edit- Now a build thread!

[ScottSawyer]

Long time reader, first time poster. A little background before I get to what I'm sure will be many questions by the time I'm done.

My son and I race karts in the the southeast, mostly in NC but starting to do some travelling to out of town events. We have a 6x12 enclosed that we use to haul 2 karts, tools, and all our gear. A few weeks ago we did our first overnight and it worked out pretty well. Got down to 35 degrees but we have a generator so we ran an oil heater and stayed warm enough. Also put a small fridge, microwave, and Keurig inside, then had a grill outside. The problem was that we have to leave the karts outside for us to fit in the trailer overnight.

So the plan is to pick up a (much) larger used enclosed (24') and start turning it into a toy hauler. A friend is upgrading and letting his old trailer go for a song because it needs some work. Going to check it out in a few hours, but I know about some of the issues in advance. Starting out I'll need to strip the wood off the walls to make some repairs to the studs/door frame (side door is wedged closed). While I have the walls stripped I figure that's the perfect time to put up some insulation, and that brings me to my first question. What do I want for wall insulation? It looks like everyone is using rigid foam board, but the local Lowe's has it in different R-factors. the R-1.9 is $7.98/sheet, R-3 is $14.48, and R-10 is $29. Obviously higher r factor is better, but as with most things in my life budget is a strong consideration. So it really comes down to how much do I NEED?

My main concern isn't the cold, we don't usually have super cold weather when we race. The bigger issue is the heat during the summer. The trailer has rooftop air, and I'd like to be able to keep it around 75 degrees. The catch is we are usually paddocked in a parking lot with no shade available. The trailer is red on one side and black on the other (sketchy painter disappeared in the middle of a repaint), it will be getting repainted white or silver to help with temps.

Thanks in advance, I look forward to chronicling the (very long term) build out into a toy hauler.

Scott

[Hader]

Scott,
The more insulation you can afford ($ and space), the more comfortable you will be.
This is how we did ours: http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=6 ... n&start=60

I think the insulation strips will help minimize conductivity, and the space between the outer skin and insulation will allow some air to dry condensation.

Keep us posted.

[Iconfabul8]

Foam insulation is fairly consistent as far as R value/inch. (eps=4 xps=5 polyiso=6) Eps is a little messier to cut but it is cheaper. I think availability is a big factor as to what most people base their decision on, as in, "what is available when I am ready to to this job" I would just fill the cavity with the least expensive stuff and be done, especially if you are trying to save money. Welcome to the madness! Looking forward to your build.

[McDave]

"You can pay me now, or you can pay me later". Remember those commercials? So I guess it all depends on what quality you really want to achieve. Good, Great or good enough. Heat is what most of us are trying to tame, most of the time. Luckily, that insulation can hold it in or out. If you don't plan/prepare for it, you know it will be the coldest Labor Day weekend on record. But if you bring a coat, just in case, No problem. Of course you could just plan to overpower nature and buy the biggest furnace and 2 roof top ACs and run a 6000wt generator continuously, but I don't think you would be asking the question if that was your plan. So just like most things, you get what you pay for. You have to do the balancing act and get the best quality you can afford that will actually do the job. If you get a chance to compare a well insulated unit to a half assed trailer, you can determine "How much do I really need". You will probably be making those kind of decisions from the first day you own the trailer till the day it is gone. If the difference between R-1 and R-7 was 500.00 and you planned on having trailer for 10 yrs, you are looking at 50.00/yr or 1.00/week. What is it worth to be comfortable or extend your useable range by 1 weekend? How about 2 weekends? Those kids grow up real fast, those weekends will be priceless someday.
Just my thoughts.

McDave

[ScottSawyer]

I think I'm leaning towards a compromise solution. Use the R-10 for the ceiling and the lesser for the sides. Hopefully that will deflect the worst of the heat from the ceiling while not breaking the bank on the build. Thanks for the input, I'm sure I'll have lots more questions along the way!

[ScottSawyer]

Pics will be added, gotta figure out the whole hosting thing.

So I'm getting into the build now, picked the trailer up on Apr 22. My plan is to do this in stages, first order of business was to get the trailer fixed to the point we could haul our karts in it and go racing, The rear door frame was pulling away from the rest of the frame so that was our first project. Big gaps at the roof, door wouldn't latch properly, etc. Took a couple of tries but finally found a place that could handle the frame fix. When I got it back the door would close but there was still a gap at the top, eventually I figured out the lock bars were twisted from being closed while the back of the trailer was damaged. Two new lock bars (and a 1/4" shim under one mounting point) and the door closes properly.

The side door also wouldn't close, previous owner thought something was bent in the door frame. Turned out the bottom of the door had rotted away and the C- channel was flopping around and hanging up on the frame because it didn't have anything to support it. I measured the thickness of the door so I could reuse the C -channel around the edges, and I got lucky that I had enough scrap plywood around to build a new door. Just screwed the aluminum sheet from the old door onto the new one I built, drilled some holes for the hinges, and hung it back up. At some point I want to add an RV style latch, but I've got to get this thing usable first.

Four new tires, plus a new wheel that got one of the old tires as a spare. Previous owner raced a TR6, so naturally there was a LOT of oil. Took lots of mopping, sweeping, cleaning, moving/removing PitPal stuff we didn't need, etc. to get it in shape for the first race weekend on June 9th. The trailer has a shore power hookup, several outlets inside, and A/C on the roof. So we put a fridge, microwave, Keurig, and grill in to take care of food, threw a couple of mattresses on the floor, and went racing. Had a good time, having the A/C was really nice when you come off track.

Because of all the water leaks the floor had rotted out at the back door and the front corners. The front was due to water leaking through the clearance lights (since ordered, soon to be replaced). Top layer was one piece vinyl white and black checkerboard. When I started pulling up the linoleum I realized the floor there was a layer of luan glued to the plywood and the vinyl was glued to that. Pretty happy when I figured that out, it was a whole lot easier to rip out sheets of luan than peeling linoleum!

For the plywood floor removal in the front half of the trailer I did it the "right" way, using an impact driver to get the screws moving. After wearing out three impact drivers (yeah lifetime warranty) I gave up and got out the cutting wheel. Lots of wood smoke and sparks later I had cut the heads off the screws and the rest of the floor was removed. Went back, cut off all the screws flush with the frame, and have started putting in the new floor. First three sheets are in and screwed down, three more to go.

Progress is slow, usually can't get started until the kids are in bed (busy evenings with youth sports), so no promises on how long this will take. I'll keep chipping away at it, right now I just need to get it back in usable condition for our next race in July.

[hankaye]

ScottSawyer, Howdy;

Thanks for the update, sounds like you are having a bit of fun mixed in with
the head scratchin' and those get-r-done weekends will give you a feel for what
you will need to put where. Nothing like practical experience to make the plan
come together for your wants an needs.

Lookin' forward to the pix whenever you get ti it.

hank