Modern Off-road Trailer Build

[mhnudi]

A bit more progress over the last few days, first were a few miscellaneous items.

The trailer was getting a little heavy for me to move around so I decided to go ahead and replace the foot of my weld-on tongue jack with a large wheel to make things a little easier. Curt makes this one that fits the standard 2” jack so it was a easy swap, just cut off the foot and drill 2 holes to fit on the replacement.


Another thing I had been meaning to do was to finish riveting the aluminum flashing around the AC unit penetrations. The VHB tape I used to initially secure it was probably fine, but I felt better on these knowing that it was permanently secured. While I was doing this, I also added some clear tubing to the two condensate drains coming from the unit to make sure that the condensate was being released below the base of the trailer.


And then on to some of the water system work. I had initially planned to put the pump and the expansion tank into the area beneath the sink in the galley, but decided to save some space and minimize the chance of a major leak by placing these items below the trailer. This will allow for the only water to be inside the trailer are tubes directly going to the water heater, sink, and the shower. This harbor freight pelican case knock off was a nearly perfect fit for the city water connection, the 12v water pump, and the expansion tank. The outlet of the expansion tank will go up into the trailer and branch off to the 3 appliances.


Finally, I got a couple more pieces of the exterior wall assembled. I started with the very front, which was tricky because it angled away from the trailer around 8 degrees, and all 4 sides had to be cut with the saw at an angle to allow the pieces to line up right.


After that piece was installed, I moved on to the side that had the wall and slowly worked my way down to the correct dimension until there was a tight fit. This piece took a while to cut out because the two sides were cut at a 30 degree angle on the saw, and were also angles on the piece itself which made cutting things a bit tedious.


And with that installed the angles of the camper are starting to take shape and it’s easier to picture the interior space.

[Onajourney]

Man! You are moving right along and it's looking great. I too need to change to the wheel type. You reminded me of one other thing I probably need to change. I put my trailer tongue lift too far back. It is in the way of the tongue tray I want to add later.

[mhnudi]

Man! You are moving right along and it's looking great. I too need to change to the wheel type. You reminded me of one other thing I probably need to change. I put my trailer tongue lift too far back. It is in the way of the tongue tray I want to add later.

Thanks! Looks like you are making lots of good progress on yours as well. Mine is just barely too far back but I think I’m going to just live with it. It’s just close enough to the front face that when rotating the handle you bang your knuckles if you aren’t careful, lol. It’s not a big enough issue yet to make me want to move it, but one of those things that you’ll definitely remember for a future build!

[twisted lines]

Carry on!

[mhnudi]

Time to make a little progress on the galley area. First thing we did was lay down some of the corrugated ACM paneling underneath where the galley would go, since if there were to be a small leak this is the most likely location for it. The arrangement from left to right is the combi heater, the dometic fridge, and then the sink.



The dividers were installed using pocket screws over top the ACM paneling into the flooring.



Next was the install of the countertops. This is one of the options from Ikea which was cut down to fit. The fiberboard core makes it reasonably lightweight and has a nice look overall which my wife liked. On the right side, I added a 14x14” cutout for the sink to drop into and did a test fit with the sink/faucet.



Finally the divider wall was installed which was done using pocket holes again like the other galley components.



The plan next is to build the slide out base for the fridge, and then start building the face frame/cabinets to finish out the galley area.

[mhnudi]

Today the focus was on the drawer slide out for the dometic fridge. We ended up going with the CFX3 55IM to give us a bit more space, and the added benefit of making some ice cubes is a pretty nice feature. To start off, we installed these 20” heavy duty locking drawer slides from amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LQJYGNW?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details). These were probably over the top but we won’t ever have to worry about overloading the fridge. We installed these flush with the front of the floor since the angled back end will allow for enough room for the locking handle to stick out.



I ended up making a simple metal base for the fridge in order to use up as little space on either said to make sure there was room at the bottom for the fridge to fit. This was mostly pieces left over from construction of the trailer itself.


After doing a test fit I realized we needed some recessed foot supports added to the base to support the cooler in the right locations. So these tabs were added on and then the whole thing got a coat of primer/matte black paint.



The fit is certainly tight but the fridge does fit and that’s what matters. It’s getting exciting as more and more parts start getting added to the trailer, and my wife is getting very excited now that it’s starting to look like something. Hopefully with the rest of the holiday weekend I’ll be able to make the other drawers and the face frame for the cabinets to finish off the lower half of the galley.

[JasenC]

It's coming along nicely and looks great, love the angles.

[mhnudi]

It’s been a bit slower going the last few days, mostly waiting on a few smaller parts to come in to keep moving forward with the plumbing and electric before continuing on the framing. It’s also been raining most days and I need to use my driveway to cut some more of the ACM paneling and plywood to finish out the galley area.

In the meantime, I was able to install the plug for the fridge and get the fridge in place. I also installed some trim on the back bottom corner that you can see here as well.


The sink is installed now as well and got the hot and cold water lines run over to it and secured. Since I’m using push-fit fittings for the tubing, I’m trying to anchor each side of a connection to minimize the chance for leaks over time.


Hopefully by next weekend I’ll have the rear galley area mostly completed and ready to start working on the interior of the main cabin.

[twisted lines]

I am using a similar floor pattern soon 10Ft isn't enough! &
I found my mileage went down a (lot) on the flat straight highway's

[noseoil]

Moving along nicely. I like the approach used for your water system & the fridge setup. Lots of progress, but lots of systems to track, locate & integrate into a small trailer!

[mhnudi]

Moving along nicely. I like the approach used for your water system & the fridge setup. Lots of progress, but lots of systems to track, locate & integrate into a small trailer!

Yes having a lot of stuff packed into the trailer has slowed things down just a bit, but I’m still making a bit of progress. The water is basically done now minus the below trailer connections from the water tanks to the pump. I’m now waiting on the rest of the electrical components to make it in and then will be able to move on to installing all of that. After that, I think the “construction” aspect will move along pretty quickly.

The exterior walls have no been installed and there’s been a bit more progress on the kitchen area:

[tony.latham]

I just watched a video on the installation of a Truma Combi. Does it have to be plugged into a 120 volt circuit or will it also run on 12 volts?

Looking good... :thumbs-up:

Tony

[mhnudi]

I just watched a video on the installation of a Truma Combi. Does it have to be plugged into a 120 volt circuit or will it also run on 12 volts?

Looking good... :thumbs-up:

Tony

This one has 12v just for control power but the main power is setup for 120v connection. I will be connecting this for 120 but also for propane which is likely going to be our main mode of operation. It can be run off of electric only, propane only, and two different combinations in different proportions of propane/electric.

We will have to see the type of power draw this uses when not actively heating the air and just maintaining the hot water since it’s bit hard to estimate based on the spec sheet. Based on the propane only consumption specs, we expect to be able to use this for several trips off the installed tank, but time will tell on that as well.

[tony.latham]

It can be run off of electric only, propane only, and two different combinations in different proportions of propane/electric.

Gotcha and thanks. :thumbs-up:

Tony

[mhnudi]

Well it’s been a bit slow the last several weeks due to work travel as well as waiting for the electric components to all arrive. With that, the electric is completed just pending running the rest of the wires to the individual AC and DC appliances. I ended up with 3 100ah batteries which I got in an open box condition for about half the full price from battleborn. With that, we decided to just go with the 300ah for now, with room to add more later if need be.


I also went ahead and tested out the solar panels now that I had the smart solar charge controller installed and they worked out great. Still trying to decided if I’ll wire them in series or parallel for the final installation.


And finally, I went ahead and wired up the galley outlet as well as the 12v fridge plug and had to give it a go. And success! Although I had been testing everything throughout the install, it was great to see things actually turn on at the end of it all.


Up next will be to start the rest of the interior framing for the front of the camper. I’m hoping now that I’ve dealt with all the nitpicky stuff, the woodworking aspect of the project will move along quickly. There will be 1” foam insulating lining around all front walls, and then I will start building out the cabinets and rear divider wall between the living quarters and the electrical area.