Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well it is offical. I am now the owner of a 6x10 V-Nose CT after I took delivery of the trailer from the dealer this morning. This thread will serve to document my CT conversion and as always, feedback is welcome at any time.

Delivery Day and the drive home
On the 45 km trip home from the dealer and on the freeway, ran into storm of heavy rain/sleet and at times, very strong crosswinds. The trailer pulled fine with the new truck. With the trailer being so short, it handled the crosswinds fine even with semi trucks passing by at 65+ mph. The new Prodigy 2 electric brake controller worked great and only took a minute of adjusting. Now I know why so many people swear by these controllers.

The first 2 photos were taken at a rest stop along the highway.





With this new truck being much longer then my old TV, backing the trailer into the parking pad along with the narrow confines of the alley is now a real chore (but can be done.) I had previously posted here in regards to trailer dollies and since, purchased one and it makes for very easy work to place the trailer exactly where it needs to be on the first try.
Notice the sleet in the photo? It is supposed to be almost spring here...




I also purchased a "California Immobilizer." These mount quick and easy and hopefully will serve as a theft deterrent. That said, we all know that if thieves want something bad enough, they will get it by any means. I also purchased some good locks for the side and rear doors today and again, they are really just a deterrent.




Thats all the photos for now. More to come later!

Your tow vehicle and trailer combination looks great! I can't wait to see some sawdust.

Sorry, there won't be a lot of sawdust on this build as I will be going with steel and aluminum as much as possible. This is just really personal preference and months ago, I purchased some cabinets to go into the trailer. Also the wood Luan panels will be removed and replaced with white paneling. This will brighten up the interior and also compliment the steel cabinetry more.

Tonight I did a little bit of testing to see what and how these cabinets are going to fit. I also have 2 more cabinets of which one is a big upright and will probably be used in the trailer too.

That said, it will probably take a week or so to nail down the overall design that I want and I would rather take the time to think it out and hopefully only do it once. Tomorrow I am picking up some 1"x2"x8' from the local lumber supply store. These are cheap enough up here to be used to create some mockups of some ideas I am thinking of.

A few photos of the cabinets. They each weigh 35-36 lbs and have 2 shelves inside.









A few more photos of the factory interior. It won't look like this for much longer...

BC Explorer:
Sharp looking rig. You will like the white interior when you get it done, it makes the trailer look more finished inside.
Keep the pictures coming.

Gadget Man

Update:

I didn't have any time to work on the trailer until yesterday. After removing the roadside and the front v-nose interior panels, I noticed some defects that will require taking the trailer back to the dealer for some work. At this point, I am not pleased at yet another delay...

On the positive, I have picked up most of the wiring, fuse block. fuses, wire clamps/clips, etc while it was on sale. I still need to buy a few switches and light fixtures. While the trailer is at the dealer, I'll need to further work on the wiring plan for the batteries, switches, lights, inverter, solar panels and possibly, a very basic 120 volt setup as seen here in this post.

BC
What did you find, some bad welds on the framework crooked walls or just some other type of poor workmanship.????
What the Hell...? it's frustrating I'm sure.
I did not find out that my RV door was not "square" until I built the stand up cabinet next to the door and could not get an oak board to line up with it.

Gadget Man

Gadget Man wrote:BC
What did you find, some bad welds on the framework crooked walls or just some other type of poor workmanship.????
Gadget Man

Yes I did find some minor workmanship problems and will be taking the trailer to the Dealer this weekend for them to rectify the problems. One way of looking at it; purchasing an unfinished CT allows one to really examine the trailer top to bottom and from all angles to find these problems because they are not hidden behind finished walls etc where you might not know there is a problem for months or years...

Am I frustrated? Yes, however not to the extent that I mad/angry at anyone. One way of looking at it; purchasing an unfinished CT allows one to really examine the trailer top to bottom and from all angles to find these problems because they are not hidden behind finished walls etc where you might know there is a problem for months or years. That said, the guys at the Dealer stand behind their products and I have enough confidence in them that they will fix the problems to my satisfaction and in a timely manner.

Hopefully, I will have the trailer back soon and re-start my work on it as I would like to have the CT out for a shakedown run on May long weekend.

Looks sweet.

I will follow your progress as I have just ordered a 5 x 10

Cheers: Jeff

I received word today that my trailer is ready for me to pick up from the dealer again. I sent an email to clarify a couple of things and if all is well, I will go get the trailer in the next few days. Hopefully I will be able to get some work re-started this weekend as the weather forecast looks good for a change.

Stay tuned for another update and some new pics soon!

Back on Track!!

Decided to pick up my trailer today from the dealer and take adavantage of a few days of nice weather to get some work done.

This was the last wall of the original from the factory and was left this way when I returned the trailer to the dealer for some warranty work.


1/2 hour later, the trailer is now completely stripped and ready for conversion



I painted the steel studs with Tremclad Rust Paint to help ward off any potential future rust as I live in the very wet, PNW rainforest. In the beginning, I was meticulous about not getting over spray on the walls but it was a pain and I did not feel like taping everything off which would of taken a month of Sundays... Also, any over spray will be covered by the insulation and interior walls anyway. Over the weekend I will paint the roof supports.



Once the studs were painted, I did a little bit of very rough electrical planning. Perhaps tomorrow, I will get the studs drilled and grommets put in and run the wires. The plan is to have 5 runs of wire to the back/sides of the trailer for a myriad of lights and solar panels. I am still on the fence about 110 volt electrical, but more on this later...

since you are debating about installing 120 volt electric I would error on the side of doing it.
my theory is better to have it and not use it than not have it and want it.
I would think about any other doors, hatches, ports that may need installed and do them also.
nice looking trailer I like the color when the time comes a couple decals and you'll have one fine looking rig.

pete

@ Pete

In regards to the 110 volt decision. In 30 + years of camping, I have never spent a night in a private campground at all. Furthermore I have never spent a night in a .gov campsite that has power nor water hookups. Also with most of my camping done between May-Sept, living north and camping even further north of the 49th parallel means that we have many hours of daylight into the late of the night (10:00 pm +) Also the trailer will not have a TV or any other electronic devices other then a couple of interior lights, AA battery charger etc so the electrical demands are very low. I do have an inverter that will be installed for the very rare time (if at all) there is a requirement for 110 volt for any small device.

All that said, you are right, it may be better to plan for the future and install 110 volt now and I am thinking once again of going with the idea of a very basic system
as discussed in this thread

PS: It is proving to be quite difficult to find grommets that are not packaged 5/pkg and cost $3.99 per said pkg. On the other extreme, a large box of 200 grommets that costs far more then I need and willing to pay for. I have been to the local hardware, big box stores, electrical supply shops etc without any success. Ordering from Ebay is not going to happen due to the shipping costs...

Doesn't sound like you need The 120 volts that's a lot of years without and only you know your needs.

a short 1 inch piece of rubber hose siliconed into place also makes a rub free tunnel to pass the wires through
once installed and the wires and insulation are in a shot of spray foam around them and they will be there for ever.

Pete

Thanks Pete for the idea on the tubing. I purchased some clear tubing today to use and will post some pics later tonight or tomorrow.

Another question for anyone in general in regards to wiring. Is it better to run separate ground wires for each electrical connection to trailer frame? Or is better to tie in the ground wires to one common ground wire back to the battery?

Thanks.

i used silicone where i run wires thew steel tubing just hold wires in middle of hole