"The Simple" 5 Wide

[mcwbyu82]

No that won't be all the spars. That was just what I got out of the 2x4's I had left on hand. Need to pick up a few more. Wanted to get these ripped though so i can start installing the next couple nights.

Regarding your side note of my AWESOME sticker, yeah I am both an alum and former employee.
If it makes you feel any better though my current boss is a Ute too

[mcwbyu82]

Got a little bit done last night. Drilled and countersunk all my holes for attaching the sidewalls to the cleats as well as all the spars along the roof. Didn't do the spars down the front/back yet cause still making some decisions there.

Screwed the walls in with just 4 screws on each side for now and put in 2 spars as a dry fit. Man getting that first spar in is tough by yourself. Easy after that because the walls doth want to tip out on ya.

On the road all weekend but hope to spend a good chunk Monday building my bulkhead and then gluing/screwing the walls and rest of spars

[mcwbyu82]

So it decided to blizzard in Denver so we got snowed out and came home early last night. That meant build time this afternoon and evening

Made another HD run for 3 more 2x4's (for spars) and a sheet of 1/2 OSB for the bulkhead/bunk platform.

This afternoon I cut and ripped the 2x4's into more spars and cut the sheet of OSB into proper size for my bulkhead wall and bunk bed platform.
Had friends over for dinner but after that headed back out to the garage and made some serious progress.


Pulled the walls and temp spars back down and ran some glue along the floor/cleat where the wall meats up.


Got the walls back up with screws in the cleat every 6 inches and started gluing and screwing in the spars.


Drilled a hole in each spar 6" from edge of drivers side for wiring.



Some more spar pics


Oh yeah I almost forgot. I came home yesterday to find my vent fan from ebay had arrived. My heart sunk at first cause the packaging was beat up pretty bad Luckily other than a slight bend on one corner of the mounting plate (easily bent back straight) nothing else was broken. Of course I had to do a dry fit to see how it looked

[mcwbyu82]

Dry fitted my bulkhead wall and bunk bed platform. Really happy with the space were ending up with both for our feet underneath and headroom for the bunk.


Bunk bed platform


From the rear. Slide out galley will go there

[mcwbyu82]

Bump for thread name change

Realized that when doing searches on this forum a very descriptive thread title is very helpful so wanted to provide that.

[Robbie]

The build is looking good! I like the space your rear bunk has. Will any little kids be sleeping up there or will it be just for storage? With my wife pregnant and due in July I'm thinking of pulling out my rear shelf and putting in a wider "bunk" platform with side rails for when our son is big enough to camp. If we don't end up upgrading trailers entirely that is.

A suggestion I have, or more a concern, is to maybe try and bulk up a couple of the spars that span the roof. With how your roof is going to be a large flat surface it may sucomb to some sagging over time. Or if snow or water sits on it for a while. With other designs that have the curved corners it kind of adds some strength to the roof structure. I'm worried that with how flat yours is it may sag. I would think about doubling up a few spars or getting some 1/4" x 1" aluminum bar to screw to the side of a couple spars for added support. Just a suggestion...

But keep up the good progress!!!

[mcwbyu82]

The bunk is for our boys indeed. For now it will be for our 3 year old. He test fit it yesterday on the driveway after i had cut it out. Bummed I didnt get a picture.
When our 1 year old is old enough I plan on adding an extension about 16" wide and they both can sleep up there.

Interesting thought on the spars. I will end up with double spars at every "corner" so that should help. Hadn't considered aluminum or anything.

[mcwbyu82]

More progress yesterday and today.

Beefed up the framing for the bunk




Notched the bulkhead wall to fit around the cleats etc.


Got the bunk all installed and secured.


Then did some test fitting




Looks like it will work great with room to grow

[mcwbyu82]

I know i know I know. Been way too long. We're in the heart of baseball season so I am super busy. Games every week and half of the time I am on the road. But made some progress today.
A few weeks ago I had a couple hours and got a few pieces cut to size for my interior ceiling. They sat around for a while but after the game today i decided enough was enough and I was going to get at least a couple installed.

This was for sure the hardest job do solo so far. Nothing complicated about it just awkward trying to hold a 5' by 4' panel above your head, in position and fasten it in place.

But in the end i was succesfull

First I brushed wood glue along the bottom surface of all the spars.

Then I positioned the panel in place best I could and shot a couple staples in just to very temporarily hold it up while I got a few screws in.
I used panhead scews spaced every 6". Seem to provide for a nice tight fit all around.

The first section installed


A close up of my fasteners


From above


This front piece was the big one. Made use of a few clamps to hold it up till i got the screws in


The full ceiling installed


Another close up of my screws


Cut out for the vent. Used the tried and true "drill a hole in each corner the zip around with jig saw" method. Worked like a charm