by Grummy » Wed May 11, 2022 2:59 am
>>> We're thinking of reusing the 3/8" plywood on the sides.
You certainly can, however, as I and many others have pointed out, it gets REAL EASY to forget about, or perhaps fail to plan for the weight you eventually end up with in a 6x12. I guess what I am saying, is you might want to consider a lightweight Luan right now if you think you'll end up anywhere near a substantial build. Every lb counts !
For some reason, I can not build anything "basic" enough to stay "light".
In other posts, I have recommended that people get a good reliable scaled weight at some very well defined point of the build, then keep a self totalling spreadsheet for everything you put in. In my case, I took the build to a certain point where much of the fixed or fastened, mostly unremovable build components were in place (or difficult to get a weight on via bathroom scale), wrote down what these things included, then scaled it as a start weight. Then simply weigh every thing that goes in from then on, right down to drawer items.
I even go so far as making extra columns for "distribution", such as a column for each area: Tongue, Right Front Inside, Left Front Inside, Left Over Axle, Right Over Axle, Left Aft Axle and Right Aft Axle. You can for example split differences where for example, a water tank is 1/3 over the axle and 2/3's behind it by putting 1/3 and the 2/3 calculations in the correct column. Really helps down the road understanding what you built for yourself and where you weight totals are. I am always amazed with the little things, like 2 towels that weigh 4 lbs, or my wifes 6 pillows it seems she just gotta have along adding up to 10lbs. I ended up with a small area rug that weighs 9lbs !... The Icemaker, the Blender, 2 Iceco Fridges... Boy it adds up !
I keep a similar spread sheet for recording travel distances to where and when which helps remind me when wheel bearing and brake maintenance really should be done.
Looking forward to what you pick for a layout.