The "SJ Cruiser" , a 5x10 benroy in the PNW

[yrock87]

With the holidays over some new work began on the trailer. "flatbed" frame is coming together for registration purposes. This 2x4 frame and 1/2 inch ply decking will be removed after registration and placed on casters to serve as the build work surface for the walls, floor, ext of the trailer.

[yrock87]

Correct length axle? Check. Mounting brackets welded and painted? Check. Trailer wiring started? Check. Going with a 7 way to have a break line and charge line included from the get go. Will either add a parallel 4 flat to the junction box, or just make an adapter from 7 way to 4 flat to keep with the trailer just in case the trailer needs to be moved and the tow vehicle doesn't have a 7 way. Also, the Outback currently only has a 4 flat, which will eventually be upgraded.

[KCStudly]

Looks like you are doing nice work!

[yrock87]

Ready for inspection! Appointment set for Wednesday morning.

[yrock87]

So, prior to the appointment for registration tomorrow i was reviewing the DOT requirments. because of some design choices (using some old car tires/wheels) i have found myself at just shy of 83 inches wide. as some of you have found out, being over 80 inches means lots of extra marker lights. not to mention the extra girth to maeuver around. now is about the time i am kicking myself for wanting to use the old Lincoln wheels for their looks instead of just getting some trailer wheels and being happy with some baby mooon hubcaps... so far the tires have nessecitated a wider axle, wider fenders, and now the marker lights. the hardest things to overcome so far are all self inflicted!!!

I guess the old saying of "spend twice as much time planing than building" is right.

[S. Heisley]

So, prior to the appointment for registration tomorrow i was reviewing the DOT requirments. because of some design choices (using some old car tires/wheels) i have found myself at just shy of 83 inches wide. as some of you have found out, being over 80 inches means lots of extra marker lights. not to mention the extra girth to maeuver around. now is about the time i am kicking myself for wanting to use the old Lincoln wheels for their looks instead of just getting some trailer wheels and being happy with some baby mooon hubcaps... so far the tires have nessecitated a wider axle, wider fenders, and now the marker lights. the hardest things to overcome so far are all self inflicted!!!

I guess the old saying of "spend twice as much time planing than building" is right.

Even though it will be extra work for you, it will be nice to have the extra exterior traveling lights. There are times when I would have liked having those extra marking lights.....

[yrock87]

Agreed, and i was planning to install them eventually, but right now it is a temporary flatbed that I would have rather not messed with too much. All this work will need to be redone. Oh well, at least it is easy.

Also, i was on the fence on installing a third brake light, because it would cost about 50 bucks for a controller and an led light bar and "cost effective" is one of the tenets of this build. Oh well, at least I am off the fence now. I'm going to get one of those brake light/tripple marker all in one light bars like you see on some wide pickup trucks.

[yrock87]

Long time since my last post. A lot has happened, but not a lot of progress... I now (finally) have all the major building materials. 18 sheets of 1inx2ftx8ft dpw 250 foam board from the good ol' neighborhood Depot. 15 sheets of 3mm 5x5 birch, 4 sheets of 3mm 4x8 birch, 4 sheets of 1/4 5x5 birch, 1 sheet of 1/2 4x8 birch all stacked. Ripped 7 2x6x10ft down to 1x and clamped in place hoping it doesn't warp till I use it. Got to put a few hundred board feet of lumber though my new $119 ryobi tablesaw. Tell you what, there are enter saws out there, but you will be hard pressed to find one that is better for the price. Had some issues with the fence getting jammed up with dust when adjusting, after lots of cuts,and as a result ha done bad cut, and due to a poorly located blade angle adjuster had a second bad cut, but all in all I out about 500 ft of lumber though it and only had the two issues. For the price I couldn't be happier.

Got a gallon of 3m fastbond and 300 kreg screws. I have decided to go with the vintage technology doors as i an sure I will spend in personal labor and heartache what I may save in $ if I try to build my own for cheaper.

I've sourced most of the necessary hardware at Vintage tech and amazon needed to yield the shell and wire for 110 and 12 volt. I have sourced a pv array, charge controller and with family connections in the rv industry have some free led lights and will get group 24 or 27 battery (not sure yet) at wholesale.

Next step is to lay out the floor, which I can do on my own. Need to order the doors soon so I can build the walls next and then order the rest of the hardware for the galley hatch and trim for the roof and figure out if I will epoxy the walls or just varnish. Going for a darker wood finish on the side walls, with aluminum roof, aluminum doors and a diamond plate front wall and a diamond plate strip running on the bottom of each side to hide the frame and any mounting hardware I use to attach the walls to the floor.

Pics of the floor soon I hope! All depends on how much time my 9 month old allows me. :-)

[yrock87]

Got some progress finally. Not much mind you, but I at least have some wood cut to size! These photos are the testing of the kreg jig. I made an oak end Table. Need to finish it still of course, but the kreg worked great! Need to ensure I use the correct screw for the right job. Fine vs corse and the right length. Also, got the foam in Stock finally, didn't want to run home for the trailer. So just threw it up top!

[yrock87]

So, progress is being made finally (slowly). I now have all the lumber I need and time is my only constraint. Looking now like straight ply without the foam core would have been WAY easier.

Oh well, time and quality here will make for years of use and enjoyment.

I was hoping to cut, fit, kreg, and glue the frame today. But Baby calls though, so only got half the framing cut and fit. Kreg is out and ready for when I have a few free minutes at a time.

[yrock87]

This weekend the wife and daughter were out of town visiting family so I got a lot done. My father came over and we worked till 11pm Friday and Saturday plus sunday morning and got the floor and both walls framed, insulated and skinned. while working on the floor we ran wire inside the floor for AC-DC and trailer lights. walls have no electrical.

next step is to determin the stain I will be using on the exterior and then stain and epoxy. the 5x5 Baltic Birch I used was only BB grade, so not the prettiest. I have wanted to keep this a woody on the exterior sides. we will see how the stain samples look. after stain I will put a coat of epoxy on the walls while they are laying flat. then I get to raise the walls!!!

Pics are to follow, I couldn't log in with my phone (which of course has all the photos) pics or it didn't happen! I will post details on the how with the photos.

[yrock87]

started work a week ago, I will be posting the results of the last week of labor.

I started off with the floor. I figured it is more forgiving cosmetically with the floor than with the side walls.

I layed out my two 5x5 sheets onto the work area, along with the four frame members that run from front to back. the two outsides are 2.75 inches wide so that they reach to the outside edge of the floor, and then reach far enough in to rest on the metal trailer frame. I figured I would want some solid wood above the frame to distribute the forces down to the metal frame...

the other two long frame members are 1x1.5 and provide added strength fore-aft. I was concerned that with a butt joint with the ply on both top and bottom at the exact same spot I would be creating a weak spot. these two spars are my insurance to make sure there is not pulling apart or other weakness in the floor. (overbuilding part 1)

I used the Kreg Jr pocket Jig to attach all the frame members. this thing is great. makes very easy work of joints. after pre drilling and fitting, I glued the joints and then the bottoms of all of the frame members and then clamped and weighted down. I underestimated this portion of the build by a long shot. I only had 10 clamps and 300 lbs of sand. I needed double both of those. I ended up drilling through the frame and ply into the work surface with decking screws just to give myself some compression for the glue to dry. left 20-30 holes in my floor, but I will seal them with epoxy later... at least the glue bonded well.

my biggest hurdle here was that all of my ripped 1x1.5 boards (ripped from 2x6s) started to bend and warp. took some patience and excessive use of tape measure and clamps to keep everything close to square.

[yrock87]

after an afternoon of drilling, glueing, clamping and lifting sand bags, I was hungry... pre made homemade pizza for a week!! should last me till the wife and daughter get back. :-)

[yrock87]

need to pick up a 1x something to cut up into the anchor points for the 6 bolts that will hold the cabin to the frame. this 1x4 (actual) 8 foot cedar should work nicely. I would have preferred a hardwood but with the monster 2 inch washers I have and the 1/4 inch thick birch ply on top I don't think I will have to worry about anything pulling out.

also, an 8ft board will fit in a 335i no problems! who says you need a pickup to do home store runs?

[yrock87]

dry fit all the 1 inch foam into the floor. used a steak knife after the box cutter gave less than ideal results. since then have purchased a bulk set of fresh blades. keep the box cutter blades fresh and it will treat you right! also, I figured out that I should err on the side of slightly to small opposed to too big. going back and cutting a 1/4 inch on every piece of foam is messy, slow and a pain in the butt. I figured 1/8 inch gap on each side between the foam and wood framing is not going to affect the overall strength much and makes installing MUCH easier.