2013 Mirage XPO 6x12- Mt Air Express

[Rainier70]

Thanks, guys! I am hoping that some of the little things are helpful for others as well.

I think I forgot to mention that the bench has pins (large screws) on both sides in the back that it rotates up and down on. The sides it rests on have a radius in the back to allow the bench to be pushed upright. To completely remove it, I would only need to pull out the two pins in the back.

Besides extra seating and using it for putting on or off my boots, it is also very handy for dressing after a shower. I just tuck the back section of the shower curtain behind it, and I then have a dry bench to set my clothes on etc.

If you can't tell..... I have found the bench to be a handy item to have around, and I am happy that I decided to make it instead of permanently enclosing the area.

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

"If you can't tell..... I have found the bench to be a handy item to have around,
and I am happy that I decided to make it instead of permanently enclosing the area. "


You made it??? WOW!!! , I was just going to ask where you found it so I could get one.

hank

[Rainier70]

LOL

Thank you, but it really was no great feat. All that it is made of is 1 x 2s. Don't get a close look at it. I had to offset screws to keep from splitting the cheap lumber. But I wanted it to look kind of rustic.... and it does!

[lrrowe]

Good multi use of space.

[Rainier70]

After putting in a water tank and faucet, I decided to seal up my Nuway 2000 stove add an air intake to it.

I haven't had a problem with it back drafting carbon monoxide, but there is always a possibility. I mostly decided to do it to allow outside air for the combustion. There are multiple ways I could have done this. I opted for the easiest for me as I had all the parts already.

I cut a piece of sheet metal to fit the bottom and screwed a 3 inch pipe connector to it. Then I used a 4 inch marine deck plate in the floor with a 3 inch pipe collar over it. A little extra sealing with the aluminum tape, and it was ready to go.

The air intake from inside the fire box.


Picture of the outside. Sorry about the slant. I was trying to get the pipe underneath to show up better.


Picture of the deck plate closed. Also shows that I haven't cleaned the floor marks up or the sawdust yet.


It takes less than a minute more to set it up to run or to stow it for travel.

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

Cindy, you go to puttin' any more deck plates in that trailer and you'll need to find a boating forum to post it in ...

Honestly, I like the way you've found to adapt your build to fit your needs. , !

hank

[Rainier70]

A few more small changes and finds that I thought I would share.

1st. I was going to make a cover for my Porta a Potty (Thetford 260B I think), then I found an Ikea box that was just the right size to cover it. A second one for the trashcan and some other misc. junk.

Here it is covered:




And uncovered:



2nd I really like the wire baskets for some wall storage behind my shower curtain. I think these were from Walmart. The curtain covers a multitude of things from broom to propane hoses.



I also put up a curtain rod tight against the wall for a magnetic closure mosquito net. It worked well, but I will probably replace it soon with a door similar to the one Gonefishin put in. I didn't take a picture of it across the door. In some of these pictures you can see it pulled to the side. It slides across and attaches to each side of the door with velcro strips then the magnetic closure/opening is in the middle.

4th and last. I got a couple of these small gear hammocks from Amazon. They are great for holding tender things like fruits and bread. While traveling I hang them from a couple of my shower curtain hooks so that they can swing and not hit anything. When I'm not traveling they hang off to the sides. I didn't have any fruit to put in it for the picture so a bag of chips will have to do ... you get the idea.

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

Cindy, nice mods. It's always the 'little things' that make the whole into
a comfortable place to escape to.

hank

[Padilen]

A few more small changes and finds that I thought I would share.

1st. I was going to make a cover for my Porta a Potty (Thetford 260B I think), then I found an Ikea box that was just the right size to cover it. A second one for the trashcan and some other misc. junk.

Here it is covered:




And uncovered:



2nd I really like the wire baskets for some wall storage behind my shower curtain. I think these were from Walmart. The curtain covers a multitude of things from broom to propane hoses.



I also put up a curtain rod tight against the wall for a magnetic closure mosquito net. It worked well, but I will probably replace it soon with a door similar to the one Gonefishin put in. I didn't take a picture of it across the door. In some of these pictures you can see it pulled to the side. It slides across and attaches to each side of the door with velcro strips then the magnetic closure/opening is in the middle.

4th and last. I got a couple of these small gear hammocks from Amazon. They are great for holding tender things like fruits and bread. While traveling I hang them from a couple of my shower curtain hooks so that they can swing and not hit anything. When I'm not traveling they hang off to the sides. I didn't have any fruit to put in it for the picture so a bag of chips will have to do ... you get the idea.

That reminds me I had asked my mom to make me a small hammock.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

[low277]

I am not sure how I missed your thread but its a great trailer!! I like it a lot! very functional!!

[sodatrain]

Tons of great info here! Subsccribing!

[Rainier70]

We were getting ready to add some larger windows to our CT and move the smaller ones to the back doors. And making some other changes. Then we got to thinking about moving up in size to a larger cargo trailer instead.

My husband retired this last year so he has been spending more time camping with me. This past summer we had some good adventures where he would come out to where I was camped at for a week and then take a week to go back and take care of things at home. The 6X12 worked well for the two of us, but I really built it as a one person camper with occasionally two. We tended to trip over each other a bit, and a lot of the storage space was taken up by my need to have a couple of months supplies with me. That made it tight. Then too we want to be able to camp with the grand kids more.

When the smoke from fires comes into the valleys I need to leave and go to higher elevation areas or travel far far away. So I will still need the trailer to be able to get into narrow, rough, high mountain roads. We figured 7 wide by 16 long was about as large as we wanted to go considering the places I camp now. Hopefully this new build will fit all that.



We bought our new trailer off the lot as the wait time for a build is too long for us. We wanted to start work on it now. I need to have a workable trailer to camp in by early spring. Since we got it off the lot, we are having to deal with the pita ringed nails that they put the plywood up with. Plus our cold winters are going to make this a bit more fun to do. We will have to wait until warmer weather to put some things in like the insulation underneath,mounting the solar panels, and coating the roof with Henry's as those need warm weather for the glue and paint. As well as flipping the axles if we need too. This trailer seems pretty high already.

We pulled the plywood off of one wall to work on the wiring, insulation, and window on that side before we pull it off and do the other side. Hopefully this way we can keep everything fairly organized and not need to tote stuff back and forth from the garage over drifts in a snow storm.

This trailer had the same wiring problems our first one had. Scotch locks on nonessential lights and unprotected wire holders. The brake lights' wiring has no scotch locks on it. Here is an example of the unprotected "washer" wire holders.


We couldn't find any regular grommets for these, but we did find some orange plastic grommets that work. We will be gluing them in with silicone glue so that they don't move or vibrate out.


We also removed all the scotch locks and replaced those with soldered joints covered with shrink tubing. After that we drilled holes and started running wires for our 12v outlets on this side.

We got two 46 wide by 22 tall windows for the sides. We removed the screws in the outer wall above and below where we were placing the window so that we could shim the skin out while we cut and welded in frame. We cut two upright ribs and spanned the area across three panel sections with 1X1 square tubing. There are also two new vertical ribs placed for the sides of the windows.

Here he is welding in the first bottom support.


And the finished frame with untamed wires roughed in. Since our side ribs are 1 1/4 inches we still need to shim the frame out with 1/4 inch wood pieces.

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

Looks like someone got themselves a Christmas project

Looks like you're having fun doin' it up to your specs. Did ya trade in the v 0.1 model
or hangin' on to it for a while...

hank

[Rainier70]

We still have the 6X12. I needed to keep it through the fall to use when I had to, but we plan on selling it with a limited amount of its amenities.

I am in the process of taking out the water tank and pump. Much of its interior and also the solar from the roof will go into the new 7X16. We will basically sell it as insulated, wired for 12v, two windows, a vent, and with the fold up bed frames.

Not ready to sell it yet, as I have a lot to move out, then repaint etc. We may end up waiting to sell it in the spring as the snow is drifting it in!

[hankaye]

Rainier70, Howdy;

Good to know. Added plus is if you run into some of those "now how did I do
that in the small one..." moments it's right there ... reverse engineering.
Best of luck for a smooth build and a Happy new Year.

hank