Homemade Travel Trailer Project

[frank-SUN]

Frank, ah good. The stuff it under the bed trick....

Yes a front cargo hole is an area where you can put a lot of stuff... And an outside access hole to it along with inside access makes it that much easier. Key is the trailer is balanced well with not a lot of cargo up front (empty trailer) and then when you fill it, it gets very well balanced. But not letting tongue weight go so far out of site you need a 2500 to hold it up...

Your doing good. Looking foward to the progress.

John

Thanks John! Here's an update for you

Two weekends ago wound up a wash since my brother was sick and stayed home.

Meanwhile, parts are arriving every couple of days as I find good deals. I need to take some pictures of the parts pile soon, it's getting pretty big. Scored what I think is an incredible deal on the kitchen sink and faucet. Brand new Franke brand stainless bar sink and a Pegasus bar faucet. Retail around $175 for the pair, $40 on ebay. I think it'll look nice in there

This past Thursday, my brother and father came down to get some more done. Half the day was a bit of a wash as some parts I had ordered through the local RV dealer came in and needed to be picked up. We got the shower pan, bath sink, shower and lav faucets and a few other miscellaneous parts there.

After the parts run, we drug the trailer out front and took some measurements to get the LP trunk in place. A quick trip to Home Cheapo for some black pipe and fittings and then we got to work.

Cutting and tapping some pipe:

Got the pipe routed through the frame and secured:

That was about it for Thursday. On Saturday, we were back to work, fighting those crazy 50 MPH winds.

First we flipped the floor and added some blocking to support the waste tanks. First the black:

Then the grey:

As Norm had mentioned earlier, it is very important to protect the floor from water. For that task, I chose to use Asphalt based fibered roof and foundation coating. I figure if it's good enough for ground contact, it's good enough for the floor. It's also inexpensive at around $12 a gallon. 2/3's of the gallon did the job.

Brush the corners and edges:

Then use a squeegee for the large, flat areas. All coated it looks like this:

A close-up:

With that done, it's time for some floor insulation. We went with Tuff-R foam, 1" thick. Cut a tiny bit oversized for a press fit, and used flashing cement for a belt-and-suspenders approach:

Next, we attached the wheelhouses. These were sealed with flashing cement, and sheet metal screws every 2" or so.

For me, getting those wheelhouses installed was a major milestone, as those are the first parts to be re-used from the original pop-up.

Finally flip the floor over for the last time, line it up and bolt it down:

An underside shot, because I think it looks neat

That was all we were able to accomplish on Saturday. That wind was brutal and really slowed us down.

Last night I pulled out the table saw and ripped a large pile of framing members. With a little luck, we should be framing walls on Thursday. If I can get a break from the rain in the next couple of days I will fill the bolt and screw holes in the floor and glue down the linoleum.

Here's hoping it actually looks like a camper in the next set of pictures!

- Frank

PS. Anybody know anything about designing roof trusses?

 

[Ted-Thompson]

It looks great but the first thing I thought of was rocks... without a metal sheathing won't that floor and insulation take a beating from road debris?

 

[Honda03842]

We used that same blue foam on our gray tank for our trip to Labrador to protect it from stones on a 1000 mile dirt road. We were particularly concerned about the leading edge of the gray tank. By the time we we reached home the blue foam had done it's job but looked like swiss cheese.

Normal roads don't seem to be much of an issue. We also have the blue foam on our motorhome gas tank for our trip to Alaska. Though there are a few dings, the hits are insignicant compared to our trailer with the motorhime has 100,000 miles, many times more mileage.

One of the beauties of our Sunline is the aluminum bottom; too bad the gray tank wasn't enclosed.

 

[Honda03842]

We installed a bar faucst in our Sunline and my wife loves it, makes doing dishes and filling pots much easier.

Our two other kitchen delights are a bread draw and a shelf that slides out from under the sink in front of the door for the morning coffee pot and toaster.

 

[Honda03842]

We visited a funky castle in Florida made of used aluminum printing plates. It might be a way to cover your foam if you choose to cover it though I'm not sure it's critical in normal driving.

 

[frank-SUN]

It looks great but the first thing I thought of was rocks... without a metal sheathing won't that floor and insulation take a beating from road debris?

Ted,

Norm's experience seems to be inline with what I've seen on the trailer building forum - there isn't as much abuse as you would think.

My 2363 has the Darco (tarp like) covering underneath, and that hasn't experienced any rock damage. The frame header and the lower front siding are a different story however.

After everything else is buttoned up under there, I may put some coroplast against the bottom of the frame to enclose things.

- Frank

 

[kanyonkitty]

Frank, Gary saved a truss when we dis-mantled the 299. "IF" we don't forget, we will post pictures & info tomorrow night (though the pics might have rain drops in them). Your project is looking great Are you planning to put some type of under-belly covering on the bottom? Don't forget we have "stuff" from the 299 for sale very reasonably. Kitty

 

[frank-SUN]

Frank, Gary saved a truss when we dis-mantled the 299. "IF" we don't forget, we will post pictures & info tomorrow night (though the pics might have rain drops in them). Your project is looking great Are you planning to put some type of under-belly covering on the bottom? Don't forget we have "stuff" from the 299 for sale very reasonably. Kitty

Thanks Kitty! If you and Gary get a chance to snap a picture that would be great. Meanwhile, I've been taking good hard looks at your disassembly pictures. I'm still a little bit away from the roof, as the side wall framing took a lot more time than I thought.

If you have a list of what you have from the 299, I'd like to take a look at it. I have picked up parts as good deals came along, but with something this big, I'm bound to forget something (probably something important too!).

I may make up an underbelly from coroplast (think real estate signs) after we get all the undercarriage work done.

I have some pictures from the framing, I'll get those resized and posted ASAP.

- Frank

 

[Ted-Thompson]

Frank, Gary saved a truss when we dis-mantled the 299. "IF" we don't forget, we will post pictures & info tomorrow night (though the pics might have rain drops in them). Your project is looking great Are you planning to put some type of under-belly covering on the bottom? Don't forget we have "stuff" from the 299 for sale very reasonably. Kitty

Did the water heater survive?

 

[kanyonkitty]

Sunline Stuff

Frank,

Will try to get a pic of the truss, ASAP

Ted,

Sorry to say but the W/H did not survive. Well actually it survived the rollover, but the tank was cracked and had been leaking prior to the crash.

Here is a link to pictures of stuff we have for sale:

RV Stuff for sale pictures by kanyonkitty - Photobucket

We also have some other lights that are not pictured.

Kitty

 

[frank-SUN]

Thanks Kitty! We'll take a look through the pictures.


Another update for everyone watching.

On Thursday we got back to work. First we spent a few hours filling the screw and bolt holes in the floor, then we moved onto some framing work. We got the square sections of the door side wall framed before we ran out of daylight. The garage is a bit full, so the wall spent the night in my hallway:

Yes, I have a very understanding wife!


Saturday we finished up the door side wall. Wound up building the front section twice, since I made a big mistake the first time and didn't leave enough room for the front window. Was very frustrated and didn't grab the camera until we were almost done.

Here's the wall with a test fit of the door, windows and cargo door:

And the wall standing up for the first time:

Then we just added the last of the clearance for the wheel wells:

Sunday I was by myself but really wanted to get the street side wall framed. Put the door side wall up on the sawhorses, and started framing the street side wall on top of it. This was to get the two as identical as possible.

Knocking out the front angles first:

A little while later with more framing members in place:

And finally all framed up and test fitting windows and the cargo door:

The framing members are 1" x 1.5", from a 2x6 ripped into 5 equal pieces. The headers are 2x3. The walls are pretty light, will get them on the scale once they are skinned.


The next step is to get the linoleum down, panel the side walls and get them in place. Then the interior bath walls can be built, and finally the front and rear walls. Hope to get some time in on it tomorrow.


- Frank

 

[kanyonkitty]

Looks real good What do your neighbors think of your project ? You just might end up in the business of building small trailers.

Kitty

 

[ROC-REQS]

Frank - looking good

... The garage is a bit full, so the wall spent the night in my hallway:

Yes, I have a very understanding wife!

That goes beyond understanding - I think that puts her up there in Sainthood.

I think when you're done with this project, you're going to owe Kathy big time

Keep up the great work!
Hutch

 

[HappyCampers-SUN]

Frank,
I have to say that I'm throughly enjoying following this project. I really like the fact that the trailer has literally made it into the house. I just have to say that you must have great neighbors....and a wonderful wife.

 

[frank-SUN]

Thanks everyone!

The neighbors don't seem to mind. Most of them have lived here as long as I have and have seen me go through several projects. They know that things don't sit idle, if something is apart, it won't be for long. Lately I could charge admission and make a fortune judging by the number of people that have stopped their car in front of the house when we're out working.

I live in a twin, and the lady attached to me really likes to come over and see what I'm up to. When I did the kitchen last year she was over weekly to check on the progress. With the trailer, she thinks it's neat and the other neighbor is convinced I'm building a spaceship!

Other than that, I do my best to not bother anyone. Don't start early, don't work late.. put everything away at the end of the day and store everything inside. Even with this project, I try to keep it tucked up against the house in the back where nobody can see it. Finally, helping people when they need it (car won't start, something is broken, whatever) seems to go a long way.

Big update next!

- Frank

 

[frank-SUN]

Here's my update for this week.

Thursday May 20. We started the day with a run for a piece of vinyl. The remnant my brother picked up was free floating and could not be installed with glue. We were able to exchange it for a full glue type.


After the store run, we broke out the box of 3.2" radius corner blocks. These are a real time saver.

Then we pull out the door side wall and get it up on the sawhorses. The corner blocks are attached with staples to the corners of the openings for the windows and cargo doors:

Once the corner blocks are stapled in, we're ready for the interior skins. Here's my brother applying liquid nails to the framing members:

Then the first sheet of paneling is put into place and attached with some brads:

Keep applying sheets and trim with the router and a flush trim bit:

Then trim out the window openings and the cargo door opening, again with the router. Lots of sawdust!

Finally we applied the last section of paneling and trimmed that flush. Then my brother climbed in and trimmed out the door opening:

Here's the completed door side wall. My brother in the doorway gives a sense of scale - he's 5'10.

While we worked on the wall skin, my dad was out back putting down the vinyl flooring:

Obviously it was getting dark so we packed it in for the night.


Friday May 21. My brother got his hours in early for the week, so he had off Friday as well. This allowed us to get a nice, early start.

We trimmed the vinyl down to the size of the floor and cleaned up some of the adhesive squeeze-out:

Then clamped some temporary support blocks to the frame. These will hold the weight of the wall while we plumb, attach and brace it:

Carried the door side wall out and placed it on the blocks. Pinned it in place with a couple of screws and attached some 2x4's as support to hold it plumb:

My brother, very proud of the first wall is waving to his new found friends on the internet

Next we put the road side wall up temporarily and brace it with a couple of 2x4s.

This allows us to double check the bathroom layout and then add some additional support in the walls to accomodate the shower surround. In this picture you can see how the step tub is used to clear the wheel well. In the end, the tub will actually sit on a small platform a couple of inches off the main floor to provide clearance for the p-trap. A small skylight bubble over the tub will provide additional headroom (the walls are 6'4" interior height). The green tape line on the floor will be the location of the bath wall:

Next we framed up the rear wall:

The sideways 2x4 next to the window is a tie-in for the bath wall.


Skin goes on

All cut out and ready for installation!

Next up, skinning the road side wall. Same deal as the others:

The road side wall was then re-attached, this time permanently with construction adhesive and screws. Once that wall was back up, we attached some temporary supports to hold the weight of the rear wall and get it aligned correctly:

In this picture you can also see the vinyl welt bead trim we used to pretty up the joints. It's very affordable, very flexible and easy to work with, you can wrap this stuff around almost any shape. It also looks nice in my opinion.

I should have taken a picture of the trim stock but didn't think about it. Stole this one off ebay, this is the exact stuff we bought:

Here's Chris attaching more of that welt trim. Goes on quick and easy with a staple gun:

Once the trim is stapled on, the rear wall gets put up, aligned and held in place with some clamps. Then it's attached with more construction adhesive and screws:

Inside view, from the tongue looking towards the rear:

And that's as far as we got on Friday. A couple more shots:

Friday night my brother had to head home so he could go back to work on Saturday. Saturday I headed outside to get the front wall done so things could get covered up being that we were expecting rain the next day.

The front wall is done in 3 sections because of the shape. I started with the center section because it was the largest and would allow me to square up the front half of the side walls. First I frame the wall section, then square it up and hold it square with some diagonal bracing:

Then I got the skin on and trimmed, attached the bead trim to the side walls and attached the center front wall section:

Next I moved on to the top section of the wall. Same process, frame, square, brace:

Then the trim goes on the edge and the wall section is put in place, lined up, clamped down and attached:

From the inside, if you look real close you can see the bead trim..

Finally, the lower section of the wall is built. This section was a little tricky and tight, so I framed this one in place, then braced it for skinning:

Front wall done!

Time for a quick walk around..

And that's it for this weekend! Hoping to get the bath walls framed and put in place by mid-week. Then I need to figure out how to do the roof. Hoping to have the roof framing in place by this time next week.

- Frank

 

[JohnGB]

Frank

This is sooooo Cool!!! WOW. You are doing a really great job and thank you for taking the time to post the pics.

You go beyond the words "Handy" After seeing your hot rod and now this project, I take it you get bored with no new challenging project....

You are living the ultimate camper mod!!

We are rooting for ya!!!

John

 

[henryj-SUN]

Great work, Frank. Thanks for taking the time to take all the pics and keeping us up-to-date.

Henry

 

[wagonman76]

Great job so far! Nice to be able to make it just the way you want it.

 

[ROC-REQS]

Frank,

Great job and thanks so much for taking the time to take and post all the pictures and explanations.
It's really cool watching the progress you're making.
Awesome job!

Hutch