Last year I built a small 5x8 "square drop" camper on top of an existing trailer frame. I've referred to tnttt.com many times and I've been lurking in the shadows ever since. I'm very grateful for all of the help and info that people have shared on the forums and hope to share any bit that I have learned with others. I have a youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/funkefamilyadventures to share some of the things I have learned. I am starting a new build next week and hope to meticulously document the process in the hopes that it will help someone with their own build. My previous build is still great, but I wanted to make a few changes, so I decided to build a new one. The old one will most likely turn into a rental unit unless someone wants to buy it
The previous build was covered in Raptor Liner. The raptor liner was awesome, but I decided to strip it all off and cover the camper in painted aluminum. If I did the Raptor Liner again, I would cover the whole camper in fiberglass first and then do the raptor liner over it. The plywood I covered the RL in cracked and bubbled from changes in humidity as I traveled across the country. Even though the wood was sealed with KILZ, it wasn't enough to keep out the humidity throughout the year. The first trailer had an edge wall that I ended up removing and had to reinforce the trailer in other areas for sheer strength.
This next new build will be built on a 5x8 trailer frame that was custom built for this purpose. It has a wrapped tongue with no edge wall on the trailer frame. I am planning a very similar (if not the same) layout as my first trailer. Changing a few small details (electrical wiring, how the camper is mounted to the trailer, rear hatch storage, etc.). Planning on skinning the new trailer with the same painted aluminum that I used to reskin the last one.
I'm looking forward to being a contributing member of the forum and not just a stranger lurking in the shadows.
Cheers,
Funke