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Circus Tent Trailer

HYDRODYNAMIC

HYDRODYNAMIC

Rock Stacker
Joined
May 20, 2020
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545
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Lost in the forest
Thinking of making a drive over fender trailer in the 16'-20' by 8'-6" realm. It would be nice to keep it covered almost like an enclosed trailer for camping inside to keep out the elements.
I priced out aluminum sheeting and its about 2K to cover the whole thing, plus in CA it would be a toaster oven.
I have worked with a company that makes PVC reinforced trailer covers as a business and can do custom. Basically a circus tent fab company.
So if I make the trailer and add a full cage to it I can attach the cover to mimic an enclosed trailer but have roll up side and back or partial sides.
Stupid or possibly cool?
 
To add on, one of the benefits of an enclosed trailer is that the deck structure can be built lighter than a deck over or car hauler because it can lean on the box structure. Dollars to donuts if you build a car hauler and then a removable enclosed top for it, you'll never remove the top. If enclosed trailers were built like flat decks with a lid, they'd be way heavier than they are, and they're already heavy. Ever seen an enclosed trailer with a torque tube? No, because they don't need it.

Just get an enclosed trailer. If you need a big side door in it for some reason, you can modify a prefab enclosed trailer to fit your needs, like I did.
 
There was a guy I did some work for years ago who had a Top Fuel drag boat with a enclosed trailer that was soft sided. Kind of like what your talking about. Don't know what the sides and top were made of, but he pulled it down the freeway like that.
His use was to be able to back it down a ramp and put the whole trailer in the water.
 
something like a concessions trailer where the sides flip up?
 
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Being able to side load equipment with the curtains removed is another plus. Two pallets back to back would fit.
The other benefit is I can make the width 102" subtract 2" per side to end up with 98" clear. My buggy is 92" outside tire to tire, if its aired down then bump that to 94" or 96" at the bulge. Most of the enclosed trailers I measured are too narrow at the door opening.
I'll probably start drawing something up to see what it would look like. Maybe a hard top so people can stand on it and it will not sag from rain and snow.
 
Being able to flip a tarp back and open the door of the crawler instead of climbing out the window or back of it would be pretty nice. I keep threatening to put a large door on the D side of my trailer for this.
 
I’d be curious about the design. I say go for it. I like the hard top idea too.
 
Thanks for the direction ironman_gq
Flat deck to stand on top makes it a lot harder, if you just wanted a soft cover, I would do something like the snowmobile ones, but I would add a pair of horizontal ribs above the curve to the roof (yellow line) with a pleat just below that to tension the top to the rail below the bend and I would make it so that the side poles can be unpinned and pulled out to allow loading from the side (turquoise marks): Canvasworks SnoCap Trailer Enclosure Review | SnowGoer
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Looking at that manufacturer's site, they have a bunch of options, most of them have an angled nose, if you want a square nose a solid bulk head might make framing easier: SnoCaps Gallery | Canvasworks - Minnesota
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Looks like some of them mount the top to a aluminum base rail and that can be lifted up and have a screen front and back to let air flow through for camping
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My only dislike of their style is that I think it would be useful to be able to pull the whole thing off and reduce it to a stack of tubes and a bundle of canvas to pickup something too wide/tall to fit inside the enclosure.

Aaron Z
 
Torsion axles or springs?
Building for 10K, max width dual axle, will most likely overkill it with 8 lug since it seems more common.
Box chassis or channel? Which sizes?
 
HYDRODYNAMIC

Because the weight limits in Europe, soft sided enclosed trailers are super common. they work good :

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They wear because of UVs and is a lot harder to leave things inside IMO.
 
HYDRODYNAMIC said:
Torsion axles or springs?
Building for 10K, max width dual axle, will most likely overkill it with 8 lug since it seems more common.
Box chassis or channel? Which sizes?
Click to expand...
Axles: Torsion as long as you level it for your tow vehicle as they don't level like springs with an equalizer would.
Wheels: Building from scratch, 8 lug with either 16" LT tires (probably a LT225/75R16 (because that is what the Sprinter vans come with, so they should be commonly available with at least a 2500#/tire rating)) or 17.5" tires.
Box vs channel: I don't remember where you are out of (West Coast?), I would say channel for NY salt (box tube tends to rust from the inside out here) and if you can find someone with a big enough tank, have it galvanized (NO sealed tubes if you go that route, EVERY tube needs a place to let air escape). In a dryer/less salty climate that may not be as big of an issue.


Aaron Z
 
i kinda like the idea, especially out west where rain is not much of an issue, maybe not this month

lets see what you come up with for sure
 
Solid model so far
10K build
Dexter Torflex 7K 8 on 6.5
235/85R16
108 outside of rubber
102 deck width
92" outside of buggy rubber in front
2"x6"x.1875 main rails
2"x2"x.120 side rails and vertical rails and deck x members on 24" centers
1.5"x1.5"x.083 diagonal supports
1.5"x1.5"x.083 roof x rails but will bump to 2"x2"x.083 or .120 want to walk on top 24" centers
2"x6"x.120 roof rails
.120 smooth aluminum roof panels
.120 carbon tread plate on side deck
2"x8"or10" wood for center deck
Ramps are removable with a hook and a bar on the back bumper
PVC curtains will roll down from the top

TO DO:
Ladder
Gussets
End caps and joint changes
Curtain side attachment system/method
Ramp hanger and storage
Electrical routing


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Looks pretty dope, not gonna lie.

Curtain for the rear also?

Why make the front wall a curtain and not solid?
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
Looks pretty dope, not gonna lie.

Curtain for the rear also?

Why make the front wall a curtain and not solid?
Click to expand...
Curtain rear roll up. Would be cool to make an awning arm so the curtain could provide shade when not down.
Thought about the front being solid earlier... Might need to be solid for the wind.
I made the sides 8' tall so I can use 4'x8' sheets to cover it if I ever wanted to or for sections like a side door. The front would need two 48"x120" cut down to 102" width and stacked double high.
Liking the idea of a front door as to keep the side symmetrical. The front would already be metal so might as well make it a door. The tongue creates a natural step up to the door. Would need to move the jack closer to the hitch.
 
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Definitely make the front wall solid. There's a reason the auto haulers are solid front. That front wall takes a shit ton of buffeting from the wind.

Most of them are solid on the back, as well.
 
Would it be worth putting sockets into/onto the roof to put rails up there so you have to work a little harder to fall off? :homer:

Aaron Z
 
i always wanted to just cut a big flip up side like a catering trailer. everywhere we go it would be nice to have access to the trailer from the side and the shade is welcome.
 
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