Serious discussion about building a trailer to driver seat vestibule

[debit.servus]

When weighing the pros and cons of towing the house with the car vs towing the car with the house, the biggest downside that I keep coming back to for trailer-prime mover dwelling is the inability to move without going outside.

Even though the odds of being in a situation where your life depends on getting outta there is about .01%, it's worth having a sheltered and covered way of getting between trailer and prime mover.

So I'm seriously considering building a vestibule between my future cargo trailer conversion & prime mover (likely a truck). To be able to walk (or run inside) the vestibule, it would be at least 6' high & 2 feet wide to form an interior hallway. The sides & ceiling can be soft sided with heavy fabric or hard sided. It should attach to the trailer and retract or fold away when not hitched. It should also accommodate different prime movers by flexing and extending. It should connect so as to where one can crawl or otherwise climb into the drivers seat without being seen by those outside until slinked into the drivers seat.

Barring this, a remote control drive system where the prime mover can be driven by wire from a arcade style interface inside the trailer.

 

[tx2sturgis]

How about explosive bolts, with focused charge, on the bed frame, a 200PSI air operated sliding roof, and a 480 volt servo-deployed catch chute in the 'prime mover' just above the driver position?

Pull the yellow handle above your pillow and .75 seconds later you are in the drivers seat! 

Well....assuming the other parts worked correctly....

Seems about as easy to engineer and build as that vestibule thing.



Plus, all the loud noises and flying debris might scare off the burglar, bear, or youtube paparazzi.

Or not.

 

[TMG51]

...a remote control drive system where the prime mover can be driven by wire from a arcade style interface inside the trailer.

No officer, I didn't run over those pedestrians, it was lag in my arcade interface.

 

[poncho62]

Solution.......motor home.....van

 

[GotSmart]

Solution.......motor home.....van

How about an old bus?

 

[jimindenver]

When I the modern version of the articulated buses in Denver I wanted one to convert sooooo bad. Those or a double decker would do too.

 

[Richard]

So I'm seriously considering building a vestibule between my future cargo trailer conversion & prime mover (likely a truck). To be able to walk (or run inside) the vestibule, it would be at least 6' high & 2 feet wide to form an interior hallway. The sides & ceiling can be soft sided with heavy fabric or hard sided. It should attach to the trailer and retract or fold away when not hitched. It should also accommodate different prime movers by flexing and extending. It should connect so as to where one can crawl or otherwise climb into the drivers seat without being seen by those outside until slinked into the drivers seat.

I saw a reference to such a vestibule in the February 1921 issue of the magazine Popular Science.

Less ancient, a patent was granted in 1972 for such a vestibule between a pickup truck and a camper sitting in its bed.

Of course, articulated buses have been using those accordion-style vestibules since the 1960's so it's certainly a do-able project if one has the money, time, and inclination.

Is there a particular scenario you're interested in escaping (bears, inclement weather, human aggressors) or is this more of a general escape strategy? I'm guessing it's a human-based threat, since otherwise there's no context for concern about being seen in transit between trailer and tow vehicle: the weather doesn't care if you're changing from trailer to tow, and I assume a bear would more likely after some food item than it is after you as a primary target.

Richard

 

[debit.servus]

How about explosive bolts, with focused charge, on the bed frame, a 200PSI air operated sliding roof, and a 480 volt servo-deployed catch chute in the 'prime mover' just above the driver position?

Pull the yellow handle above your pillow and .75 seconds later you are in the drivers seat!

Well....assuming the other parts worked correctly....

Seems about as easy to engineer and build as that vestibule thing.



Plus, all the loud noises and flying debris might scare off the burglar, bear, or youtube paparazzi.

Or not.

That system is multiples harder & costlier to engineer and build than a vestibule. That is fighter jet level stuff, thanks for the laugh.

Could you draw a sketch of what you have in mind (side and top view)? Sounds doable but wouldn't the vestibule take up lots of valuable space?

Guy

So I'm thinking of a door on the tongue side of the trailer that opens to the vestibule, with the other end attached to an entry point on the prime mover, a door or a window, with stairs if the floor of the prime mover is at a different level than the trailer. It can be like a tent with a gangway for the floor. Upon opening the door a distraction sound can play on the opposite end of the trailer, to divert the human aggressors just long enough to get into the drivers seat and take off.

A van with back doors would be easy for this, there's no climbing into a truck bed and provided theres nothing blocking the path that's a fast path to the drivers seat. Even in a non life threatening situation, I don't see why moving from trailer to prime mover without being exposed to the elements isn't desirable, if there's extreme weather outside like pouring rain.

I saw a reference to such a vestibule in the February 1921 issue of the magazine Popular Science.

Less ancient, a patent was granted in 1972 for such a vestibule between a pickup truck and a camper sitting in its bed.

Of course, articulated buses have been using those accordion-style vestibules since the 1960's so it's certainly a do-able project if one has the money, time, and inclination.

Is there a particular scenario you're interested in escaping (bears, inclement weather, human aggressors) or is this more of a general escape strategy? I'm guessing it's a human-based threat, since otherwise there's no context for concern about being seen in transit between trailer and tow vehicle: the weather doesn't care if you're changing from trailer to tow, and I assume a bear would more likely after some food item than it is after you as a primary target.

Richard

I've also seen a patent for a slide in truck camper combined with a small trailer linked by a full vestibule, they were one unit.

Yes the weather doesn't care if you're exposed & bears are looking for food. So this would be for human aggressors & a general escape strategy like being knocked on to move.

 

[debit.servus]

Does anybody have any ideas on how to build a trailer to prime mover vestibule?

 

[debit.servus]

Any remote drive arcade interface would have redundancies, fail-safes & kill switches which slams on the brakes and stops the engine. It would only be used to escape the immediate thread then when I feel safe I'm going into the driver seat. There, now back to the vestibule.

So tonight I finally got around to drawing up the designs to build a vestibule to a truck and van from a hitched trailer. This is a solution to my biggest downside with my current rig plan.

All feedback, constructive criticism, design improvements welcome.

 

[debit.servus]

Could you draw a sketch of what you have in mind (side and top view)? Sounds doable but wouldn't the vestibule take up lots of valuable space?

Guy

As requested, attached is a side view I drew up in MS Paint.

 

[debit.servus]

Any Feedback?

 

[debit.servus]

Any feedback?

 

[eDJ_]

I'm surprised that this concept hasn't presented itself sooner.   It could have merit for some here I'm sure.

In the past such a system was quite successfully employed by Railroad Passenger Cars.  Each end had a heavy canvas accordion door extension that coupled to the next car's. They were all of a standard design so one car would connect with any other.   In this case it would only need to connect to the one trailer.  In the case of the trailer to the Van or Pickup vehicle it may only need to be a one piece connection.  

It should be remembered that the turns on a railroad track are gentle compared to what a motor vehicle may
have to perform on the road, in a parking lot, or campground.  So the vestibule may have to be collapsed or disconnected when under way so that it doesn't attract attention from law enforcement. 

I'm not sure about the laws regarding people being in trailers while the tow vehicle is under way.  If that is illegal
then the vestibule may trigger "LEO" to investigate.

Otherwise,  if I had a trailer I was towing and intended to live in, then it would be interesting to me.  So far my proposed trailer would be strictly a utility/support vehicle to the Van.  (as seen in my first link below on the last page of the site)

http://vanconversion.homestead.com/page-7.html

 

[moorejames]

Probably be easier to put in an escape hatch in the ceiling of the trailer and a big remote controlled moon roof in the truck....

 

[MrNoodly]

You could probably work a gray water evaporation system into it.

 

[velojym]

The remote driving feature made me think of this:





If you're driving a van or suv, a hatchback tent could probably be modified to bridge the two. It wouldn't even really look like an "escape tube", more like an extension of your shelter. Just back the truck up to a good distance from the side of the camper door, and put the thing up.

 

[Tool Amour]

I've been thinking of something similar since I'm leaning more toward a van/mini bus conversion coupled with a built-out utility trailer. Unfortunately my visions aren't very practical--I'd envisioned a tail-to-tail arrangement, which might work for wilderness boondocking but certainly not in town or in campground or RV park. And certainly NOT useful for the "evacuate NOW" scenario.

Hmmmm...this thread has given me more things to ponder....thank you Debit.Servus for your drawing--very helpful.

 

[debit.servus]

For Moorejames & Tool Amour Attached I drew a overhitch bridge that links two escape hatches on both the trailer and prime mover. You will have to make sure this bridge is set up every time you park or build a mechanism to slide the bridge to the truck roof & pop up the soft sided canvas tent from inside the trailer.

Recommended: canvas tenting or other soft-sided walls so human aggressors can't see you moving to the prime mover to get in the driver's seat to escape.

In the past such a system was quite successfully employed by Railroad Passenger Cars. Each end had a heavy canvas accordion door extension that coupled to the next car's. They were all of a standard design so one car would connect with any other.

side note: you're wrote "was" like passenger trains are obsolete and there isn't a railcar vestibule in operation anywhere in the world. Just to let you know.