"The X-Cubed" C.T.T.

Got back from Virginia Beach this afternoon. Friday night there were tornado warnings and torrential downpours up until about 10pm. This just reinforced my reasons for building a teardrop in the first place! Managed to get the tent set up without getting too wet, and stayed dry all night, so it could have been worse. Had an absolute blast meeting some new faces, seeing some new teardrops, and also spending some time hanging out with all the usual suspects!

After a nice long nap to recover from the 5 1/2 hour drive, I wanted to get back out into the garage and get some work done. Puttied and sanded a bunch of brad nails, and then skinned the hatch!! :twisted:

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Should have a busy week of sanding, painting, and wiring in front of me!
 
Thanks Dan! I definitely love the trolley tops.... adds and extra dimension to make the builds a little more interesting.
 
That IS an exciting build. Those exploded drawings really do show the input required is huge.
 
Thanks Johnny :thumbsup:



Spent some more time in the garage tonight. :D

Galley is finally primered, and man does it look huge! Ok, well it is rather large, but I'll eventually make up some dividers similar to what I had on the X-II. Why change something when it works so well?

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And the first color is in the cabin. "Barefoot Beach". I have two other colors ready for painting in here, plus a final coat of flat white for the ceiling section towards the rear.

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Wish I had some more exciting pictures, but progress is progress!

I did pick up all of the aluminum that I'll need to make my tilting solar panel mounts for the roof and the hatch. I was just going to use fixed mounts, but I know how much just a little bit of an angle boosts the output. And I've put so much work into the rest of the trailer, so why keep it simple now? :twisted:
 
Thanks Sharon!!


I just got a call from the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The guy said that I was missing the check for the registration. I know I put two checks in with my paperwork... one for the sales tax on the trailer kit, and the other for the 2 year registration. No clue how one check could have escaped the envelope, but he was able to take a card over the phone, so all is well. They're sending my plate out today! :D


As for progress, my friend Sheryl came over last night for a little while and helped put some paint on the interior. While she was working on that, I got to cut up a bunch of aluminum to make my tilting solar panel mounts.

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All the hardware there is for the two panels. The tilt angle won't be totally adjustable - they will just be either flat, or tilted at about 30 degrees. Once I get them mounted up I'll take a few more pictures and try to explain it better. I'm also waiting on a few quick release pins from Mcmaster Carr to arrive. That'll make the adjustment quick and easy.
 
Very cool, how much weight will the panel add to your hatch? I do have those nice big (23x62" or 30x62") pieces of plywood on mine... :thinking:
 
Each panel is about 24lbs, based on the shipping weight info from FedEx. I have a pair of 100lb struts for the galley hatch, so we'll see if those will be adequate.
 
Got another color in the cabin tonight, installed the 6 small warm white LED pods (2 on each trolley top ceiling section, and one on each side of the fan) and got the RGB strips installed in their recessed aluminum housings.

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The RGB strip below the front window....

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Should be able to get the last color in the cabin tomorrow night, work on the wiring for the roof-top solar panel, and then maybe get the roof top skin attached. Wishful thinking! :twisted:
 
After thinking a lot about how I was going to get my solar panel wires through the roof and hatch skins to the charge controller, I decided to KISS and use PV panel junction boxes. If you aren't familiar with solar panels, these boxes are normally used on the back of the solar panels, where the lead wires from the actual solar cells are tied into the heavy gauge solar panel wiring. They have diodes in them to protect the solar cells from back-current from the batteries. Since my solar panels already have similar boxes with diodes, I'll just remove these diodes and mount these over holes that will be drilled in the exterior skin. A couple screws and some adhesive caulk will do the trick. I saw some people used actual deck grommets made for boats, but they were relatively expensive for what you get. These little junction boxes were only $5 each. They'll hardly be noticeable because they'll be underneath the solar panels.

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Got a lot done the past few days! A ton of wiring is done, although the power center isn't installed yet. For now, all the LEDs are just being tested with a temp lead wire. The wires to the roof-top solar panel have been run, and the one section of roof skin is installed. Also got my Maine license plate and registration! And as of this afternoon, the entire roof is read for skinning.

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Everything looking, but one thing caught my attention more than anything.
Are you getting new TV? :thinking:
 
ryuandwings":w7s0gkpl said:
Everything looking, but one thing caught my attention more than anything.
Are you getting new TV? :thinking:
Click to expand...

:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:


I HATE to give up my tank, although I've been tossing the idea around. Even went for a test drive yesterday.

When I say tank, most people laugh. But my Outback is a sedan (which most people dont even know existed) with a 3.0L H6 rated around 250hp/250ftlb. I've lifted it 1-1/4", swapped the rear springs for Rallitek overload springs, and have a handful of other minor mods done. I LOVE my tank. It has its aesthetic flaws due to some off-roading and camping, but mechanically its solid. Last weekend going to Virginia Beach it turned over 150k. For a Subaru with a timing chain, this thing is still in its infancy. I'm the second owner and as I've already mentioned, I LOVE the tank! It has power, it has comfort.

But after 5 years, I'm mildy tempted to move on. :oops:

This is the longest I've had a car, but I've been eying up the Crosstrek XV's since they were released. They only have about 150hp, so thats a bit depressing, but the gas mileage is quite lucrative compared to my thirty H6. I test drove one and the CVT will take some getting used to compared to my 5EAT, but its no deal breaker.

I'm sitting on the fence as I type, but I might be soon falling off of it. :thinking:
 
I might have missed it somewhere, but do you have a link to the strip lights you used?
 
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