Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

We just picked up our trailer! Covered Wagon 7'x16'x7'h with 2ft v-nose. Now the work begins. The main purpose of the trailer will be mobile office and build shop for my husband's electrical engineering business. The layout will be minimal so that we can easily swap to camping or moving heavy gear.

Only utility is 30Amp circuit for electrical equipment. There will always be shore power so batteries will be limited to enough to provide UPS function for the gear. There will be a triple shelf across v-nose for supplies or kids with addition of mattresses. The parents will have a full size futon. AC will initially be provided by portable ac unit (already owned) then upgrade to window or mini-split as need.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Thru-Wall AC & Power Tower Rough In
1st TRIP North for New Year's 2019
North For New Year's 2019 Wrap Up
Water Leak Discovered
Next

Congrats!

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Oops deleted accidentally.

Welcome to the fun! We're really excited to watch your conversion as it happens!

We used a hatch door similar to what you're looking at, although a different size. We use our for a small window air conditioner. We just put the AC in when we need it. When not in use, the hatch is just closed. The hatch door can be seen here. It's called a "Baggage Door", and is at the bottom of the page.: https://www.teardroptrailerparts.com/pricing.html
You can see a picture of it on our CTC in our build thread here: http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=70312&start=15

Make sure you post lots of pictures as you go -- folks here enjoy watching new builds come to life. Enjoy!

Margali, Howdy;

Welcome to the madness.

Generally those have a space behind them for the cord to be stowed in.
Butt ... some choose to have a female plug in it to plug into then a short
run of wire to the electric center.
When installing the Hatch you can use the Butyl putty tape to keep the outside,
outside.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Putty-Tape/23856621

Handling tip, freeze the Butyl tape before using, especially when it's warm outside.

hank

The kids testing out their bunk space. It will be a triple stacker. That and hubby being 6'3" is why we got a 7' trailer.


The space shown is 30" wide by 4.5' long. I think I will extend to 5' long. That should still give enough room to get in door comfortably. The square marked out next to bunk is where the utility cabinet will be.

Margali, Howdy;


Unless ya missed it those bedroom test pilots have a tendency to stretch out and end up
like the 6'3" builder. Just takes a Summer, some rain, and rollin' in some sort of soil ...



hank

LOL. They grow soo much! Trying to work out compromise for enough room to get in door and decent bunk. Most of the time these will be shelves full of equipment.

I decided to test out hammocks for my build. They dont take up space, kids think they are cool, and we can always string one outside the trailer in fall camping. Of course mom and I have a queen mattress.

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Hubby will need the shelves when trailer is in work mode for his tools. We decided to make them full length and just a tad narrower to avoid the door, 6'8" x ~24".

Pictures of end of day 2. All the ceiling foam is cut and in position except last bay. Mis-cut so it won't self support in the nice pocket where roof and wall meet. Once we get 1" actual furring strips ripped the foam will be pressed into bays and cracks Great Stuffed. I got the "Windows and Doors" type I think that is the lower expansion and won't bow roof.

Your camper quality control team members are just TOO CUTE! Good thing you got the photo of them lying perfectly still in the camper -- you probably won't see much of that once you're all out camping!

Your trailer is looking great! Looks like it's turned into a fun family project.

So today was short work day since I have all 3 chaos generators. I only got trim and one siding panel off. Pretty much what I was expecting to find: unpainted studs, crimp connectors, and gap in corner. I didn't expect siding to be so wavy along bottom edge.

Plan is rust converting primer on studs. I will get non-silicon sealant and seal wavy edge of siding to trailer frame from both sides. I think husband can remove the crimp connectors, solder, and shrink wrap. I will ask when he gets home. I'm all research, planning, and building except electrical. That crap makes no sense to me.

So wrapping up another weekend. We purchased a LG LT0816CERY7 8,000 BTU thru wall ac from surplus guy. Someone was crappy with the forklift so Best Buy sold off the pallet load. Minor fin damage but blows cold and have 90 day warranty from seller.

I got all the exposed studs sprayed with the Rustoleum Auto primer. That stuff reeks and mask is definitely required. Debating on buying a full face like I had a work cause the half face with glasses sucks. I still have the glasses on a stick insert for my old 3M 3500.

Ran into two issues which we are going to fix ASAP. The 3/4" plywood triangles for front were mis-cut and don't reach the frame. Also the aluminum to diamond nose trim isn't sealed very well. That and all the other gaps will get OSI Quad. Seems like a lot of people have good luck with that. So the roof, front nose, and approx 8' of the driver side will be insulated. That is the stopping point till the budget stops screaming.

Not a ton of progress. Foam is fitted in the open section and husband will be fixing the wiring. I keep changing my mind about interior layout and where AC will go. Sigh, cutting holes in trailer is hard!

The deadline has been figured out. Shakedown tour to Grandma in Oklahoma will be Labor Day weekend, August 29th thru Sept 3rd (800mi round-trip). That should give us time for any fixes before the fall ramble. Houston ,TX to Minnesota and back. Looking to be 17 days and 4000 miles.

Have everything ready to cut out opening for thru-wall AC. Gulp. My plan is to cut the aluminum skin slightly smaller that the sleeve to match the open area in the AC grate. That gives a nice mating surface for caulking vs the very thin edge of the sleeve. The sleeve will be pressed against inside of the aluminium skin. The cut studs will be braced with 1" of plywood cut so there is cavity wide section and part that fits down each side of the cut stud. Like a C with back upwards.


NOTE: This design didn't work! Leaked badly one year after install. viewtopic.php?f=42&t=71794&start=30#p1263657