New Project, for a friend.

[Karebru]

Hi guys. I haven't posted in so long, I almost forgot my password.
A friend and former coworker has asked me to camper-up his new 6x12 CT.
He plans to use it for his cabinet and furniture finishing business, but also wants to add a few amenities so that he can throw an air mattress on the floor and go camping.

He wants...
-Windows "Maybe, two each side."
-Insulation - Insulating the roof means ceiling panels of some kind.
-AC - He'd like an interior mounted window rattler vented through the front of the V-nose.
(I'm going to have to see what others have been doing to make that roadworthy.)
- Television
- Low voltage lighting - He already has a roof vent. So I'll ask him about mounting a fan in the opening.
- Shore Power, obviously, with another outlet or two.
(I'm thinking it ought to be 30 amp to safely run the AC or a heater.)
- PVC Diamond Plate flooring
-Ramp Door Bug Screen

He plans to put some kind of finish on the wall plywood while I have it out to insulate.
I think I'd better gather up some prices before we do anything, so he has some idea what he's getting in to.
Amazon, here I come!
Thanks for being here. I'm sure I'll be picking your brains.
Y'all stay warm tonight! Down in the 20's, here in the "tropics"!

[aggie79]

Looking forward to the build!

[Karebru]

Thanks.
I need some suggestions on how to vent an interior mounted window AC unit through the front of the trailer. It seems like I've seen where its been done, but I can't seem to find it. I'd like to convince him to go out through the back door, like flboy's latest and a few others. It makes great sense to me. But I don't know if he'd go for openings in the ramp.
I need to have a thought out plan before proposing anything to him.

[onehoser]

i vented my window shaker through the floor, i couldn’t bring myself to cut a hole through the walls…….except for the windows, i bit the bullet on them, lol

[Karebru]

Another thing I was considering was mounting it sideways in a tall cabinet, and going through the side wall, but right up front. Then setting the flow vanes towards the back.
My own is mounted about half way back and I can adjust the air flow towards the front or back of the trailer.

[BuildingOurDayDream]

Look into RMax Polyiso rigid insulation and you can thank me later.

[Karebru]

Thank for the tip.

It's a go. He dropped it off this morning and I put it in dry dock.
Had to stick the nose of my own trailer out a little bit from her rightful place. At least we're not in our hot & wet season just yet.



He's happy with the AC layout.
The goal of stage -1 will be to get it back on the road ASAP. That means, getting the plywood back in so he can use it. (And no Butt-draggin' like I did on my own.)
Windows, insulation, electric rough-in, and everything included in those things.

I see the wall ply is put in with "real" screws that twist out with a screw gun.

[flboy]

I can't wait to see what you do with it. Yours turned out awesome!

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[Karebru]

Aw, thanks.
This one's going to be fairly utility. At least, it going to start out that way.

It's an Empire Cargo Trailer. Anyone familiar with them? I looked them up and some of the reviews are not at all kind.
However, I stripped the plywood off ( Real Screws = 2 hours.) and the fit and workmanship beats what I found hidden behind the walls of my own Continental, hands down.
He said he bought it for cheap.

[Karebru]

I was held up waiting for the steel for the window framing and stuff. I decided to have it cut at a local shop. They had a 2-week lead time. Buying 4' lengths at HD. would have given me too much waste.
The floor panels are out with a good slathering of spar urethane on the underside.



I got smart this time and mounted the side door step before I put the floor back in.
I didn't do that on my own trailer... What a PITA... and kinda crude. But, it hasn't fallen off yet.

I haven't welded in years, so I used nuts & bolts. 1-1/2" square tubing gave me something to bolt it to, and spaces it about midpoint between the floor and the ground.



Luckily, the door clears the two bolt head protruding through the aluminum jamb.



Stacked up washers make it level.



Glad THAT'S done...

[flboy]

The step looks great.

If you haven't already, I'd solder all the wire connections and make sure proper grommets are used where needed. My trailer was very well built, but the 12VDC electrical work for tail lights and etc. was poor at best.

[Karebru]

Thanks, Don.
I don't know that I'll get around to soldering everything in the factory wiring, but every connection is at the top along the ceiling. They'll be easy enough to get to even after the plywood is back up.
There were several ground connections made by pinching the bare wire ends against the plywood with a screw.
Those I will upgrade.

The floor is back in with a few additional screws. Time to start framing out the window openings.

[Karebru]

We're past the scary part... Cutting holes.



The framing is in. I just need to glue it all to the skin and make corner blocks for the window openings.





The AC vent openings are undersized. I will mount the inside enclosure before cutting them out all the way.

[Karebru]

Just some progress pictures...



One of the less enjoyable parts of the process...
Gluing the aluminum skin to the new steel and keeping it flat.



Wall insulation before being taped off with aluminum tape...



3/4" backer glued to the 3/8" ply for mounting a TV bracket...
Scrounging for scraps... It came from the ramp flip-down from my own trailer.



This is what he decided to do with the walls...
After some heavy distressing, he hit it with some stain, and a couple coats of clear lacquer.
The idea is that when it gets banged up, all he'll have to do is rub some stain on it to fix it.
It's.... Rustic.
He wants to replace the battens that cover the joints with Lauan ply. I assume he'll do the same to them.
We haven't discussed the ceiling yet.



I'll end this with a dumb mistake...
It's the hole for the shore power inlet.
And, yes. I drilled it from the inside.


It wouldn't have hurt a thing if it was an inch higher.

[Karebru]

Unless he decides he wants more later, this is the only cabinetry going in this trailer.



I'll have to ask him what style doors he wants. The little cubby hole under the electric panel gets a 120v/USB receptacle for phone charging.

My electrician brother passed away a couple of years ago. So I was on my own wiring this trailer.
I've got it pretty well tied up... Believe it or not, everything seems to work.







Flooring, ceiling and trim are next.