Don & Christi's 6 x 10 Cargo Conversion

[d30gaijin]

Made a bit more progress today. Did the cutouts for the doors into the oak plywood then mounted the doors with hinges bought at Home Depot. I actually got every thing pretty darn straight, which is good for my woodworking skill level. Then I installed the oak ply with the doors attached back into the CT to make sure I wasn't too visibly off.

Next I'll disassemble it all and orbital sand the oak ply then stain and varnish it to match the cabinet doors I bought at Habitat For Humanity. While I bought them at a used price of $4 each the cabinet doors are essentially brand new so I do not want to strip and refinish them. Much easier to make the bare oak ply match the cabinet doors.

I also picked up an 8' length of 1" thin aluminum angle for the counter top cap. I am getting closer to finishing off the galley and then will move on to the wall paneling.

Once the wall paneling is in I can then insulate the upper corners where the wall paneling meets the roof Luan paneling and panel that area in. Once that is done the inside of our CT will be mostly done in terms of finish. From there I'll concentrate on over head storage and conveniences to make the CT more livable.

I know this is all probably pretty basic and simple for those of you with experience doing cabinetry/wood work but I don't have any experience doing this stuff so it is a major undertaking for me. Still, I am very happy with what I have accomplished so far, due in large part to all the help and expert advice I have received here on the T&TT CT Conversion forum. I thank you all sincerely.

Pic below shows what I accomplished today (yes, that is trick photography GPW. Like I said, I can't seem to hold a camera straight, hot, and normal).
Don

[Glenlivet]

Get a few...

I just noticed your handle. What a hoot! Capital L, small A, capital F, small o, small n, small g.
There's been a salesman around here looking for you, Carl.

Edit: Dang, and somehow I missed the whole previous page with this very commentary!
Oh well, great moniker. I have to go now, I'm looking for $10 I'm sure I had in my pockets somewhere...

[Wolfscout]

@ don and others...
have you noticed a need to do something about the refrigerator door coming open during travel?

I ask because other weekend I pulled mine across the property and set up for a weekend. the fridge door had come open in the travel. small mess I was lucky.
When I took it to the Welders other day to have him weld on a new folding Jack.. I noticed, upon checking inside, that the frig-door had come open again in travel. So I grabbed the cordless drilling... and sank in two eye bolts so I could bungee it shut.
I'm sure that will work when I bring it home. LOL

[d30gaijin]

@ don and others...
have you noticed a need to do something about the refrigerator door coming open during travel?

I ask because other weekend I pulled mine across the property and set up for a weekend. the fridge door had come open in the travel. small mess I was lucky.
When I took it to the Welders other day to have him weld on a new folding Jack.. I noticed, upon checking inside, that the frig-door had come open again in travel. So I grabbed the cordless drilling... and sank in two eye bolts so I could bungee it shut.
I'm sure that will work when I bring it home. LOL

Wolfscout,

Yep, had the same problem and you can see my cure for it in the photo above. Left hand side of the reefer door, about 1/3rd of the way down from the top of the door you'll see a sort of white square spot on the door. That's a Velcro strap. I went to the wife's favorite fabric store and bought a 2' long strip of 2" wide Velcro with a sticky backing (peal away and stick it in place where you want it). I stuck a piece to the side of the reefer and another on the door then ran the opposing Velcro strip between the two. It keeps the door closed when traveling and is simple to remove, as typical of a Velcro strip i.e., just peal it away. It also works great for keeping the door partially open when the reefer is in the off mode and I want to let it vent so moisture doesn't build up inside. Open the door a tad and put the Velcro strap in place and it is solid enough to keep the door open to vent the reefer when not in use. No bolts no awkward bungie cords.

Don

[Wolfscout]

@ Don. That sounds do able. In fact... I have some that I use on our backpacks that might work it's not 2" but I think it's 1" thick heavy duty stuff. It takes the pounding and stress of dropping rucks on the trails.

[BC_Explorer]

Don.

I noticed that you are pulling that 6x10 with a Cherokee. Can I ask what engine and transmission the Cherokee is equipped as I am looking at the same size trailer or a 5x10 to pull with a 4.0 L and 5 speed manual transmission Cherokee.

Also any comments, good or bad on the overall experience of pulling the trailer with the Cherokee would be appreciated.

BC,

I am hauling our 6x10 CT and our Jayco 16.5' TT with a 2001 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 liter straight six cylinder engine and a 4 speed automatic transmission with overdrive. When I haul either trailer it is usually out of overdrive, i.e., 3rd position on the automatic shift transmission, which I presume would be in 4th with a 5 speed manual transmission. It seems to do much better in that position.

My son has a 1997 Cherokee with the same 4.0 liter engine but with a five speed manual transmission that I recently drove back to Boise, Idaho from California for him. His 4th gear seemed to replicate my out of overdrive auto trans in terms of RPM at speed. His 5th gear replicated my overdrive in 4th gear (or "D" on the shift lever).

Be that as it may, he got better gas mileage with his 5 speed manual than I did with my four speed auto with overdrive (neither of us were hauling anything other than us).

Hauling the 16.5' Jayco with the Cherokee it is at its max. The Jayco has trailer brakes, which helps a lot. Had I to do it do over I would have trailer breaks on the 6x10. I had a panic stop that scared the crap out of me with the 6x10 because it had no brakes. It hauls nicely but still, there is that weight behind. I stopped about 6 inches from running into the car in front of me because the 6x10 was pushing me with no brakes on it, and I drive conservatively i.e., I always leave a lot of room between me and any vehicle in front of me, regardless what I am driving. It was, I am sure, because of my driving habits that I didn't crash into the rear of the vehicle in front of me.

I don't know if that helps but please feel free to ask more questions if need be.

Don

Don:

Thanks for the info and apologies for the late reply. Based on your feedback and much other research, I will be ordering a 6x10 Haulmark in early October. So as to not hijack this thread any further, I have more info in this thread here

[d30gaijin]

@ Don. That sounds do able. In fact... I have some that I use on our backpacks that might work it's not 2" but I think it's 1" thick heavy duty stuff. It takes the pounding and stress of dropping rucks on the trails.

Wolfscout,

The 2" Velcro is a bit of overkill but, hey! That's me. I am certain your 1" will work just as well. In fact I probably should have gone with 1" because the 2" stuff sticks together really really good, almost too good.

Don

[GPW]

NICE looking cabinet there Don !!!

I just thought you were parked sideways on a hill ...

[Gonefishin]

Yes, cabinet looks great. I'm sure enjoying watching this build.

[d30gaijin]

NICE looking cabinet there Don !!!

I just thought you were parked sideways on a hill ...

GPW,

I am indeed parked sideways, well sort of.

Well, as they say, "The best laid plans..." re: the cabinets and doors. I had hoped to match the oak plywood to the color of the cabinet doors I bought but that didn't work out. We had Minwax golden oak stain on hand and doing the initial stain and rub-off it looked like it would match the cabinet doors, and initially it did until I put the two polyurethane semi-gloss coats on. Once dry the oak plywood came out a considerably darker finish. It looks great but is darker. Consequently I had no choice but to strip the cabinet doors of finish so I can try to match them to the oak ply.

I spent most of today stripping the cabinet door finish off using Jasco, steel wool, and water. Bad move. I got the finish stripped but the water caused the door construction to start to warp as they dried, thankfully only on small edge areas on the back side where the door is glued together, I am thankful for good tongue and groove construction, which only pealed up slight, as I said, on the back side.

So now I have squirted some wood glue into the partially separated wood along the horizontal axis top and bottom and clamped it tight with a heavy piece of pine and two clamps and will let that set overnight then do the same with the slight vertical separation tomorrow... and that's just for one door. I'll have to do the same for the other door so that puts me a few days out for staining and final finish on both doors. I could get by without doing that but then if someone opens the door they might notice the slight separation on the backside (doesn't show at all on the front side of the door) and I can't live with that.

The first photo below shows the separation (what looks like a black line). If you look close you can see the inside of the edge frame wood curling up/away from the back side center inset of the door.

The second photo shows the wood clamps and heavy pine in place after squirting glue into the separation and clamping it in place.

A lesson learned; don't use Jasco stripper, steel wool, and water to strip and wash a glued together wood structure (as the wife told me once she got home and I showed her what I had done... she knows a lot more about stripping wood than I do). In my defense I've always used Jasco, steel wool, and water to strip paint off of metal... why would wood be any different )

Don

[d30gaijin]

Yes, cabinet looks great. I'm sure enjoying watching this build.

Gonefishin,

Thank you for the compliment. I hope you'll continue to watch my build. I have not made much progress in the last year due to family situations but I am now back into it and hope to make significant progress over the next few months.

Don

[Wolfscout]

Don, are you using long velcro straps to secure your microwave in place?
I was considering taking some nylon strapping and to the all to bind mine there. Perhaps with some quick disconnect type buckle like my backpacks have.

[d30gaijin]

Don, are you using long velcro straps to secure your microwave in place?
I was considering taking some nylon strapping and to the all to bind mine there. Perhaps with some quick disconnect type buckle like my backpacks have.

Wolfscout,

I am using a 1" nylon strap bought at Home Depot to secure the microwave. It came with a simple cinch type metal buckle. I cut the length to fit, melted a hole in it to put a screw through (via a small tipped soldering iron) and screwed the strap to the the wall using a washer (see photo below).

I hope that helps,
Don

[Wolfscout]

Yes. That is what I had in mind to do for a microwave and a toaster oven. I wrap a small 5 cup programmable coffee pot in a towel and put it in the microwave for traveling. and that's pretty much my appliances on the countertop.
I like your strap idea. My last two overnighters I just set them on the floor of the camper.

[pete42]

One trick I used in my travel trailer to keep the glass tray in the microwave from bounching around and possibily breaking
I would always placed a roll of paper towels standing on end into the microwave.

The microwave I used in my pop-up I kept the styrofoam that came with the microwave it held the glass portion in place no bounce at all.