Tiny Trailer Frame Up Rebuild - SLEEPER

[Mr. Lahey]

Came in for lunch break, so I thought I'd post these for you. I happened to be working with some of that birch this morning. The piece I had has the "good" stuff on the A side and the "okay" stuff on the B side. So I wiped them down pretty good with a wet rag to bring up the color. You can see the big difference. Plus the stuff I was using wasn't super figured. I have some awesome sheets I have saved for my ceiling and other high visible areas.

What I meant about checking the stack was you have to wait till they sell off what they have. Most likely there whole stack is from the same mill run. So at different times when I am at the store I check to see what the current stuff is. When the good stuff is there, it's time to buy and store it if you can.

Thanks for the cool LT pic. Glad the new owner is having fun.

B side grain and color

The B side or "okay" birch color and grain

DSCF3868a.jpg (101.98 KiB) Viewed 2515 times

A side grain and color

DSCF3867a.jpg (121.37 KiB) Viewed 2515 times

[2bits]

Thanks for the pics, man both those sides look pretty good to me! I don't know how fast they go through their stock but if I don't like what's there, I know of another HD just 20 min away that I can try too. Thanks!

[aggie79]

Hi Thomas,

The build is progressing nicely. Don't want to derail the thread again, but do you still have your same mobile phone number? I'll know my schedule by Thursday, but it looks like I may have some time to myself this weekend. If you're going to be home this weekend, I may swing by and bring some liquid refreshment. I'll call or text you to see if you're going to be home.

Take care and back to the build.

Tom

[2bits]

Hi Tom, Yup my cell is still 5844, I don't have anything special planned so let me know!


I actually took the weekend off and got back to it today. I lined up the walls with the floor, metal skin and the wheel wells and made some adjustments so they all met where they should. Then I built the sub floor (this is just a layer of flooring that brings the wood frame up to the same height as the metal frame for the main floor to sit on). From the factory, they just had little strips sitting on top of the wood framing but I thought why not just lay a piece over each section to help tighten it up and also provide a double floor which is good since I am just using OSB. It should work great. Once it was all assembled, I pulled each section outside and started undercoating but I ran out of spray goo so I'll pick that up tomorrow and then the top floor will get installed with carriage bolts and the walls go up! Should be an exciting day!

[2bits]

Today I finished the floor and found some great looking vinyl flooring and I built a matching entryway step. I put my test wall panel at the back in the first photo to get a feel for the contrast.

[Mr. Lahey]

Look's sharp already. Nice flooring choice.

I sure do have work shop envy. I work in a standard 2 car garage. Low door and all. Can't get a standie trailer in the door.

Last fall I bought a 1968 Fan Styleliner. Had hoped to resto/mod it. The more I looked at it's size, vs. my shop space I started to change my mind. The realization that in my case a lot of the work would need to happen outdoors, here in fickle weather Wisconsin, I wimped out and sold it.

Looking forward to more pic's as you make progress

[2bits]

Thanks very muchI think Tom said the same thing, I didn't have a garage for three years after selling my suburban home and moving out to the woods. It has come together slowly as budget allows. I still need to build a big sliding bay door, right now I just have a brown tarp (at least it matches!) hanging on hooks and I open it like a shower curtain. I still don't have correct power in it. I run a 100ft, 10ga extension cord from a 20amp outlet on my power pole that goes into the strip that feeds two other strips and extension cords. It is a fully functioning garage which actually blows my mind doing it this way. It started out as a carport, then I walled in the sides with metal I got on Craigslist, then I had the concrete poured and I built the doorway. I do love my garages! I have a 9' clearance but have height issues too, when I was fixing up my truck camper, I had to buy a harbor freight trailer, and swap out the 12" wheels for the 8" wheels and then it would barely clear by 2" LOL

[2bits]

Walls are up!

[HMK]

Dang dude, you build faster than I can read. Great job!

I really like that floor you picked out too. Did you build your wall and then set it up? Also, that's 1 x lumber, correct? Did you have trouble finding good quality lumber? I know I do. Half the junk the big box stores carry are over priced and warped.

[2bits]

Dang dude, you build faster than I can read. Great job!

I really like that floor you picked out too. Did you build your wall and then set it up? Also, that's 1 x lumber, correct? Did you have trouble finding good quality lumber? I know I do. Half the junk the big box stores carry are over priced and warped.

Thanks, it goes really quick when you have all day every day to do it. It's only been three weeks so far! I built the walls before I did the floor so once the floor was done boom, the walls are ready to go up, I did need to tweak the wheel well openings just a little but it wasn't bad and also the wall was straight and level but I found out the rear of the trailer frame sags about 1" as compared to the front but I was able to trim a little to get it to sit flat on the floor. The flooring was just a remnant I found at a supply place, I would have preferred the grain go down the length of the camper but I think this still looks great.

I didn't even try looking at the 1x lumber exactly because they are always twisted and warped. I thought about 2x4's but the edges are rounded and they tend to twist after ripping too. I bought 1x10 White Pine "common board" from the big box which has nice edges and is planed. I ripped them down to the widths I needed and it worked great.

[HMK]

You getting any of this rain? My motor home has developed a sudden leak! A year and a half back, we had some Eterna Bond tape put on in strategic areas, but I guess it wasn't quite enough. Guess it's time for more work. It's a never ending process isn't it?

[2bits]

Yes it has been storming off and on for the past three days! That really puts a damper on my production and I haven't done much but at least I have mapped out my electrical and plumbing and nailed down a bunch of measurements so I am ready to go once the sun comes out. I need to fix my dryer in my house too, I think it is an idler wheel so that will take priority tomorrow but hey it will be raining so it's ok LOL

[Staryder61]

Thomas, great re-build.
Yes, like everyone has already said, you're moving right along with this..
Love the flooring..
Thanks for posting the link, I kept missing this some how..
Want to keep up to date on all this, and learn some from you..
I've spotted a couple old small campers out in the country, just sitting, one in a field, other in little woods.
Would like to check them out, see what they are, what shape they are in and if they can be purchased at a good price..
Keep up the great work and the updates.. we know you're doing it, THERE's Pictures..

[Hitec4you]

Looking good. You are moving fast on this thing. Love the layout in your drawing. Will be watching this build.

[2bits]

Thanks! I haven't touched it all weekend but I am hoping to find some good 1/8" plywood today for my walls and ceiling as that is next on my list!