Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I decided to start a build thread instead of starting a bunch of different threads. This will help keep the clutter down for sure, plus I can see how much money I am spending... Holly cow, this stuff adds up after a while.

I am building a toy hauler for 2 honda pilot ATV's. They are about 8.5 feel long and are single seaters. I should have plenty of room for a shower, kitchen, fridge and other odds and ends up front. I would like to only used the 4 feet and leave me 20 but it looks like I will have to use almost 5 feel of the space up front. I will use the V-nose section for a closet and water lines for the shower.

I have my water heater, stove top burners, sink, awning, on order. I am still getting parts in and ordering things. I have a few questions before I buy other stuff.

Electrical:

converter- 8_ball had mentioned he wished he would have gotten a bigger converter. I will be ordering the 55 amp 8900 series http://www.americanrvcompany.com/WFCO-W ... _p_16.html. My question is what breakers would you guys use in this. ie 1-30A and the rest 20A or would you mix it up with 15 and 20A. Also do I want single or double pole breakers?
For my shore line in I will do the easy mans technique and use a 30 cord with a built in GFC breaker.

Inverter- not sure yet, any suggestions?

Batteries- not sure yet as well. I am sure 2 6-volt golf cart batteries.. thoughts on batteries is appreciated too.

Let me know your thoughts on the electrical side

Water system:

hot water- bosh 6.0 gal water heater (http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-GL6-6-Gallo ... 573&sr=1-4) it seems if you mount horizontal you can get almost 7 gal out of it. Amazon has cheapest price so far.


pump-I have a shur flow revolution 3.0 pump on order(http://www.amazon.com/SHURflo-4008-101- ... 277&sr=8-9) with an inline trap/filter.

My question is fresh water and grey water tanks. The grey tanks are a lot more money than the fresh water. Can i just use a fresh water tank for grey? If so how do I plumb it for the bigger grey water dump? If anyone has any pictures of there set up that would really help. Also if you have any schematics/drawings of your completed water system that would really help me wrap my head around the plumbing and components of a good system . Any cost savings ideas about the tanks please let me know

Toilet- I dont think I will do one of those. hadn't really decided.

I will be adding insulation and wainscoting through out the trailer.

Thats it for now, pics of the build to come once I get started. \

Thank you for all of the help and the great site!

kindest regards

Chris

I am heading to HD today to get some cabinets and the shower enclosure. I wanted to lay it out before I stared taking down the walls of the insulation.

Here are some answers to my electrical questions. I made a post in the electrical section. This may help anyone who has the same questions as I did viewtopic.php?f=30&t=49536

I have also changed my mind on the toilet. Since I am installing a gray and fresh water tank, what is one more tank. Plus it will help with those midnight bathroom trips.

Update: 3/24/12

I decided against the prefabbed cabinets at HD, I was not impressed with the way they were built. I went ahead and welded a metal frame similar to 8_balls. It came out great. It is 2 feet wide by 5 feet long. Its the basic frame as of now, I will add shelves as my equipment shows up. I want to make sure I have the correct measurements. I have some pictures that I will post tomorrow.

I have also started to strip the walls of the ply wood, I only have a few more sections to take off. I am hoping to get some of the ceiling insulated this week and start to run some wire.

I ordered the shower pan tonight and will be ordering the flooring tomorrow. Its great to see all of the equipment and supplies arriving.

I made a post in the electrical section, I figured I would post it here as well just incase your guys don't look in the electrical section. Let me know what you guys think.

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Well my PG converter came in the big brown truck today

I started to look at it and it seems I have one that only has 3 breaker slots. I thought it had 5 but I must have mis read the description. I would like to make this work as it was cheaper than the others. Maybe this is why???

I have a attached a picture of the breaker slots and would like to now if I have it laid out correctly. I have 4 items that need ac power: Fridge, Air conditioner, microwave, and 8 wall sockets. Please have a look at my diagram and let me know your thoughts. Will this work or do I need more breakers? If I need more how would I go about adding more?

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=49536#p922966 here is a reply to my above question. I didn't know you could use 2 pole for 2 110. Thanks for the advice Chris. This forum is awesome and has some very knowledgeable members. Thanks guys.

Update 3/26/12:
First I wanted to say thank you to all those who gave me help with the electrical. I was stuck in a rut with that and could not continue until I had that sorted out. Thank you, I am now able to make some progress.
The UPS man dropped off my water heater, water pump, stereo, speakers and amplifier. More should arrive this week.
I picked up my 30/20 and 2 15/15 breakers today from the local RV store. I also started to run the DC and AC lines. I was able to finish the right DC side and the Right AC side. I started to work on the left side and it got to dark.

Tomorrow I will be able to finish laying out the the DC and Ac side for the left side. I am also hoping to start to get the ceiling insulated and finished up.

Here are some pics of the progress so far. Thanks again for all of the help. It is great to see it coming together.

Just getting started on taking the interior walls down



This is the frame for the electrical and cabinet center




Picture of the DC lines and the brackets to protect them from the metal




Some of my AC lines





more to come as she progresses

In pictures 4-5, how do you plan to have the interior side panels mount as the wiring runs will interfere with the panels sitting flush against the top of the wall studs and the top roof bows / supports?

BC_Explorer wrote:In pictures 4-5, how do you plan to have the interior side panels mount as the wiring runs will interfere with the panels sitting flush against the top of the wall studs and the top roof bows / supports?

I actually got the idea of the running of the wires like that from the way the factory did theirs. The wood will not sit all the way down. It leaves a gap. The gap is where the wires are and they will be covered with trim. The trim makes a moves access panel. The pictures may not show the gap/channel.

I hope I explained that well enough

Cheers

Chris