ZooZooBee camping trailer - Conception / Drafting

Requirements

First you need to figure what it is that you need /want.

For example in my case, I wanted:

• hard shell camper - because it's cold and humid here in the Pacific NW.

• simple shape - I'm not a very skilled wood worker)

• lightweight - need to tow with a subaru outback, my goal is < 1000 pounds.

• one large bed for the adults, at least queen size (80*60)

• Two smaller beds for the kids (at least 5' by 2')

• Space for a Porta potty

• A sink for washing hands.

• A seating area

• A shower

• A size that would not introduce to much drag / bad millage on the car (ie: front of the trailer not much bigger than 6 wide by 6' tall.

Trying to feet all that stuff in a compact floor plan (ex: 4*8 or 5*10) is the fun, but tricky part !

You might want to reconsider stuff that waste floorspace (example: shower) or find creative ideas to save space, such as bunk beds, recessed floors and so on.

K.I.S.S

I had started going wild with ideas such as making the railer out of plastic (lexan) and having "pull out" extensions on the side and so on.

After a while I realized I forgot one of my favorite principals keep it simple stupid (K.I.S.S)and decided to go with a much simpler / standard design, especially for my first build.

Materials

The materials you will use will also impact your design and trailer weight.

There are many different constructions techniques with various strength / weight.

You should also decide what kind of a frame / chassis you will use and consider/source some of your components, such as windows and doors as they will impact your floor plan/ design.

Drafting

While it's not fully required, stuffing that much stuff in a small space needs a lot of planning and you really should draft it on paper and make sure it all works out before you start building.

While paper works fine, it';s much easier to represent all the layers involved, such as structure, furnitures, electrical wiring and so on using computer software(CAD), if you can figure it out.

See here for lists of CAD software that works well for sketching a trailer:
http://www.mikenchell.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=36

All That said I worked and reworked some designs, a CAD software lets you do that easily, here are some examples of what I came up with (but did not use in the end):

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