Snowmobile Trailer build

[Wookie97]

Was able to get the Bunk Beds built and installed in the trailer finally. Bottom bunks are 38" wide by 85" Long and the top bunks are 28" wide. I found some sleeping pads for cots at Cableas that work perfectly. Even with all 4 bunks folded down there is still a little room to walk between them.


This is how they look folded up.


Still working on the supports for the upper bunks, have a few ideas Im trying this weekend.

Has anyone messed with this Water Heater? Saw it at Cabelas also and it looks like it will work perfect. I like how it is completely portable and runs off of the small Colman style propane cans. It also has its own built in batter to run the pump. This would allow you to use it anywhere at the campsite or in the trailer. An additional feature is the water faucet for just hot water. Had some decent reviews so far but I would like to see if anyone has actually used it.

[Wookie97]

Was able to get a little more done to the trailer this weekend. Work and College are taking up way to much time, I have to have it ready for Elk Season now since I drew my first choice in the White River National Forest near Glen Wood Springs!!

My plan is to use the Fuel doors to access the Electrical plug and water fill. Wasn't sure at first how to do this but found a large Cutting board from Wal-Mart will work perfect.



When I ordered the trailer I wasn't sure what I would do with the fuel doors but this worked out perfectly. When Im done the second will be the exhaust for the Portable A/C unit im putting inside. This is the inside of the trailer with the cutting board screwed in. The wood frame will have two doors, One will allow me access to the elec and water lines and the top will be for small storage.


Next I was able to get the R/V door latch installed. This was a lot more difficult than I had planned it to be. I spent a lot of time measuring the door thickness and looking for the right latch to install, thought I had it right but the door was just a little thinner than I needed it to be. I was too busy figuring out what in the hell to do to take a lot of pics so all I have are the before and after pics.




I ended up have to use the Diamond plate mainly as a shim to allow the latch to actually tighten up some. My big concern was it all leaking so I used some buytl tape and silicon to help.

[rebapuck]

Looks nice.

[Wookie97]

Im getting to the point I need to start setting up for the toilet/shower setup. Ive seen the toilet tank/shower pan combo but really not liking that idea yet. Plan is to have a separate toilet and shower. Most trailers use a black tank that has an angle formed in it to help it drain. Has anyone used a normal squared/rectangle tank? I have a spot picked out and can place a 12 gallon tank underneath it but only a normal tank. Does anyone see any issues if I place the drain directly in the middle on the bottom and run my 3" pipe to the side for draining?

Fresh water will be a 36gallon tank right between the axles and the grey will be just forward the axles a little bit.

[lrrowe]

I cannot speak from personal experience for this type of modification, but I think these would be areas of concern for the black tank:

- coming in from the side shpuld be no issue per se.
- the pipe from the toilet should be at a downward slope for the obvious need for the water and waste to flow down the pipe.
- the entry into the tank side should be as high as possible in order to maximize the volume of the tank (you do not want to start filling at half tank height for example).
- there inlies some conflict; if you slope the pipe, the entry into the tank has to be lower then what could be if the pipe were flat. And then the longer the pipe, the more the entry is lowered because of the slope and then less usable volume will result.
- I suspect that you will use more water to flush the solid waste down the pipe then you would if the toilet dropped straight into the black tank.

Hope this makes sense.

[Wookie97]

Irrowe, the toilet will be directly above the tank so it drains straight down with little water. My concern is most black tanks have a built in angel to help it drain all solids when full. The intended location can only take a normal square tank. I'm wondering if anyone else has used a normal tank and installed a drain in the bottom center and if it drained OK.

[hankaye]

Wookie97, Howdy;

Irrowe, the toilet will be directly above the tank so it drains straight down with little water. My concern is most black tanks have a built in angel to help it drain all solids when full. The intended location can only take a normal square tank. I'm wondering if anyone else has used a normal tank and installed a drain in the bottom center and if it drained OK.

As a full-time RVer the mantra is "Water is your Friend...", it's the volume and suction created
by the draining liquid that escorts the solids out the hole. RV tanks are designed with a slope
and the drain located at the low end of the slope (for obvious reasons), Something to consider.

hank

[Wookie97]

Im having issues finding a good fresh water tank. I would like to be around 20+ gallons or so and would prefer to mount the tank under the trailer. The only setup that seems reasonable is for me to use is to mount two 10gallon tanks. in the space I have. This would only cost me $150 and that is with a pump. the size space I have is 54"L x 14"W x 10"H. There was one tank I found but they wanted $230 for it. Anyone see any issues with me using two tanks tied together?

Did order a 16 gallon black tank that will fit perfect for the toilet area, thinking of getting the same thing for the Grey water. We really don't plan on using the shower much but you never know once its in. What are some recommendations for venting the black and gray tanks? I know standard RV style is to run a vent pipe to the top with a vent valve but has anyone done anything else that worked? Ive seen the under counter vents at HomeDepot but not sure how well they work. From my understanding they allow air to flow into the system when draining but what about when replacing air when filling?

[hankaye]

Wookie97, Howdy;

You can contact the maker and see what they have to say.
Inca makes a host of tanks for the RV industry. Follow the link
and you will find a PDF that shows the different shapes an capacities.
http://www.incaplastics.com/page15.html

hank

[Gettin Started]

Was able to get the Bunk Beds built and installed in the trailer finally. Bottom bunks are 38" wide by 85" Long and the top bunks are 28" wide. I found some sleeping pads for cots at Cableas that work perfectly. Even with all 4 bunks folded down there is still a little room to walk between them.


This is how they look folded up.

What did you use to allow the bunk beds to pivot (fold up/down)? I'm looking at doing something similar and currently plan to use 1/2" thick hex-head cap screws that are only threaded on the end. Also, what material did you use for the outside frame...looks like 2x4 or 2x6? I'm debating whether to use 2x material or if 1x would be sufficient. Appreciate your thoughts or input based on what you did.

Thanks,

[Wookie97]

Gettin Started,
For the bed frames it is actually a little thicker than a 2x4. I found some really good cot pads at Cabelas that work great. First I built the frame for the pads to set in and measured the total thickness. The pads themselves are about 3" thick plus the bottom piece of plywood which is 3/4" A 2x4 would have worked but I wanted a little extra room so I ended up cutting down 2x6s for the outer frame. For the hinge, I used the large piano hinge from HomeDepot, but instead of the small screws it comes with I used larger ones. I was more worried about the top bunks with that weight as the bottoms ones are really close to the floor. I weigh 200lbs and was able to crawl on top and move around with no issues. For the support I am still working on different methods on how to hold them up, have a couple more ideas im trying this weekend.

[Wookie97]

Well it"s been awhile since I have been able to work on my trailer project due to deployments and weather. This weekend the weather was nice and it was time to get back to work. First task was the Window install. I ordered a Kinro Window from Ebay, doesn't seem to be top quality but for the price and the project it will work for me. I will say that this was much more a pain in the @$$ than I originally thought it would be. Once I had it all measured our and the orientation set I layed out a large area of blue painters tape to trace my outline and to keep the Jig Saw from scratching the siding.

IMAG0418.1.jpg (254.22 KiB) Viewed 2011 times

Once I had the outline where I wanted it was time to take the plunge and cut the hole out.

IMAG0419.1.jpg (100.1 KiB) Viewed 2011 times

The cut-out was actually just about 1/8" smaller, which for me was ok and allowed me to slowly trim out the opening to fit the window without having to large of an opening and dealing with major gaps in the end.

IMAG0420.1.jpg (232.42 KiB) Viewed 2011 times

I think it turned out pretty good. I used some butyl tape from Home Depot on the flange and I added some Clear Window Silicon just to be safe. Would much rather have a little extra and no leaks than not enough.

[Wookie97]

I guess we can only add three pics at a time. This is how the window looks on the inside. You can see there is about a 1/4" gap between the trim ring and the window frame. Right now everything is holding tight and placed well. I have an idea of using some aluminum C-Channel from Home Depot to fill the gaps. I tried a small piece and it will work out real well to seal up the gaps.

IMAG0421.1.jpg (134.46 KiB) Viewed 2008 times

I also insulated the entire right side of the trailer, sorry no pics. Originally when I ordered the trailer they said they could have the entire thing insulated for me for about $250. Well I got screwed. they used that cheap Styrofoam, maybe and R-1 value, and it didn't even cover the enter gap between the walls. I was pretty pissed when I found this out. So I ripped it all out and went with the 1" blue closed Cell foam from Lowes. Made it fit pretty tight in between the studs and then covered all seams and metal with foil tape. This will give me at least an R5 maybe R6 rating with the Wood panels up. Im sure anything would be better than the crap the dealer sold me.

Next weekend it will be to insulate the Left side of the trailer.

[Wookie97]

Been working on my conversion for a little while but not uploading any pics. So far I am happy with the way things are turning out. Just need more time to finish out Fresh Water and Gray Water. Here is what I have done so far.


As I mentioned earlier, the dealer kinda screwed me on insulation. They originally had that cheap Styrofoam in the walls and it didn't cover all the gaps or spaces. I ripped it all out and add the Blue Sheets from Lowes.



I think the beds turned out pretty good. When I was insulating I welded in some supports for the ETrek to bolt to. So far everything has help up pretty well. Cool thing is I can adjust the height of these bars to accommodate pretty much anything I need.





The front V-Section of the trailer is going to be the Wet Room. Working on what shower stall I want to install right now. The toiler area works out will and has a 16gallon Black tank directly underneath. Have to give some credit to the wife for suggesting a Pocket door. Had to trip about a foot off the bottom of the door and frame to fit but it worked out perfectly. The top will be closed in also once I get all the electrical done.

Next on the list is to finish electrical, water, and get the heater installed. Hopefully all is done by the time Elk season gets here.

[m.colley]

Been working on my conversion for a little while but not uploading any pics. So far I am happy with the way things are turning out. Just need more time to finish out Fresh Water and Gray Water. Here is what I have done so far.


As I mentioned earlier, the dealer kinda screwed me on insulation. They originally had that cheap Styrofoam in the walls and it didn't cover all the gaps or spaces. I ripped it all out and add the Blue Sheets from Lowes.



I think the beds turned out pretty good. When I was insulating I welded in some supports for the ETrek to bolt to. So far everything has help up pretty well. Cool thing is I can adjust the height of these bars to accommodate pretty much anything I need.





The front V-Section of the trailer is going to be the Wet Room. Working on what shower stall I want to install right now. The toiler area works out will and has a 16gallon Black tank directly underneath. Have to give some credit to the wife for suggesting a Pocket door. Had to trip about a foot off the bottom of the door and frame to fit but it worked out perfectly. The top will be closed in also once I get all the electrical done.

Next on the list is to finish electrical, water, and get the heater installed. Hopefully all is done by the time Elk season gets here.

Looking good there Wookie. Like I'm trying to get mine done before hunting season starts too. Archery season starts the 2nd week of September, then muzzleloader/primitive weapons, gun season starts around Oct 15th or so.The wife wants it done sooner for a late summer motorcycle trip. We'll see.

Good luck on your build.


Martin