Is 12 foot too long?

[RetchedOne]

We have a few goals with our build.
It needs to fit a queen mattress ( 64" x 80" )
Onboard propane - Tongue mounted tank
6 gallon water heater
2 burner stove built in
(possibly a stove combo)
Outside shower hookup
- something like this http://www.amazon.com/Dura-Faucet-DFSA1 ... =rv+shower
Onboard water tank w/pump
Small sink in the Galley
Onboard grey water tank
Roof top fan
Ability to add a rooftop A/C unit later (when budget allows)
Will add a few solar panels to the roof at a later date. We like to camp in the sticks from time to time
LED lighting
Shore power from a 4045 PD panel
Plan to use Raka epoxy, tape the seams and coat it in a grey monstaliner.
henrys on the bottom.

I picked up a old 18 foot travel trailer axle that i'll cut down and move the axles on
- It's a tandem right now, still undecided on keeping it a tandem. Leaning towards keeping it tandem for blowout safety if the wife is driving.
- The frame is 68" outside frame rail to outside frame rail

I've drawn up a 12" x 6'8" thats 5 foot tall, front has a 24" radius, back is squared off
Back door will open Up with a hurricane hinge.
- Not sure how to seal this yet. Still looking for trim/seal ideas.
The trailer frame site 14" off the ground, this should give me about 6'2" of head room under the rear door.

I wanted a place to build a tongue box, so i left 26 inches up front. This will be either a diamond plate box, or a built box to match the trailer.

So the Box is 12 foot, the front deck is 26" the tongue is 34" This put it at 17 foot total length, 5"8 wide.
12 foot give us room for the Mattress. Gives teh Galley plenty of depth for cabinets, and room inside for cabinets, water tank, LCD tv on the wall etc.

Floor will be insulated with 1.5"
Walls will be 1/8th BB Luan sandwiched between 1" foam.
Ceiling will be 1.5" foam.
(We camp in washington year round at times)

We will tow with a 2007 Xterra, plenty of power for this. It hauled out 1998 18' jayco with no issues.
Father owns a cabinet business and gets luan for about 12 bucks a sheet delivered and a great price on everything else.

Feedback greatly appreciated!

[drhill]

for what little my opinion is worth I think 12 feet would be just right to include the luxuries you listed. The tanks and water heater can be close to the axle.

As for tandem axle, it would be interesting to hear a few opinions. I have several single axle trailers of various types but don't own a tandem axle. I have towed a borrowed tandem axle car hauler and it sure towed nice. But so do my single axle trailers. At first thought, having a redundant wheel on each side seems like a great idea. But the tandem axle is harder to maneuver in tight areas and wears out twice as many tires. If you don't need the tandem axle to carry the weight, why waste that rubber. And if you do need the tandem axle to carry the weight, then when you get one flat or blowout the other tire is drastically overloaded and should be replaced (if you follow the manufacturers recommendations).

Cheers

[Chuckles]

Greetings from a fellow Wisconsonite

looks like a nice start. I had similar requirements (minus the water tanks). I also dropped the built in stove... I would rather cook on a side table or picnic table and keep the spatter and food smells out of the camper.

My interior width is 64 inches and its actually too much for the queen mattress. If I did it again I would make it 62 inches wide. If you stretch it another foot or so you can add a small dropped floor at the foot of the bed. It's really nice to be able to step in and out with muddy shoes and get dressed standing up in the camper. I still have lots of interior storage up front and at the back of the camper. Here is the layout for my trailer.



I dropped the galley floor down to the bottom of the frame and with the extra height I put in full upper and lower cabinets... my upper cabinet doors even clear the galley counter by about 8 inches so you don't have to clear the counter to open them.



The nearly finished camper weighs in at 1700 lbs with the mattress, and dishes in the galley . I still have to make a new matching door and interior cabinet doors. I might also make a tongue box. Oh, and I'll be adding larger tires.



Good luck with the build... post lots of pictures.

Chuck

[Shadow Catcher]

Ours is officially 10' closer to 11" and has all of what is on your list as well as the biggest tongue box I could find.

[RetchedOne]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, and the pics!

I really like the compass rose, and will probably draw up another model close to it.

I rounded off the back to see what my initial drawing would look like

[Gold5one]

That's a lot of work. My Weekender-XL build is almost 11ft long. The only extra I would like to add is a sink and 6gal water tank & pump. I'll use a 7- 8 ft piece of 4" pvc for the gray water tank.
I have no galley , it's all inside space.

[Junkboy999]

I like the rounded back end version my self. It looks more like a Benroy. If you draw it out first and plan it well, you should be able to get all in a 10 foot. Nothing wrong with 12’ if you have the room to park and build it.

My planes have everything you listed in a 10' long 5' wide. I might get rid of the sink because I don’t use the little one in my current TD at all.

[kludge]

Move the "camper" portion as far forward on the trailer as possible and put the flat area for gear storage on the back... the closer you get the camper portion to the TV the better... the camper will the ride in the wake of the TV for more MPG... or if you want access to the galley in the rear, shorten the trailer and eliminate the flat area.

I have a utility trailer with a long tongue - it's like dragging a parachute... my minivan drops about 10mpg (25 to 15), and my Jeep drops about 4 mpg (16 to 12).

Measure the width of your tow vehicle, divide by two then put the camper just beyond that. Then no matter how tight you turn backing, you'll never hit the camper, but you'll maximize how far the trailer is in the slipstream of the TV.

[RetchedOne]

I planned on building some sort of truck box on the front... It is kinda a thought in progress. I'd like the storage but can see it will hinder mpg. I need to draw up a box like some build and see how it will be positioned.

[kludge]

or make a big interior "closet"

[RetchedOne]

We decided to go the cargo trailer conversion route, Just made sense to us for our wants/needs at this time.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=62399

Thanks for all the input!

[JeffofCT]

With the PD 4045, do you ground the negative side of the circuites to the battery and the battery to the frame?