DIY Enclosed Trailer

After years of loading and unloading station wagons enough was enough. I needed an enclosed trailer so that I could simply hitch up and head of for some TOW. I looked at what was available on the market and nothing really suited my needs which were...

• Take all of my gear each time I go sailing.
• Fit everything inside rather than the boards being on top racks.
• Allow the possibility to sleep inside.
• Have a low drag body for minimal fuel consumption.
• Have the same track as my sedan.
• Not sit too high above the roof line of my sedan.
• Have a long drawbar for towing stability and ease of reversing.
• Transport building materials when doing jobs around the house.

Here are some shots of construction and the finished product.

I have a lot of experience in composites and have made 10 or so boards so building a trailer was the way to go. After looking at several different fabrication type construction methods such as steel and aluminium I decided I would use a similar contruction to that used in wooden boats. This method was also different to anything I have seen(in trailers) so I wanted to give it a try. An outer shell would be glued to a wooden framework that was to form a self supporting structure that would be bolted to a welded steel chassis. This was going to be more labour intensive but would give me the seamless result I was after.

I started sketching and modelling forms that were aerodynamic, utilised the materials strong points and maximised internal storage volume. I also added a few features such as "frenching" the tail lights and pumping the guards. I will post each stage of the build process seperately. The stages are...

1. Design
2. Chassis
3. Body Frame
4. Skin
5. Finishing