closest thing to what you're describing, running such wimpy running gear for a reason.
I wouldn't run less than 14" wheels on a decent axle. Those dinky little things don't survive well on extended freeway travel. The small tires spin too fast, heating up the wheel bearings and the tires tend to fatigue.

I beg to differ... a lot of home-built teardrops are built on harbor freight, red trailers, or northern tool trailers (all seem to be pretty much the same, maybe red trailers a tad better than HF/NT).

I personally have towed my harbor freight trailer to the playa 3 times (1000 miles round-trip) at highway speeds (70 max on hwy95), Moab (1000+ mile trip), Grand Canyon (600 mile trip), and numerous short trips. All the long trips of 500 miles or so, were done in one day. No bearing problems or blowouts.

And I'm using the even flimsier and smaller-tired '1095lb capacity' folding trailer! Tires are 4 years old (will be replacing soon though!)

A good site for seeking out 'vardo' designs and build advice is Teardrops nTiny Trailers

[Captain Goddammit]

Sure you see home built stuff of all types. But the good ones have real wheels.
I on the other hand have witnessed countless failures of those tiny trailer wheels.
I think it's unwise to use undersized hardware.

[trilobyte]

As a rule, if someone on the team takes some kind of action on a thread, they message the original poster privately to explain. Looking through the site's records, I don't show that you posted anything for a couple months before this, so I'll guess that the mess-up was something on your end. It might be that when you wrote your original message, you either didn't include a subject line, or when the post previewed you didn't click the submit button again. I make that mistake myself more often than I'd like.

I'd recommend going and taking a look at some of the old "work in progress" threads - Figjam has a great walk-through of his playapod build in there (starting with this post, I think).

Good luck with the project!

[Ratty]

If you would like to see 30 or 100 gypsy wagon plans, (complete with pictures). Go to Pinterest and type in gypsy wagon plans.

[Sage]

Whelp after a long talk my ladyfriend and I decided that a teardrop trailer would be more fun to work with then
the crazy contraption I was originally thinking up. So yeah I'm abandoning all intent on a Gypsy wagon for now.
Thanks for the links though guys!

[Ratty]

I little teardrop trailer that looks like a canned ham? Those are adorable and one full sized adult can sleep in there if he lies diagonally. Keep us posted.