Haulmark 6x12 low profile camper conversion

[txcamper]

Hi all,

I'm new to the CT conversions area of the board. We sold our teardrop a couple months ago and we were going to camp in the truck, but I stumbled across this trailer searching for a simple utility trailer and I couldn't pass it up.

Purpose: Campable CT with stow away options for all furniture and fixtures. I needed a useful trailer for mowers, moving, junk runs, etc so the CT will be used as a CT most of the time, but we really miss the comfort of the teardrop so we're planning a dual purpose use.

We have a camping trip in 7 days so build one will be a basic galley, a bed and hopefully a bench using free lumber from a family member that they need hauled off after a windstorm created the need for a new roof.

Build two will be nicer cuts, more features and a combination of hinges and e-track solutions so I can fold away the camping setup and use the trailer as built. I put up more pictures than posts on my TD build so I'm hoping I can do the same here.

As with the TD, this area of the forum is an abundance of information so I thank all of you who have gone before me!

Here is the trailer as purchased, I'll post pictures of progress here as well (I'm vertically challenged, and rarely spend time indoors when camping except to sleep so the low profile was not a concern to me):

[Gonefishin]

Looks like a great frame to start with. Another Haulmarker! You'll probably get spoiled with all the extra room and creature comforts compared to your TD. I originally thought of keeping mine "dual use," and it still is, but I haven't folded up or removed anything in quite a while now. Its become 98 percent my camper, and once in a blue moon I'll remove the bed to haul something. Didn't take long for it to feel much more like home than a dual purpose trailer. Looking forward to seeing what you do with yours.

[txcamper]

Gonefishin - thanks, I saw your post about the sideways bed and copied that idea.


We are ready to camp!

I have about 5 hours of semi-focused build time so far.

Galley area is deep enough for under counter cooler storage.



Bed is a little short using the width of the trailer minus the wall panels but should be fine for my height. I set the plywood flush with the top of the frame 2x4s to gain the extra 1.5" of each for 3" more platform. Ended up with 51" width of the standard 54" wide double bed. Mattress is two 1.5" full size bed memory foam mattress covers. I chose those because it's better than plywood and easier to pack away each independently than to pack away a single 3 or 4" mattress.



The "living room" chairs will get replaced with a 2'x5' bench before we take a trip with our son, that will double as a place to sit and his bed.

[txcamper]

We're starting our project back up, and this time we're throwing the 'dual purpose' out the window. We plan to do a permanent conversion to a camper now with a galley on the back and a bed, bunk bed and bathroom/changing room inside with various built in storage. I'm going to add heat and a/c and set up for both 12v and 110 electricity. We have also found that we are damaging the lower corners on the trailer because of where we have been camping so a suspension lift is in the plan.

Our next planned trip is in February, I do NOT plan to be completed but would at least like the galley and bed useable.

This is our initial design/planning, updates to follow, but they will likely be slow...

[txcamper]

We started framing on the galley this week.

Hoping to frame the galley, bed, bunk bed and bathroom before Monday. We'll then paint the inside before installing any other wood that will be either stained or painted a color different than the walls. A little progress is always good, but we're still shooting for paint, galley and main bed being completed before our February trip.

[professorkx]

Very cool. Love to see builds so I can "steel" ideas.

[Spotman]

Looking good, good way to end and start the year. I too like to look at others to "borrow" ideas too. Even though mine came ready to go from the last person who owned it, you have many thoughts and ideas of your own. I have made a few mods, will be doing a few more once the weather warms up, these old bones don't like cold weather!




Bob

[txcamper]

Thanks guys, please borrow away! I've borrowed so much from this site, just trying to give back a little!

I did a little more framing in the cabin, just our bed and our son's bunk. His bunk is short, just the width of our queen bed but I did a little researching online and (based on children's height averages) it should last him 4 or 5 more years before I need to get him a longer bed solution. Making it shorter gave me more options for support and room for more storage.


This is probably NOT the way you're supposed to build cabinets, but after picking our food cooler (the fridge) I'm now building around those dimensions. The uprights are glued and attached with pocket hole screws, we're winging it and redesigning as we go through the build. If you look through the galley framing, you can see the corner bathroom also framed up in the cabin area.

[txcamper]

We made some more progress last night.

Galley updates, sorry about the blurry picture on this one. We faced the cabinet and added the upper wall cover.


Finished up some more framing in the cabin area.


The panoramic image that makes it look like we have way more square footage than reality.

[txcamper]

I have been researching lift options and I could only find 3" lifts and those were $80 plus tax and possibly shipping depending on where I purchased the lift. I wanted a 4" lift and I wanted to spend less so I went to the local steel supplier and bought 2 1' long pieces of 2x4x.25 wall rectangle tubing for $20, brought it home and measured about 10 times before drilling the holes and then primed and painted them before installing under the trailer. I had a buddy help so we could remove the axle and work on it away from the trailer which helped tremendously. Add another $5 in bolts and I had my 4" lift for $25.

Pictures of the process and the after lift test drive:

[txcamper]

We have completed as much as we can before the next trip.

Still working on some of the storage cabinet/shelves, we made a proper sized and much more stable base for one of the retail tripod camp toilets you can buy and I bent up some 3/4" EMT and welded on some end tabs to use as a hanger for the bathroom door. The bunk bed is going to need a better reinforcement in the middle, I'm probably going to use some angle iron to keep it from bowing and it will double as the mount for a short bed rail to keep little man from landing on us at night.

We're going to be on harbor freight battery powered lights for this trip. When we get back I'm looking forward to a couple deep cycle 12v batteries and wiring in the 12v lights and power ports.

Our 6" foam queen mattress arrived so we just need to trim it a little shorter to match the trailer width and we'll be good to go!

Pictures tell the story better than I can, I'll try and get some pictures of the trailer out in the wild when we go camping: