Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

...ask your questions in the appropriate forums BUT document your build here...preferably in a single thread...dates for updates, are appreciated....

Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:32 pm

I first want to thank everyone on this forum for providing invaluable knowledge. There is so much creativity and talent posted here – it is just awesome.

The idea to build our own came from my then, 5-year old son. We camp frequently, and one night he said, “Ya know dad, if we had one of those we could just pull in and be done.” He was referring to a monster 5th wheel at a campground. That led into us spending hours upon hours touring RVs. Then I found this site, and thought, “hey, we could do that.”

He sketched a drawing of what he wanted, and that literally was our only set of written plans, the rest of it was in our heads. Here’s the final product. What follows are some of the steps it took to get there. It took about 5 months to get us to the first trip. Then another 6 months of trips, adding and refining it to get it just like we wanted.

We are now contemplating on what to do with my wife and daughter, and may be building a larger, more beefier version for off-road, off-grid applications. Thanks again, and welcome your comments or criticisms.

I’ll be adding photos/descriptors in segments in the next few weeks.
Attachments
sketch.jpg
The very detailed and specific initial idea...
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final_b.jpg
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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby soapcreek » Mon Oct 15, 2018 4:42 pm

Looks nice. Lets see some more pics of the back opened up and the inside.


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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby Sparksalot » Mon Oct 15, 2018 8:27 pm

:thumbsup: :applause:
Holy cow, Rose is a teenager now! Done? Surely you jest. A teardrop is never "done".

The Compass Rose build thread: viewtopic.php?t=23213

Inspiration: http://tnttt.com/Design_Library/Trailer%20for%20Two.htm

It's got a cop motor, a 5.3 LS plant, it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks. ~ Elwood Blues
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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:42 pm

Thanks - pictures of the inside are coming soon. Working through my files...
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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:46 pm

Trailer selection
I spent a lot of time thinking about the right trailer. The HF trailers are everywhere on this forum, and clearly a good place to start. The problem is that I didn’t want to be dragging it down the road at 80mph and the bearings incinerate at such high speed. I also didn’t think that buying a trailer, then replacing all the parts (axle, springs, hubs, fenders, etc) would be a very cost-effective method. I scoured craigslist for a few months before I found the right one. We settled on a 5x8 homemade utility trailer with 15” wheels and heavy duty steel. Likely overkill, but I wanted it to take a beating.
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We stripped the sides and the 1/8” diamond plate from the frame. I kept the 2x4 slots on the sides for tie downs, and thought they may be useful at some point in time.
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Then cut off the tie downs, sanded and painted the whole thing with Rustoleum glossy black enamel. We chose this because 1) it is cheap, 2) it is durable, 3) I can find it almost anywhere when I need to touch up areas. I gave it a 2 week cure before ever touching it - partly because I was busy at work, and partly because it was so humid. One thing about rattle-can enamel – it cures, it doesn’t dry. And in the summer humidity, this takes forever. Sorry for the junk in the background, we clearly spend some time on the bikes.
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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:52 pm

Floor Construction
The floor base is constructed out of 15/32” OSB. While a virtual sponge when it comes to holding water, we avoided that by coating the entire underside with bedliner (Rustoleum roll-on). I used ½ gallon for the bottom. The gaps between the angle iron on the trailer and the OSB floor/framing were sealed with Loctite PowerGrab.

The tie downs (that we cut off) provided some difficulty in creating the floor frame, and had to be notched out, along with the front section of angle iron.
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The floor was framed out using 2x4s. This allowed clearance of the 3” steel trailer framing. The center section was intentionally left open to function as storage with a slide out hatch. The rear driver’s side section was only partially insulated, as it would serve as a pass-through for the AC drip tube – for the removable window unit (in later post). The rest of the floor was insulated with foam board and covered with 15/32” OSB. The floor was attached with ¼” bolts to the frame, with a few 6” lag bolts in the areas I couldn’t recess and hide the bolt heads.
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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:05 pm

Sidewalls
I chose a sandwich/stud wall method. The walls are constructed with 2x2 framing with 1/8" birch ply sheathing. The spaces in between were filled with foam board insulation. On the door-side, a 2x4 was used to support the door hinges and provide extra strength. When devising the location of the studs, I figured in locations where I’d want more support for a roof rack, and maybe a roof top tent. I also included adequate framing for the windows, door and to support the cabinetry on the inside.

I started by cutting the curves in some scrap birch ply, then built the frame for each side and front. Then I refitted the final birch ply for the inside, and cut it. The frame was then glued and screwed to the side wall. I bought the windows before I started construction, so I used them as templates. At this point, I still hadn't figured out how I was going to make the door yet, but I knew the shape I wanted, so I cut it out and framed it in.
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I may have done this backwards, but I built and skinned the interior first in pieces on my work table. I left the exterior skins to much later in the build. This allowed me to get the interior completely done on the work bench – rather than having to try to slide in a huge sheet after the walls were up. It worked well overall. The photo below is of the passenger side, interior wall.
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Below, this is the wall dry fitted to the passenger side. You can see the storage door in the floor from earlier.
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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:07 pm

Sidewalls and Front
Before the final fit, all exposed flooring wood edges (with some overlap) were coated with FlexSeal to waterproof them. We then finished the front and driver’s sides and glued, screwed and bolted them together with ¼” bolts. The walls are anchored to the frame via galvanized 6” bolts, making for a very solid connection. The little window in the front wall was originally going to be a fold-down arm rest with USB ports for phone charging, but it turned into a mess, and now I just use it as a hidden electrical access point.

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More to come...
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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:01 pm

Roof Spars

Next, I added the 2x2” roof spars. I spaced them on roughly 8” centers – again planning for rooftop storage. I included enough space for the roof vent. Important part of this step was pre-planning the wiring. So I drilled ½” channels for the wiring – and wrote down the distances away from the edge to keep me from accidentally drilling into the wiring later on. All the spars were glued and screwed, like everything else on this build. On the radius cuts, I closely spaced the spars to accommodate for bends in the birch ply.

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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:08 pm

Galley

As most of you are keenly aware, building the walls is nothing compared to figuring out the interior space and doors. I wanted a simple, yet functional galley with several things:
-Ample cabinet space with pass-through’s into the interior cabinets
-Room to expand (ie. Build in more stuff)
-Power outlets
-Camp stove and cooler compartments
-Adequate counter space
-Functional sink & water source
-Space for a window AC for camping in the summer heat

I framed the rear bulkhead out of 2x2’s and then skinned it with 1/8” birch ply to save weight. The rear bulkhead is an important structural component, and is has to be square – if it isn’t, the whole project will have problems. I used framing squares to get it right, then used scrap wood hold it square before gluing/screwing/bolting it to the frame and walls. Once it was in, the whole trailer tightened up solid.

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I had the original idea of a full-width shelf that would both serve as the bottom of the cabinets, and provide an open shelf. However, this left me with hardly any counter space, so I cut out the center section.

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One of the benefits of framed walls is that you can run all your electricity cleanly and keep everything concealed. I would later run a 10 gauge wire to a terminal block/bus bar in the wall to run the power outlets and LED lights for the galley, and the interior back wall USB ports.

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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:11 pm

Galley continued…
I then added the cabinet faces and sides. The cabinet faces are 1/8” birch ply, and the sides are 1/2 “ birch plywood. The counter is ½” birch also. You can see the pass-through parts for the cabinets – allows you to grab some food after you’ve settled into bed.

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The entire galley was coated with several coats of “the Mix.” I used about 60/40 mineral spirits and poly, and coated the entire inside of the galley, and the interior of the camper with this, and have not been disappointed. After the mix did its job, the galley got a coat of full strength poly –including the edges. I should note, that in creating the cabinet walls, I extended up past the door opening into the ceiling. This was to keep it dry, to give it more strength, and to allow for wiring later if I needed it.

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I then added in the counter supports and finished out the cabinet doors. I later added two hinges to each door. The doors are kept closed by magnets mounted on the inside of the door with tiny screws (into the 1/8” ply) and glue. This was an arduous task, and I think next time, I’ll just make the doors heavier, but I was very concerned about having so much weight behind the axle. The counter supports are removable, and slide into a ¾” aluminum channel that was placed on the bottom of the counter and on the floor. This gives some more versatility depending on what configuration is necessary.

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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:13 pm

Sink
I really wanted a functioning sink. I trialed several different mocked up ideas – including gravity feeds, electric and hand pumps.

The second-most promising method was using 4” PVC piping on the roof that connected with food grade vinyl hoses to a hand nozzle. This worked surprising well, but was a giant pain to fill the tanks. Specifically, if we were going off grid for a time, how would I fill the tanks sitting on the roof? It would have been exceedingly painful and not worth it.

So, I went with a pull out sink, a manual hand pump and a 2.5 gallon water jug that slides into the drawer. Finding the right water jug took me awhile. I think I pondered this sink idea for months, and ended up with several different sizes of water carriers sitting in my basement. But the final product turned out awesome.

I was constrained by the size of the cooler, and of the A/C space, so it was really a tight fit.

I built a tall, sliding drawer with a full face. Behind the face is a platform for the sink, and below is a shelf for the water carrier, with just enough space for some hand soap and a dish scrubber. The frame is made from 2x2s with birch ply skin, and the drawer face is 1/2” birch ply. Everything is, of course, covered with “the Mix” and a final layer of poly.

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I then made the top of the sink with cutouts for the Valterra RP800 hand pump, and the “sink.” The top of the sink surface was coated in the “the Mix” and poly, then covered with lineoleum that I got really cheap as a scrap cut from one of the home improvement stores. I used the same lineoleum on the floor of the whole camper.

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A major problem with this design, is that the faucet doesn’t fit under the counter top. So, I made a hinge to allow the faucet to fold forward when it is slid in the stowed position. The tubing doesn’t get kinked, and it works very well. This is the underside of the sink top during the gluing and clamping phase of attaching the linoleum.

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Re: Pseudo-Off-Road Adventure Trailer

Postby quickja » Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:16 pm

Sink continued…

The sink basin was made from a brownie pan that I got at the dollar store. I picked up a cheap 1.5” drain, and drilled a hole through the pan with a hole saw. I used silicone to seal the drain and Loctite PowerGrab to seal and glue the sink into the cutout. The shelf on the bottom of the drawer is made from a cooling rack that I also got at the dollar store. That allows any water to drip through onto the floor (lineoleum) and then out of the camper. It is removable and allows access to behind and beneath the drawer to clean. There is a short section of food-grade tubing that connects to the hand pump, and sits in the water container. This is the AquaPak 2.5 gallon. The drain goes through the wire mesh and into a spare container, or can be hooked to a hose if necessary to manage the grey water.

The whole thing is mounted on 50# drawer slides.

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The picture on the left shows the drain, the picture on the right shows the folding faucet.
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The sink is a huge benefit, works great and is easy to stow, clean and use. This is one of my favorite things about the galley.

Some prices:
Valterra RP800 Rocket Hand Pump $30, Tubing $9.50, Aqua-Pak 2.5 Gallon Rigid Water Container $21, Drying rack $1, "Sink" $1, Drain assembly $3.50
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