It officially begins

[Tigris99]

Ok got the trailer back. Was a little peeved he only welded the receiver and no flat stock support under it (rear receiver to carry bike rack).

Wanted to get my lights put on but won't stop raining and going to be a job, he didn't cut ports for wiring before he welded tubes to trailer.

Plus side he completely rebuilt the tongue, trailer is much stiffer now. And I like the added weight since the camper itself will be rather light. Keep the CG as low as possible.

Really debating on going 5 lug hubs now so I have more wheel/tires options.

Can't wait to start the build, mother nature needs to cooperate so I can!

(Took the pic while sitting at a train crossing for 15 minutes, only chance for a pic before we got poured on)

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[working on it]

Ok got the trailer back. Was a little peeved he only welded the receiver and no flat stock support under it (rear receiver to carry bike rack).

Wanted to get my lights put on but won't stop raining and going to be a job, he didn't cut ports for wiring before he welded tubes to trailer.

Plus side he completely rebuilt the tongue, trailer is much stiffer now. And I like the added weight since the camper itself will be rather light. Keep the CG as low as possible.

Really debating on going 5 lug hubs now so I have more wheel/tires options.

Can't wait to start the build, mother nature needs to cooperate so I can!

(Took the pic while sitting at a train crossing for 15 minutes, only chance for a pic before we got poured on)

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• I don't know about the way the tongue is welded on to the trailer. It seems to me, that it is only tied to the front cross member, though the rule is to tie it to two, or more, for strength and assurance. On the Design links at the top of the page, there's a good bit of info about it:http://tnttt.com/Design_Library/tear84.htm.
• I had help build several trailers, and when I re-imagined mine (it was a tiny derelict frame), I made sure that the tongue was beefy, and welded to three cross members and the central spine. It's a little heavy, but very strong.

• 

  tied to second cross member.PNG (18.01 KiB) Viewed 2300 times

  from the library, an example I followed, plus some extras

• 

  tongue to 3 cross members and spine.png (461.13 KiB) Viewed 2300 times

  multiple attachment points for 3"x3"x.1875" tongue
• Unfortunately, I think yours is only welded to one cross member, though at three points, along the same plane. That may help, but I'm afraid it might bend along that plane, shearing the tongue off, at some point.

• 

  only one crossmember tied to tongue.jpg (89.95 KiB) Viewed 2300 times

  it has no tie to second cross member
• Consult with your welder, and have him add some bracing (welded to the tongue itself, not just connecting cross members 1 and 2) back to the second cross member; it'll be worth the time and money.

[Tigris99]

Appreciate the info! BTW how do you guys do the quick little photo notes like you did, Neve figured out how people do that.

It is from the looks of it but the outer frame is all 2" tubing, the triangle as well. So the sides of the triangle are continuous 2" square tube all the way to just in front the of axle. Basically instead of the load being concentrated on the center tongue he spread is to 3 points. Going straight through wasn't really an option Without further and more serious work.

I trust his judgement as he builds industrial/commercial trailers. But there is one and adding a second piece of channel between front and second support. I forgot to tell him to add the second one so I'll be doing that. Would have cost me another $50 cause it was after trailer was out and "done"

You can see the nubs from the old simple front triangle that was 11ga stamp steel channel. Not sure why those weren't cut lack further

I have a couple mods I'm going to weld in but this is a lot stronger than it looks, his choice in tubing was because of the original trailer design.

Definitely can't complain (beyond the fact of lacking the support for the receiver on the back) for $200

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[daveesl77]

We have 4 wiley windows in ours. 2 in the walls, 2 in the doors. Using acrylic plex for the "glass". We have purposefully left the windows "open", meaning angled in, during tropical storms, while driving in rain, and during hurricane Matthew. Not a drop inside. All windows have screens hotglued to the inside walls. Our doors also have screens. I used two window shade rollers, removed the vinyl shade stuff and attached screen. They pull down or roll up with a tug. They seal to the sides and bottom using magnets. No bugs. The "wiley" is probably the best designed window ever done, and it has been around for literally thousands of years in boats. the inside is square, but the outside can be any shape. Ours are done like clouds and scallops. Seen then in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head.

Nothing wrong at all with van sleeping. With us, we removed the center seats and use the rear seats to act as a living room if the weather outside gets crappy. Our camper is set up to where we can sit up inside on a platform, the galley rides under the bed and comes out the back when stopped. Our total weight loaded is 1,340#.

As to PMF, I too was sceptical. We covered our exterior front and rear sections with PMF, but used EPDM for our top. Now, after 2 years, over 4,000 miles and 2 Florida summers, I regret not going PMF all the way. It just looks great, is solid, waterproof and zero problems. If we build another camper (we are considering it) it will be far more foam than this one. Ours is about 60% foam now, if another we will go up to about 85% and go bigger.

Have fun building!

dave

[lacustom]

This is 6'x 10' --48" inside ht
Put a bunk crossways.


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[lacustom]

All 3/4" marine plywood frame skinned with 1/4" on each side foam in between


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[lacustom]

I fiberglassed the roof and down the front. Came over the sides 2"


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[lacustom]

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[Tigris99]

Nice

The bunk is sideways. Be 56" wide internal which is enough for my toddler.

Me and wife can't have "privacy" if oldest boy is in it too

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[Tigris99]

Ok so the more I looked at my trailer, the more I realized having support going through the center was a good idea.

So I grabbed a piece of angel iron, going to cut it into proper pieces to fit between each cross member, but from front to back entirely.

Also found he obviously didn't think when welding on stabilizers aka scissor jacks from junk cars, the rear ones run right into the tire (threaded rod). That pissed me off.

Since I have to drive all the way back out there for that I'm gonna convince him to weld the angle iron in for me too

Got jack, put it on, hit the trailer with some sealing primer to protect it for the time being and seal the rust on the original frame welds where rust had started.

Next up is get trailer wiring/lights and chains put on. Once I'm happy with everything trailer wise I'll get it all coated flat black. Be ready for build early this week. Then onto the fun.

Freaked my kids and wife out when I flipped the trailer on its side to paint inside the frame rails underneath lol.



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[Tigris99]

Ok lighting mounted finally all the way around. Wire it up then ready to go get materials. Yeap used my 7" skill saw to cut the diamond plate



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[Tigris99]

Quick update:

Finally got last tweaks to the trailer done, went and picked up materials today. Be starting the build later this week. FINALLY! As long as monsoon season is over lol it shouldn't take too insanely long to get this thing on the road.

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[Tigris99]

Wanted to check in.

Doesn't look like much but weather kept going crappy when I had time to work on it. Have everything sealed and done thus far.

Ready to start Building the wall framing now. Hopefully by next weekend all the main framing will be done.



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[Tigris99]

Progress, we're making progress!

The walls are currently segments and just a couple screws holding each so i can remove if needed. Everything that is "done" is screwed and glued.

Should have all framework done and ready to begin skins. Doing inside skin (Luann) first so i can cut and glue in foam. Then outer skin followed by pmf

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[Tigris99]

This is where i started at today.

If your wondering about the second pic, in putting slight bends into my roof spars . This way even over time the roof shouldnt end up sagging alloy places for water to pool. Especially since we can get a lot of snow here and indoor storage wont be possible.

Last 3 spars are bending now, let them soak in water in a black tarp for a few days, put a scrap piece of 3/4 ply then weigh the ends till they are bent to the ground. Let sit for a couple days in the summer sun. Works great.

Today got final hard points in the galley space, frame headers made and installed, and everything but the last spars installed so i have a full frame. Tomorrow its get the window framing made and seal framing for door and AC hatch installed. Then start putting the luan skin on.

I am trying to find some less expensive paint, cost of paint is rediculous these days. Jumped up a lot in just a few years (last time i bought paint)

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