First post, my 5x10 v-nose build

[tucked]

Picked up my trailer today! Pulls great behind the Jeep. An axle flip will be my first mod so that it is a little bit closer to level because I don't want to drop my hitch anymore than I need to.
Unfortunately, I have a small cabinet job and have to make a piece of furniture before I can commit to starting on this. Hopefully I will get into it by the end of next week. Will update.

Looks great and sharp Jeep! Definitely want to axle flip mine as well... but want to go ahead and do an axle with trailer brake at the same time. Excited to see what all you do.

[tsyj]

OK. Finally got caught up enough to be able to work on the project.

Standard inside ready to be stripped:


This is the light I'm using as a wall pack by the door. Has a photocell and I am switching it so I can black out if I need to


I mounted the light just below eye level. That bad boy is bright when it's on. Just need to see the ground around the door, not light up the entire campsite. Cut in for an outside receptacle under it.


Light and receptacle. I bought a new unbroken cover and am painting it black to match. This was just for testing.


On the side of the trailer, I mounted a french cleat so I can hang a removable work surface when at camp. Here it is going on, and then primed and painted

[tsyj]

Got the wiring done and ran to the sub panel I use. 95% of our camping is car camping. I am going to have a Honda genset for off the grid applications I can plug into. Probably not the norm with most people going DC, but I'm not normal.



Once I took the wall sheating off, there were many gaps that just look like water intrusion issues to me, so I broke out the apprentice foam and filled them up. I'm going to let that dry and cut off flush. that's my stopping point for the day. Hope to get some more time Sunday to start figuring out the Kitchen bulkhead setup.

See the concrete through the floor





Any comments or criticisms at this point? I am all ears.

[MADTRAPPER]

Ru insulating it. Ru painting the floor.


Sent from my iPhone while sitting on toilet.

[tsyj]

Ru insulating it. Ru painting the floor.


Sent from my iPhone while sitting on toilet.

Yes, I am going to insulate the walls, ceiling and floor with 3/4" foam board.

I'm going to put some kind of floor covering down. Most likely a weathered wood vinyl plank similar to this:



The Wife wants the inside "beachy" so, it's going to most likely be a seafoam greenish wall, white ceiling, and those floors.

I'm going to make the mattress platform raised about 6" for a little storage underneath.

[flboy]

Looks good.. While you can.. it may not be a bad idea to take a few screws out of the front floor in the nose so you can pull it out and use it as a template to cut some cardboard (for later) or mark your countertop. It is easy to do now... I always had a hard time matching the curves later.

[Donut757]

Looks good.. While you can.. it may not be a bad idea to take a few screws out of the front floor in the nose so you can pull it out and use it as a template to cut some cardboard (for later) or mark your countertop. It is easy to do now... I always had a hard time matching the curves later.

Genius, every time i think about the front counter, i just imagine the hack job i will do on matching the contours

[McDave]

Hey tsyj,
No criticisms here, I would just like to say it is nice to see someone begin their build in a workmanship like manner. It is apparent that you have experience in the trades, and have planned the work. Now you are working the plan.
I must say that other than the gap issue up front, that looks like a well built trailer. You will love that porch light. It's just so nice to be able to see when you are working or cooking etc.. That looks like it should light it up pretty well. I installed the Starlights Smart light 1000, and it is fantastic. It is a LED type with 200+ lumens but only draws 2.52 watts or .21amps. I can only imagine how bright that unit of yours must be. I don't know about your bug situation this time of year, but you might look for an amber lens. They really help a lot. The bugs go to someone else's camp instead.
One question, is that a standard 6ft height? Pictures can be deceiving.
Well good luck, if you need anything just ask.

McDave

[tsyj]

Looks good.. While you can.. it may not be a bad idea to take a few screws out of the front floor in the nose so you can pull it out and use it as a template to cut some cardboard (for later) or mark your countertop. It is easy to do now... I always had a hard time matching the curves later.

Great idea, thanks!

Hey tsyj,
No criticisms here, I would just like to say it is nice to see someone begin their build in a workmanship like manner. It is apparent that you have experience in the trades, and have planned the work. Now you are working the plan.
I must say that other than the gap issue up front, that looks like a well built trailer. You will love that porch light. It's just so nice to be able to see when you are working or cooking etc.. That looks like it should light it up pretty well. I installed the Starlights Smart light 1000, and it is fantastic. It is a LED type with 200+ lumens but only draws 2.52 watts or .21amps. I can only imagine how bright that unit of yours must be. I don't know about your bug situation this time of year, but you might look for an amber lens. They really help a lot. The bugs go to someone else's camp instead.
One question, is that a standard 6ft height? Pictures can be deceiving.
Well good luck, if you need anything just ask.

McDave

Thanks McDave. Good idea on the amber lens. I'll see what I can do to make that work if bugs get out of hand. Knock on wood, but we are usually close to the beach and the breeze seems to keep them at bay.

The trailer is actually shorter than standard at 4'-6" inside. From the beginning, I didn't need one that I was going to stand up in. This is basically a sleeping pod with a little extra head room. I was 95% ready to pull the trigger on a Runaway Camper as seen below, but knowing my skill level, I knew I could convert something and make it mine for the same money or less. Also, they only offer a 4' and 6' wide model. I wanted a 5' wide trailer for a queen sized mattress, and so that it is the same track width as my Jeep.

[hankaye]

tsyj, Howdy;

Looks like you're off to a good start. Are you still planning to flip your axle?
I can understand waiting to do so until you get finished building as the extra
height might be a hindrance while doing the build. Will the different height
effect anything that you've done to the exterior so far?

hank

[tsyj]

Hey Hank,

After some debate I've decided that I am not flipping my axle. I thought about it and it would defeat the purpose of having the trailer custom built lower than normal. I'm trying to keep the height at or below the roof height of my Jeep.
Plus, we mostly camp in parks and stuff, the only real good off-road camping we do is in the Ocala forest, and that is still pretty tame. If we go out West, we will just tent camp.

I am setting all the counter heights @ 36" off the ground as it is now. I'm happy with this decision I believe.

[tsyj]

My work shelf was bothering me all day, so I took a break from football and went out to the shop to see what I came up with. I want something that I can take apart without tools so that it stores as compact as possible. It is going to be a wood base, sealed and painted with a galvalume top that I’m going to form on my metal brake.

Here’s the design of the bracket I came up with. It will slip into the cleats built in the top:


This is what it looks like cutout. The rear goes into the rear lip, and I made 2 shorter cleat strips for the front:


Attached to the top, and hung on the French cleat. I think it will hold the coffee maker and condiments, etc just fine:




Only issue is that it is fairly heavy. I guessed 20lbs, so I cutout some material from the top since the 26g metal will span that just fine when I make a top:




That’s all for now. I’ll get the wood cleaned up, painted and the metal bent this week sometime. Once all the bare wood is painted black, it will all blend in and be less intrusive looking...that's the plan anyway.

[tsyj]

On another note I also ordered my windows today. Couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, but I got close on eBay.

Bought a 12"x35" to fit in the door.
and a 18"x35" operable for the driver side of the sleeping area.

I wanted the door window to open as well for cross ventilation, but I'll probably go to a fantastic fan in the roof now anyways.

Updated layout:

[hankaye]

tsyj, Howdy;

When I read that you were going to use galvalum for your outdoor food area I got concerned.
Many years ago I like a lot of us worked food service and was aiming for management for a while.
Something clicked in my head about using anything other than Stainless Steel, so I sniffed
around and found this;
http://www.galvanizeit.org/hot-dip-galv ... -with-food
Thought you might find it interesting.

hank

[tsyj]

tsyj, Howdy;

When I read that you were going to use galvalum for your outdoor food area I got concerned.
Many years ago I like a lot of us worked food service and was aiming for management for a while.
Something clicked in my head about using anything other than Stainless Steel, so I sniffed
around and found this;
http://www.galvanizeit.org/hot-dip-galv ... -with-food
Thought you might find it interesting.

hank

Thanks Hank. Yes I've read quite a bit about the dangers of galvanization in food. I homebrew, and when I was making my electric brew system I had to make sure all the fittings were S.S. instead of a mix of metals.

Basically, this top is going to be a shelf to hold paper plates, condiments, and a coffee maker. No food is going to directly touch the surface, so I think it will be safe. Much safer than some of the picnic tables I've encountered.