Box Trailer Slide on Camper Design
 

Following Steve F's great effort I am about to start my box trailer slide on camper. Line drawing here below. I still have to add the interior bits (once I work out how to drive Sketchup completely). More to come.

Is the poptop and slide out a hardsided poptop etc or canves. I looked at doing a pop up but keeping it dry when it slides back is was the bit that bothered me.

Cheers
Steve

The Pop top and slide out is all planned to be hard side 6mm ply. I think I have the geometry worked out to fold the bed base and side back in with the roof section going down on top to lock into the side. I poptop roof is 6mm ply but the side, I'll probably buy the scissor assembly and my wife will sew the canvas for the poptop side curtain (if I go that way). I'm still toying with the Ecotourer type pivot top and trying to work out how to do that in such limited length.

what a great idea.. so if i understand you correctly this whole unit will slide into the back of your utility trailer and then pull it out again when not in use.. therefore eliminating the need for more than one trailer.. i am planning to build somthin soon and you aussies seem to come up with the best ideas when it comes to campers....so i have been watching this site closely.. . my question sir is, how heavy is this thing gonna be, and how do you plan on putting it in or taking it out of your trailer ? unless you have some kind of pulley/winch system .. will 1 person be able to move this thing??

Swampman, yes it does slide in or drop in. We have a few standard sized box trailers (utility to you) and 7 by 4 feet is one of the common ones, probably hundreds of throusands of them around the country. Most of these trailers are rated up to 750kg maximum load without brakes, and of course you can get them built to higer spec with brakes. My design is for a fairly regular duty type trailer and one without brakes (at this point - I have to weigh it in the end to be sure). Based on my boat building experience my estimated weight of the shell is less than 200kg, and the empty trailer weighs in at 220kg, so at a total of 440kg empty that gives me room to add the fridge, water tank, etc. As to how to move it on and off, there are several method: one could be an overhead pully system if you had it in a carport or garage of the required height to make it work. There are also at least two different kinds of jack stands that are used to lift off the "pick up truck" kind of slide on campers, they could be used as well. Four guys could lift if off pretty easy, in my design the tailgate of the trailer is retained and they could just slide it out without any lifting. You need to understand how trailer registration works here to appreciate the $ benefit of this type of camper. Anything that can be put on an unbraked box trailer does not attract any sort of inspection, and you have the trailer to use for all the other things people use them for. This design is for (at most) a couple of people for short-term trips (say up to two weeks self sufficiency). It will have solar panels and battery power lighting (my son's an electicial engineer and he has it all sorted), and probably one of the little 1hp mobile air con units. Camp stove, water tank, probably an attached awning, are the sort of things I'll carry. Some of the heavy stuff may go in the rear of my KJ CRD (like the fridge) to keep the trailed weight down. Hope that covers you questions. GD

I reckon if you make a small frame the same size as the trailer on casters with rollers on the top so you can slide the unit straight our of the trailer and onto the frame and then wheel it into the corner of the garage. You could also store camping gear under it.

Cheers
Steve

i have been toying with this idea as well but am building a box to houes the slide out kitchen etc then a camper tent on top i am looking at the wind up legs for each corner like the ones used for tray top campers