/diy/ - Do It Yourself

After leveling it to the metal frame, I put it on hold a long while, while I accrued monies to do this in one spurt. Recently, I scraped the old paint and some rust off the metal frame. Put down some OSPHO, then some primer+paint.

Then I took it down to the local trailer shop, and paid them to inspect the axle to make sure the bearings, brakes, and to make sure the axle and springs would support the weight I plan on putting on it. Had them do the electrical too, as it was there, and I had the money but not the time.

I told them to raise the frame height, they quoted me $150, so I said yes. They called me back the next day to inform me they wanted an extra $50, because they'd have to get new springs (current ones were not the same, so when they welded the nubs to the axle and went to place them on the underside of the springs, it made the trailer lopsided), I told them I knew they'd have to do that with my naked untrained eyes, and how the hell did they not notice that when they shot my original quote? Told them 'fuck it, keep it how it is, and refund my money' so they refunded $4 for the welded nubs, and still charged me the labor for it...fuck that place.

They did fix my bent bumper though.

I remember you. Please continue, sir.

Last night's work. Spent most of the day driving to the not so local rv scavenge yard, and hauling back a decent door, and a double sink (necessary to have two, methinks). Already purchased a bath and backsplash from there a month and a half ago, so I managed to haggle the door and sink for $190 total. The bath+backsplash ran me $60.

After that, I went to home depot, and dumped $390 on studs, reflective barrier, 1/2" 4x8' flooring, screws, and a couple 14' 2x4"s. Hauled it on the trailer.

>>423371

What are you treating your exposed studs with? (If there are going to be any exposed studs)

What little I did tonight.

The original floor was a thin sheet of aluminum pressed between the metal frame, and 2x4s with carriage bolts securing. Two inches of insulation was not good enough for me, so I'm building a 'subfloor'. I threw the 4x8' boards down thinking they'd match up with the frame (the original plan was 12' on the floor, and 1' belling out from each end), but I learned quickly that absolutely none of the metal beams matched with the boards...had to piece together a few boards underneath, which means the floor isn't level...no worries, it's subfloor.

After I learned that not only do the boards not meet up with the frame, but I have excess trailer after adding 3 4x8s. This is both good, and bad. I'm low on funds, because I wasn't expecting that door to cost as much as it did, and I'm gonna have to go back and purchase not only another board, but since I'm doing that, I might as well buy the rest of my supplies (or as close as I know I'm gonna need, with the idea that I'll purchase the rest as they make themselves known). Got a paycheck, but no open bank.

Go to the grocery store, lose $6 to cash my check, then off to the depot again, and purchase two more 14' 2x4s, more bubble barrier, 3" screws (only purchased 1&5/8s", and 2" prior), reflective tape, and 4 4x8' boards (went 14' for the whole trailer, cutting one in half for the bottom and the top).

I regret not purchasing two more 14'ers, as I talked myself outta it, but now I'm definitely certain I need three more...used one in the middle of the subfloor to increase the rigidity of the studs that'll be going over it.

$330 for that store run, but now the subfloor is down, and only 1/4th" off from square...it'll be corrected with the studs.

>>423371

Wouldn't it be better to have the studs laying with their long sides up? More ridged and all that.

I'm currently regretting how I placed the wheel wells...They should have gone under the supporting wood. Now, they're sitting an extra 2" higher, which'll mean more lost space inside the trailer interior.

I plan on ordering in mineral wool, but I'm pretty much flat broke at the moment, so it'll be a while before I can order it, and it'll take a while to get here. Got tomorrow off, and I finally managed to get someone to agree to helping me, so hopefully this next bit will go fast.

I won't be able to close the subfloor off, since I still need to insulate it, but I'll put the main floor on, and get the studs up and put the frame on. I'm thinking about using the last of my funds, and putting paneling on the inside (got some tyvek or whatever it's called from my old man, so I'll be putting that on the outside until I can order my aluminum sheeting), but I'm not convinced that paneling is the best option. Not digging the faux wood retro look, and I'm not sure the white pvc wall can be painted over. It is light though...

I plan on closing off everything save the rear, so I can put in the innards like the bath, kitchen counter, etc.

>>423378

OH SHIT NIGGER WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THOSE STUDS LAYING ON THEIR 3.5" SIDE INSTEAD OF THE 1.5" SIDE

YOU BEST BE TREATING THE EXPOSED WOOD WITH EPOXY OR SOMETHING

>>423385

THAT EXTRA 2" IS CAUSE THE 2X4S BEFORE YOU DECONSTRUCTED IT WERE SITTING ON THE 1.5" SIDE NOT THE 3.5" SIDE DIDN'T YOU TAKE NOTE OF IT WHEN YOU TOOK IT APART SHIT MAN GET IT TOGETHER

>>423375

the subfloor will be exposed to the elements, so I'll be putting on primer, and bed liner to it. This will go for the underside metal frame, the exposed 2x4s that are secured to the metal, and the 1/2" board. Everything else will be internal, with aluminum.

>>423380
you're right, and that's what I'll be doing with the actual studs. What you currently see is the groundwork. The 14'ers are down, because they're basically just spreading out the stud weight among all the metal support beams for when the studs are layed over-top.

This is pretty much how real homes are put together (I think?)

>>423389
plz stop.
also, plz stop.

not pictured: mineral wool installation, and minor adjustments to the studs.

This is looking a lot better, and starting to make a lot more sense. Good work so far.

I'm a bit concerned that you may eventually get water intrusion from underneath. I'd suggest a very comprehensive approach to waterproofing the underside (more than just rhino lining and paint). Perhaps you can just clad it in coroplast or something like that, and secure it with screws?

>>424128
Not, OP, but why don't you think a primed and then rhino lined underside would work.

OP, remind me why you're doing this. I remember your first thread.

>>424148
Building a trailer with the intent on living in it.

Initially will be run on grid through standard pole, then once I save enough for a piece of land, It'll be converted over to an off-grid setup. 4 panels, a bank, wood stove, composting toilet, roof rain catch, built in parabola for heating water, and a few berkey filters.

Are you ever going to paint your fucking house ?

>>424532
Not my house, but I'll pass the word along.

I'm really interested in this project, so congrats to the OP for trying, but I have a few comments for you to consider.

It looks, as far as I can tell, that you have those untreated studs lying on bare metal. It's going to rot. Why not use pressure treated lumber at the least? Also, rhinolining may or may not work. I'd look into some marine products mostly "System Three" epoxy to coat the bottom of that plywoood and even the studs if you're really going to continue using those on the metal frame instead of PT studs. Also keep in mind your endgrains.. they are where your rot is going to start so make sure you have them sealed one way or another.

>>424538

Thanks for the input man.

Pressure treated woulda been a good idea had I of had someone mention that to me. I have no real experience building anything with my hands, and have only recently decided that I'm better off trusting myself rather than a 'professional' to do anything outside of taking my money, so I'm working off common sense, and a couple of months of deep thinking.

I'll check into that system three, as I'd rather use anything aimed for marine use for preventing rust/rot. Guess this is what I get for trying to avoid paying for another length of aluminum, as the previous setup had layer of the stuff directly between the metal and the studs.

I'll look more into protecting the frame/stud area, thanks.


>I'm really interested in this project, so congrats to the OP for trying

>congrats to the OP for trying

>trying

sadface.jpg

>>424575

Lawl

Well, I'm a carpenter/contractor by trade. You deserve the props for tackling a project that most inexperience people would never dare.

I also thought what is the spacing on your top studs underneath your flooring? If they are 14' studs longways I counted 8 studs on top so roughly 21" apart? If you're using 1/2" plywood that may flex a good bit under weight at that span for such a thin plywood. 3/4 is used for subflooring.

Didn't you post a while back that the trailer had different springs on each side. What did you do about that?

Hey op,
>>423386
>>423388
May have been rude, even cold, but regardless, they are correct. If I were you I would correct the 4 2x4's you have running the length of the structure before you continue any further, cut notches in both boards at each junction to form solid bonds, glue with some industrial adhesive and nuts, bolts and washers and screwed on appropriate shaped metal bracing. Do you have more pictures of the deconstruction?

>>424586
>mfw op not buying tongue and groove plywood
>mfw fuck you you don't get a face

>>424581

I'll add that to my soon to be massive list of things I'd have done differently had I known better.

I do plan on purchasing jacks for each corner of the frame though, as this isn't going to be a touring trailer, I think It'll be alright. The other advantage I'm looking at right now (and my saving grace) is that it's going to be pretty light inside the trailer. Outside of the fridge, wood stove (marine stove, so it's 35lbs), toilet, bath, and 100-150 gallons of water storage (most likely not going to be carrying weight until I move off-grid, where I'll be putting it on a foundation.

Thinking about it a bit more, I guess it's not late at all to return two of those 1/2" boards, and purchasing 3/4" for the floor...the only 1/2" left over would be the subfloor, which doesn't really matter about it's thickness one bit, so long as it hold the insulation without sagging.

Thanks anon, I think this makes the first real helpful post I've received in all of my failed threads.


>>424585
Yes, the driver side springs are newer, and fewer than the passenger side. I did nothing outside of making a mental note where to distribute the weight (hint: not on the axles at all, if I can avoid it).

Again, the real advantage here is I'm not keeping this on the road 24/7. The wheels are nice, and the ability to move if necessary is what drove me to this setup. I also got into the idea of those tumbleweed homes, but after trying to save up 15k, I thought I could do better, with less overall weight for much less dosh. The other advantage is now I don't have to worry about selling my trooper for a truck to haul 7,000lbs of wooden home.

OP you should read all the posts in the soundproofing thread

Could really use them if you plan on living in trailer more longterm

>>424594

Thanks, I'll start searching for it now.

I am going with mineral wool though, which is pretty awesome as soundproofing/everything goes.

I was thinking about putting down thin panelling, and drilling in those permanent metal screw serts in, and hanging some sound absorbing sheets up, all 'garage band' like, but I'm gonna test the waters with my wool first.

>>424593

No problem. Where will you be storing the water?

>>424603

Bought two 50gal water barrels, but I'm thinking about using them for the end goal greenhouses now.

http://www.highcountryplastics.com/products/sl-39.html this is the current item I'm excited about. Putting one in each corner would be pretty nice, and if I build the rain catch pex pipe to run through the roof, it'll be real snappy. I also got a whole bunch of shit from a neighbor's yard sale (two rv potable tanks, a roof cargo carrier in great shape, an rv water heater that looks like it works even though it dates back to 1964, and a pimp control board that I'll post up in a minute for all to enjoy, and some access panels) that I plan on incorporating into the trailer.

retro in the best of ways, and I know the thermometer is still working.

If I knew anything about barometers, I could give an opinion, but it does move.

I'm also fairly certain if I hooked the wires back up, the electrical could work too, but the tank it was connected to has a small punched out crack on it. It looks like the only thing the tank had unique to the wiring was a few metal screw inserts where the wire would be connected to...and I'm guessing where it stopped discharging at, meant that there was no water there.

>>424628
Interesting.

The reason I asked was again weight concerns. 100 gallons of water is ~830 lbs.

This PEX tubing, how exactly is it setup? Does it have holes running along the piping?

>>424637

With the corner tanks, I'd be looking at ~312lbs each that'd be directly over support jacks, so it's really not that terrible of a weight to bear. I obviously won't be driving down the road with water in the tanks as that'd destroy my world.

The pipe is just going to be a stemmed T from each caddy top: once one fills, it then overfills has no more room to go down, so it'd travel in the wall to the next container...in the event that every container is full, it'd backfill up the first rinse, and over the gutter.

OP,

I would honestly seriously consider very carefully taking apart what you've put up now, setting it aside so you can use it later in the project, and starting over.

I know that would be a HUGE pain in the ass but the issues with rot that you're going to encounter are going to be impossible to fix without taking it apart again once they start and fixing it now with other products is going to be more expensive than starting over and not provide a fix that will be as good/certain.

Gonna bump in case I don't get home before this 404s.

I'm looking into my local aluminum places at the moment. Gonna undo the carriage bolts and place what I've got so far up on a couple horses and puttin' down the aluminum under-shell.

While I'm still pretty sure I can weatherproof decently what my current setup is, I'd rather not spend more money than what the cost of metal is, not to mention I'm sure I'll have a better piece of mind knowing I have it.

dear /diy/,

OP here

Sucks having the money to get the rest of my supplies, but not the schedule to do so. Work is making it impossible to get my insulation, and I can't call around to find that aluminum company again.

Sucks, but I might not be able to get anything done this weekend.

>>426083
Where do you work/what kinda work do you do?

Made some time to get the rest of my floor insulation. Was planning on getting the floor down today, but my old man showed up, and since he has no idea of how I'm going about this, insisted to question everything that I was doing. Not a big deal, but he is the very reason why the floor isn't down.

Oh well, more tomorrow.

glad you're still here OP. looking forward to more updates

I'm doing the same thing with a 30 foot, 440-3, spread bore (carter thermoquad) powered 78 motorhome built on a Dodge M500 heavy duty truck chassis.
When we went to look it over it ran and drove fine, and seemed to have just a few problem spots with the roof, I initialy intended to just roll some henries elastometric paint on the roof and be done with it, this is however before we signed the title and attempted to drive it away from a local gas station.
It died in the intersection, and refused to start again for about a minute or two, after this happening several times we limped it to a state park and camped out and called the seller, the next day we got it to a shop where it sat for a week - untapped.
When we got it back from the mechanic the same thing happened though I tried flooring the accelerator this got it on the freeway and the 75 miles home, barely . . .
Now there has been over $500 put into this 35 year old motorcoach on top of the 2500 we paid that shithead for it.
heres some pics of my work, mind you this is the first and probably last RV I'll buy.

By the way where (state) are you at? I got a RV junk yard near me here in the bay too. looking at your wheel well conundrum I'm needing a protective barrier in my front wheel wells too, as is now the fronts would fling road water right onto the underside of the original plywood floor board and the fiberglass nose cap - for all the rotten roof I got goddamnit my floor is 100% solid and I well want it to stay that way!
Also what year was your little pull behind?

>>426732

damn fine work on your roof, anon.

I'm in ID, and the original trailer was a 1967 road ranger.

It's interesting you brought up the wheel wells, as that's exactly what my old man was freaked out about...me, not so much, but it's probably due to ignance.

I'm running a 2x4" on it's side between the nearest studs to reinforce the 14' stud I'm going to be placing down over it, then I'm going to screw some scrap metal to the inside of the well, and secure it to the stud, which should act as my barrier.

This is only a concern while driving in wet conditions, and the only other thing that could pop up, would be vermin getting in. I can do quite a few things to keep the latter out, and the former is easily avoided due to what I plan on being a rather sedentary lifestyle for the trailer.

It looks like you have some possible silicon gel under the sheets you put down, but seeing how some of the underlying bolts are causing the scab work to be lifted, I'd put down some roof tar on all the edges, and possibly redoing the roof's coat.

>>426846
Yewa pretty much, I still got the front roof to do and thats a mean 5' X 9' - the largest problem area, the 1"x1" joices that run acrost the cieling from side to side have rusted out and the roof is sagging in creating a puddling sometimes 6" deep. So I'm tearing the roof out from the inside and rebuilding it with 1"x1" aluminum and then sheet aluminuming the exterrior roof, then after that the whole roof wll get a couple of coats of elastometric roof coat meticulously painted on.
As for my wheel wells I can use left over sheet aluminum or maybe even get lucky at this local RV boneyard.
I HIGHLY suggest finding a place that sells LARGE sheets of aluminum and having one sheet for your roof, If the SF bay area is too far out of your driving range I found 5'X1'X.032 for 75 bucks out in richmond, if you can have one solid roof sheet you eliminate the chances of ever having a leaking/rotting problem. EVER.
This pic is the patched front roof (over drivers/passengers area) though there is no moldy smells in the carpet in front, but one more winter of bay area rain and its toast.

>>426855
http://www.moosemetal.com

>>426855

>I HIGHLY suggest finding a place that sells LARGE sheets of aluminum and having one sheet for your roof

Couldn't agree more. The place I had initially got a hold of sold aluminum sheets @ 102"w and to whatever length you desired. I planned on doing the whole trailer with single sheets on the walls,roof,and floor. It's also the reason why I'm building my trailer to be 8' tall, with enough length leftover to cover the subfloor area.

I'm very curious however as to where you're getting your aluminum beams from, and how you're securing them. I wanted to go aluminum the whole way, but it was looking like a couple thousand easy just for materials, then hunting someone down to do the welding...not gonna make my first DIY attempt something that involves welding...no materials, no tools, no experience, and definitely no skill.

Look at the time, gotta get on that trailer.

Back later today to post results.

I'm gonna repurpose that plexiglass in the photo to by my window for the porabola...finally, found something to reuse in that trailer outside of the wheel wells.

>>426863
Well home depot has SHORT lengths of 1"x1" for decent price but the wife was like "the hardware from the awning looks to be about 1" thick, can we use those?"
Sometimes woman logic is amazingly simple and beautifully genius, So were gonna try and use the extruded aluminum hardware lengths from the awning that I took off.

8' tall?? wow! your gonna have to make sure you don't have too much weight in the upper half of the trailers hemisphere, that could be a severe tipping hazard.
But I'm sure you are aware of your weight distribution factors.

Well, the old man measured and cut a board that turned out very wrong, so I'm off to home depot to get another board. Got the last two gnat's ass, so I'd better not fuck this up.

>>426936

>Makes meth lab
>Breaking bad

>>426846
Hey OP, glad to see you are still around. Did you exchange the 1/2 for 3/4?

Also, commenting on the roof. Do not use silcone or roof tar. It may be a temporary fix, but its not a good idea long term. What you will need is an elasometric coating, this is what is used on trailers and you can paint it on with a roller, just make sure to get a nice thick coat. Check out Koolseal for their products. I highly recommend them and on top of that koolseal products also help deflect sunlight so it will stay cooler inside.

>>427024

Nah, after serious consideration I decided to stick with the original 1/2 inch, as it lasted well enough for 40 years intact in the trailer.

The day's work...didn't get shit done due to constant, and usually drunk comments about what I should be doing.

The highlight of the day was when my friend from out of state dropped by to say hi and to see my progress.

>>427218

I don't know what you're planning for the outside look of the trailer, but in Australia, I used to sell trailer fenders and whatnot. Of the ones we sold there was a 2' flange that would work for your project.

if you go to this page http://www.mrmudguard.com.au/pages/examples there are some examples of the flange on a tandem trailer. We had single axle ones too but there are no pictures up there.

I'm sure you can get them in the US, because we imported them from CA.

It's looking pretty good though anon, I hope it comes together well.

Okay, need some assistance on the roof portion diy.

I'm planning on going with a .25"/1' roof, but I'm not sure if that'll be enough. Right now, I'm looking at 14" between all the floor and the roof materials, leaving me with 7'4" for the wall studs. I also need a sloped roof, and was initially planning on going with a double wide style, but before they are merged together. Now, I'm realizing that I don't really need to pitch one side to make this easier (I am still worried about getting my porabola angled on the roof, without jeopardizing the seal, but I could place it 6-7' up on the nose and alleviate a little of that concern) and instead just slope the whole length a few inches...I'm just not sure it'll be enough to keep the roof safe, and to serve as my rain catch.

Any skilled carpenters got an opinion?

Edited out the old man flipping the bird after I told him that diy demands he paint his extension.

The doubled up 2x4"s are each side's walls.

Went for 1/2" a foot drop, making my beams drop an inch each. Planning on going with smaller windows to fit between each stud, so as to save weight trying to reinforce window frames. I'll have a small window higher up in the bathroom, and a matching on in the kitchen for a breeze way and to remove humidity from the trailer. I'm putting in a small window in front of the kitchen sink, and another one on the nose of the trailer, higher up as well for lighting.

>>426855
Just FYI, if you live in the SF Bay check out Allan Steel. They sell basically scrap and junk for really cheap. Big sheets of aluminum for scrap weight prices are pretty common.

OP, there's a reason they make trailers with not a lot of insulation and lots of aluminum rather than plywood. I have a feeling your shit is going to weigh like 6000 lbs when you're done.

>>428526
Lol Everybody's godda learn there own way, sides maybe hes got a badass truck to pull it with.

There was a warp in the front of the wall. Had to apply a little liquid nails.

>>424575
>recently decided that I'm better off trusting myself rather than a 'professional' to do anything outside of taking my money

Wise man.

>>429168
Looks pretty damn cool since it is taking shape.

Just to be winging it I say you are doing good. How are you going to do the layout?

I would go with bed at very back under big window door at front right side sink just to left of entrance and shitter right across with storage in between sink and toilet. Not sure about up front. maybe more storage.

Huge breakthrough today

Found a place that sells 102" aluminum...turns out, if you ask for 8' aluminum siding at a trailer shop, they'll tell you 'no', but if you ask them for 8' aluminum roofing, they'll say whether or not they have it.

Got some set aside, waiting for my paycheck, until then, I'm not gonna add anymore weight to the trailer, in hopes I can lift that fucker off the frame, and get some aluminum under the wood.

This isn't so much "overhauling" as "building from stratch, starting from the base frame of a old RV"

>>428526
He's not going to be touring with it. As long as he can drag it to ... where ever he's going to park it.

Got a Paypal OP? If through like 10 dolla your way

bad idea, hoooooo!

Got it back safely.

It's pretty thick, which is great. Just wish I had a hand when I unloaded it.

are you going to be able to take your wheels off, should the need arise?

>>423352
why did you cover up the wheels?
how are you going to service the wheels?

>>430220

Sure do, and thank you for the offer. That aluminum (which I'm now wondering if it's stainless steel ate my whole paycheck this week.

>>430475
It's tight, but I can.

>>426576

Sorry, just saw this post. I work as a delivery driver for a small warehouse. The loads aren't too heavy, but I have to pick, sort, load, and deliver to the surrounding area. It's not a bad job at all, but we're short handed as the drivers are getting older, and keep hurting themselves. One's out on leave right now, so I'm doing his route as well as my own.

Based on the weight of the metal though, It's lookin' like I'm going back to my other plan of primer and liner on the bottom...I'd rather avoid adding another 100 lbs to something that really doesn't need it in the first place.

>>430505

My intention wasn't to cover the wheels, but merely to get a good solid base for the floor...to do that, I had to have a continuous piece of wood going from the front to the back.

I found a place earlier this week while calling around for metal sheeting, which specializes in trailer axles and springs. After confirming no they did not carry aluminum in the sizes I was looking for, I asked them about how much it'd be to get a 3,500lb axle put on. They told me "for $450, we put in a new axle, electric brakes, springs, new bearings and hubs just this week on an old trailer". If this thing turns out weighing 3k+, I'll definitely consider going to them to get a new axle, and when I go in, I'll request to get the frame raised...this way, I can just put a metal bracket in the wheel wells, snip the wells out, and call it a victory.

you like dags?

>>430524

dag: an Australian and New Zealand slang term. In Australia, it is often used as an affectionate insult for someone who is, or is perceived to be, unfashionable, lacking self consciousness about their appearance and/or with poor social skills yet affable and amusing.

Sure, I'm probably one myself. If this isn't what you meant, please explain it to me a bit better.

>>430532
lol, just a reference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQSnua3M2lo

glorious, OP.

Did some research on that metal roll. Old man swears it's stainless, but the shop I bought it from knows it's aluminum. They told me it's .040", which'd make it 18 gauge. I'm looking at 275lbs for the walls and roof...a little less when I cut the roof down to 8' width instead of 8'6".

So far, the old man has helped me with cutting a 4x8 board (which he did wrong), and nail and erect the first wall (which was sloppy, and not how I would prefer it to be done). I had a friend help me one day to screw down the floor beams, which turned out pretty good for two guys who've never done this before. I would like to get him over my old man as a helper, but I'm most likely going alone for today and tomorrow...so, it's gonna suck getting those walls made.

Dude, how much did you pay for that sheet metal?

Cause I'm pretty damn sure that's not aluminum. There's no oxide layer. Might want to sell that shit for a profit and go get some actual aluminum.

>>432007
Doesn't really look like aluminum to me either.

Check it with a very strong magnet, some kind of rare earth. If it's stainless it'll still have a faint magnetic field.

>>432007

I paid a little over $270 for it. I bought it from a trailer shop, so I doubt they'd carry stainless steel in that sort of dimension. If it was for a food grade tanker, maybe, but 102" width could only be a roof for a standard trailer.

Not that I wouldn't be stoked to get that kind of a mix-up though.

Looks heavy as fuck. I see they still haven't painted their house yet. :P

>>432616
>>432617
>>432618
>>432619
>>432621
It doesn't look like you've framed for any windows.

>>432626

Shit's raining, yo. The bubble wrap can easily be cut out when it stops being bullshit outside, and I set aside funds for the windows. I'm planning on 2' windows in a couple spots, but I'm broke right now.

>>432674
will the 2x4's cut with the same scissors that the bubble wrap does? will the extra FRAMING for the windows magically appear when you cut the holes?
YOU HAVE TO FRAME IN FOR WINDOWS is what anon above means dumbass.

>>432725
Yeah. Not sure what is going on with that door frame either. Most of the time the square about is a 2x6-10. I would also look into good Enamel paint. It is costly but it will really be worth it since you plan to go off grid. Use it thick. I have seen untreated framing rot out that was covered by a roof and all and didn't even get wet after only 10 years.

>>432725

Whoa, not sure where the aggression is coming from, or your odd line of thinking: I mean that it has been raining for the past three days, and will continue most of this week. I literally didn't have enough time to stop and knock in some 2x4s to frame for a window. However, that can be done later, when it stops raining. I put my emphasis on getting the structure up, and framing the door in, as it had to be done now, as the door is already fabricated, whereas I can make the windows almost anything I want. After all that, I needed to weather guard the trailer, which is where my bubble wrap came in. Old man just texted me, and told me it's still not wet inside, which means job well done. I still have some open spots, but I really just wanted to protect the floor, and the insulation.

>>432742
The door is a trailer door, which was framed around. I had to come back and cut out the 14' board under it though, to allow easier sweeping, which meant that I had to scab in another 2x4 below the original one to compensate for the previous height.

I'll be going with >>426855's setup for elastometric (also mentioned in >>427024) as that sounds like something more suited for trailers, and with a better lifespan to it too.

Is it possible to put any non-aluminum framed window into something skinned in aluminum and make it not look silly?

I'm looking at $279 for a 2x3 window, aluminum frame with a thermal barrier, safety glass, double pane, with rayban 60 on it. That's a lotta money that I don't really have, and I was planning on 2 of those, and 2 2x1 sliding windows of the same format. Those run about 160 each. Shit, at this rate, I'm wondering if it's really that important to buy such high quality windows, and instead just take the hit to the R rating of the home and go with RV windows from the junkyard.

Midweek bump since OP is dead.

>>435103

Thanks for the save.

Didn't realize diy moved as fast as it does...thought I'd be safe till the weekend to post.


Planning on purchasing the windows as I go, starting with the 2x1' windows...need a breezeway between the kitchen and the bathroom to remove humidity and heat which is what those little ones will be for. I'll place them slightly lower than the ceiling so I can open them without stretching too high to reach.

Kinda torn now between aluminum windows and vinyl: aluminum would match the outside well, but I think vinyl would handle the movement of the wood down the road a bit better.

>>435626
I'm back. Green Contractor here.

Seems to be going well for what you've got budgeted. Umm, I understand why you'd want to go with vinyl but that seems like an awful big chunk of money for an RV. As far as putting the vinyl in without making it look silly, I'd have to have some pics of the window to get an idea of how I'd trim it out.

Also, how are you trimming out the inside? Some paneling?

>>435626
Hey, I just checked over your pics again and have some questions/thoughts?

On the short ends of the RV how come you didn't place a top plate to overlap your long sides and secure the walls together? I'd be fearful of that literally falling apart if it got hit and it would also have solved your roof slope. It doesn't seem very sturdy from looking at it. It really concerns me. Pic related for future reference.

Also the door opening, is it a standard trailer door? One that screws in directly to the metal/stud and butyl tape? If I'm facing that door which side are the hinges going to be on? Anyway that door frame needs an extra stud, ideally on each side and another piece on the header, to sturdy it up because you're going to be having something putting force on it and it may start twisting.

Loving the progress bud!

>>435671

I plan on putting in that MDF paneling and painting it something acceptable.

Can't say much about the windows other than they'd be your standard frame...haven't put too much research into windows outside of what to get to lower the u, and to raise the r.

>>435678

I agree with the stability as it currently stands. The frame isn't really joined together in a way to solidify the entire structure like I had hoped it would. This is probably because I couldn't think of a way to reinforce the roof frame to the walls...I was thinking of bracketing it in on a frame, but it'd add a lot of weight, and I couldn't think of how I'd secure it, as all the metal brackets at home depot weren't aimed at my format outside of a couple right angle brackets...wish I had known of that framing technique sooner. The siding should do quite a bit to tighten everything up, but if it doesn't, I'll probably run 2x4s inside the studs to brace the frame furthermore, at the expense of ~50lbs added to my total.


The trailer door is a typical trailer door format (a little wider than maybe your normal trailer door though) that mounts to the shell, and screws down with the frame. The hinges are on the right hand side, and the door swings out. The current framework for the door, has another 2x4 directly behind the door's open/close side, and the headpiece is reinforced because I had to lower the door after cutting out the floor's 14' 2x4 to allow for easy sweeping, so to compensate the drop, I just nailed in another 2x4 under the original header...maybe not the best reinforcement, but it definitely is tougher than the original.

The only stud on the door not doubled up, is the hinge side, which I could see maybe being an issue if the door is opened for a long duration (the door could be open for long periods, as it has a screen door behind it), but should be correctable with a click in door support on another stud where the door would come back to the trailer at.

Old man just called me with an idea (wasn't going to do shit with the trailer this weekend, as I'm still buying my aluminum piece by piece). He thinks plumber's tape, that metal shit that has holes drilled in it every half inch for screws/nails, would work well enough to true the walls up, and to reinforce the framework.

What little I've seen of plumber's tape, I'd agree that for it's weight, it'd definitely be worth putting some on on the inside frame.

>>436510
In this pic I'd scab another 2x4 on the right side, if it were me.

>>436605
If there's no other option then it couldn't hurt I'd wrap it around the corners to tie them together 3 times, at least, overlapping each time. Do that top, middle and bottom.

>>436640
Err, I mean on the left side, sorry.

>>426967
Nice paint :D

I've done RV restoration and complete rebuilds before. Why the hell are you using 2x4s for your wall studs. Most RVs use 1x2 and 2x2s. Your trailer is going to weight too damn much.

>>437333

I don't know either, but I sure hope to fuck that OP video records this things maiden voyage..

>>426846
Where in ID? need some free help?

>>436165

Framing Carpenter here:

Adding double top plates now looks like it would also cause you to have to disassemble and restructure a little too much for that. If I were you i would just add a corner block or california corner block (google wall framing).

A let-in brace would help give the walls some rigidity and and help the whole thing from racking too much. Its basically just a brace that runs diagonally from the top to bottom corner of you wall an is "let-in" or set into notches cut into the studs. You can either do this with a 1x4 or if youre lucky Home Depot might actually make a T-brace thats used for that, then its just chalking a line, making a saw kerf, pop it in and fasten it.

>>437475
Not really one for videos just because I hate narrating/creating an account to post it on/getting another set of hands to be my camera man...but maybe, depends on what resources I've got when it's ready I suppose.

>>437534

Really appreciate the offer, but as it stands at the moment the old man and I are pretty much in the clear as the hard work goes. I really owe him a lot with the work towards the end of the frame. I don't think I could have got the frame up and in by myself. From this point on, it's clamps, and a little snipping.

I'm in Boise though, just for reference.

>>437592

I've thought about the very thing with that let in brace (although I didn't know it existed, much less had a name). The one thing that kept me away was a pretty important part: how would I get my internal wall up with a piece of wood jutting out from the rest of the framework? I thought about cutting out the beam to each stud to solidify it all, and to lessen how much of the beam would be popping out, but it still wouldn't allow for me to put a thin wall up on the inside.

Of course, I thought about cutting out angled boards going diagonally up each wall, but I'm trusting myself less and less to make precise cuts and to know what each gap should be...unless there's an easy way to figure that out that I'm missing.

>>436505
inb4 portable grow op

>>437829

Heres a good link to show some different ways to brace a wall. This is an example for walls that use foam board insulation instead of traditional plywood/OSB and require bracing from shear forces. Not exactly what you're doing but the reinforcement is about what you're looking for.

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/design/departments/energy-smart-details/4-options-for-shear-bracing-foam-sheathed-walls.aspx

Your trailer wont last 10 years sitting outside...

a sheet of metal on the bottom isnt gonna do jack shit, the vulnerable parts of the wood (the ends) are still exposed everywhere.

Im sorry to rain on your parade, but if you dont fix that shit (by stripping it down and starting over) you're gonna have to rebuild it from scratch in 10 years time

>>437592

Appreciate the term. Had to do some haphazard googleing which lead to a brooklyn site which had a bad example (which ironically is exactly how I framed it in), but I did see a picture and get the idea.


Yea, I can do that. Seems like a great way to strengthen it up.

Will reinforce the corners tomorrow and will reinforce the the frame with plumber's tape at that time.

Bumpin' to save in the meantime.

"Im sorry to rain on your parade, but if you dont fix that shit (by stripping it down and starting over) you're gonna have to rebuild it from scratch in 10 years time"

Plenty of time to use it while working on a superior solution. Trailers like that are expendable and OP will tire of its tiny size.

He will have gotten his use out of it, had fun and learned a bit. The next one will be better.

Bump Because OP is dead.

OP here,

I lied about my weekend events. After purchasing the tape in 100' roll, I talked to my old man and he told me to wait until I have all the aluminum and doing it all at once, as we'd have to roll the trailer onto a flat surface to do it, and it'd be easier to knock them out at once.

I agree, so yet another week with nothing to show.

Page 7 bump

>>438155

OP here,

Didn't notice your link the first time around (don't know how I didn't) but I'm seeing on the third recommendation is exactly what the old man and I are planning, so that's pretty awesome.

I'm going to run two on one side, then on the backside of the frame (the outer frame, where the aluminum siding will go) going the opposite direction to make an X pattern.

>>441943
Hey OP, progress looks great, didnt know this thread was still up. My cousin did the same type of build from scratch project on a trailer he picked up for 500. Had leaks, rusty frame, etc. didnt cost him too much and that thing went from NH to Texas and back in a month.
Looking forward to seeing the end result

Bump in prep for a potentially huge weekend.

Just bought a well-used popup for $100 and will be doing some repairs. Bump for interest.

>>430372
>HOOOOOO!
Bet that's what it sounded like, lol.
Nice to see that you got it back home.

OP here,


Bought out all of the roofing screws at home depot, and am currently waiting for the old man to get off work so we can start putting the siding up.

Spent the better part of the evening leveling the trailer...Will be attempting to mount the aluminum tomorrow, after checking to see how the frame settles overnight. Looks like I fucked up when doing the calculations, and didn't take the pitch of the roof into account on my 14' board. Hopefully it won't be too hard to correct when squaring up the frame.

>>436510
I know nothing about framing for vehicles, but if that were a building you have done that door very wrong. No header, king studs where trimmers need to be, etc, etc.

Managed to get the walls completely square...took a lot of pushing.

>>444473

That's pretty. Are you painting it or leaving it au natural?

had to hold off on the back wall, as I have to cut out the door frame still. Held off on the roof, as I need to scab in 2x4s the whole top for bending the aluminum over it, and securing it all down.

Called around and found that the used trailer shop that I've been my second hand shit has the cheapest aluminum seam brackets. 50 bucks per, in 16' lengths, which means I'll need 3 of the corner seams, and 3 of the roof seam...shit, $300 would buy me another wall with change.

>>444509

I'm thinking of painting it, because I hate the color of the trek screws on it...and because you can't get close to the trailer when the sun's out, lest you burn your eyes out.

>>444020
>>444473
>>444560
>>444565
IMPRESSIVE!!!

But I must ask, What is the sheet metal composition? Steel? galv?? Or aluminum???
Either way you got a goddamn heavy trailer there, not trying to be a dick but there is a reason they use 1"x1" tube and wood, 1" thick styrophome insulation and sheet aluminum = Shit is light weight to rigidity/insulation properties.
Not knockin it, its just gonna be a stout ass trailer, good to see it comming along, its lookin good.

I just bought batteries for our rig, toned out all the wiring, primed my generator, fired it up, test ran my air conditioner (54 degrees low fan setting after 20 minutes - not bad for a 35 year old craigslist RV)
Totally deep cleaned the interior, ran the water system through its paces, test fired all the LPG appliances - Might need the fridge serviced, don't think its working.
Were going trailer park shopping tomorrow, Still have the front roof to fix/reinforce/paint.

>>432759
Also REALY impressed with my elastometric paint I got, it really does turn into a rubber like coat, used a 3" brush and cut out gallon jug, when the paint laden jug dried I test peeled the paint out, it adheres extremely well to the mottled plastic jug, so I can imagine that it REALY fucking soaks and bonds into the old roofing and previous coatings.
Also contrary to >>427024's admonition Don't buy the big name brands like alumacoat or koolseal or whatever, ACE down the street has henries .9 gallon cans for $26 and some change, two cans covered the back 3/4's of my RV and theres still some left over to start the front roof. You could double coat your entire trailer for under $100 at that price and its no different than the $70 .9 gallon cans of namebrand shit in my eyes.

>>445262

Good to see everything's in order on your rv. Out of curiosity, how much have you sunk into the repairs so far, and what was your engine trouble you previously mentioned?

I know I'm looking at a hefty trailer, but it'll be worth it considering it'll be my permanent domicile for a few years.

I'm also glad to hear about that elastothermic being as great as the claims are backing it, especially to know that inexpensive doesn't mean cheap.

I'm hoping to have the studs on the roof put in tonight, and maybe snipping the excess off the roof. I realized I messed up early this morning, and didn't ask for an extra 2 inches on the roof's length, so I'm not too sure it'll seam like it's supposed to. I might just order another length that has that covered, and use the old 14 foot for the under floor when I get around to it.

It was recommended to me to check into some metal places online and ordering aluminum cornering rather ordering official rv parts. Seems like a good idea, so I'll start hunting for 1 1/2" corner seams.

>>445507
Oh hell. I dunno I really should have kept a ledger of expenses I'm just more of a doer than a paper and pen kinda guy but I'd say including purchase price of $2500 its probably close to 3800 by now, and I still aint replaced my 3 tires with cracking sidewalls.
And a 12vDC/LPG fridge could set us back $200 -$2K

OP means band iron, not plumbers tape. just clearing that up, carry on

>>426730
>It died in the intersection, and refused to start again for about a minute or two.

>When we got it back from the mechanic the same thing happened though I tried flooring the accelerator this got it on the freeway and the 75 miles home, barely . . .

Did this ever get fixed? I also think I have a better work around for the wheel wells, but I'm looking into a bit more before I decide that EP-200 Epoxy is the uber duct tape...but if it is, I'm using it to seal the seams in the subfloor, and I'm using it to connect the aluminum corner pieces before the elastothermic overcoating. The only other thing I'm looking at right now is putting down some 1/2" 4x8's on the roof, and running two staggered 'beams' between the middle of the roof trusses to strengthen it up when I walk on it, and when I put the solar panels up.

Pic is of the scabbed in 2x4s between the trusses to hold the aluminum edge a bit better.

>>426730
Sounds like a Buick I had. For years it would have a hard time starting sometimes, especially if it sat more than a day. It would occasionally stall, did the same intersection shit, so embarrassing. Never could find the problem, changed all sorts of shit. Turned out there is a bit of rubber fuel line hose connecting the fuel tank to the metal fuel line and it had gone to shit.

>>445835
Not really.
I corked off a few open vacuum line tips with a wine bottle cork and as >>445844 said he did with his caddy I replaced a few weathered rubber fuel lines. I've had both fuel tanks down, drained, inspected, freshened up and replaced.
It should be cleared up now, if not its definitely carburetor related.

But if its thermal I have a quick fix. I still have sheet aluminum left over from the roofing, get a 12vDC fan and some dryer hose and make a cold air intake/carburetor cooling box if the carb is getting too hot and the gaskets are bleeding this should take care of that mess with out me having to have the carter TQ rebuilt (replacing a stock carburetor with a edlebrock is not legal in california - they even see anything but stock on it it fails on the spot.

Bump

Door frame got an update. Ran another 2x4 on the outside, and a 1/2"piece of plywood in the middle.

>>447326
>No angled front

That fucker is going to be too damn heavy and will tow like shit. I bet you're already over the weight rating on that single axle. You've built a literal death trap.

Door is cut out and fitted. Will have to seal the area between the shell and the door...thinking that double sided rubber stick strip.

Got a 3/4" lip to the door, which I'm fine with considering as many times mentioned, the current 1/2" floor is a little rubbery. I'll buy some more of the same and run them in the opposite direction of the current floor with some liquid nail.

Something is wrong with the screen door...it has a latch to the main door so when you open the door it keeps the screen door attached. Where it goes wrong is that there's nothing to take the screen door off the latch to the frame, so the door won't open up at all.

How about showing some injuries.
I bet you hurt your self somehow during this project.

>>448544
Alright, first injury of the process happened today.

Not hard to avoid injury when you work alone, or with someone you know fairly well.

The old man got a few good scratches yesterday when rough handling the aluminum though.

>>448748
The house is still not painted! Have any of the neighbors complained? Have they complained about building the trailer?

>>448755
What kind of fucked up neighborhood do you live in? Do your neighbors complain about everything anyone else does? Are you the neighbor in your neighborhood who has so much time on their hands that all they do is bitch about everything anyone else does? What the fuck is wrong with you?

>>448753
gross dude! EW!

Placed some shims under the door to toughen up the threshold. I need to snip the excess off the sides of the roof, and seal all the seams with aluminum L beams.

After that's all done, I'll be removing the trailer lights, adding more wire length and running inside the trailer wall. I'll need to add that other layer of floor.

Wondering OP,

have you done anything even close to weighing the fucker? Or estimating weight?

OP post slightly lower res pictures. 4Chan can take a while to load some of them and I know it's not my internet.

breddy gud rape wagon

>>448017
>>448021
>>448025
>>448028
My grandparents have a motorhome with one of these screen-door-integrated doors and it likes to catch and not work properly too.

The Door warped a little downwards there, need to make a better framing around it and straighten it out, then it'll swing open easily. Get light steel/aluminum I-Beams and replace the wood framing with it, will prevent warping and shifting of the frame of the structure. Or get decent joint buttressing. Anything to pull the frame straight, the give necessary to not break will come from the thinness of the walls/ insulation and wood framing itself. Maybe just break down and build a metal frame for said door. It's structural for the entire trailer.

Make the supports in both directions, otherwise it will twist and bend the structure. If it was top heavy it would be even worse.

>>449374
>>449384
I'm guessing you're staring at >>448863

If that's the case, I think what's going on is the 1/2" floor underneath the door frame is being forced down from the shims. I was pretty careful not to warp the door's threshold.

That said though, the door latches tight, not due to the threshold (still have a 1/4" - 3/8" s gap between the door and the lower frame), but because the side frame is wedged in nice and tight. Door feels good, and when open doesn't swing one direction or the other, indicating that it's sitting square.

I'm gonna need to figure out how I'm going to join the seams brackets together though where they meet up...and since I'm going to be ordering L beams from speedmetals to avoid the excess charges from RV places, It'll probably have to be a custom fix. If anyone here has some knowledge of seaming these bad boys, please speak up.

I got some bad news today: My Trooper shat out on me when I was returning to my domicile after work. Stopped at a light, and when I went to go again, I heard a popping sound from my engine, and then it sounded like I got demoted to driving a lawnmower.

Got home (was under a quarter of a mile when it happened) and inspected under the hood and found a loose spark plug wire with the spark plug attached. Another wire was off, but the spark plug was still seated. I guess that once the spark plug/wire combo disconnected it kicked the other wire off. I was thrilled initially because I thought I lost a cylinder or a gasket, but after trying to reattach the plug, I realized it was stripped on the inside thread...the old man says healacoil should fix it, so I guess I'll have to call around tomorrow to see which shops can do that.

Good lord, bump.

Going on a dry run to get the trailer weighed.

Gonna be hunting down a trailer axle shop tomorrow, as my original plan has changed, and I'll be going a lot further with this trailer than I intended.

Trailer lights are working correctly save for the middle running lights, and the license plate light...I'm guessing when redid the wiring, I must have pulled one of the splices too hard, as both of those lights are connected together with the live wire...I'll hook the voltmeter up to it tomorrow to find where it's dropping out at.

OP here,

Called around and ordered a 3.5k lb rated axle and electric brakes, springs, etc. It's gonna cost me around $460 for parts and installation and will be in the shop on monday or so.

Called around for angle iron and found a shop that sells 1 1/2" and will have it all cut and ready on tuesday for $159 total.

Plan on dropping the trailer off monday to get the new axles and spring (going with a straight axle, and mounting the springs on top to get enough clearance to avoid needing my wheel wells) and picking it up on tuesday and swinging by the metal shop to carry the aluminum back in it.

Called up the insulation place that I bought my rock wool from and they must have received a truckload of the 3" insulation, as they have plenty of it now, and didn't have any when I went in last week. Will be purchasing 7 bags today.

>>427015
If in a few weeks he's installing an eye wash station, we'll know why.

Added up all of my sales receipts for anything based on the trailer. I've spent to date $3,251 on everything from the original sale, to repairs, to paint, screws, aluminum, insulation, and even the kitchen sink.

Haven't added the cost of the new axle and the angle iron yet, but that'd put me around $3,871.

I say that's not bad, but I still haven't put anything inside it yet.

>>452209
Correction: currently spent $3,549. Forgot one receipt for my short walls of aluminum in my calculations.

If the new land plot has any sort of running water/head on it, a small hydro installation will give you much more reliable power than the solar setup.

>>452217

excellent /diy/ success. you saved a mint and have a custom trailer.

Talked to the guy running the scrap yard where I picked the door up at.

Turns out the main door to screen door attachment was too high. When properly attached, the latch for the screen is recessed enough not to latch to the frame, leaving only the main door latch to connect in.

Fixed now.

Spent a couple of hours snipping the excess off the roof. Learned that snips are useless if not properly tightened.

"The sun is like a glorious father"
Lies. I had a hell of a hard time motivating myself to get on that roof to get things done. It gets real hot up there real fast.

It does give me hope on using some of the left over aluminum as a parabola though for a solar water heater.

Okay, these are cool, and from what I've researched the in tank sensors are easy to get screwed up and foul over time.

I'm not spending $500ish on a system though...I already got the basic circuit board and panel (pic of it somewhere on here) and I'd just like to get the strips...and I do notice they have them separately for 35 a piece, but they're only two point sensors, and pretty useless considering I'm planning on getting 6' tall tanks...anyone know the concept of how they work, and how to go about diyin' them?

>>423352
I just wanna say this thread is great and one of the reasons I come to /diy/. I may not have the resources to do things like this but seeing other people doing projects like this is really interesting. Thanks, OP.

>>453983
Paint that water heater enclosure black. even if you have the tank insulated the water in the tank will get scalding after a day of direct sunlight, even in there is a 30% windchill factor.

>>455194

And thank you. Was kind of wondering if there was anyone paying attention to this thread. These might be my last posts on this thread.

Landed a new job in utah, and I'm looking at about 500+ miles to get there. My trooper can move with the trailer on, but I'm leery about hauling something almost 3000 lbs on a v4. My options right now are 1) leave the trailer and come back in a month or two with a better vehicle or 2) leave the vehicle, rent a uhaul and take the trailer with my scooter and bicycle in it. My old man agrees to hold the trailer at his place, but I got a guy (a previous and soon to be again supervisor) who'll let me set the trailer on his lot for a bit too.

The new job will give me a month of free room and board, which might give me enough time to get the trailer habitable. If I take the vehicle,i wouldn't be going all in, and could size up the situation a bit better, but would be unable to progress on the trailer in the meantime...meaning I would most likely have to rent out.

The new axle does a lot to change how this thing rides now. I get a lot more bounce on the tail, which means more stress on the troopers' hitch. Little sway now too, but nothing terrible.

OP here again,

I have arrived in utah with both trooper and trailer. It was a long, slow trip but the trooper performed admirably and handled the long series of mountain ranges without overheating.

I threw pretty much all of my worldly possessions in the trailer, and the night before last to take advantage of the evening cool on my engine.

I'll continue to post results here. I need to take the front angle iron off now that I'll have more time to work on it and put a 45 degree angle on the corners to get the rest of it up, then it's on to electrical.

I've never worked with electrical and as a untrained, colorblind dude, I've always been one for the "leave it to the professionals" slant. I plan on buying 12ga wire once I get off work, and placing it with the trailer until I come back from training...which should be a couple weeks of downtime. I'm kinda hoping I'll get a little input on what I should be doing in the meantime with wiring.

Current plan: bought a 30amp inverter box for turning 110v city into 12v for the appliances. I'll need probably two or three separate breakers (one for the fridge by itself is a must) and the 110v side has room for 3 breakers, but I probably only need 1-2. The trailer is small, and won't be running AC, so I'm thinking 30amp all the way. I plan on having 5 110v plugs in the trailer (1 for the bathroom, 2 in the kitchen, 2 in the living/sleeping room) and 2-3 12v plugs (1 for the fridge, 1 in the kitchen, and 1 in the living/sleeping room). I'm hoping to run one set of wires for each plug, then trying to set up something to when I'm off-grid I can still use the same wires to power the plugs. If not, I'll need to run two sets of wires.

I plan on placing the wires about 2' up on the wall, and running it behind the 2x4's, as the bubble wrap should keep the wires from getting damaged.

>>456617
Glad to hear you were able to bring all your shit, and made it out there in one piece!

This thing looks like a mobile torture/rape dungeon. If that's the look you were going for, then kudos, OP.

Did you ever have it weighed or get a guess on it?

Op here,

I'm currently in training in yet another state, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to check on the thread. I'll try to answer any question though, as I'm not working on the trailer at the moment.

>>458681
Yes, I got the trailer weighed shortly after I got the trailer lights adjusted and working. See >>451356's picture. For sure pounds going to weigh 325 lbs more, with insulation and seams attached.

Op here,

No clue how close this is to page 10, (on my phone only till next thursday) but I'm gonna bump anyways with how fast new threads are coming in.

OP bump

>>459874
Just wondering why you decided to not put the tanks under or on the bottom before fabricating the structure? Do you think your tow vehicle will be able to handle the final trailer when you have all furniture and full tanks loaded up?

How did you attach it to the frame? Is it just sitting on top of it?

>>463007
I attached the camper frame to the trailer frame with carriage bolts and 2x4s. You can kind of see it in >>423365

>>462669

The body took precedent because of funds, but I always intended to have the water tanks accessible from inside the camper quarters. I'm planning on purchasing three corner tanks mentioned in >>424617 which I would build custom cabinets for to access the spout for filling buckets/checking the water levels. I don't ever plan on hauling the trailer while it has water in the tanks, as the trailer isn't really intended for going on trips. It's just a small mobile home I can move to suit my life. I already hauled the bad boy over 500 miles with most of my worldly possessions, and I plan on getting rid of quite a few things. The only thing that's not in the trailer weight wise, would be the cabinets, paneling, bathroom walls, and linoleum. I'm thinking about scratching the other section of 1/2"plywood I was going to use to reinforce the floor, and just putting down some 3/4" laminate or engineered hardwood. Seems like the weight wouldn't be much more than the plywood/linoleum route.

Heading back to utah in a couple hours (starting) and will have time this weekend to put some more work on the trailer.

Very slow going. Can't find my clamps either, because I suck at moving in an organized fashion.

Aaaaand, my batteries are dead. I might just pay a trailer shop to do this part for me. I'd rather not have a poorly seamed trailer because I'm too bad with angles/improper tools.

Going to be running the wires between the insulation batts.

Thats a nice trailer u got there!

Got both wheel wells looking like pic before my batteries died. I must admit that I'm unimpressed with my tool purchase.

bump

Is this alright to do? Seems a little questionable, but I don't really know what else to do with it. I used tap splices to connect the wires, but that sucked, so I'll be using wing twist caps from here on.

Also, thank god for youtube, because I had a mess going on in the box before I saw that you only need to connect to one of the screws on each side.

>>469813
Shit man, I would not do that.

You have two options here. I'd either get a plastic junction box and secure it to that stud and wire nut those wires and put the cap on the junction box or you just daisy chain the wire to the other set of screws on the outlet. Do not leave it like that.

>>469820
I'd have to agree with this.


Also OP just saw your earlier post about trying to gauge how much water would be left in your tanks which brings me a few ideas:

Maybe some type of "float" system to measure where you're at?
If not maybe make some type of dip stick with measurements on it. (like the clear ones we use on planes, they act like a straw: dip it in, put finger on other end, read.)

>>469820
Thanks for the quick response. I'm curious about the latter option, but it's not really making sense in my head. Could you please clarify? I'm on 3g, and I'm still trying to get some other shit tackled at the moment, so I might be a bit in responding.
Also, how should I have gone about this originally?

>>469849
Sure thing. On a duplex receptacle, you have two pairs on screws ( 2 brass, 2 silver) when you connect your line that will feed that receptacle power you can use the the other free screws to run a line from that receptacle to the next receptacle to power it. That's daisychaining

>>469849
Sorry I didn't clarify that last part. I don't know how exactly you have it set up. If you daisy chain it will be fine. Again you are taking the powered line connecting it to the top brass and silver screw and then running a line from the bottom silver and brass to the next receptacle top brass and silver screw.

>>469966

If my pic is correct, then I'll correct that asap. Really wish I would have purchased that electrical book when I was at the hardware store, but nooo, I had to get the cabinetry book instead. At least this is a very easy correction, and much easier in the first place. Thanks a bunch, man.

Please don't think anything about the colors I chose. I'm colorblind, and impatient with paint.

>>469994
Yes, that will work. The only thing from your pic I would recommend would to be to make sure the line coming in is that its connected to the top screws just to make it look nicer/more professional and to keep things organized. If you look at those receptacles on the side you'll see a little metal tab its called a breakaway tab and that's what keeps those connected so you can daisychain them.

The only other question/concern I may have is whether you'd be better off using GFCI outlets simply due to the fact that its in a camper and may be more prone to water leakage, etc and for your protection. That'd be something to consider as well.

>>470011
You know, I was looking at those GFCI outlets and had four in my hands, but then I found some that were cheaper, and had a cleaner look to them, so I bought those instead assuming I'd never get moisture in the camper unless I was intentionally putting it there. Probably horrible logic.

So, I'm running both 12v and 110v in the camper. I currently have a 16g wire running from the middle nose, on the ceiling to the back middle wall for my LED lights and I'll probably splice into it for an outlet in the living area, and maybe another splice for the kitchen as well. I plan on running a separate set for my fridge. The 12g wire is my 110v, and currently runs from the middle nose on the driver's side wall to the middle rear, and has two outlets hooked to it. The living area outlet will have a cabinet built over it, and a surge protector that'll hook to it, and in return be mounted and cutout in the cabinet.

I plan on building a metal box on the nose of my trailer that's 5'h x 4'w x 1'1"d for my battery bank, my BB/convertor, and my inverter. I hope to seam it to the trailer body, and placing the water connectors and electrical hookups inside to keep the trailer looking clean (the box will have the two separated to avoid tragedy). this is why my wires are kinda just chillin' in the middle of the nose at the moment.

I'm not sure I'm understanding the formula for the battery bank requirements, but if I am, at 2,479 watt hours a day (aim high, hope for low) I'd need 10 6v (paired, then ran in a string for 12v) batteries to keep everything up and running for 5 days without sun. I'd have to setup a separate smaller bank for my fridge...probably 4 batteries. These things weigh 65lbs each, so I'm looking at 910lbs in batteries alone, not to mention the solar panels.

Corrected the mess up I made the other day and added another 110v plug. Cut the wire too far on the wrong side, so I had to scavenge a 1/2" board from a scrap pile, and screwed it to the stud to make up the distance.

And I added another 12v plug. I plan on hooking a small media box in a cabinet near there. I'll splice off that line for an outdoor light.

I also hooked up my door stop to keep the door open. I wanted to wait on that till I had the outside painted, but I'm tired of that door swinging closed when it's 80°+.

bumping to let OP know (if he already doesnt) about this site:

http://www.cheaprvlivingforum.com/

and this site:

http://www.cheaprvliving.com/

lots of cool ideas, interesting stories, and some pictures that may help OP out. keep it up OP, this thread is pretty cool.

OP bump. Good morning, /diy/.

>>470023
>You know, I was looking at those GFCI outlets and had four in my hands, but then I found some that were cheaper, and had a cleaner look to them, so I bought those instead assuming I'd never get moisture in the camper unless I was intentionally putting it there. Probably horrible logic.

Just get one GFI, put it as the first outlet in the series. Put it in an inconspicuous place if you don't like the look. Gives you the same protection assuming everything is on the same circuit.

Figure I aught to give this a bump. You've got me thinking of doing something like this myself OP. I've yet to decide if that's a good thing or not. Haha!

Any secrets to installing ceiling panels? I'm killing myself here trying to get this square.

Another hand would probably make this easier.

>>474728
What are you using for material?

Also get a panel lifter (rent one from home depot if need be) we use em for putting up sheetrock, they work well.

>>474754
Awesome, thanks for the info. I'm using some real thin plywood with a veneer to it. It's 5mm thick, and it's just to hold the insulation in place as far as I'm concerned. I'm probably going to put vinyl wallpaper over it to toughen it up a little/keep it from being scratched. I imagine based on how it's warping in the sun, that a little moisture would be the end of it...maybe I'll put some mdf over it.

>>473548
purchased an outlet and will be following your advice.

>>471843
Cool forum. I've been checking it out here and there. Some of the things in there are very misleading or unsafe though. The pvc solar water heater, for instance.

>>471843

Those are handy...

>>436510
WHERES YOUR DOUBLE TOP PLATE? STOP RIGHT NOW BEFORE YOU COLLAPSE THIS THING ON YOUR HEAD.

no seriously, you need to tie your walls together better or you are in for some serious shit.

>>474728
yeah, you make a T with a 2x4 thats exactly the finished height of the roof and do pretty much what you are doing.

i highly recommend you to use a vapor barrier before you continue with the walls. I assume you gonna cook in that camper ( water damp), so without a vapor barrier your wall insulation or rock wool acts as a big sponge, trapping moisture and helping the beams/timber to rot. The stuff is cheap, every carpenter should be able to tell you where to get it/ sell some to you and its easy to apply (use a stapler). You should use some special tape to seal the corners/ attach the vb to the corners and seal of the cable openings. I'm from germany, the tape is called sigaflex here, dunno what its called around your area.
Impressive work so far, i love this project.

>>477148
Yeah, if you're cooking with gas, the exhaust is water and co2. Everything will get covered in condensation the first time you cook with the door closed so mitigate against anything soaking up the water.

If stapling, use stainless

germanfag here again, found your tape of choice , called stucco tape, should be red, not really the stuff i use at work ( german stuff is called SIGA- RISSAN, its contractor-grade, so pretty expensive) but should work as well. Should be red, way stickier than duct tape... if you do the corners and the roof/wall corners, make shure to overlap the vb at least 15 cm, staple it on your beams ( yes anon is right, stainless staples) making shure its thight to the rock wool, no space between vb and rock wool .Start with one wall and tape the overlapping piece on the wall you are gonna go next with. Its a bit work but its definatly worth it, compared to ripping out wet rock wool few months later.

Oh and make shure you seal every lil hole, if theres any open hole, like a cable entry this whole vb idea is kinda useless.

>>477186

I will have some outlet boxes, but I'm thinking I should be able to do a well enough of a job to justify using a vapor barrier. I was actually thinking about this a little bit ago, using tyvek all around inside. I'll try to get my hands on some and that tape. I do plan on adding some thin mdf boards over the paneling to abate some moisture as well. Was originally thinking of lacquering the walls, but I'm still thinking I'd have moisture somewhere in those panels. That, and the ice detail on the mdf looks decent in a trailer.

Honestly, I'm getting real close to my deadline and am hoping my company gives me an extension on the hotel stay like I had asked. They said sure, but the hotel clerk is still showing the 23rd. If push comes to shove, I'll give myself a couple days in a hotel, and see about renting for a month.

I've ordered my batteries. I'm probably jumping the gun a bit on that part, but I'd rather know what my dimensions are, and have as much here and ready to go as possible. I purchased some trojan 12v s. Specs are found here:
http://www.trojanbatteryre.com/PDF/datasheets/J185HAC_TrojanRE_Data_Sheets.pdf

I'm going to be putting two of them in a trailer nose box, that's listed here:
http://www.deltastorage.com/downloads/sizecharts/delta_pro_aluminum_and_steel_trailer_tongue.pdf

I'm kinda worried about the temperatures these batteries will be dealing with, but I've read that lead batteries can handle temps around -40F and still work. I'm thinking a little insulation inside the box should keep the overall box temp about 10-15F higher than the outside, but I'm not sure. I also doubt that -20F outside is going to give me anything close to a full charge use on the batteries.

I'm looking at purchasing 4 of these panels.
http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Panels/Suntech-STP240-20Wde-240W-20V-Solar-Panel/p10446/
They've gone down in price from when I was originally looking into them about a year ago, which is great.

Yeah, adding the mdf plates is actually a good idea. As long as we are talking about a little moisture, caused by day/night cooldown or cooking i wouldn't even laquer them.
The company i work for builds houses completely out of wood (lego-style) and whenever you have a untreated inside-woodwall it compensates a lot of moisture from cooking i.e.
It collects the moisture from the room and when you let fresh, dry air in your trailer again, it should emit the moisture again. I hope you get me, english is not really my native language...

>>477209

Yeah, adding the mdf plates is actually a good idea. As long as we are talking about a little moisture, caused by day/night cooldown or cooking i wouldn't even laquer them.
The company i work for builds houses completely out of wood (lego-style) and whenever you have a untreated inside-woodwall it compensates a lot of moisture from cooking i.e.
It collects the moisture from the room and when you let fresh, dry air in your trailer again, it should emit the moisture again. I hope you get me, english is not really my native language...

>>477209

Germanfag here,
yeah, adding the mdf plates is actually a good idea. As long as we are talking about a little moisture, caused by day/night cooldown or cooking i wouldn't even laquer them.
The company i work for builds houses completely out of wood (lego-style) and whenever you have a untreated inside-woodwall it compensates a lot of moisture from cooking i.e.
It collects the moisture from the room and when you let fresh, dry air in your trailer again, it should emit the moisture again. I hope you get me, english is not really my native language...

>>477209
How cold do you think it would get there?

>>478268
I'm told -20F is pretty common in the winter here, but I suppose that'd mean it can, and does, occasionally get colder than that.

Spent the last hour on your thread OP. Learned so much! Really wish you all the best in completing this thing, you certainly deserve it.

>>479275
Glad someone can learn from my mistakes/luck. There's a few things (Okay, a lot of things) I would do differently with a higher initial pay scale, and more thought, but I'd also say I'm doing a fairly good job as it all stands. I've got tomorrow and the next day off, so I hope to have the insides paneled and wired for the outside box. I got the ceiling panels up and in today (it looks like shit, and it was very frustrating) so it should be downhill from here. Also placed aluminum over the old wheel wells, and plan on making the gap into a two part setup: when I'm not moving, I'll insulate the bottom, and seal it in with another aluminum plate. When I am traveling, I'll remove the plate and insulation, as the tires will need more clearance to account for spring motion.

My 2 batteries arrive wednesday at the tune of $377 a pop...this hurts. Still wondering why no one in this god forsaken town will call me back with quotes on windows. I've literally called every window shop here, and each and every one of them promised to check and call back with a quote, but none have.

While I have not placed any moisture barrier between the panels, and the insulation; I do plan on putting mdf board over the current standing panels. I'll be backing every crease up with silicone, and footer/header boards. I might also try out that hydrophobic paint on the aluminum roof, and inside.

I have purchased an outdoor electric box with the intent on installing on the bottom of the trailer box, and running it on it's own breaker. This will be for any outdoor work I need to do. It'll only be capable of 20amps though, but that's what all my inside wiring will be using too on one continuous line of 4 outlet boxes. The first in line will be a GFCI outlet on the recommendation of >>473548.

Current spending is $4781

Things still needed: batteries, trailer box, windows, paint, cabinets, solar panels, water tanks, and probably a water pump.

The sag in the rear will be corrected with a header board.

Old wheel well opening. This will be covered with a panel of 1/2" plywood. Hope to accomplish this today.

And now I don't have enough aluminum left over for my parabola...oh well.

>>426846
For the record, I'm loving the pattern on that countertop.

I might keep the wall paneling there if anyone has a good idea on concealing seam edges. The wood looks nice, but the edges are a little gapped due to no table saw.

So it's gonna be a silver box, basically? What will you use it for OP? Do you plan on living in it?

...mdf it is

Now for the front and rear walls.

That's probably it for a while. Going to research whether it'd be lighter to add laminate floors, or to put down that 1/2" plywood and go with linoleum over top.

No matter what route I go, I'll be living in this full time starting on the 1st of next month...going to be a sad initial month while I continue to work on it.

>>480569
>480569
It is looking good for something you haven't really done before. Keep it up, only good experience is making mistakes.

Have a picture of a happy pig.