DIY Squaredrop Camper FULL BUILD Walkthrough

wow [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] hi guys i'm elvis and welcome to my channel in this video i'd like to give you a detailed overview of how i built this square drop trailer basically after i've been camping in tents for a while i got tired of setting up and packing up all the gear so i decided it's time to upgrade to something a bit more convenient i considered many different options and after some careful consideration i decided to narrow it down to teardrop trailer i considered buying one i considered looking at caravans but they were too big and quite frankly i wasn't planning to use it all year round i've decided the teardrop trailer for me is one of the most convenient camping options it's a small it's easy to store it's easy to tow uh you can take it through narrow spaces and it's very easy to set up very easy to pack up and prepare for your trip now the next question was do i buy one or do i build one myself i looked at buying a boat new and second hand and they're quite both quite expensive the problem with second-hand teardrop trailers was that they were either not very good quality or there could be some hidden problem with them i've heard a lot of horror stories of mold and all kind of issues loose screws etc etc so i've decided that for me the best option was to use my skills and build one from scratch and this ended up being great decision because this was one of the most fun projects i ever did now before i started building the trailer i've put together a list of acceptance criteria based on which i've decided how to design and build this square drop trailer first of all i wanted the trailer to have a professional look secondly i wanted quality and strength i wanted to reduce build complexity i wanted to keep the costs down i wanted to keep sufficient clearance underneath the trailer so that i could take it off-road and finally i wanted to make sure that the width of the trailer does not exceed the width of my car or 4x4 okay so second stage of my planning was to draw some designs some basic uh diagrams i watched a lot of youtube videos a lot of other samples what other people were doing tried to learn from their mistakes and i derived exactly a plan or design that i wanted to follow so i've organized the project into three phases phase one was to build the base frame phase two was to build the box sleeping quarters in the kitchen and phase three was to build all the additional accessories such as this awning toolbox at the front stabilizer legs and additional gadgets and accessories [Music] okay so let's start with the phase one which was building the base frame what i ended up doing is uh i salvaged an old trailer from a friend and i ended up using axle and wheels from that trailer and based on that axle size i've then planned the dimensions of my new frame okay so to build the frame i've ended up using three different types of steel pipes for the a-frame i've used 75 by 50 mil in three mil thickness pipes for the main box i've used 50 by 50 in a very strong four mil steel and for the cross members and any uh outside extrusions i've used 50 by 50 in i think 2.5 ml thickness i've also welded at the front of a frame six mil plates for extra strength but the top and the bottom i've welded some cross members on the a-frame i've both screwed and welded the coupling onto the plate of the a-frame the most critical part of the frame was to use very strong antique steel for the box and also to make sure that a-frame is properly welded in multiple spots to the main box the most important thing when building a frame is to make sure that the center of the coupling is at exact same distance from end of each axle where the wheels go this is to make sure that your trailer is perfectly balanced when on the road and it doesn't sway from left to right okay so before you weld in the hangers that hold the axle springs or springs that hold the axle you need to make sure that each end of the axle is exact same distance from the center of the a-frame you can measure this by using a piece of rope and make sure that when you put it on one side it's at the exact same distance as the other side so that it's all perfectly balanced once you get that measured and balanced properly only then you can weld in the hangers that will hold your springs for storing the spare wheel or spare tire i've used the space underneath the trailer frame i welded one additional pipe in between the two cross members and i welded a threaded bolt to that to which i can basically attach my spare tire i've left a lot of clearance underneath the trailer frame which allows me to take the trailer off-road i can in the future upgrade the wheels to more of off-road type wheels or tires as well in order to increase the clearance under the trailer i've connected the axle underneath the slipper springs once i completed building the frame i've painted it with a base coat and a final coat on multiple layers of course of the enamel paint additionally i've also installed a water tank underneath the trailer as you can see the water tank does not protrude below the axle so there's still plenty of clearance underneath i've used plastic water tank of approximately 65 liters which is sufficient for this square drop trailer now one of the other very important things when building the frame was to weld in in multiple sports plates with holes drilling them which will allow me to connect the floor the timber floor to the frame itself now the next thing i built was the floor the floor was built using 18 mil plywood followed by another layer of 15ml ply with some insulation inserts and finally a 9mm structural plywood as a top layer each layer was glued and screwed to the other using t-rex glue and some screws i painted the plywood floor with a heavy duty premium enamel weatherproof primer and paint to install the floor and connect it to the frame i've used 12 mil nuts and bolts galvanized exterior use exterior grade and i've also used a lot of t-rex glue which is smx polymer based highly flexible exterior grade glue i've also used t-rex polymer glue for everything else on this trailer connecting walls to the frame connecting walls to each other with the cross walls [Music] and cross members and everything else [Music] to connect the side panels to the frame i've drilled some holes into the frame itself and i've used 10 gauge or 10 mil i've used a 10 mil galvanized exterior nuts and bolts to connect the marine ply to the frame itself i've also used a lot of t-rex glue for extra strength in this clip i'm using a miniature model to demonstrate how it all fits together the interior of the trailer consists of two compartments the sleeping quarters which is about 2 meters in length and the kitchen compartment which is about 0.6 meters in length i also left enough clearance inside so that it doesn't feel claustrophobic the square drop box itself is about 1.3 meters in height in order to connect the sidewall with the back wall as well as the front wall and the room dividing wall i've used a special 14 gauge hex self-embedding galvanized batten screws structure of the walls consists of 18 mil marine plywood followed by 15 mil interior ply with insulation cutouts and finally a three mil interior melamine panels after completing the exterior walls i then started adding another layer of plywood on the inside this was an interior plywood soft and lightweight i've cut some placeholders for insulation and i've ins i've used the foil board for insulating the trailer i've used one layer of 15 mil foil board in the walls and for the roof and ceiling i went with slightly more sturdy structure i've used 30 by 30 ml hardwood studs on which i've placed the 18mm exterior marine plywood that way i've achieved fairly strong roof structure that i can easily walk on now the electrical compartment for this trailer is located in the rear of the trailer so before i install the final layer of plywood for the roof i've transferred all the cables and all the electrical wiring connecting the rear of the trailer with the ceiling [Music] so here we are in the main sleeping cabin as you can see there is fair bit of clearance here that you can comfortably sit and you still have space above your head so that you don't feel claustrophobic on one side i've installed a window which i purchased on ebay this window is actually fantastic it's very cheap and you can open window it comes with the blinds with a shaved line and a full night blind i have also installed a number of gadgets inside including this clothes hanger at the front section of the interior sleeping quarters i've installed these cupboards with a lot of storage space inside and i've also left the bottom bit uh as an open shelf with a little bracket that will prevent from items falling out while you're driving additionally i've installed custom holders where you can put a laptop a phone and any other gadgets and accessories here we have the main switchbox which operates the lights we have usb ports and also cigarette lighter port additionally i've installed a fan on the ceiling this is a domatic brand fan and i wouldn't bother with the cheap ebay fans i purchased one and i had problems with it so i had to pull it out and install a better quality one as you can see i've installed here a whole bunch of pillows as per international interior decoration guidelines however once you remove these pillows you'll notice that i've installed the custom bench here which allows me to pull it down and now if i want to sit on the bench i can do that one of the biggest dilemmas i had when planning this build was what sort of door to use and there was a whole bunch of options some people were building custom doors and you could buy various types of doors in the end i've decided the best option both aesthetically quality wise and in terms of ease of installation was to purchase a proper tiered or teardrop trailer door such as this one so it's fully lockable you can open the window up and down i have turned my door so that the window is at the bottom just to provide a breeze closer to us when we sleep inside and finally as you can see i've just installed a very simple custom blind for privacy and nighttime mode i have used plastic corner joints to join the these panels together as well as these ones where i had to extend them for the top i've just used the corner trims i've covered all the interior walls with the three mil melamine boards these melamine boards are specifically designed for rvs and caravans [Music] for the final exterior finished i've used colorbond steel sheets 0.7 mil thickness for the top part then for the bottom part i've used black checkered aluminum point i think it's 1.2 mil thickness for all the joints i've used j-mold trims and similarly for the flat joints i'll also use these j-mold trims although the flat joint trims are flat they don't have a little extension they're fantastic because you can actually use screws to securely fasten the trims in place and then you can place a little rubber decorative rubber strip which covers all of the screws and protects from water now the top sheet of the column bond is folded and it sits above the next layer [Music] now in order to make sure that this trailer is completely weatherproof i've completed the following steps firstly i've jammed the top ceiling layer of the trailer the plywood sheets against the side panel using a lot of t-rex sealer glue so that provides first level of water tightness secondly i've covered that joint with the collarbone metal sheets these guys here and also applied a lot of t-rex sealer glue underneath and third step is i've used this j-mold trim to cover that last join again i've used a lot of t-rex sealer glue underneath so basically that gives me three levels of waterproofing i have set the width of this trailer to be approximately 1.5 meters that is the width of the box itself slightly narrower than the width of the wheels this is for two reasons one is to give me a little bit of extra stability uh as the wheels are slightly wider than the box itself and second is just for aesthetics now to cover the wheels i've just used custom purchased mudguards from steel but i wasn't happy with the look of it so in the end i've just covered the extension of the mudguards with checkered aluminum so that it all looks continuous and seamless with the rest of the trailer [Music] for the final touches i've purchased some vinyl stickers which i've applied to the sides of the trailer which is these ones and i've also custom designed my logo and these graphics on the rear of the trailer using illustrator and photoshop here on the side of the trailer i've installed a custom hatch door to give me access to electrical compartment in here i have the battery i have all the cabling for the rear indicator lights and eventually i will also install here an inverter and any additional electrical components right here i've installed a water tank filler with the lid this i just purchased online and allows me to unlock the access to water storage this is connected with the water tank via set of pipes and there's additional set of pipes coming out of the water tank connected to the sink tap [Music] now when it comes to camping you can always do with more storage so i've obviously had to build this toolbox this toolbox is custom built using nine mil marine plywood and the same checkered aluminium sheets just to cover it for decorative purposes and also protect it more from rain and water as you can see the toolbox has enough room for a couple of camping tables foldable chairs additional tools gear and equipment now when we're camping we also want to make sure that we can level this trailer if the ground is uneven and stabilized and therefore i've installed four stabilizer legs on each corner of the trailer box now one of the key accessories you want to have when you go camping is obviously a shade awning now before i could install this awning i had to create roof racks for this t-drop trailer or square drop trailer so i ended up just building custom roof racks that fit exactly on this trailer and then i basically just attached this awning which i purchased on ebay the kitchen compartment is located at the rear of the trailer for the side and backsplash wall i've simply just used thin layer of plywood which i've stained and also applied some varnish onto it the kitchen itself consists of a number of components including custom build cabinets through the kitchen bench i can access my stove gas plumbing underneath the sink and additional storage space i've also built some additional accessories and features such as paper towel holder and additional shelving for other kitchen items at the bottom i have a sink which is connected to the water tank underneath on the left hand side underneath the fridge i also have another compartment which allows me to access electrical components and again more storage space [Music] this trailer is registered in victoria australia in order to get this trailer registered i had to take it to a weight bridge and get it measured i had to print out a certificate from the weight bridge and then call vic roads and obtain a win number for this trailer once they gave me the win number i had to punch it into the front of the chassis and also get one of those little plaques where you enter all the details including the weight and other specifications after that i call the vicroads to organize an appointment to get the registration plate and because my trailer was under 750 kilos in total weight i didn't have to bring the trailer for an inspection if the trailer is above 750 kilos then it's subject to further inspection roadworthy certificate and also potentially having a brakes as well the total cost of this project has been approximately 5 000 australian dollars and that's it hope you enjoyed this video if you have any questions feel free to post them under the video and of course don't forget to subscribe see you next time [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] you

Channel: Chilled Beans

Views: 140,499

Keywords: squaredrop, teardrop, trailer, teardrop trailer, diy, full build, tutorial, instructions, bhfyp, youtube, video, welding, camper, caravan, tiny camper, squaredrop trialer, chilled beans, elvis svonja, film, movie, transport, motorhome, follow, custom, glacier explorer, how to, design, camping, aerial, drone

Id: N35rWXeuOeM

Length: 22min 54sec (1374 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 28 2021