5X9 ORAFT Build

[Onajourney]

no monumental progress just time consuming tasks like sealing the box. I took Tony's advice and epoxied the whole thing. In the process I found a bunch of the screws were not totally seated and when I went to tighten them they stripped. Total junk screws I got on Amazon. Never seen a wood screws do that before. It took a while but I replaced them.





Made the battery box and epoxied that too before installing.



One area of concern was where the exterior wall meets the frame.



I siliconed it.



Got this cool little wired GPS tracker on a lightning deal on amazon for $21. monthly plan is only $6/ month. I have not thought through how I am going to power it but I can deal with that later. There are a ton of these types of trackers nowadays. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KDZ57HC?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

[Onajourney]

The number one requirement for the trailer was AC. I am in the south and I am done with camping in a hot tent. I spent many hours trying to figure out where to mount it and this is what I came up with. I saw someone do something like this somewhere that I can't remember a while back.



I bought the smallest truck box and cut the back off.





Then I made a makeshift brake and bent a 1" lip to mount it.





Worked perfect. I plan on taking the AC out and using the space for storage or a heater in the cooler months.





Finished the battery box







The most exciting progress is starting to skin!!





After I got the passenger side skin up I said "wait a minute, the color looks just like the drawing I did". By just coincidence it's a perfect match. Strange..I really wasn't sure the color green I got till this weekend when I unwrapped it off the pallet, which is no less than 350 lbs.



Well, my trim order came a week early. I am excited to finish skinning and getting the trim on.

[Onajourney]

It's all skinned and trimmed, less the hatch I need to make. The aluminum sheets were heavier than I thought they would be (.04) and the trim was very easy to cut and bend. I cut it in my compound miter saw with a wood blade. I am now a firm believer that if it cuts or routs wood, you can use it on aluminum.

The aluminum sheets were a breeze to cut with a trim router and one of the three flush cut bits I got on amazon for $17 for all three. I needed to use a lot of WD40 to keep the bit moving and I am pretty sure I will be finding aluminum glitter in my shop for years to come.

Installed and tested the marker lights and the exterior porch lights. You may take note the porch lights are much lower than most. I mock tested height with my wife and we both agreed we did not need light glaring in our face. I highly recommend this height.

I used butyl tape on the trim screwed face and a bead of butyl chalk on the leg. I am thinking this should be good to go without any exterior chalking.







One screwup is where the roof trim meets the hurricane hinge. Ended up making a small trim patch under. No biggy



Moving onto the interior walls now that all the exterior wiring is complete.

[Onajourney]

Got all the insulation installed. I wasn't very exact installing the blocking so cutting and fitting the insulation was a PITA.



Got 3 coats of poly on the interior walls and I love the way they look. You really can't tell but they are cut to fit. I did a dry fit and they are near perfect so I will not need any trim in the corners. I redesigned where the seam on the 9' wall is going a now I am 2' short of walnut ply. I need to spend $100 and 3 hours driving to get another whole sheet for 2'. I ended up putting the seam behind the bulkheads wall where I should have figured from the start.



The last thing I need to do before gluing up the walnut is install T nuts for the roof rack mounts and AC box cover in the front. I am fabbing the roof rack myself. More on that later.

Ordered the Maxxfan Ouch.. Wife "wait, the AC was $150 and the fan was $340?" Me " don't ask".

[Onajourney]

Made roof rack mounts and switch plates that I am getting powder coated. Using the 1/4" rubber as a seal and spacer to miss the roof trim.



I must say drilling into the trailer is nerve racking. I triple checked measurement and got all the roof rack holes drilled.



Countersunk all the T nuts



At this point I realized I had not measured the fan to roof rack cross member clearance. I got real lucky and it misses by 1/2". That could have been disastrous. Moved onto getting the interior walls up with the same method as the ceiling. No fasteners just PL3.





Sides done and look great.





Up next is the hatch build.

[Squigie]

What kind of bendy straws are you using for bracing there?
I can't make out if it is steel or wood.

[Onajourney]

What kind of bendy straws are you using for bracing there?
I can't make out if it is steel or wood.

1/2" PVC

[western traveler]

I haven’t looked in for a while. Great progress!
I purchased a Trak-4 as well. Paid for a year subscription. I hard wired it and hid most of the run in a bundle of other wires to not be so obvious where it is mounter\d.
Here is a little heads up from my experience. I downloaded the app from iPhone App Store. It looked so official. It worked really well for many months then while I was away from my TD one day it wouldn’t load location.
So when I got back I retrieved the key code and got the signal back up. Unfortunately it began tracking my phone instead of the GPS unit. Crazy. I finally turned to their support. The app isn’t theirs. It’s 3rd party. Through a convoluted process support eventually sent the correct link to a YouTube video of how to get the proper app and widget from Trak-4.com
Maybe you got it correct from the get go

[Onajourney]

Thanks for the heads up Western Traveler. I have not set it up yet. Being it draws hardly anything, I am going to install it in the battery box under the trailer directly to the battery before the main shutoff. They say it it can run for a year on its internal battery if it is not moving much. We shall see.

[Squigie]

What kind of bendy straws are you using for bracing there?
I can't make out if it is steel or wood.

1/2" PVC

Ah. Makes sense. I can see the lighting and end profiles now.


My bendy straw reference was entirely correct and I didn't even know it.

[western traveler]

I am going to install it in the battery box under the trailer directly to the battery before the main shutoff. They say it it can run for a year on its internal battery if it is not moving much. We shall see.

I think it needs to be free of certain materials like metal as the signal needs to be unencumbered. Mine works through a couple layers of wood and our garage down south. Not in the steel roofed garage up here in Montana. Something to just keep in mind.
Ralph

[Onajourney]

Build has seemingly slowed but things are getting more tedious and time consuming. Finished the roof rack bracket and switch plates to get powder coated.



Finished the Maxxfan install. I kind of screwed up the finished trying to remove the sticker glue with acetone. a big no no. I should have know better. It's not that bad but damn, it's a $340 fan .



Finished getting the AC cover / interior nook installed. I am going to make a wooden insert when I don't need the AC installed. I figure I can put a small electric heater in there when it's real cold. This looks easier than it was. getting all the holes and count sunk T bolts was tricky because I used 1/4 -20 bolts and only drilled 1/4 holes that I sealed prior to tightening. Used butyl tape and proflex type sealant in between the exterior and box. Confidence is high it will hold water.





Last night I finally finished the stargazer window. It came out as good or better than I planned. I brought a piece of the BB to the paint store and they matched pretty good for the paint on the interior space where the shade will go. (that shade maybe trickier than I thought).











NOW I can get going on the hatch!

[Squigie]

Looking good.

Finished the Maxxfan install. I kind of screwed up the finished trying to remove the sticker glue with acetone. a big no no. I should have know better. It's not that bad but damn, it's a $340 fan

I did this to an oily tool body a couple years ago. A tool that handles powdered chemicals that can contain up to 10% acetone, but chemicals that react very poorly to oil residue.
I started wiping it down with acetone, only to feel the plastic soften and smear.
I expected an acetone-safe thermoplastic, since the thing is designed to come into contact with traces of several types of solvents, including acetone. It was not. Now it is ugly and rough. Luckily, it did not affect function.

[philpom]

That's looking fantastic, can't wait to see it complete!

[Onajourney]

That's looking fantastic, can't wait to see it complete!

Thanks Phil. I am having a blast and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.