Awesome design. I hate commenting on videos, everyone has an opinion and I don’t want to be that guy. Take my words with a grain of sand, I’ve really enjoyed this build series. I love that you got your Nerd On and did the calculations. I am not an engineere, but I work with them every day. Everyday they teach me the math and what it looks like on paper and I teach them practical application in field setting and we build some pretty cool stuff. So, here’s me being the arm chair opinionator. My two suggestions, use bolts on the camper side nut flange. The structural grade screws are only rated in a static application. Over time the vibrations and flex may weaken the screw interface. Using a bolt through the full 2x6, and securing it with locking hardware will give you a much stronger and more reliable attachment, even if the hole wollers out over time. Also, the hardware going into the 2x6 needs to be rated for pressure treated wood or the chemicals will corrode the hardware. Secondly, instead of 4 bolts on the trailer side through the pocket, if you used one larger bolt that would allow some slop in in the square tube when slightly loosened, you wouldn’t have to be as precise on the initial placement of the camper during installation. Thank you for sharing and excellent execution of paper ideas to functional reality.
nice build. im thing of building a 5x12 foamie pod system myself. may use two long threaded rods through the substructure that interface with brackets at the side of the trailer
Awesome design & thank you for sharing. One of my sons is a machinists & I'm amazed at the strength of metal fasteners & structures. Growing up my Dad was an awesome fabricator but wasn't book educated so I was taught to over build everything myself, good thing gas was cheap & we didn't have to worry about the weight of something back then.
In the previous video you didn't want to worry about lineup being so precise, this looks pretty precise. I made a box for my pickup truck I used 4 turn buckles at an angle to stop the side to side but still had the flexibility of not being precise for my hookup.
Cool idea. 👍🏻 My pod sits on three 2x6 treated skids. I just used six 5/8 carriage bolts to bolt through the skids from inside and into the trailer frame. Simple. Never moves a bit and is easy to remove when I need the trailer for utility purposes.
That will definitely hold better than the cable system you had. The only thing I think I would have done differently would be to run the 7/8" bolt completely through the 4x6 and put the nut plate on the inside so you would capture the entire 4x6 and the load force would be pulling the nut plate tighter instead of it trying to pull the plate off of the 4x6. I highly doubt it would come apart the way you have it but I am prone to over build things.
My concern would be flex. It’s going to be so rigid now any flex is going to split out your skids. I think a better way might be to bolt on to the sides some eyes then use turn buckles or some really short ratchet straps to attach it
much like every engineer, you have over engineered something that was very simple fix. You could have picked up a lever synch and hooked it to a small loop on the skid and hooked it to the square 2x4 bracket holder on the trailer. And if you did it at a slight angle to the front and opposite angle on the rear, the sliding issue is solved and no more crawling on your back to secure it.
I’ve been watching your vids and you’ve inspired me to build something like this. I’m in southern ok and northern tx where summertime temps get hot hot!!! Have you thought about installing an AC and if so what ideas have you thought of? That seems to be the hardest part of my rough outline so far. I can’t decide on installing a regular window unit or a 12v system that I could power with batteries and solar in a situation where I didn’t have shore power…what to do what to do….🤷♂️🤷♂️
I have thought about it and seen a few ideas. I think my first idea would be an opening in the front where I would install the smallest window AC I could find. That location allows the unit to hang over the tongue and also puts it in a decent spot for airflow.
That's a great design, though it seems like overkill. But I overbuild things so they don't bend or break. The only concern I have is alignment. Will you put stop blocks in so the pod always lines up, or is it easy to shift a quarter inch with a tubafore or something? If I had a utility trailer, I'd build a pod for it similar to yours. Since I don't, I want to build a composite squaredrop trailer from scratch.
My question would be how hard is it going to be to line these bolt holes up the next time you place the pod back on the trailer after removing it. I don’t think strength will be any problem at all. Always thought the cable had room for improvement but it seemed to work. Good job if the line up is no problem. Would enjoy knowing the results
Great question, I just loaded the pod back on the trailer today and they lined up easier than I expected. Check out our TikTok page to see that video now or it will be coming soon to RU-vid too. Thanks for watching!
You’re the first one to catch my typo in the video! You are correct, these are grade 8. A little more brittle but bend less before breaking. Proof strength is way more than needed and I wanted the stiffness. Good catch by those old eyes 👍🏻
@@LivingOurAmericanDream Yeah, I think I would have gone with eight's as well. That design is a very good example of simplistic perfection. The pod is not going anywhere.
As you get older you will start thinking "why didn't I just leave it mounted permanently on the trailer "? That's too heavy and you can purchase another utility trailer . My back thanks me all the time ! 🙃🤣👍
