Like so many outdoor loving people my family thoroughly enjoys spending its vacations and long weekends camping out, roughing it, so to speak, while exploring the many lakes and back trails of this great U.S.A. After having roughed it several summers in true Boy Scout style, we decided to design and build a camping trailer that would incorporate "all the comforts of home" in a compact, two-wheel job capable of being trailed safely at highway speeds.

Having two boys, Bruce and Craig, I knew that the trailer would have to sleep at least four, it would have to be small enough to park in my two-car garage, and it would need a roomy ice chest to handle an ample food supply. It also would have to afford adequate protection in bad weather and, preferably, be collapsible, which meant finding a way of erecting and dismantling it without a lot of work. In short, a fold away "tent" on wheels was what we needed.

The trailer you see pictured below fulfills all these requirements. And, after having put It through a tour of the West last summer (a grueling test of some 5000 miles), we found the trailer towed beautifully, provided all the comforts we had hoped for and caused a mild sensation wherever we set up camp or pulled stakes.
When open, each overhanging wing of the trailer to which the tent is permanently attached, accommodates a full-size air mattress to provide comfortable sleeping for four. The deep insulated ice chest at the front of the trailer is easy to reach both when the trailer is open or closed. The boys found this feature especially convenient for getting Cokes and other treats while on the road. Likewise, two lock fitted compartments in the nose of the trailer permit quick access to Items that might be needed enroute without opening the trailer itself. Two persons can easily erect the canvas top in a few minutes, and a full-length screen door keeps flies and mosquitoes outside. The center portion of the trailer interior affords space to store an aluminum table and chair set, as well as a camp stove. The screen door stows away in a trap door in the floor, and built-in compartments with sliding doors provide plenty of room for cooking utensils, bedding and clothing.

Down to the last nut and bolt, the trailer cost me $457.31 to build. However, we later found we could have saved as much as $30 on the cost of the canvas top ($133) by having the awning makers sew it together during their slack season. If materials can be salvaged and a second-hand running gear purchased, the cost can be reduced considerably.

Three pieces of angle iron, marked A on the drawing, are cut 39 in. long and welded to the underside of the two center channels. These pieces provide support for a 3/8 in. plywood floor. Lengths of angle iron also are welded along the center channels and along the outer edges of the bed at the sides as indicated in section B-B, Fig. 5.

You can use any suitable two-wheel running gear, Fig. 4. I purchased a 58 in., drop axle type having 16 in. wheels from Montgomery Ward for about $60. Spring mounting plates, 3/8 x 6 x 8 in., are welded to the bed on the underside at the points shown and drilled for the shackle bolts.

The locations of the angle iron posts to which the sides of the body are bolted, are spotted on the plan drawing. These are cut from 1 in. angle iron. A total of 24 are needed, ten of these being 27 in. long, two 29 in. long and twelve 14 in. long, the latter ones being located at the wheel wells, B in Fig. 5. All posts are merely butt welded on end at their respective locations. If you study the plan carefully, you can see the way each post faces. Holes for bolting the plywood sides to the posts should be spot ted and drilled before the posts are welded in place. Drill six holes for 5/16.  X 1 1/4 in. carriage bolts in each 27 in. post, spacing them about 5 in. apart.

The outside is covered with 3/4 in. marine plywood. Figs. 1, 8 and 10 give the sizes for the various panels. Exact lengths should be taken directly from the trailer bed, adding 3/4 in. to the length of the side panels to lap the plywood applied to the back. Before the side panels are permanently bolted in place, the wheel wells first are lined with plywood and then fitted with a sheet metal liner. This is soldered and riveted as in Fig. 2, the cut-out edge being serrated to form tabs for nailing the liner to the edge of the plywood side panel.

Figs. 6 and 7 detail the ice chest and its cover. You'll notice that the plywood part of the cover is rabbeted around the edges to bear against a length of sponge rubber weather stripping applied around the opening in the bulkhead cover board. Standard ice chest hardware is used to hinge the cover and provide a positive seal. The ice chest itself hangs in the opening by flanges, and glass wool insulation is packed solidly around it.

The lids, or doors, which overhang the sides when the trailer is open, are hinged with lengths of 4 in. continuous hinge which I bent in a sheet metal brake, as indicated in Fig. 9. I could buy this hinge only in 6 ft. lengths so I made up the difference by adding a section to it. Fig. 3 shows how the pipe supports for the lids are installed. These pivot in brackets located in the wheel wells and swing up from spring clamps to engage bolt head studs projecting from the top surface of the lids. Pipe extensions are stowed separately.

In studying Fig. 12, you'll notice that the framework consists of box channel on three sides over which tempered hardboard is applied and supported every 6 in. by wooden cleats. I made the box channel by placing two lengths of 1 in. angle iron together as shown and welding them along the edges at intervals of 6 to 8 in. The channel is bolted to the plywood lids ap proximately 1 1/4 in. in from the edge all around, using 1/4 in. carriage bolts long enough to also pass through the hardboard covering. Holes spaced about 8 in. apart are drilled and tapped in the outer faces of the box channel. These receive small machine screws which are used to fasten flat iron, canvas clamping strips to the channel. Flat headed 1 1/4 in. wood screws are used to fasten the hard board to the cleats and the cleats to the plywood trailer lids.

Space under the seats on each side of the wheel wells is converted to storage compartments with sliding doors of tempered hardboard. The cross-section view in Fig. 15 shows how tracks are made for the sliding doors. The upper track is formed by a rabbeted strip which is bolted to the face of the angle iron seat rail, flush with the top. The lower track is formed by two 1/4 in. cleats nailed to a 3/4 x 2 1/4 in. strip which is bolted to a channel member of the trailer bed. The 1 1/4 in. cleats are lined up, of course, with the rabbet directly above. The 3/8 in. rabbet allows ample clearance for the two sliding doors so that any subsequent swelling will not cause them to bind. Handles are formed by boring a 1 in. finger hole in opposite ends of the hardboard panels. Stops for the hinged trap door in the floor, which affords access to a storage well below it, are bolted to the underside of the wooden channel strips. The stops run the full length of the door and you'll note that one edge of each one is rabbeted to fit over the edge of the iron channel. The trap door itself, below which the screen door is stored, is hinged along one side, the hinges being set flush so they will not interfere with the hard board sliding doors. The trap door should be short enough to allow the screen door to rest directly on the channel iron of trailer bed when the door is set up. A hand hold is cut in the lower left-hand corner of the door for easy lifting.

I made the screen door in one piece as you can see in the photo on the opposite page, although I since have converted it into a Dutch type door as detailed in Fig. 14. This proved more convenient in that the door of the trailer itself could be closed and yet allow the upper part of the screen door to be opened independent of the lower section. The 3-piece frame for the door is made of 3/4 x 3 in. hardwood. I used mortise and tenon joints at

This brings you to the tent and its supporting pipe framework. Except for the two main units of the framework which are shown red in Fig. 16 and which are permanently attached to the trailer body, all supporting members are designed to come apart to facilitate storing. The two main units are pivoted in welded angle iron brackets bolted to the trailer body and fold flat. You'll notice here that height adjustment is provided to take up any slack in the canvas. I made the whole framework of rigid and thin wall electrical conduit. The bows which stretch the sides of the tent, are fitted with pins in the ends to engage holes in the lower ends of the main supporting bows. Note that these side bows are made to come apart in three pieces. Pipe X serves as a prop to support the one-piece front bow. The lower end sets over a bolt head stud in the trailer body, while the upper end has a pin to pass through a hole at the mitered joint.

In erecting the tent top, the main bows are swung up in position first, and then the three stretcher pipes are put in place over welded studs. Usually, there is enough play in the canvas top to permit the stretchers to be forced 

Patterns for the tent accompany Fig. 16. I had this sewed together by an awning maker and suggest that you do, too. They know how to add the drop curtain windows and are equipped to install the grommets for buttoning the tent to the trailer. The 3 in. flap indicated across the top of the rear pattern is optional. I had this sewed in at the