"TrailTop" modular trailer topper building components

screwball48

Explorer
Too bad you don't live closer to me... it would be fun to build this one with you.

I take that as a complement. Thank you sir. I would liken that to William Ruger saying he would help me mount a scope on a rifle. If I am able to build one I will guarantee lots of pictures.
 

bmour

New member
I consider myself to have moderate DIY skills and this looks like it would be so much fun to put together. Please put me down as interested in the Trail Dog 10.

I rarely comment in forums as I tend to lurk and read everything, but I wanted to chime in and say this looks awesome. Thank you for designing something this cool. My MasterCard is standing by.....
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
You may have noticed that I never painted the TrailTop cover for the yellow trailer. In all the photos the fiberglass is still white, and the plywood center panel is sort of off-white, but that's because plywood I bought was pre-primed.

CoveryAssyDone5_zpsa1a7e383.jpg


Painting it hasn't been important to finishing the proof-of-concept build so far, but lately I've been needing the garage space so I've wanted to leave it outside overnight. But I don't want to leave the unprotected wood outside, so I've been thinking I should either remove the cover or paint it.

I've been thinking of doing a proof-of-concept on the painting too - I'm intrigued by the modern "deck coating" products on the market - Olympic Rescue It, Rustolem Restore and Home Depot's Behr Deckover are a few of the type. All of these are thick, water-based acrylics that apply with a roller or brush and leave a textured finish, not unlike automotive bedliner products. The manufacturers say they're good for up to 10 years on a deck. Online reviews are not quite so glowing, with many saying their decks are peeling after the first winter. It's hard to believe these products would still be on the market if they were as bad as some of the reviews say, so I think it's worth some testing. A trailer top would probably have less abuse than a deck; after all a trailer could be garaged or covered with a tarp outside in the winter, so these products could work better on a trailer than on old, mildewed, pressure-treated, contaminated decks.

These products are about 1/3 to 1/4 the price of automotive bedliner, and they're tintable at no extra cost, so if it worked well on a trailer it could be a cost-effective, attractive and easy-to-apply finish.

The other day I was in Lowes and on their "mis-tint" table there was a gallon of Olympic Rescue It, tinted in a chocolate brown, which would go nicely with the yellow trailer and the tan tilt-up canvas, and it was at a cheep mis-tint price, so I bought it to experiment with.

I made up a plywood and a fiberglass test panel. I primed half of each with epoxy primer, which sticks to everything, and I'm brushing the recommended two coats of Rescue It on. The reason for the primer is that I suspect there may be an adhesion issue between the acrylic and the fiberglass, so the epoxy should provide a better base for the acrylic to adhere to.

OlympicRescueIt1_zpsab33909c.jpg


I'll let these dry over the long weekend, the Rescue It instructions say to wait 48 hours, and then I'll see how it's sticking.
 

mhiscox

Expedition Leader
Thanks, as always, for the effort you make to figure out this stuff and share your findings. I find your experience and knowledge very helpful, and I appreciate you passing it on.
 

Grunizzle

New member
I would build a #7 on a HF or NT trailer frame. Just spent 2 hours reading this whole thread. Great work and awesome idea. I really want one, where can I send my payment ;)
 

FJC Scout

Observer
I am still on the #2 option. I have, however, an M-Series Dinoot trailer. And I'd be all over it if available!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I am still on the #2 option. I have, however, an M-Series Dinoot trailer. And I'd be all over it if available!

A few weeks back I posted about one new TrailTop component idea for making toppers for military trailers. I posted it in my military trailer thread: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...y-style-Trailer-Tub-Kit?p=1644373#post1644373 I didn't post it in this thread because it was specifically about military-style trailers, so follow the link for more info. Here's a military trailer chuck wagon concept using the new part.

HardCover5_zpsab604f5a.jpg
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
Before the long weekend I posted about testing Olympic RescueIt deck coating. I left it to dry all weekend and this morning I tried a scratch test to see how it adheres.

The panel at left is plywood. Part of it I primed, you can see the gray sticking out, and part of it came with a thin wash of primer from the store. I wasn't able to scratch the coating off anywhere.

The panel at right is fiberglass. Where I primed, I wasn't able to scratch off the coating. Where I applied the coating to bare fiberglass, I was able to scratch it off.

There are some brush marks on both samples, I expect when applied with a roller the finish would be very uniform.

OlympicRescueIt2_zpsce93613f.jpg


I'm very impressed with the hardness and toughness of the finish. Based on this quick test, I plan to finish the TrailTop hard cover with it. I'll use some filler on any gaps that exist between the plywood and the fiberglass parts, and then I'll do two coats of primer followed by two coats of RescueIt. It'll be about two weeks before I can get to it, when I do it I'll post photos.
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
Luckily, the brown color I found on the Lowes mis-tint table complements both the yellow tub and the tan fabric well, and also made the gallon of RescueIt half price :).

OlympicRescueIt3_zpsee30931b.jpg
 

Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Thanks for the info on RescueIt. I'm going to coat my trailer floor with it. Even if you never sell anything all your testing and research is great by me!


2008 FJ Cruiser expedition ready and off-road trailer with RTT.
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
Thanks for the info on RescueIt. I'm going to coat my trailer floor with it. Even if you never sell anything all your testing and research is great by me!

You're welcome, but I haven't really finished testing it yet, so far I've only applied it to some test panels and the results of that were positive enough for me to commit to doing the entire trailer top in it. I think it'll be fine over the long haul, but that's my long term test :).

Also if you're applying it to anything other than bare wood (metal, fiberglass, etc.), it will need a good primer to ensure adhesion. I used epoxy primer for the test and it was excellent, but I haven't tested any other primers yet.
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
Someone on another forum asked me if TrailTop parts could be used to build a topper for a pop-up camper where the pop-up canvas or mechanism was shot. Here's what I suggested; I drew on his photo, which was of the doorless side, there would be a door on the other side. Also there could be a traditional teardrop galley in the back.

Viking1_zps5c96f8a5.jpg
 

CLynn85

Explorer
Someone on another forum asked me if TrailTop parts could be used to build a topper for a pop-up camper where the pop-up canvas or mechanism was shot. Here's what I suggested; I drew on his photo, which was of the doorless side, there would be a door on the other side. Also there could be a traditional teardrop galley in the back.

Viking1_zps5c96f8a5.jpg

That's a cool idea! I always see cheap popups for sale, but not a huge fan of soft sides, best of both worlds.
 

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