Share your Trailer Ideas Here

[Wacobipe]

I am building out a new trailer and want to see what great ideas are out there from others that I can incorporate into my build.



I struggled as I don't own a truck and always packed my planes in my small car (BMW 135). But I built a 26% Pitts M12 that clearly wasn't going to fit into anything I owned. I finally decided that rather than replacing my fun car with a boring truck/SUV, I'd just got a little enclosed trainer and it could double as a storage hanger as well.



My trailer is a 5 X 10 V-nose, torsion axle and a 5' interior height made by Freedom trailers. Car is a BMW 135 with 300 HP, 300 ft-lb of torque, High torque trans w/ intercooller, etc...




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[averagebrunette]

I'll take some pics this weekend to put in here... I installed 2 marine batteries, a trickle charger, and a wall port so that the extension cord plugs into the outside. From that I have a 12v charge lead that I can plug rc chargers into, and for those nice times that you can without offending anyone, a Sony CD player and speakers ~$120 from walmart. It also has an AUX input for itunes from my phone. My next upgrade i'd like to do is mount solar panels to roof and have it charge the marine batteries so that they are always ready to goto the field and not have to "Charge the trailer" before leaving. If anyone has specs or a good how to for that i'd like to see that in here also.

 

[Wacobipe]

In reading a thread on another forum, I found a reference to a product claimed to be excellent for a roof coating and insulation. That product was FGI-4440, a commercial product.



I called the company and spoke to the owner (?), Glenn Davis. He was awesome...the product comes in 25 gallon quantities, and they will break that down into 1 and 5 gallon quantities (be warned it isn't cheap...$125 per gallon plus shipping). I am mostly interested in the insulation value (R30) but the sealant characteristics are also desirable since I have a seemed galvalume roof.



It is very easy to work with ( I used a brush and roller but it would be awesome to spray if you have the equipment). I applied one layer, waited awhile for that to start to set up, then I just dumped the rest of the gallon on the roof and spread it evenly with the roller to finish the job...It is thin enough to spread easily but thick enough not to run or move on it's own (self-levels fairly well). I estimate I have a layer that is approximately 2X as thick as the 10mil thickness recommended (I have less than 60 sq. Ft. of roof, and it is supposed to cover 120 sq. ft per gallon).



The insulation results are stunning. After applying it during a trip to the field where the trailer sits in the sun all day you can't leave your hand on the interior bare aluminum walls as they are too hot...but the roof,with FGI-4440 on the exterior is only slightly warm!



I am very pleased with the results!




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[Wacobipe]

I was so impressed in fact that I called the company back and used in on the interior walls as well. I wasn't as pleased with the results here (still a significant insulation - FGI claims an R20 value with this method), but not as well as when applied to the exterior) so I also used 1" thick foam insulation as well to maximize results since I plan to store my planes in the trailer year round.




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1110=280-Styrofoam Insulation (1).jpg

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[Astrohog]

Oh boy! THIS thread (if it is anything like the "other" one) is sure to take up some bandwidth!



Now, let's see those trailers!!!



Astro

 

[SleepyC]

I may have to finally get a trailer... 12 years of big planes and I never had one. Always had vans.. now I have a car again, and it's getting tricky.

Gonna have to figure out a solution.

 

[McFueler]

Problem with a trailer is you need a truck to pull it !

 

[Taildraggerrc]

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We just finished my trailer build.. Still got some details to do.

 

[Wacobipe]

@ Taildraggerrc...that is looking really nice!



@McFueler...I disagree...for most of us a 5X10 or 6X12 is plenty of room for our needs (excluding those that want to go to week long events and camp in the trailer) these trailers are 1000lbs or less and I think most reasonable midsize cars and above could handle that without too much of an issue assuming you drive a bit more cautiously. In Europe, you see really small cars pulling really big (like 20ft big) camper trailers all over the place and other utility trailers...what you don't see in Europe is a pickup truck...nearly non-existent. Also consider that for most of us it is going to be one round trip a week to a local field so you might be looking at 30-40 miles...I think a lot of cars can handle that.

 

[ChickenBalls]

We have a fella pulling 6x12 with a honda civic, V6 in it. He say it pulls it fine.