Alabama Vintage Build

[KCStudly]

That looks very 'doable'.

[Forrest747]

Here is what i did for teh frame. its 2 inch square tubing for the side, front and cross members. the rear bumper and tongue was 2x3.

have thought about it alot and figured i could do the cross members 1inch square. i would also done a shorter frame, but at the time when designed it i didnt know everything i do now.

Zach uses a harbor freight 4x8 trailer and makes the body 5X10 feet. http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?p=881122#p881122

Good luck

[Mbasaraba]

Wanted to start a spot where I would list my materials, one for myself to keep track and two for others to say, dont forget this part idiot. LoL

I am conscious of weight but want to make sure this is durable and sturdy.

Also want to keep a running tally on how much everything cost in my area.

HF Trailer - $160

1. Walls

2x2s- DBD quantity
6 qty - 3/4" 4x8 plywood (inner skin?)
6 qty - 1/8" plywood (outer skin?)
20 qty - 3/4" insulating foam sheets (thought that 2- 3/4" might be a better route than 1 1/12 inch sheet for slight air gap?)
2 qty - windows (will do searches for these)
1 qty - door (will do searches for source)

2. Floor

3 qty - 3/4 plywood
3 qty - 1 1/2 insulating foam
3 qty - 1/2 plywood
12 qty - 2x2

3. Roof

12 qty - 1x2
4 qty - 1/4 plywood (or other comparable material)
5 qty - 3/4 insulating foam
1 qty - electric vent fan and cover (will do searches for source)

4. Fasteners

20 lbs 1 3/4" screws
10 lbs 1" screws
20 qty - 3/8 20 bolts, nuts, washers

[KCStudly]

Most of the following advice is just from what I have learned from other people's comments after reading the forums for about 3 yrs. now, so opinions may vary. I have a mechanical engineering background, for whatever that my be worth, so I would like to think that I have been able to judge other people's inputs accurately. That said, here we go...

3/4 plywood is very heavy.

If your are doing built up walls, unless you are using the skeleton method, 3/4 is way too much for inner skins. 1/2 inch is probably too much, too.

1/4 outside (max) and 1/8 (or 5 mm... same as 3/16) inside is a good compromise. A lot of people do 1/4 out, 1/4 in and wish that they went lighter. Some people who have done 1/4 out and 1/8 in have wished that they had used 1/8 out as well. (On the other hand, there are plenty who are perfectly happy with 1/4, 3/4, 1/4. Some of the hardcore off road 4x4 guys use 1/2 inch outer skins for puncture resistance, but they are purposely rubbing against tree branches and rocks, and there is a real risk that they will tip their campers over, too.)

On a wider build (6 or 7 ft) I could see 2x (1-1/2) inner wall frame thickness, but at 5 wide 1x flat (3/4 actual with 3/4 insulation) or skeletonized 3/4 ply should be plenty. (I went with 1-1/2 foam because I wanted the strength using the foamie/hybrid method, and because the wife gets cold, but that's "a horse of a different color".)

You should look at some of Doug Hodder's builds. He has done several TD's, small standies, including scratch builds, Scotty restorations (IIRC) and Scotty replicas (incredible work that we should all try to emulate, IMO). Here's his current build.

On the floor, if you are doing just a single layer of ply for a slouchy or standy, then 3/4 is probably not such a bad idea, but if you are doing a built up floor then 5/8, or maybe even 1/2 is good for the top layer (depending on how many xmbrs and how much bracing you use), and nothing, 1/8 or 1/4 is good for the bottom. Some people just seal the deck well and glue or fasten insulation board up w/o any bottom skin. Some people just put the heavier ply where the foot wells are and use lighter stuff under the bed and cabinets.

I babble.

It's a good idea to read as many build journals, and construction tips and techniques threads as you can stand. There is a ton of info in there. Also, the stickies (the threads at the top of each of these forums) are invaluable resources.

[Mbasaraba]

So I decided maybe that was a bit big for a first project and decided to go with a scaled down version.

A lot of people asked me on the van site why I didnt make one shaped like my first gen. I thought that sounded like a good idea so got to work on a model. HF had their 40" x 49" trailer on sale for $160 so I picked one up and am getting ready. (updated BOM to include trailer and price)

Model has a 14" tire but wont be using that size. Mainly I made the model to get dimensions of the body and locations of the angles I will cut.



Will start my trailer assembly tonight.

Would like opinions on acceptable over hang for the floor with this size trailer. Should I extend the tongue 24 inches and the bed forward 24 and back 23 to get a 96 inch bed?

[KCStudly]

I like the overall profile shape of your new sketch.

You're going to want to do a search on TD side door or door placement. The most convenient location for the side door in a TD is centered about where your arse is when you are laying down on the mattress. That way you can sit down in the door, roll on to your back, pull your knees up, and pivot into the prone position without having to crawl in head first, skootch around, and go thru a lot of gyrations to get into bed (or so I have been told). Just make sure that you account for the fender location and all of the trim (leave a little wiggle room, too, cuz things always seem to change a bit from the plan). This is just another one of the reasons that TD axles sometimes get moved back.

[Mbasaraba]

I hear what your saying KC, this is more for novelty then for function when we go to van meets, the van community is a bit odd. Lol

Got my trailer put together and squared the frame. Going to modify the tongue and extend the trailer forward some.

1st, the tongue was REALLY short, nothing a nice piece of 2x2 11 ga. tubing cant fix with A frame supports. This will allow me to extend the bed forward 24 inches which in turn puts the wheels of the trailer in the desired location.

I should add that I plan on welding the frame once I have it all bolted together. While some might use a bolted together frame and feel it is good enough, personally I would feel better with the joints welded. I think the bolt together design is awesome for putting and holding the frame together and getting it square without the use of a ton of clamping, but I will brush all the joints and weld them together once all the pieces are to my liking.

I got on eBay and found some nice toggle twin lighting and I am going to pick up 3 for the cabin. I am looking for some better tube lighting or such for the galley area. I am also looking for some red LED light strips for accents inside the cabin and the galley. I need to start looking up some choices for power distribution.

I have decided that the size of the trailer will be a bit shorter overall than I wanted to begin with but will compensate by having the galley slide out on CNC linear rails. This will allow it to slide very smooth and support more weight while not adding a bunch of weight to the build. I will use 2- 24 inch rails on the top and 2 on the bottom. I have used these rails to construct 2 CNC Plasma tables and some other 2 axis tool holders for our polishing and deburr department here at work and they are SMOOTH.

I will leave enough gap at the bottom of the galley to slide OVER the mattress while in transport or the mattress can be folded while the galley is in.

[Forrest747]

http://www.seasense.com/products/30/shopbrowse

I used this product totally by accident. it has both red and white LED. they also have just white ones as well.

[Mbasaraba]

Ooo I like those! Going to score a couple.

Still want some "Ambient" lighting to hide behind areas to get the glow effect.

[working on it]

Your intended profile and overall size are similar to my build.. As you can see, I angled the front slope back a little more sharply (45 degree angle-my first intent was 35 degrees, to match my van's-HHR- windshield) and extended/replaced/ strengthened the tongue from the original . I added 12" to the front, and 24" to the rear , but to do it over again, I would've made it 24"/24" so I could have a little more front weight bias, and a bigger tongue box . Plus, I moved the doors as close to the fenders as I could, to make room for shelf and storage on and in front of the sloped roofline. . Just enough room inside this 4x8 for a couple for a short stay (we don't get to travel together, one has got to care for the animals at home!).

[Mbasaraba]

Awesome!

Thank you for sharing that, very similar indeed!

[Mbasaraba]

Got my frame squared and welded together. I will leave the bottom bolts and nuts but the top I will remove and use these holes to bolt my floor to the frame.

Got the springs and axles mounted but not tightened. I need to look at how to make sure these are aligned correctly since there is a LOT of slot in the hardware.

I Pulled out a long piece of 2.5 x 2.5 11 gauge square tubing that I will use to extend the tongue on the trailer. I flipped the axle around so the back is now the front. The axle will be 26-28 inches inches from the back of the trailer an overall length (not counting the tongue) of 84 inches which is about 33%. Going to use 1.5 x 1.5 11 guage Angle iron for the A frame of the tongue. I also cut some gussets for the tongue tubing that I will weld into place after I get the tongue on where I want it.

[KCStudly]

I used superbrightleds.com for all of my led lighting and most of my switches. They seemed to have the best pricing I could find, were easy to deal with on line, and I am happy with the product so far.

Be careful to allow for wiring space behind your fixtures. Sometimes the wires and/or connectors need more mounting space behind than is apparent from the available spec's. I had to seek out and buy flag style spade connectors to help minimize the back spacing required for some items. Also, the wire leads usually don't leave from the center of the back of the fixture, so if you want your lights to be in a certain spot, seek out the drawings (if available) and/or get them in hand before making commitments on wire ways. I haven't had any big problems in this regard, but I could have if I had made too many assumptions.

Good luck with your build!

[Mbasaraba]

Thanks for the advice KC, trying to gather my supplies before I start cutting.

[Mbasaraba]

Got my trailer almost done, just need to gusset a few spots. Ended up 60 inches wide x 84 inches long (the bed) with 36 inches for the tongue. I might extend this a bit, not sure.