The "Compact GT" more progress pics

[BobR]

George...WOW...kinda sums it up. Great job and so very creative. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

[jimqpublic]

Very impressive- split level townhouse on wheels!

Regarding your daughter growing- You can always make a bigger box for the popout if she becomes 6'5".

Jim

[beverlyt]

George,
How thick is the plywood you used in most of this trailer?
Are you going to insulate it?

How much do you figure it's going to weigh when done?

Bev

[GeorgeT]

Bev

I used 1/2 inch birch plywood on the sides and roof. The floor is 3/4 inch exterior plywood. The interior structures have made the walls very stiff. The whole thing is very rock solid. The door is two pieces of 1/2 plywood glued together making it a solid 1 inch thick. It has a nice solid sound when you shut it. The pop up walls are 1/4 inch birch plywood including the roof of the pop up. I used 1 x 2 s for all the framing in the cabin and pop up. It is wired only for 110 as I will only be park camping with hook ups so no battery or other DC related equipment and no propane. All weight saving gains. Microwave and hotplate cooking and ceramic electric heater. I figured it will be about 950 to 1000 lbs including drinking water (I avoid the park water for consumption) and camping gear which includes Sportz tent and EZup. I weighed pretty near everything so I should be in the ball park with the weight. Am just now getting all the exterior wood and aluminum trim installed so will be a while yet before I get to weigh it. Insulation I figure is pretty much useless here in Texas. It gets mighty hot. I have had several campers, storebought, that were insulated and they were all hotter'n the blazes during the daytime without the AC turned on. So I figured this one would be hot too whether it was insulated or not. I often wondered if maybe the insulation actually keeps it hot after the heat gain in the early part of the day. I plan on just painting it white with an exterior oil base. I suspect that aluminum cladding would only add to heat gain and attract hail. Far as cold goes I doubt I'll be in much cold weather.

[Zack]

George:

Very nice job!

How are you holding the pop up in place once its been raised?

How do you raise the pop up? Is there some kind of jack?

When it rains, is leaking an issue?

[GeorgeT]

George:

Very nice job!

How are you holding the pop up in place once its been raised?

How do you raise the pop up? Is there some kind of jack?

When it rains, is leaking an issue?

Zack
I raise the top by muscle. I sorta lift the top a might from inside and push up on the back wall. The wall sets into a notch in the roof and stays in place while I lift and push up on the front wall. The front wall also slips into a notch in roof that holds it in place. At this point the front and back walls are erected 90 degrees and with the roof in place. The two side walls just simply swing up and into place. I use barrel bolts to hold them in place. I use "D" shaped rubber seals along the edges of the walls to seal out water. No problems with leaking or insects getting in. There's a bit more to the sealing than I can explain here but it's easy to figure out once you get to this point in the build. Guess you'll have to come to a Texas Tear get together sometime and see for yourself. I posted some more pics of a more finished stage that shows the interior walls better and you can see the barrel bolts and the piano hinges used on the walls. Might help invision how it works.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=3660

[GeorgeT]

George:

Very nice job!

How are you holding the pop up in place once its been raised?

How do you raise the pop up? Is there some kind of jack?

When it rains, is leaking an issue?

Maybe these pics will better illustrate the mechanism.

[Zack]

I see! So the roof is a separate piece that his held down to the body while travelling with the clippy things --what are they called? So I imagine that you FIRST unclip the roof from the outside, then go back in and raise the walls. Am I right?

[GeorgeT]

I see! So the roof is a separate piece that his held down to the body while travelling with the clippy things --what are they called? So I imagine that you FIRST unclip the roof from the outside, then go back in and raise the walls. Am I right?

You got it. The clippy things are draw-down latches. I got these from an RV place here in Austin. They called them "Tent Camper Latches". They are the ones usually found on pop up tent campers. After the roof is up and all the walls up I use a wingnut-bolt through the side of two walls and into the roof side to secure the roof to the walls. You can see this wing nut in some of the pics of the inside if you look closely. It is located just above the pop up side windows. In the pic below you can see one of four latches. The little gadget next to it is a mechanism I made up to be able to adjust how much squeeze the adjustable draw-down latch puts on the rain seal. You can see the black seal.

[Boodro]

Hey George , Great Job ! Looks A#1 ! Keep up the goodwork. If you can seal it up enough to make Purtis ,GO FOr It , you woun't regret it ,espescialy when you get so many admires ! It don't have to be prefect to show it off, as you said its always a work in progress. Good luck!