M116A3 Build

[noseoil]

I vote for one panel at a time. That's all you can do anyway, so just plan on getting one done & stopping, unless there's more time. I tarped my build with 2 tarps each time, so it adds time to things, but I didn't want any water getting in before it was time. PITA, but it's better than dealing with water damage & rot.

I wouldn't use tin snips, just a saber saw & metal blade. Make sure to protect the surface from scratches as any metal bits between the shoe & surface will scratch things (cheap duct tape works).

About the cold, I had the heat to deal with on mine, you have the cold, 6 of one & a half dozen of another. There are only so many articles of clothing you can remove before being arrested in the heat....

[S. Heisley]

About the cold, I had the heat to deal with on mine, you have the cold, 6 of one & a half dozen of another. There are only so many articles of clothing you can remove before being arrested in the heat....

[lfhoward]

Thanks to everyone who responded with suggestions and encouragements!!

There is not much progress to report in the meantime... End of the semester is crazy busy for us college professors, so I haven't had a moment to work on it. I am keeping the batteries charged and topped off, and periodically checking the tarps for leaks, and no issues so far.

The weather we have had the last few weeks has been really atypical for December. Yesterday it was 70 degrees F! I have never experienced a December this warm in PA. If I wasn't so busy, I could be out working on it in a T-shirt.

Looking forward to winter break! After holiday travel, I should be able to get some work done before classes begin in the spring (weather permitting). I'll keep you all updated.

Have a blessed holiday season!
Lauren

[S. Heisley]

Happy Holidays to you, too, Lauren! Don't worry about the build. It'll still be there after Christmas.

[noseoil]

Lauren, we're having the cold weather here in Tucson now! It's 29 this morning as I write this, but don't worry, the arctic air will be available as soon as you have time to work on the build, it never fails. Hope there's some progress made during break, but spring will be a good time to start.

I can still remember those March & April months outside Philadelphia. The gray, damp clammy gloom in school, waiting for the sun to warm things up and make some green on the trees. I think I prefer the sunny days we have where I live now, in spite of the heat.

[lfhoward]

Here's a quick update. No actual construction to report, just keeping the batteries charged and the trailer dry under the tarps for the time being. The updates I have in mind for the trailer are all in the planning stages. I've had a while to think about the interior layout and decided I am going to make some changes that will make the inside roomier.

1. I'm doing away with the interior cabinet at the head of the bed. This allows the queen mattress to be moved forward about a foot to the front wall. This change will allow me to sit at the foot of the bed and put on my shoes without opening the rear door. It also provides easier access to the cubbies under the benches in the rear of the camper.

2. I'm moving the batteries from the front of the cabin to a battery box on the tongue. This frees up more storage space in the trailer and also allows me to move the mattress forward to the front wall. I haven't decided whether I'm going to build the new tongue box myself or get an aluminum truck box from TSC.

3. I won't be using a ClimateRight/PetCool unit for heating and cooling, as the battery box will now be on the tongue. Instead, an inexpensive vertical space heater will fit nicely at the foot of the bed, in the right rear corner. I can use it when plugged into shore power. When not, there are 12 volt electric blankets for sleeping when it's cold. In terms of A/C in the summer, the space heater could be swapped out for a portable A/C unit, if I choose to go that route. The fantastic fan in the roof might be enough on its own without an air conditioner.

4. The left rear corner, on the opposite side from the space heater, will have a vertical cabinet for storing clothes, towels, and other odds and ends. This corner cabinet will be easier to pack and access than the headboard cabinet that was in my original design.

5. The spare tire will fit nicely under the trailer ahead of the axle. I could secure it to a cross beam with U-bolts, or install a hoist from a junked pickup truck for raising and holding the spare tire in place.

That's all for now. All of these changes are just ideas at the moment, and will remain imaginary for a while. The first task when the weather improves is to skin the trailer in aluminum. Then I can move on to the interior after that.

[lfhoward]

We are expecting 1-2 feet of snow in the Philadelphia region from a big storm on Friday-Saturday, so I have the batteries in the trailer charging to top them off. It's nice to know we have a convenient power source sitting in the driveway if the power goes out in our neighborhood. I'm thinking my 3, group 24 batteries do about 240 amp hours total in the summer, but because of the cold temperatures they might do 160 or so. Still, that's enough to keep cell phones and computers charged and running for a long time.

On an entirely different subject, I brought an old ceramic space heater out to the trailer to see how it does when the trailer is connected to shore power. The space heater made it toasty warm in there in under 10 minutes! The insulation in the trailer works well to hold the heat, even though it is only 25 degrees outside today. I even needed to crack the windows and turn on the fantastic fan. I will find a new space heater soon that I can dedicate to the trailer-- one that has its own thermostat so it won't be on all the time, and that also has a low power setting so it doesn't roast us out.

[lfhoward]

Here's a quick question:

How many of you would buy a battery box for the tongue (like this 30" aluminum box that goes for $130) vs. build your own?


For those who have built your own tongue box or remember someone who did, can you point me to some good threads that show how to get a good watertight seal around the lid? Thanks!

[S. Heisley]

Here's a quick question:

How many of you would buy a battery box for the tongue (like this 30" aluminum box that goes for $130) vs. build your own?


For those who have built your own tongue box or remember someone who did, can you point me to some good threads that show how to get a good watertight seal around the lid? Thanks!

When you have a question like the above, you might do better to put it in Teardrop Construction Tips & Techniques as you would probably get more answers and examples, which could be beneficial to you.

[Vedette]

Here's a quick question:

How many of you would buy a battery box for the tongue (like this 30" aluminum box that goes for $130) vs. build your own?


For those who have built your own tongue box or remember someone who did, can you point me to some good threads that show how to get a good watertight seal around the lid? Thanks!

If you can buy that box for $130.00.........then there should be no question here!
BUY IT!
As, unless you find someone in Prison or in China.........you can't have that made for that price?
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[dales133]

Yea thats a pretty good price.
Im paying $88.00 an hour and $140.00 a sheet for the sheetwork im getting done

[lfhoward]

Sharon, that's good advice. Thank you. More people will see a post there than might read my build journal thread.

Vedette and Dales133, sounds like an enthusiastic yes, get the aluminum toolbox! I may just do that, but it will need to wait until tax refund time. I've used up the big chunk of change I originally saved up for this trailer project, so the rest of the build needs to come out of the grocery budget or (more likely) the tax refund. The interior cedar cladding and the birch plywood ceiling are also yet to be purchased.

Even though expensive bits may have to wait for a little while, today I got out there and completed a mini project. I had a spare hour and a half, and the weather was nice, so... I wired up a 120 volt AC outlet in the back of the trailer in one of the storage cubbies. This will allow me to run an electric space heater when connected to shore power, and it will keep the trailer warm as I work on the interior. Eventually I will make a folding shelf for that little electric heater in the rear corner of the trailer, so it will be our "furnace" when we are camped at places with electrical hookups.

[dales133]

Get used to running out of the allocated budget!
Ive done it a few times....not that i realy had one but im spending more than i intended

[lfhoward]

So true! I didn't have a budget planned out per se, but I know how much I had set aside at the beginning and now that's gone. But I am really happy with the trailer so far, and I know I got some good deals along the way for components that would have been 2-3x as expensive if they were new retail. The flatbed trailer came from a government auction, and the wheels and tires, aluminum sheeting, battery charger, inverter, and solar panel & charge controller were all Craigslist acquisitions.

[dales133]

Yea you win on some and others cost far more than intended