5x8 v-nose cargo trailer camper conversion build journal

[Kyuzo]

Over the last few months I've converted a new United Trailers 5X8 XLV enclosed trailer into a camper trailer. It's something I've wanted to do for sometime. My wife and I have done a lot of van camping over the years and really liked it but wanted to move out of a vehicle and up to a small trailer that our Toyota Highlander could easily haul. This trailer is basically just a rolling bedroom with storage - kind of like the back of a full-size van without the whole rest of the apparatus. I hope this build journal will help anyone wanting to do something similar. I couldn't find a whole lot of info on the internet pertaining to doing this exact thing. I pulled ideas from teardrops and toy haulers into this build and I'm pretty satisfied with how it turned out. I worked for years as a contractor and have experience and tools. I built this whole thing with basic tools in my garage - it's not rocket science. Anybody with basic skills and tools can do something like this. Hopefully this build journal will help someone dive in and build their own!

The reason I built this the way I did is that I wanted something similar to a teardrop without the hassle of building the shell and making sure it's weather tight or having a good enough frame that would pull straight. I wanted more height too. To start with, this trailer is strongly built with steel framework, one piece roof, LED lighting, rear stabilization jacks, Dexter axles and easy-lube hubs with full-size 205/75/15 tires and a weight of about 900 pounds with the spare inside. Seemed like a good place to start. I hauled it home from the dealer with my full-sized work van and you couldn't even tell it was back there! It hauled very easily. With this build I have a queen-size bed area with a headboard in the v-nose with cabinets above that and cabinets at the foot of the bed plus 47" of interior height. That's enough space to kneel in, much less sit upright with plenty of headroom. I also have a separate galley area deep enough in the back for our coolers with some shelves and counter space. A full size 5x8 trailer also allowed me to build up the floor by 12" so I could have two nice, big storage cubbies underneath in the sleeping compartment with access to two more separate cubbies from the rear for spare tire storage on one side and storage for longer items like camp chairs on the other. I wired it with a Progressive Dynamics power center with a 30amp shore power hookup so I have AC and DC power and lights throughout when connected to shore power and the option for battery or solar which I may add later.

Here's a few pics of the trailer as I bought it and as it is now basically done. I'll post pics I took throughout the build so you can see how it got from point A to point B....

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[Kyuzo]

Here's the first installment of the build journal.... the floor. Step one was removing all the ⅜" plywood that the factory lined it with and starting to insulate. I had 1" foam that was laying in a building gathering dust. Dusty foam won't matter inside a wall so I used it up. Like I said, I used a trailer like this for my build partly so that I could build up the floor and have storage underneath. Two compartments accessible from the sleeping compartment and two accesible from the galley in the rear. I decided to elevate my floor 12" from the factory floor. I have access to virtually unlimited 1" birch plywood and ¾" B/C plywood that comes from knocked down shipping containers at a factory near me. The catch is that it's all less than 48"x48" pieces so I had to work with smaller pieces than full sheets. Nothing that well-placed cross pieces, screws, Titebond III and/or Liquid Nails couldn't address though. I used 1" plywood for the framing. It seemed like a great middle ground between full 1½" lumber and ¾" plywood. I used ¾" plywood for the deck. After I laid everything out and then cut, fit and installed it I sealed everything with painter's caulk, primed with Kilz and gave it 2 coats of gray floor enamel paint. It would be almost impossible to paint inside the cubbies once they were put together so I did it first. When I put the plywood deck down it was applied with screws and Liquid Nails and then the screw holes were filled and sanded. I used self-adhesive carpet tiles for the finished floor so that's about all the treatment the new higher deck got. I also placed a conduit through one cubbie so I could run wires conveniently from the nose where the power center is to the back.

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[Wolfgang92025]

I really like the idea for of a cargo van/teardrop/hybrid.
Like you said, best of both worlds.

[flbikejunkie]

Nice job!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Spotman]

Really like that idea. Came out looking good.

[Kyuzo]

Here's installment #2 - ceiling framing for the Fantastic Fan, framing for the doors and installing the Progressive Dynamics electrical center. I used 1" plywood for all the framing for the fan and in the walls. The steel studs were about 1⅛" thick. The ⅛ difference didn't matter ultimately. I made a screwed and glued framed box for the fan and attached it to the steel framing with self-tapping screws. I actually used all the heavy screws that had originally attached the ⅜" plywood factory walls throughout the entire build. (I also saved that ⅜" plywood and made my cabinets out of it but that's a future installment - 'waste not, want not').

I used and Epicord 30amp shore power inlet with 10-2 with ground solid copper wire between the shore power inlet and the 30amp main breaker in the Progressive Dynamics electrical center (it's a Progressive Dynamics PD4135 by the way). The instructions for the power center were pretty vague. It's mainly designed to replace an already existing power center not to be put in as 'new construction' but I figured it out. I had fits getting it to energize the DC side until I grounded it to the frame even though it's grounded through the 10 gage entry wire back through the wire to the main and to a grounding bar on the frame of the camper. Turns out that the DC and AC side both need their own separate ground instead of just one through the AC side and the circuits inside were smart enough to know! Once everyone had their own ground everything was fine. The board it's mounted in up front is made in such a way that when the build is done the whole thing tilts forward by removing one screw under the cabinet if I ever need to get into it again. I have two 110AC receptacles and a 12v DC USB and cigarette lighter type socket by it.

I'm also showing here the framing for the door openings. There was a lot of work in the front half of this thing!

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[Kyuzo]

Installment #3 - cutting things up! These are some pics of the major transformation from cargo trailer to camper trailer. I opted for 26x36 RV doors from Challenger Door. I couldn't be happier with that choice! Challenger Door was a dream to deal with and their doors seem very good to me. It was pretty nerve-wracking to start drilling and cutting holes in a perfectly good trailer!!! Definitely a case of 'measure twice, cut once'! I did the cutting of all the openings myself but got professional help with the installation and sealing of the doors and fan. My brother is a NGA master level auto glass installer. He kindly provided the materials and knowledge to seal them up perfectly. I started cutting the openings for the fan and the doors by drilling a hole. It was a good, minimally damaging way to verify from both sides where the opening was. After I drilled a starter hole I cut the opening itself with a jig saw. I cut things out in chunks to avoid over-cutting - definitely no 'do-overs' here! For each of the side doors there was a steel stud in the opening so I cut those out with a cutoff wheel in a grinder. After each rough opening was verified and de-burred I applied window flashing tape to add another layer of weather proofing. I sealed around the Fantastic Fan with lap sealant on top and foam-core butyl tape underneath. The doors had foam-core butyl tape applied between the door and the wall and silicone sealant afterwards. You can see how nice and thick the foam-core butyl tape is in the close-up pic of the door laying out just prior to installing it. My brother recommended foam-core butyl instead of standard butyl tape and I can see why. It was a much more robust seal when compared to standard butyl tape. In the end, everything went perfectly! With the newly installed fan the trailer still just fits in the open bay of the garage where I've been keeping it!

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

[waktaylor]

Did you get to go many places this year? I like the subfloor storage idea, been debating with myself if a similar trailer would work for me

[featherliteCT1]

Very nice work!

[greedyg76]

Question about the vent on the left side of the trailer, ahead of the door. It looks as though it is positioned in such a way that would force rain water into the trailer when towing. Is it supposed to be like that or should the vented portion of the cover be facing downward?
Thanks