Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well after several months of searching ive finally found a suitable trailer for my conversion. Its a cargo mate blazer with 5' interior height, 2011 model in very nice shape. I realize the short height is not ideal but it was a matter of oppurtunity as theres not alot of used inventory around here. Besides it will tow alot nicer behind my inline 5 cylinder. The trailer will be used for frequent 3hr trips to the Rockies for flyfishing. Im going with a basic set up. Galley behind the barn doors, matress on the floor, no heat or plumbing and 12volt only. Heres a couple pics of it:





Im sure ill have 6 million questions for all you veterans here so ill keep them all in this thread, for those kind enough to help me out. The first order of business is an rv door latch. Does anyone have any helpful info for installing one of these?

Kyfly, That’s Very Nice !!! ... bet it fits in the garage too ...

Looks like a perfect size for your truck and plans to me.

Nice trailer! I especially like the larger side door.
Steve

Thanks all for the encouraging words. I imagine the trailer would fit in a garage however i dont have one Thats part of the motivation behind getting a trailer. It will be nice to have all the camping gear consolidated in one place. Just hook up and go without jenga packing the truck every time.

I put in a few hours on the trailer today. I stripped the insid, and did a little mock up.The placement of the rearmost stud through a wrench in my plans but ill figure something out.


Then i ran to home depot and grabbed some self stick vinyl tiles for the floor. Came back and sanded the floor and painted any bare steel i could find.



Im gonna buy the deep cycle battery next and get it mounted on the the tongue, then i can wire it. Ill be using a blue sea brand fuse block to run 4 or 5 led lights, a 12v socket, 200w inverter and a roof vent w/ fan. I am unsure what size wire i should run from the batt to fuse block, and should the ÷ wire be fused at the battery as well?

I put down the stick down tile and it looked great for about a year then dirt would get between the tiles and then it started to come up,I had to replace it all.
I just put down the laminate type flooring and it looks great and was around 80 cents a square foot,I just wish I had used it from the start.

Check out the electrical secrets section of the forum and look at some of the sticky's. There's a lot of information there that can be very important if you plan more than just a simple 120v, or a simple 12v.

To figure out the size of wire from the battery, you need to guestimate your max amount of amp draw and the length of that wire. I only needed 8 Ga, so I installed 6 Ga. I don't have an inverter, but I understand they draw more than a 12v system an need bigger cables.

Some very good info here:
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

Page 2, near the bottom has the wiring chart amp draw/length at 12v
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volta.htm

Good luck

Hi Kyfly:

Nice looking trailer, matches your tow rig nicely.

I like colors, kinda sick of white, I ordered a dark blue 5x10 to match my tow myself.

I'll have to watch your progress so I can get ideas for mine.

Good luck with it and post lots of pixs.

Jeff

Slight progress today. I sealed up some gaping holes around the front of the floor, replaced the diesel soaked section of floor in the rear, and got started on the wiring. Thanks everyone for the helpful links, i think ive got it sorted.



I'll begin insulating soon with 1" foam board. Do you guys glue the foam in or just tape the seams and call it good?

One last question for the pro's. The trailer had 3/8 ply on the walls which ill be replacing with 5x5 baltic birch. Do you think i can get away with using 1/4 birch or will strength be compromised?

I used 2 layers of foam insulation and it was flush with the metal studs and I just taped it with grey duct tape to seal it up.
if you cut it really close it will stay on it;s own.
If you use the spray foam make sure you use gloves because it sticks to everything esp your skin.

Just cut the foamboard an 1/8"th over and it will stay in the space. Once the panels are up, it shouldn't matter.

I did tape my roof pieces as an intermediate step, but they stayed up without the tape. I just hadn't put the wood up there yet. Now there are 1/2" ply wood slats on the ceiling, awaiting some luan.

I cut foil faced bublle wrap and glued it to the inside of the metal roof skin. I cut my foam board (foiled faced) to fit tight inbetween the Spars for the roof and wall. I then tape all edges with aluminum heater duck tape to further seall the inside of the trailer. I read somewhere that one of the major problems with metal trailers is condensation on the inside of the trailers skin. I hope that the extra effort that was put into it will be good. I believe that the foil face will act as a radiant barrier to the hot sun in the deep south (Texas).

Jeff.

With help from you guys i got a bit of the insulation done. The rounded part at the top front was a massive PITA. I think ill rip it out and redo it. I elected to go with only 1" foam. The local rv dealer had a garage sale today and i managed to pick up these 2 items for only $45!




Should i assume the writing etched on the window dictates the way it should be oriented? Also i think the trim ring supplied with it is the wrong one. i was thinking i would drill the outside flange for screws and put a plywood frame around the hole inside to drill into. Is this a bad dea?

I dont mean to be a nag haha, but has anyone installed a window this way? Its really the only way as its made for a 1" thick finished wall. I would install it so that the screws would grab a stud on the leading edge as well as the horizontal support below. I could really use some advice here!

If your window has a trim ring I would use that. I've only put in two windows, but my last choice would be putting screws in from the outside. With a trim ring and no screws the install looks so clean and neat. If you do have to use screws, I would think stainless would be the only way to go. Nothing makes an install look bad / homemade than rusting screws. Ok my .02

Dan