Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Anyone have a window AC unit that is removable and slides in and out(without drawer slides)? I'm thinking, manually lifting the AC unit up, sliding in the hole and Voila!...AC in a wall. I'd like to add this on the front of my camper, but not sure about construction of the hole. If you have this, can you share some pics? What "stops" your unit from sliding all the way through and out the other end? Is anything "holding" your unit up (let's be honest, these things can be heavy). What sort of door have you constructed when you're towing the teardrop and/or the AC is not in use and put away? Thanks for all the ideas and help!

For a while I was seriously thinking of doing something like this, but with a hatch door... Open/unlock the hatch and push the unit through. The hatch would be bigger than the unit but the wall on the interior would be framed just big enough for the Ac unit to slide in. Then attach some sort of permanent support ring around the unit itself. Would have hanger bolts/dowel screws in the wall that poke through the ring and thread on wing nuts to hold it in. If the hatch is mounted with the hinge at the top that would give the AC and the whole opening a bit of a roof to shed the bulk of any rain making sealing less critical.

Currently abandoned the idea though, since my goal for this project is to minimize the setup/takedown as much as I reasonably can. So right now Im probably just going to permanent mount the AC rather than need to huff the thing into the hole every time.

My exact thoughts! Curious about what it looks like after someone did this - or the actual process. My carpentry skills are minimal.

* I use an LG model LW5012J A/C in my squareback 4x8 trailer, mounted in the wall between the galley and sleeping area. It uses a right-angle powered ducting system so that it is able to run at night with the hatch door closed & locked. I considered moving it to the front of my next (if ever) trailer, so that more room would be freed-up for galley, or an enclosed porta- potty area at the rear. As-is, the A/C unit (without the area taken up by the ducting and drip-pan/stand) is only 17 5/16" W x 11 5/32" H x 12 27/32"D, and only weighs 37.5 lbs (easily supported on the 3/4" plywood wall, with 1/2" oak framework), so it could just as easily be permanently-mounted in an enclosed aluminum box on the front wall (my current trailer's front wall is too short/sloped).

* I made a drawing/plan for using aluminum truck "underbody" boxes to house the A/C on the front wall, providing a way to cover it between uses, and seal it away from pests and/or road damage. If the minimum box size shown is used, then the A/C might need side vents mounted for chassis cooling while running, or maybe not; the opened door will allow enough exhaust venting, for sure.

This AC layout is GREAT!! Lifting it for sure. Thanks

This AC layout is GREAT!! Lifting it for sure. Thanks

We did a similar setup on ours like what you have asked in your post. It stays in place normally, but could be removed as there's an access panel for the sliding part & AC isn't needed much in the winter. This camper was built in Tucson, so it needed a bit of cooling for desert camping & it really came in handy when camping in August up in Utah at Bonneville. Here's what it looks like. I used some 0.040" (aluminum like it was Formica), to wrap the inside of the opening for water intrusion. Epoxy was used for the bottom lamination, just in case. The bottom shelf is angled downhill toward the front, so water will run back out if it splashes in during a rain with the unit slid forward & parked.

Everything works well enough, but the trailer needs to be leveled when parked & the AC is a PITA if you forget something in the tongue box once it's slid forward. Not a big deal, but having a hammer in the tongue box when needed is... There are two spring locking pins to hold it in place on the road & moving, or slid forward & locked in place. There are no drawer slides, just some rub strips & blocks to keep it in place & centered in the opening. The bottom shelf has a couple of Teflon strips in place, to act as rub blocks for friction.

The two aluminum plates in this picture at what the lock-pins drop into when it's held from moving, in or out. The pins lock into the plates while on the road, to keep the AC from moving.




When the AC is pushed forward, the face frame attached to the shroud has a weather stripped gasket applied to the back side, so no bugs, rain or moisture gets inside when we're parked. On the left side of the AC you can see the lock-opin in the side panel.



Here's the close-out panel, which is just fastened in place with a few screws on the outside. Minimal gap at the tongue box & front edge, but it works well enough this way.