Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Well, here goes. We bought a 7'X20'X74" high V nose cargo trailer a couple of months ago with the idea of converting it to a stealth (sort of) camper. We had purchased a 1988 25' fifth wheel last January but ran into a lot more work than I thought at first. After seeing some converted cargo trailers, we decided to go that direction for several reasons, one being that it is brand new and will not need the up keep the fiver is already looking at since it is 26 years old. Another reason is that it is a bumper pull and I will still have the bed of my truck available where with the fiver, most of the bed was taken up by the fifth wheel mount. I have a 2006 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax with the 6 foot bed but I also have a 60 gallon fuel tank in the bed also. We traded the fiver to a guy that had a 6X10' single axle cargo trailer because I figured it would be easier to sell a cargo trailer than the fiver which turned out to be true. The fiver was listed for two months before the guy contacted me about the trade. We traded and I turned around and sold the cargo trailer two days later for the same price I paid for the fiver when we bought it. I've waited a couple of months to get started until the weather cooled off here is the Phoenix Valley and because I had total left hip replacement surgery the first part of November. Time to get started.

I have been collecting pieces here and there and developing a build plan to get started and read lots of post here. I have some paper with one inch grids with each one inch square divided up into 10 spaces. Makes it nice to draw the floor plan out with. I also used it to draw out my cabinets, shelves, storage and clothes closet. I got an idea from another post on this site of marking out everything with blue painters tape on the floor.

Todays project was to take off all the 3/8" plywood on the walls to get ready to install windows, 1" foam insulation board and wiring. I picked up a new 36X36" fiberglass shower at a garage sale for $100. The problem I discovered is that my ceiling is 74" high and the shower stall was 76" high. I cut off the two 2X3" that were fiberglassed to the bottom of the shower stall and trimmed some off the top so I ended up with the shower stall being 73" tall. I still couldn't get it in standing up but then got an idea. I took the rear 3/4" sheet of floor plywood out, drug the shower stall in and let it drop down into the space. Just right. With it dropped down, I could then straighten up the shower stall and get it in. Here are some pics of today's accomplishments.



Left and right side rear taped areas are 20" deep and going to be 20" high. They will have a fabric covered foam cushion on top and the top will hinge open for storage inside. The 40 gallon rectangular water tank will go in that area right behind the shower. The deeper area on the right side will be the closet with a window A/C unit on top but not sticking out side the skin. The exhaust will be ducted out with a louvered grill on the outside and a vent on the roof to allow air in. A drain tube will be run down through the floor.


The counter top shape is outlined with the tape. On the left between the end of the counter top and the shower stall will be a cabinet for the 4.3cf A/C refrigerator. It will have a drawer under it. The sink will go in the left side of the counter top. I am thinking about building a bread board type counter top.

So, that is my start today.

A full shower stall, very impressive. Weight restrictions for my tow vehicle and the need to haul a dual sport inside kept me from including fresh water and black water tanks, so had to settle for a portable toilet and no shower. I'm allowing for a 20 gallon fresh water tank if final weight allows, but no way a black or gray water tank is in the picture. I am sure I will survive, but sure would have been nice.

Love the planning thought process.

My suggestion is to plan ahead how you install your interior incase you have to take it out and remodel the inside.
in my case with all the thought I put into it I just knew it was the way I wanted, but I was wrong I have had to go in a move things around and found out it was easier going in than taking things out.
I found out how hard it is to go back and replace a water pump or leaking hose or fix something after the fact?
I am about to tear out the flour for the 3rd time, I started out with peal and stick tile and that came up then I did the whole vinyl flooring and between the old glue on the floor it would not lay flat with bubbled spots then I did the snap down engineered flooring looked great but being a toy hauler and sometimes loading a wet golf cart, leaking ice chest, water from the shower, some times leaving the trailer left open and it rained , well the flouring looks bad and should be replaced.
I have thought many times that I should do a total remodel but the thought of what it would take has stop me from doing it.

I am going the portable toilet route also. When I pulled the rear floor board plywood up, I found something I didn't expect. The "weatherproofing" the factory put on the bottom of the plywood floor was a light black spray paint dusting. It was so light you could see the wood in most places. It wasn't even undercoating. How CHEAP. That would not have lasted very long. So now a plan for that. The long lengthwise frame rails are 6" "I" channels. The cross pieces are 5 5/8" C channels and they are 24" on center. There is a 3/8" space between the bottom of the cross member and the main frame rail "I" bottom lip. I am thinking I am going to get some 3/8" plywood, maybe marine plywood and put that into that area so the whole underside would be covered by that. I will put a heavy coat of undercoating over the bottom of that and secure it with self tapping screws through the "C" and "I" channel bottom lips. May even take it and have it sprayed with Linex like the bed of my truck. Now thinking about it, I will have to look and find a gray water tank that will fit now because once I put the plywood in and have it undercoated, I will not want to cut it out to put one in. In the 6" space, I'm going to fill that with fiberglass insulation batting so the floor will be insulated. The 3/4" floor will then go back on. That should protect the underside. I'll get some pics to help clarify this but today, it's raining here in the Phoenix area and snow level will be dropping down to 2000 feet tonight.

Jwhite, I have it all drawn out to scale on paper. I was really surprised at how accurate my drawing was, especially in the V nose part, when I started measuring and drawing it out on the floor and then putting down the blue tape so I could see it better. Home Depot has a nice click together wood laminate that is about 3/8" thick that we are partial to. I will put that down after getting everything else in first so it will take less and if the case ever arose, I could take it up with out it going under the cabinets and everything else. We are going to have a strip carpet to put down the middle area and the entrance to keep the laminate nice and maybe a piece a indoor/outdoor carpet in front of the shower to keep any water off the floor.

I really love the look of the engineered wood flooring I bought the cheaper type and it only cost around 100.00, they have the thicker type which is about 3/4 inch thick that is for more commercial use I should have bought that instead.
My toyhauler takes a lot of abuse and water is not good for that type flooring, if you get any water on it, it needs to be wiped up right away, half the towels I use are for cleaning up excess water.
I found out the hard way how things can go wrong while camping, I now have a toggle switch to my water pump because one weekend I noticed half my water was gone from my 16 gallon tank when I found a hair size leak which you could barely see from a loose fitting,
I fixed the problem but I still switch the water pump off when I am not needing water.

Got out today and took some pics and got some measurements of the under side of the trailer.

You can see how little undercoating they sprayed on the bottom of the floor plywood. I imagine that it would probably not last more than a couple of years if I didn't live in sunny Arizona. All of the cross members are 24' apart except from the first one in front to the second one, it is 22' and from the second to the third, it is 26'. The rest are 24' apart. They are "C" channels and as you can see, the bottom of the cross member is 3/8" above the bottom of the main "I" beam main frame rails. That will work out perfect to be able to put 3/8" plywood there, and then pull up all the floor boards and put 6" fiberglass insulation batting in under the floor.




I'm thinking about flipping the axles to give me more clearance. I have 12" now and flipping them would give me about 4 more inches.

Here are a couple pics of the flooring we are going to put over the plywood. Home Depot has it and it really isn't that expensive. It's 15/32 thick and 8 1/2 inches wide. The pieces snap together and look really good. They gave us this piece as a sample.

I would suggest using a kit like this instead of just flipping the axle. They also make one for the 2 3/8" axle

http://www.easternmarine.com/dexter-3-r ... k71-385-00

CGRotorhead wrote:I would suggest using a kit like this instead of just flipping the axle. They also make one for the 2 3/8" axle

http://www.easternmarine.com/dexter-3-r ... k71-385-00

"Flipping" the axles is the wrong approach, as you need to maintain the correct toe in, caster and camber. I'm a welder, and have done this conversion using weld on saddles on a lot of trailers, but that kit is pretty darn cheap. No welding and the kit can be installed without removing the axles from under the trailer. If I raise my trailer, I think I might give that kit a try...

Good find on the kit...

CGROTORHEAD, thanks for the link. Beats the $220 I was quoted by the RV suspension center I was going to take it to. They would have welded the pads on but I think this will work and my brother-in-law has a Mig welder I could spot it on with after it's all in place.

Professorkx, I didn't mean turning the axle over. May have used the wrong terminology. I ment just moving the axle from the top of the springs to the bottom.

For those who have put the springs above the axle, does it create a problem with the trailer being higher than the current tow ball configuration?

aztrooper wrote:Here are a couple pics of the flooring we are going to put over the plywood. Home Depot has it and it really isn't that expensive. It's 15/32 thick and 8 1/2 inches wide. The pieces snap together and look really good. They gave us this piece as a sample.

Be aware that may swell up if it gets wet. Try a leaving a little water on the edge of it over night. With a trailer you will be tracking water and mud in.