Barry - If you use a scissor type mechanisim, you could use a 12VDC linear actuator to extend/retract the assembly. Iinstall it between 2 of the bumper shocks (for lack of proper terms) from a 5 MPH bumper system off some sort of vehicle to mount the whole mechanisim on. That would give some impact resistance and allow it to be retracted in unison with opening the hatch.

Air cylinders will provide little effective impact resistance. The seals are only rated for it's use and the impact (even slight) would increase the pressure inside by many times ratings. Yes, getting them to play in unison is not an easy feat. By using a single cylinder or actuator and a scissor mechanisim (wired via a relay to door opeining electrics), you can utilize a single, center point to actuate it from a single switch.

Since a linear actuator is a screw drive it would not be very forgiving on even the slightes impact. The drive would most certainly be ruined. Maybe some really long shock absorbers as guides and an air cylinder in the center?

I would guess any type of actuator (air or electric) would be OK as long as the whole unit it mounted to to the shocks so it all moves as a whole in case of impact. Thus transferring the impact to the shocks and not into the actuator or air cylinder. Another idea may to have the 5 MPH bumper shocks and bumper rotate under or down while opening the clamshell. Mybe the bumper unit could be pushed down and out of the way by the spare tire mechanisim?

We want to keep the impact away from your beautifully engineered clamshell door, yet allow the door to open without the rear bumper unit getting in the way. I would think it would not take much of a hit to make the clamshell inoperable or at least, difficult to open and close due to twist after impact.

John Bevins

your perfect tow vehicle just sold on Ebay
Pefect tow


After restoration of course.

I think it is the grandfather of the one you picked

Holy Cannoli, look at the size of that thing! I have this feeling that the Mrs. wouldn't like the ride.

Barry, I'm liking this progress your making!

Nice Photoshop Tommy. You left out the feet!

Feet!? There's FEET in that picture??? <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Wayne

And my wife can't figure out why I smile all the time.

Diz,

I got all the wavyness in the curved molding to go away with a little heat. At first the heat made the bulges much worse but then they started to settle down. At that point I smoothed them with a damp towel and they set perfectly smooth.

I think what happened is that the material just got a tiny bit thicker as the high spots pushed the warm material into the low parts of the ripple making everything the same thickness, taking away the wave.

I'm having the wall and ceiling cavaties foamed next week so paneling in both the front and rear are next. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

3-24-2006

I polished all of the skirting before installation.



All of the aluminum exposed edging is covered in chrome door edge molding eliminating the creaking typical of moving panels



The (4) 6,000 lifts easily raise the entire trailer 3 feet off the ground.



The very last of the sheetmetal work is done except for patching the various roof vents and plumbing stacks no longer needed.The roof will be covered with a rubber membrane like those used on school busses.

4-2-2006

The roof rafters on either side of the front roof vent had repeatedly been soaked and had sagged about 1" in the center. This created a flat roof in this area where the rest of the roof is rounded for rain removal. You can see how far they were off in this picture.



Newly installed roof rafter.



There were seven holes in the roof that needed to be sealed.



Patches slightly larger than the opening were cut to fit. Cleco fasteners to temporarily hold the panel for drilling.



Blind rivets were used as these patches will be covered with a rubber membrane.



Finished product.



I had enough parts to restore the two roof vents in the garage area but I had to get rid of the tar first.



Here's an examole of why more is not necessarily better. There must be 100 rivets holding the vent to the roof. Many of the rivets leaked.



Smooth as a baby's behind and ready for rubber membrane installation.

Found another dozen rafters that were sagging from 1/4" to 3/4". It was easier to make new ones than trim the old ones. This also restored the proper curvature to the roof.

Now it's ready for foam.

Barry,

Will the Toy Box have an exhaust fan in the ceiling? We added a second one to the trailer we have. It sure does help in really hot weather.

Hi Susan,

I've maintained two of the roof vents in the garage area. The front cabin will be air conditioned. I'm planning on adapting a window air conditioner that vents intake air through the bottom of the trailer and exhausts it through the top. The force of the condenser fan coupled with the natural "chimney" effect of rising hot air should sufficiently exchange enough air to cool the unit. The AC pan will drain thoroughly every time we load and unload the trailer as it tips up 5°.

I am hoping to find a really quiet 5-6,000 btu unit with capacitor start. This would allow me to use it off-grid, running off the batteries, through the inverter, for several hours.

Might want to watch where that air intake is located so it don't suck exhaust fumes easily. You might be in there running the A/C of the battery, but John Doe might be in his truck next to you running it to use his A/C to cool off.

Barry,

Sounds great. Too bad you don't have room for the system that is in our RV. It is called TruAir and is like a home heat pump. It is so much better/quieter than the old style roof air conditioners.

Oh, and novaman has a very good point about others around you. A couple years ago some folks died in the "campground" area at the Bristol Dragway due to carbon monoxide poisoning. The dragstrip area is where people can camp for the NASCAR events. Now they have to have a snorkel on the generators and they have to shut them off at night. If you don't have a carbon monoxide sensor for the Toy Box yet you should add that. Our's went off in our race/camper trailer one day at the track. We weren't in the camper area and did not realize that the person beside us had their generator exhaust pointed at our rig. The alarm alerted us so that we could go in and open the windows and ask the guy to move his generator.

While the intake will take cooler air from under the trailer, that air does not enter the air condioner airflow into the cabin. Its only to cool the condenser coil and that air does not enter the cabin. The cabin air is simply recirculated pulling humidity out each time it passes the coil.

The rest of the trailer is totally sealed from the outside. The windows don't open and the wall cavities will be filled with foam. The holes in the floor will be sealed and the belly pan will keep out any unwanted fumes.

I will definitely take your advice on the carbon monoxide detector. We don't really plan on sleeping in this thing.

I wasn't sleeping in ours when the detector went off, even though I have been known to take a nap before the practices start. So I could have been overcome and not known it. Luckily we were in the back cargo area talking with other drivers when it went off.

Glad to hear you will play it safe. Sure would hate to lose you or even for you to become ill.

Hi Barry; One question pops up when I see the enginering drawings, that is, with the weight of a vehicle in the rear, how do you intend to keep it from fishtailing at speeds over 45 mph? Doesn't seem like you will have anywhere enough tongue weight. Any ideas??

When my wife and I bought our first house we were almost killed by CM poisioning. Had our dog not awakened us we would be dead.

We bought our first house on a land contract (33 years ago) so there was no city or mortgage inspection.

Turns out the dufus that owned the house installed a power humidifyer on the cold air return of the furnace. This was an older oil conversion furnace and the flue pipe passed right through the cold air return, supposedly to act as a preheat for the incoming air.

The installation of the humidifyer caused very moist air to be constantly blown at the steel pipe. Eventually the corrosion got so bad that holes opened up, causing the hot exhaust to be sucked into the heated air stream. When the gas company discovered what was wrong I was amazed to see a piece of steel that looked like Swiss cheese.

Ahh, look closely.

The front axle is just forward of the natural balance point of the trailer. The motor will sit directly above this axle. Tail-heavy you say? Not so. Each axle is fitted with its own ride height valve that either puts air in or takes air out relative to axle position. Using the front axle as a fulcrum air is added to the two rearard sets of air bags to push the back up, allowing me to create whatever tongue weight I want.

In fact, if you look closely at the pictures you'll see that the trailer is held level by the suspension only, no tongue jack is used. I roll the trailer around the shop with one hand even though it weights about 7,000 lbs. If I sit my big butt on the tongue the nose will drop about a foot, but within 30 seconds it returns to level. When I hop off the tongur jumps up about a foot but immediately returns to level. Pretty slick, huh? The Dexter Axle engineer couldn't believe I came up with this myself.

Also take into consideration that the garage is 21 feet long. The Mark II is 18' 2 1/2" long and the Porsche is only 13' long. That space allows me the flexibility to change the load positioning without adjusting the ride height valves.

4-12-2006 FOAM DAY!!!!!!!

In preparation for foam I realized that I had not installed the new rain gutters above the doors.



I also installed the upper door pivots and installed the door so that it could be foamed in its proper position.





Installed all the wiring and the rear facing camera before the wires were foamed in place.



The crew from the insulation company masked off the windows and completely covered the floor and ramps.









I'm very glad I had this done rather than doing it myself.



Lots of scaping of overspray to do but the spray worked wonders in providing the structural rigidity I was looking for.



I'm going to start paneling the garage area first.

4-15-2006

A couple hours of scraping off the overspray and I was ready to install the Fiberglass Reinforced Panels.



Finally, finished surfaces! The FRP is very dimetionally stable but it requires a 1/16th gap in-between panels to allow for expansion.

I wanted a very smooth appearance so I opted to glue the FRP to the wood studs and rafters with a glue specific to fiberglass. The dividing strips were first fastened to the ceiling with glue and staples.



I opted for 12-foot lengths which allowed for just one end seam. The sheets are very difficult to handle, making this a two-person job.



The adhesive is slow cure so it had to be held in place, under pressure, for 1 to 7 days, depending on temperature and humidity conditions. We've determined that 4 days is sufficient under the manufacturer's guidelines.



The cut-offs of the side ceiling panels will become the upper wall panels. That's my carpenter-friend Bill. A true artist.



The ceiling is completed. The wall will get covered after I remove the ceiling supports.

Barry, another alternate to cover the inside is to use translucent fiberglass roofing, used for roofs in truck bodies and inside of reefer trucks. It comes 8' 6" wide and in lengths as long as you want. (But it takes 14 men and two boys to install it in one piece to a celing!)
The price is right though, about $1.20 per sq ft.

I have just used it to cover the roof on my 31 Essex. It has a small ?pebble? finish and looks like a fabric covering, and is flexible enough to show the roof bows like the original fabric roofing. I bonded it on and applied a decorative welting on the edge.

Roger