6x10 Oregon Cargo Camper Conversion

[McDave]

C'mon Mark,....No guts, No glory. You already know you CAN do it. Save the money you would pay a "Professional" and use it for further upgrades. Shop rates are about 150.00 per hr or so depending on where you live. That could add up to something nice for your rig. Pay yourself, and you'll have another skill to add to your resume. A very wise man once said, "Writin' checks is easy, I don't do things cause they're easy..."

McDave

[Mark959]

Thanks for the pep talk McDave. First one is looking better the more I tweak it, just psyched myself out.


Drew an outline on the door after marking the top - measured from the door, lining up the trim ring and using it as a rough guide. I then took my calipers and locked them down and used it to trace around the initial drawing to make a bigger hole layout. Calipers are great for doing this, both points are sharp.

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Don't know if I snagged any pictures of the hole before adding the inside wood and welding in the frame. My welding gun fit inside between the walls to weld the tube steel easily.

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After mounting those 4 pieces of wood I took the jig saw and cut it to the same size as the hole, to act as a shim for the window and trim ring.

The finished product, after quickly patching the hole I burned through the skin. I will be filling and sanding and blending it in but it is functional and not ugly now. You can probably find it, but might not have noticed it if not told it existed

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I still need to take the window out again, now that I know it lines up good I can touch up the paint I scratched and then use the butyl tape and finish it with a bead of silicone.

[Mark959]

Finished the window and painted the door inside and out. Need to go around the inside of that aluminum, it isn't sealed so rain runs through at the bottom, when I had the holes cut I could see daylight easily. Just going to silicone the whole thing.

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Also redid the wood "spacer". Didn't like the look of my frame. Pics continued on next post

[Mark959]

Ran butyl tape along the whole window, overlapped at the ends. Going to run a bead of caulk around the outside probably, just in case.

I used my table saw set at a 45º to cut a bevel on the bottom of the 3/4" sanded plywood for a nice transition. Real size was roughly .7", honestly I could of used some thinner - 19/32 at a minimum but then I think the ring would hit the window. I wanted to make sure there was a small gap so I could get a good clamping action. I will run a bead of black dap around the gap to seal it up. Caulked the ring and where the bevel meets the original wood sheeting.

I also didn't like how the window barely opens when opened and locked into position. I could manually move it up another inch and a half but it fell back down into the "catches", there are holes on the sides of the frame for the window to catch. So I took my calipers and auto-punch and marked both sides for the catch-pins around 1/4" below where they would be at when the window is opened at its limit. Then I matched the drill bit to the pre-existing hole size and used a smaller bit to start the hole from the outside, then ran the big bit from inside the window. Worked perfectly and now I can have it closed and barely open which is stock, or very open. The picture shows where it sits after I modified it, before it would sit halfway between where it is and closed. Ridiculous if you ask me, but it wasn't that hard to fix either.

Finished it with some paint & primer AIO, I may sand over some spots where I filled in roughly. We will see. Much happier now. The walls are thicker than the door, I believe 1/4" sheeting should be more than enough to do something similar for the front and side window.

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[hankaye]

Mark959, Howdy;

Well done! Couldn't tell where ya burned through. and like your idea for the second
position for the window opening.

hank

[McDave]

Look at ya' go...Kickin' *ss and takin' names. I like it. Keep that stuff up.

McDave

[Mark959]

Thanks guys, real glad I did it myself

Started lining out the front window. Wall thickness is better here because the manufacturer used two 3/8" sheets of wood, one on the inside and one on the outside- lined with the aluminum skin. The beams are inch and a half, so we are over the minimum 2 inches for the ring to work!

Drilled a few holes along the beam to line up with and see where exactly I come out at, its a nice ways away from the trim on the outside.

I plan on using 2x4 or 2x6 to frame up the window, instead of welding up another setup. Only because if 1 1/2" square exists, I can't find any. So instead I am going to use my table saw to plane off the the sides of the wood to make it fit snug between the plywood layers. Should speed this one up a bit and still be strong. Then I can mount my electrical off of the wood.

Figured out electrical, I will post pics when I get there. Got a plan in mind, going to get a box behind the propane tanks. Will run a solar panel on the roof, maybe two - either 165w or 100w. I have a mini fridge that draws 875w roughly, so I will most likely need two 165w if I want to camp year-round.

Too hot lately to work on it without any shade. The country chopped the tree down that would be providing me shade...

[m.colley]

Looking good there Mark. You've done a great job on the window install


Martin

[Mark959]

Thanks Martin!

Cut the front window out, took me about 2-2.5 hours to pull the interior plywood, drill where I wanted the top to be on the cross member, lay it out and tape, cut it, and then sand any tight spots out. Taking a break then heading to the store for some materials.

Ran into a hiccup. I knew the front was curved, I was hoping the center was minimal but it is pretty rough - maybe half an inch gap on both sides

I have a few ideas up my sleeves:
I am hoping the 2x materials will be enough to straighten it some. If a slight gap remains I will run double butyl tape if necessary, then hit it with black caulk.

If that isn't enough, I will shim between the skin and the plywood to push it out, there is enough play there that I could sneak in some 1/8" Al, maybe double it up.


Overall this window went a lot quicker since I was seasoned... My jigsaw has a lot of side to side play plus I needed a long blade (which flexed some) so I had to go to the trim ring side and recut the area with a smaller blade, trying to keep it lined up with the outer hole which was the right size. The cheap ply splintered a bit since it was already cut, but I can fill it. I then took a rotary sander and touched up any spots where the trim ring wasn't happy. I'm finding these trim rings are NOT perfect by any means: I'd measure multiple spots and get different sizes. Oh well.

I plan on drilling the cross members, welding in some tubing for support, and running my electrical. And Insulating. I don't ever want to have to pull this wall apart again, and I wish I would have insulated the door while it was apart.

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[Mark959]

Got the window in and done. I shimmed the sides up a quarter of an inch, ran one full ring of butyl tape on the window and then another layer around the sides just in case. Just need to caulk the window and it will be perfect.

The inside is a little bit of a nightmare, the trim ring isn't perfectly shaped, so I can't square it up or it looks worse. Curtains will hide the top and I may put a small sill on the bottom. The sides are ok. There is a huge gap between the window frame and ring, not sure how I will fill that in.

Since it is an emergency exit too, I made sure the wall can support weight. I framed it much like a home window.

But the breeze that came through is amazing

Skipping insulation for now, with the windows it isn't that bad and if I ever go out in the cold I have a heater. Oregon cold isn't that bad even in the mountain range. Worst case I will take it apart to insulate, or drill some holes and pour in liquid foam insulation maybe.
I'm on my phone, I will try to get pics up this weekend.

Thanks for all the help. One more to go, hopefully the easiest window yet. This one went easier because of what I've learned, otherwise it would of been hell.

[Mark959]

Front window worked out better than expected. Waited for the 100º heat to hit it and then tightened all the screws patiently. Pulled it in real tight, no gap at all around the outside, inside most of the ring rolled in to remove the gap, doesn't look bad. Just wish the ring was truly square

[Mark959]

Well its been raining the last two days, no leaks anywhere that I could see. I haven't caulked the trim ring yet so if there was a leak water would drip through between the window and ring. Dry as a bone inside

The door window has little drain gutters in the bottom, worked like a charm.


Some pictures to follow. I swear I took more/better than these but couldn't find them... I did frame up the window, but I can't find any pictures of it that are good. I took off the inside ply, saw what was going on with the existing framing, drilled a few holes along the bottom of the topmost cross member where i wanted the top of the window to be, reinstalled the ply, drilled through the holes again to transfer to inner ply, then TAPED IT and layed it out, went to town with my skill saw (the damn foot walks and has play so I had to recut the inside ply hole to match and use a dremel rotary sander bit to take off anything too tight).
After test fitting until both the window and trim ring were happy and had a little play, I took the inner ply off again and framed the hole, and added supports all the way to the bottom. It's an emergency exit window so I wanted it to be able to take the weight.

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[BajaMikey]

Looks Good Mark! I am trying to gather the courage to do the windows myself.... something just seems scary with cutting holes in my new trailer but your pictures and write-up gives me some inspiration. Whats next on your to do list?

[Mark959]

Thanks!

It is easier to do than I thought originally and experience helps. I am glad I did it and the trailer is a lot nicer now. If you can measure and work with tools, you can do it! Measure repeatedly and take the plunge, I was nervous as all hell on my first cut. I started with the door, I figure it would be a lot easier to fix if I screwed up and it gave me a lot of experience to tackle the next one.

I have one last window to do, it will be on the side and should be the easiest to do. I'm actually excited to do it now.

Then I want to try and build my own cabinets and counter, finish the electrical (run both 12VDC and 120VAC- I have a modified sine wave inverter, will get a pure sine wave inverter soon), buy some solar panels so I don't have to worry about keeping the batteries charged - if my house has the proper meter I will hook up a grid-tie inverter for when its parked to roll the meter back, speaking of which I need a roof rack of some sort, and I want to hook up a fresh water system for an outdoor shower and indoor sink by the front window. I will need some fixture that doesn't block the window in case it's actually needed. I will either mount the faucet to the side or use something like commercial dish washing stations use with the movable hose. Then I might fab up a mount for my new propane BBQ to sit above the hitch.



Plan on spending a day to two days on your first window unless you pump it out. The second window took me a good bit of time, I would estimate 8 hours. Four in the morning laying out, cutting, test fitting, recutting the inside wall and then sanding any parts still too tight, taking the wall off and then taking a break for a good part of the day (Hot day), then doing the framing and putting it all in plus the wall and finishing it with clamping the window down with butyl tape and the trim ring.



Tools you will probably want on hand:

* a nice jigsaw, find one with minimal play!
Mine has lots of play, so I cut the outside hole true and then cut from the inside until the blade touches - verify it matches with a square
* a firm metal jigsaw bit. If the walls are 2" thick or more you will want an extra long blade like a 5" depending on how deep the jigsaw foot retracts.
* drill (I prefer cordless). to drill holes and work with hardware
* a set of drill bits, you only need a couple: one big enough to fit a jig saw blade through and one or two for screws, layout.
* files or sanding stuff - I had a dremel-rotary tool and used my sanding wheels to take off any high spots I may have missed with the jigsaw.

Supplies:
*screws - I used #8, depending on the window/trim ring 5/8 to 3/4, 1" on the front windows' sides because of the rounded nose.
* Butyl tape - enough to make a full circle around the window frame and overlap at least an inch - start at the bottom center and go full circle to make a good seal.
*window, trim ring, screen not installed until done.
*caulk not required, but it can be helpful to have on hand
Honestly I don't see why you couldn't use wood to frame up all of your windows, as long as you use good hardware to join the wood to the framing. That is how every roof vent has been done that I've ever seen... But you might want a table saw to plane off thickness if the 2x wood is too large for your wall.

Levels are useless, you cant trust the trailer to be square to the earth. So measure measure measure. The front was the hardest to do and it was fairly easy, I used a framing square to mark horizontal measurements since the edges are round. I measured between these two and used that for the window width. Then I chose the highest spot I could go without cutting the framing and used a small drill bit along the frame to give me a "top line" by connecting the dots.

Once you have the general layout, tape it off so that the foot of the jigsaw doesn't ruin your paint. 2" masking tape should be perfect. Honestly I drew on the trailer skin - using the window frame for measurements and adding an 1/8" all around. I used the trim ring when drawing to estimate the rounded edges - just make sure it is close to the same as on the window frame. Then I taped it all off by making a box on the outside of my lines, and a diagonal in each corner to get "close enough" to the rounded edges. The frame I used has a 1" lip to hide anything else so it didn't need to be a perfect tape job at the rounded corners.

I then drilled a big hole and went to town with my jigsaw, start at the top middle and go around to finish at the top. That is how I did it, if you start at the bottom it might flop over and bend the skin up when you finish. The radius is so slow that it shouldn't be a problem, I powered it out in only a few minutes. Take a deep breath, see if the window fits. If it is too tight you have options - tin snips, cut off wheels (remember this is aluminum, I prefer the disposable quick-swap dremel blades), maybe even a pass with the jigsaw again. If it fits, hooray! If you cut too much off (measure!) it isn't the end of the world. You can buy this aluminum skin sheeting, or just buy aluminum plate from almost any hardware store and drill then rivet/screw it down, coating underneath and all holes with your choice - silicone for instance...

That is where I pull the inner walls off to frame it up. The trim ring and the window frame sandwich the walls, so you *could* probably just shove 2X material between the walls, screw it down to the wall and slam it in. But I didn't want to take that risk especially since the front window is an emergency exit window. After I framed it up I jumped all over it without any give. As for the door, everyone here slams doors so I welded up square steel tubing that matched what the trailer manufacturer used.

Once you are done with your choice of framing, butyl tape the window frame and slap it in. It is much easier with two people - one squaring the window up on the outside while the other helps hold it from inside, then slamming screws into the trim ring while the outside person holds it in position. It helps a ton if it will be hot later / the next day as the butyl tape is like taffy - hard in the cold and soft in the heat. I tightened the crap out of my trim ring when it was about 97º, after it was already "cold tightened" the night before. To remove butyl that squishes out, find a sharp piece of plastic and cut it. Knives will scratch the paint.

[flboy]

Very nice job on the window install! Looks awesome! It takes a little nerve cutting those huge holes in the side the first time
I must have measured and double checked three times before I cut. :-)

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