5x8 CT Bike Hauler and Camper

[lrrowe]

David,
I like it. Welcome aboard.

Can you share how you mounted the awnings to the CT and what is your experience with rolling them back? Easy, hard?

Bob

the back awning is just bolted onto the flat plate along the back of the trailer. these ARB awnings have an extrusion along the back that fits a 1/4" bolt head. allows the bolt to slide left to right but keeps them all in line up and down. then a little foam tape and some sealant to make sure everything stays water right.

The side awning was much more of a challenge with the radius of the roof. the way these awnings fold out they pretty much need to be plumb in the vertical or the extension arms that fold out to catch the end of the awning do not fold out level to the ground. so on the side I added a piece of 1/4" aluminum angle that had a 1" horizontal leg and a 5" vertical leg. this hit the radius of the roof/wall to a NEAR plumb condition. that was through bolted to the roof cross members and then thoroughly sealed up on the top and both sides. from there the awning was simple drilled, tapped and bolted to the 1/4" aluminum from within the enclosure of the awning. VERY stout and very weatherproof.

these awnings are not bad to roll back up. I had a 6' on a previous camper and that is about the biggest a single person can do. so the 4' is no problem. the 8' on the side requires two people until I maybe come up with a single person system for wrapping them up. once in a roll it fits up in its pouch and has three Velcro straps that keep it in place while you zip it shut.

ARB makes awesome products and these awnings are no exception. hold up great there wind, rain and sun. and with their ability to be quickly deployed it provides you with a little shelter as soon as you pull into camp.

Thanks,
I understand what you did and also found several "how to's" on Youtube. I think this awning is a strong candidate for my "must have list". If I go with it, I think I will think about some system where I drive with it inside the CT and then quickly slide the back plate into place when I get to a camp spot. This would help keep the sides smoother for traveling.

I liked the way one Youtube installer made a swinging rig so the awning could travel and be set up on the side and then if desired, swung to the back if he wanted to use it over his Bard Doors.
This link is a video for a similar mount (towards the end of the video). But there is another one that was a DIY rig, but I cannot find it now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXaqWF8xnfA


This is a duplicate post that I cannot see how to delete.
Bob

[wittrrider]

yeah, the bed set up should be interesting, thinking it will be a bi fold. one half folding down from each side to meet in about the middle. likely covering the windows when folded up, a little protection from bike handle bars!

I put on the first coat of the flooring last night. product is a restoleum product intended for concrete or wood decks. they had some samples of it at home depot and the stuff is solid. and it can be tinted to just about any color you could want.
http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalo ... te-restore

I sanded the plywood with some 80 grit to get it a little more bite then vacuum cleaned it. from there this stuff has the consistency of frozen yogurt. very thick. I cut all the edges and up the wall in with a brush. hit all joints and screw holes with the brush too. then dumped it on and hit it with the texture roller it comes with. its a little colder then it likes to cure out in in my garage so it might take a week or so before it cures out. second coat will go on tonight hopefully.

IMG_20140318_185617_997.jpg

I saw this product the other day at Home Depot and thought it would make a great coating for my teardrop build, I had originally planned on coating my trailer entirely with Durabak, but this seems to be much less expensive alternative, how do you feel your floor came out? Would you use it again?

[davidshourd]

I will keep you guys posted on how the re-store product holds up on the floor. I just put down the second coat last night. first coat was completely dry and seemed to be very durable. end up being about 1/8" thick it appears. I had some dried up on my stir stick from earlier this week, I did some chemical testing on it and dipped it in some gas and then rubbed a little used motor oil on it. no signed of breakdown, and did not seem to be absorbing it. I will check back on it tonight and see if I can "clean" it off without taking the re-store with it or leaving a stain.

[hankaye]

davidshourd, Howdy;

While you're at it might as well scuff it with a boot sole to see if it
softens and anything else you might think of ... interesting stuff

hank

[lrrowe]

I have used a product very similar to this which I got from my Sherman Williams dealer. This product I used was dependent on the surrounding air temperature which I learned about the hard way. I used it on a boat dock over weathered 2 x 6's and it looks like it will hold up very nicely. It has a very hard surface. But for me, I applied it in the upper tolerance level for temperature and it did not spread easily or uniformly.

But I have seen other jobs which have been on awhile and again the surface looks like it is holding up very well. But the one issue I see is that there are cracks forming where the under surface had cracks or lines such as where the plywood sections butt together. If I am tempted to use it, I think I would first apply a crack sealant and flexible membrane (tape like with adhesive) combination which I used on on concrete in my basement cellar floor before I applied tiles. That way I am assuring that no further cracking will pass on to the tiles.

Therefore I am very interested in how your efforts and results go.

If anyone wants it, I can go and get the name of the brand I used.

Bob

[davidshourd]

temperature certainly seems to be an issue with this product as well. I tossed in a space heater as soon as I was done to keep it a toasty 70-80 degrees in the trailer. seems to cure out mostly overnight but the instructions do say that light walking after 24 hrs and heavy use after 2 weeks! killing me!

I agree with your statement on cracks. I caulked the cracks between plywood before applying but suspect they will still transfer through after some use. my plan is to get some sort of sealant to apply over those cracks. not the best and a crack isolation membrane would have been the way to go for sure. wonder what product would have worked with this one or if just a plastic mesh (like drywall tape) would have worked?

I will keep you guys posted on how this holds up. probably going to be a bit before I get it out on the road, aside from needing to take it to the DMV today to get some plates.

[davidshourd]

couple shots from the weekend. added some Thule Rack feet on the trailer to match the width of the rack on my truck so I can swap the rack onto the trailer. just clips on. had to add a couple steel supports to the roof framing where I wanted to mount the feet. kind of a pain in the butt welding overhead! all and all the are not the prettiest welds but should hold up to anything I want to toss on the roof. can hardly see the rack in these pictures but you can see the mounting points on my truck that it could also clip into.

Flooring has cured out nicely and seems hell for stout. probably not as flexible as a truck bed coating, as I can already see some hair line cracks where I over tightened a bolt when installing the E track on the floor. all and all I think this still should really hold out. after installing all the etrack and running a couple dozen bolts through the floor I jumped under the trailer with the remaining flooring product and gooped it all over the penetration/screws. tried to cover as much as I could. then hit everything with some black spray paint the next day.

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[davidshourd]

day dreaming of what is to come:

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[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

Good job, truck and trailer looks like a million bucks

[davidshourd]

thanks! still a bit of work in progress, but not sure it will ever end! at least I am at the point to use it now and just dial in the details.

[davidshourd]

Built a couple modular cabinets for the trailer this weekend. started with the idea of a place to put the camp stove and turned into much more. these little cabinets are identical in size and hang on the doors via a extruded aluminum panel clip (with a couple latches that then lock them in place). so these cabinets can site as shown in the pictures, or one can be removed and hang on the side RV style door, or hang on the interior walls within the trailer. in the pictures below I only have the panel clips mounted to the back doors. the intent was for a "kitchen" like space when the doors are open. in the end I think it also created a very cool space when the doors are closed in the interior. I have not designed up the foldable sleeping platform yet but it will certainly take advantage of these cabinets along the back doors. made of poplar and Oak plywood they are 6" deep. 23" wide and 47" tall. I will apply a couple layers of a clear coat verathan or similar here in the next few days.

back awning performed very well during a rain storm with about a 1/2" of hail over the weekend!

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[davidshourd]

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[lrrowe]

David,
Interesting idea with the shelving on the doors.
With this method, you could also have an interior wall with more shelving. Open the doors, swing them out 90 degrees, and you have a work station with more storage right in front along with the doors. I may experiment with that idea with my design.

Bob

[OverTheTopCargoTrailer]

WOW

Now i'm thinking like Kramer on Jerry Seinfeld,

if one side had the stove & sink, the other side the shower

you could cook & shower at the same time.

Good JOB.....

[davidshourd]

WOW

Now i'm thinking like Kramer on Jerry Seinfeld,

if one side had the stove & sink, the other side the shower

you could cook & shower at the same time.

Good JOB.....

just need to get the garbage disposal installed in the drain....