Pic 2 is the standard HF 4'x8' trailer with base extended 6" over the side and the 2"x3" door frame concept I came up with helped to gain center height. Pic 1 is the 2" XPS panels in a test fit. Note - I almost made my center height too high - only 1" clearance over the fan and the garage door opening.
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Pic 1, rough out of galley counter, pic 2, "tic-tac-toe" frame in front, pic 3, galley with cabinets cut out, pic 4, inside rear to show two shelves, pic 5, front with window opening cut, and pic 6, front of trailer with bracing for window.
I did a reverse of what most folks do - I glued luan directly to the wall edges then filled in with two layers of kerfed 1" XPS for the roof. PMF then applied. -
PMF applied to interior - pic 1 is the rear shelves, pic 2 are the front cabinets cut into the front tic-tac-toe wall, pic 3 is the main body spackled and ready for PMF, and pic 4 is the first side completed with PMFComment
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Note - I PMF'd the entire body, inside and out. The 10 ga. canvas was used for the main walls and bedsheets were used for the cabinets in the main cabin and upper galley storage.
Pic 1, tongue box added and PMF complete, pic 2, rear shelves with bamboo accent rails, pic 3, front cabinets with doors installed and bamboo accent rail added, pic 4-5, doors installed, pic 6-7, Maxxfan installed.
Cabinet doors in cabin and upper galley are 1 1/2" x 3/4" frames with a groove cut in the back for a piece of luan to lay in for panel. Bamboo place mats were cut to fit in the front recess of the door panels.
Got my doors from Challenger Door Company - 36"W x 40"H - Yeah, I put a small camper on my doors. Loading/off-loading and getting in and out is a breeze, though.
Settled on the MaxxFan system due to its cowled hood feature.- unless you encounter a wind-driven rain from the rear, the fan can be run any time with the cowl up.Pic 8, built a set of louvered blinds for the front window.Comment
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First four pics are the artwork. Pics 5 and 6 are the galley closed for travel and "deployed," respectively.
The sink and stove door concept were the brilliant idea of "LWms" whose YouTube video can be found if you type in "Home made camper - Poor man's fiberglass." The video shows the features of her Benroy.
Lower galley doors are 3/4" hardwood plywood panels with 1/4" x 1 1/2" laths glued on the front a few inches in from the door edges, then bamboo place mat sections cut to fit and glued in the recesses to match the other doors' design concept.Comment
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Bed/daybed concept - three pieces of high density foam that can be stacked against the front wall for the daybed, then laid out end-to-end at night. Put down 1/2" foam gym matting on the floor for extra cushion and insulation.Comment
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I saw a spare tire rack for big-rig RV's that goes from side to side and decided to make a variant of their design. Pic 1, I took two pieces of 3/4" conduit 24" long and bent the ends up at approximately 25 degrees. I then flattened the ends and drilled 3/8" holes in each end. A cross brace was added in the middle. Pics 2-4, the "rear" ends of the rack are attached to pieces of 1 1/2" angle iron bolted to the trailer frame for the pivot point.. The "front" of the rack is supported by a locking pin with a cotter pin and a lock. Pic 5 shows the clearance from the rear view.Comment
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Nice job. I did the same thing for mine. I managed to fit it into the tongue frame. I'm happy with how easy it is to use … although I never want to need to do it.Comment
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Misc comments on the build: The build took about eight months from bare frame to operational status. Except for two weeks of vacation taken in Dec/Jan of 2018/2019, most of the work was done in the evenings after work and weekends. PMF is 10 ga. canvas adhered to 2" thick XPS walls and roof with Tite-Bond II glue and painted with three coats of porch paint. Paint was sanded between second and third coat and again after the third coat. Power is a 30 amp inverter system powering the fan and two outlets in the cabin and one in the galley. All lighting is LED. In the future, I plan to add a LiFePO4 battery and solar panel for off-grid camping. I installed an icemaker filter between the hose connection and the RO-style faucet on the counter. Water at the spigot at the camp site is barely turned on to prevent damage to the pex tubing feeding the faucet. Sink is a 4" stainless steel half-pan bought at a local kitchen supply store. A simple 1 1/4" bathroom sink drain connects to a five gallon jug for grey water collection. We carry an electric kettle in the galley and that heats water for dishwashing. Due to measuring errors, a standard Igloo cooler won't fit under the stove shelf, so I built my own cooler out of 1" XPS. The bamboo accent rails in the cabin are real bamboo and the spindles are bamboo chopsticks. The paper towel holder was a stand-alone type with a drawer underneath. I built it into the center galley wall and added a flap on the top to prevent the wind from spooling off miles of paper towels on a windy day. The drawer is for silverware. Two 1000 lb capacity scissor jacks are used for leveling at the rear, a third jack is placed under the tongue. We opted for the Ozark Trails, two-room instant shower tent for a side tent. It goes on the "wife's side" of the trailer for her lugable-loo to handle those late night bathroom needs. A length of rope is tied to the top of one of the tent's support poles, wrapped around the base of the vent fan, and tied to the opposite support pole of the tent to snug it next to the camper. Pieces of pool noodles are put on the support poles to protect the trailer from scratches. Trailer tows very well. Tongue weight comes in at around 65 lbs. Estimated empty weight is around 1100 lbs. However...my poor four-banger Outback's fuel mileage dropped about 20%. Not bad, though after hearing other horror stories of folks fuel mileage being cut in half.Comment
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excellent, Thank you for sharing, love the bamboo tooComment
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