Otto Man begins an enclosed trailer journey

[Otto Man]

After much reading and researching, one thing was constant: Everyone said get the biggest trailer you can afford, and it will fill itself. I'm sure I'll find this to be very true in the future. After combing over craigslist and local on line sites, I finally found a trailer I can make work. It's a 2012, 7x20 (18' box with stubby v-nose), ramp style rear door, 6'6" interior height. Picked it up cheaper than I could have purchased a new 7x16, and it already came with 6 flush mount D-rings and E-trac along the sides.

I know everyone will say to search for past builds, but to be honest, a lot of the pictures no longer work, so it doesn't do a whole lot of good. Hopefully this will possibly help out some other folks in the future.

The plans:

Wiring inside for 110v
Installing my A/C unit I have laying around to keep cool
Lights
Epoxying the floor
Some kind of bed situation


First step: Taking apart the perfectly good walls to start the wiring, then insulation part.

Question: What do you think of the walls? I like the idea of pitching the flimsy lauan and replacing with plywood. It would make shelf building and the like much easier, as I would not have to be so focused on the stud location. Is it worth the extra weight? I'd imagine for the entire trailer, it'd probably add up to be a few extra hundred pounds after it's all said and done.

Keep in mind, I'm about as prepared for this as I am to do brain surgery, so any do's/do not's are more than welcome! This will be my project for the coming weeks, and hope to have most of it buttoned up for the weekend at VIR in August (S-S-N)

 

[denbsteph]

Thats a big ass trailer, I don't know much about trailers but there is plenty of room in there. dkparea (sp) had one for sale, I'm sure you seen it. I thought he had a nice set up with the A/C down near the floor and it was recessed in the shelf he had built. Also hit bmrboy up, he has a cool set up for minimal dollars.

 

[matt2212]

The plans:

Wiring inside for 110v
Installing my A/C unit I have laying around to keep cool
Lights
Epoxying the floor
Some kind of bed situation


First step: Taking apart the perfectly good walls to start the wiring, then insulation part.

Question: What do you think of the walls? I like the idea of pitching the flimsy lauan and replacing with plywood. It would make shelf building and the like much easier, as I would not have to be so focused on the stud location. Is it worth the extra weight? I'd imagine for the entire trailer, it'd probably add up to be a few extra hundred pounds after it's all said and done.

Keep in mind, I'm about as prepared for this as I am to do brain surgery, so any do's/do not's are more than welcome! This will be my project for the coming weeks, and hope to have most of it buttoned up for the weekend at VIR in August (S-S-N)
so IMHO
leave the walls in place and run conduit along the top corner for your electric and drop wires down in conduit for outlets much easier and cheaper than replacing plywood

use self tapping screws to find studs for shelfs, the only way to get enough holding power for shelves without hitting the metal studs would be to use 3/4" plywood and that is way tow heavy and $$

rustoylm garage floor epoxy worked great on my trailer floor, i mixed half of the gallon and put the first coat 24 hours later the 2nd coat will give you a hard finish

Cabalas has a guide series cot with a 3" thick pad, bag and a cot side organizer in a kit for under $100. so much better than an air mattress

Congrats on a nice trailer, the "vortex" has begun, next its a bigger truck... then a toy hauler....

 

[matt2212]

http://tracktalk.nesba.com/showthread.php?t=23452

 

[kruzindoubledubs]

I have been working on my 6x12 for the last few days, looked like yours inside

So far I have....

Pitbull TRS
8 pieces of Etrack
Took down the walls and insulated with lowes blue foam board
Insulated the ceiling and built a ceiling out of wood
Portable AC unit vented out the floor MArinco 150BBi outlet in the floor
PAinted the walls semigloss exterior white
Coleman diamondplate roll floor
Battery powered light on the ceiling

This has been a several day job for me but I think is worth the time invested since I HATE tent camping. I have about 500 in materials including my TRS. The worst and most time consuming part was taking the walls down for the insulation. Ill put some pics up when its done. I didnt take pics along the way.

Goodluck with your project. If I was going to do it again I would have just had the factory install the insulation and roof.

 

[Otto Man]

matt2212;248539 wrote:

so IMHO
leave the walls in place and run conduit along the top corner for your electric and drop wires down in conduit for outlets much easier and cheaper than replacing plywood

use self tapping screws to find studs for shelfs, the only way to get enough holding power for shelves without hitting the metal studs would be to use 3/4" plywood and that is way tow heavy and $$

rustoylm garage floor epoxy worked great on my trailer floor, i mixed half of the gallon and put the first coat 24 hours later the 2nd coat will give you a hard finish

Cabalas has a guide series cot with a 3" thick pad, bag and a cot side organizer in a kit for under $100. so much better than an air mattress

Congrats on a nice trailer, the "vortex" has begun, next its a bigger truck... then a toy hauler....
Man...I hope I already hit the vortex! I've already gotten rid of my STi to get a Tahoe...this set up will have to do for a few years...I hope. :haha:

I can see their build pattern, and notice the nails are on the studs on the walls, so finding the studs is stupid easy. I will most definitely wind up routing the wiring along the corner of the ceiling, that's the easiest route by far.

kruzindoubledubs;248541 wrote: I have been working on my 6x12 for the last few days, looked like yours inside

So far I have....

Pitbull TRS
8 pieces of Etrack
Took down the walls and insulated with lowes blue foam board
Insulated the ceiling and built a ceiling out of wood
Portable AC unit vented out the floor MArinco 150BBi outlet in the floor
PAinted the walls semigloss exterior white
Coleman diamondplate roll floor
Battery powered light on the ceiling

This has been a several day job for me but I think is worth the time invested since I HATE tent camping. I have about 500 in materials including my TRS. The worst and most time consuming part was taking the walls down for the insulation. Ill put some pics up when its done. I didnt take pics along the way.

Goodluck with your project. If I was going to do it again I would have just had the factory install the insulation and roof.

You're dedicated. I just took off one section of the wall, and I'm now seriously debating on pulling the rest of the wall. This shit is seriously secured very well. I was set on the lowes blue foam board idea, but I'm not so sure now. Going to research this spray foam option. The big section of walls isn't going to be as cut and dry as most, as the e-trac was built with the trailer - it's all welded in. Therefore, I have to pull double the amount of staples and nails (Top and bottom of the e-trac). Pulling off a trim board piece, and just filling it up with some kind of spray foam is looking like a REALLY good idea about now. Putting blue foam on the ceiling is going to be cake.

Did you insulate the ramp (Or rear doors) while you were at it?

 

[vinny337]

Very nice!! Looking forward to seeing the finish product, I'm sure it's going to turn out as planned.

 

[kruzindoubledubs]

I did insulate the ramp and side door

I forgot it also sucked removing all the staples from the molding, I put it back up with screws like it should have been built and filled the holes to make it look a bit better

 

[lbsaxman]

the biggest improvement made to my trailer better then insulating it was coating the roof with http://www.hytechsales.com/prod2150.html

I could not believe the difference in temperature inside after i did that , my little portable AC keeps my trailer at 75 or below even when its 95 degrees at the track . i think it was better then all the work i put into insulating it , seemed to make a bigger difference !!
just remember to order the primer also

 

[dj life]

Otto,
Even though I only have a 7x16 v-nose it is well worth pulling it all down to insulate it. I did this with mine and it is a huge difference!!! Definitely get some pitbull trs systems. Also look into the nice raxx stand holders. I would really look into the spray foam for the expansion rates. You don't want to put so much pressure against the outer wall cause you might separate seams and cause leaks.
While I had the walls off I used a industrial strength caulk that doesn't harden on all the upper roof and sidewall mounting points. Also check over all the "stock" trailer wiring and make sure nothing can chaff or get pinched. Also make sure you use the studs to mount shelving to, you don't want a shelf falling on top of yours or a friend's bike....

I also installed a florescent light fixture with 2 led bulbs in it. Very bright but soft on the eyes. I did a 4 way receptacle near the front and another by the rear door.
A real quick tip about drilling into the metal studs. Measure the distance from the outside of the wood wall to where the metal skin of the inside of the trailer is. Take that and take away half a inch and (lets say you now have 3/4 of a inch) measure that onto your drill bit and use tape so you have a preset marker not to go past so you dont run the risk of drilling the outside skin of the trailer.... I know this from experience :banghead:
Also get 2 spare tires and wheels... also from experience...


Good luck with it!!!
Chris

 

[McCGsxr]

That's a nice trailer you got man!! As you know I live in the bricks, so if you want some extra hands with the whole process just hit me up. I'll be more then glad to help with what I can.

 

[matt2212]

dj life;248595 wrote: Otto,
A real quick tip about drilling into the metal studs. Measure the distance from the outside of the wood wall to where the metal skin of the inside of the trailer is. Take that and take away half a inch and (lets say you now have 3/4 of a inch) measure that onto your drill bit and use tape so you have a preset marker not to go past so you dont run the risk of drilling the outside skin of the trailer.... I know this from experience :banghead:
Also get 2 spare tires and wheels... also from experience...


Good luck with it!!!
Chris

I also learned this the hard way:banghead: thats why I went to self taping sheet metal screws the screw drills the hole for you and the head stopps it from going through the thin skin on the other side

 

[Otto Man]

I made a Lowes run today. Got a 100amp breaker box, along with some other small items. What size RV receptacle are usually found at the track? 30 amp, or 60? And from what I can tell, it looks like the twist lock thing is a standard thing for these plugs? It's a bummer the studs behind the walls are too shallow, I was going to try and make it extra clean by flush mounting the breaker box. Doesn't look like it'll be possible, bummer.

Still absolutely dreading pulling ALL the walls down for insulation. I'm curious...what colors are your guys' trailers on the outside? I wonder if the exterior color difference has much to do with the importance of insulating your trailer. I realize with no insulation, your cold air coming from your A/C is going to be much more prone to seeping out the trailer, but considering my only insulating option is foam, with an average R rating of 3, it almost doesn't seem worth the hassle. It looks like I'll be able to use 1" thick foam for the insulation. Are you guys using expanding foam to fill in the places the big pieces of insulation can't get? Cracks, crevices, etc.

 

[bradvanhorn]

On the insulation advantage, it may come down to how potent is your A/C unit. My 7x16 has a 15,000 BTU A/C unit and it can keep the trailer cold even at ~100 deg temps. I considered insulating the trailer but decided the payoff would not be worth the effort since the A/C has no trouble keeping up.

 

[Otto Man]

bradvanhorn;248716 wrote: On the insulation advantage, it may come down to how potent is your A/C unit. My 7x16 has a 15,000 BTU A/C unit and it can keep the trailer cold even at ~100 deg temps. I considered insulating the trailer but decided the payoff would not be worth the effort since the A/C has no trouble keeping up.

I'm not real hip with A/C, so I'm not sure how much difference you could tell between a 10,000 BTU unit, 12k, 15k, etc. I think I'm going to try it trial by fire. The ceiling will be real easy to insulate, so I will do that and see how it goes. If it looks like the A/C unit can't keep up, I guess that'll be my motive to tear down the walls. My A/C unit is rated for 12k BTU, so we'll see how it works out. From what I can tell, it's a bit on the small size for the size of the trailer, but I already had it...so it's still a free A/C set up for me. :adore:

 

[andykurz]

I don't know the real value of wall insulation, but in homes, its roof insulation and not having major air leaks that make the difference. Trailers may be different, but I would expect that most of the heat travels through the roof, or through openings.

Wall insulation is nice, and your question about trailer color is good, but I would be interested in seeing any empirical information about wall vs. roof, and if wall insulation makes much of a difference.

 

[bradvanhorn]

Otto Man;248785 wrote: I'm not real hip with A/C, so I'm not sure how much difference you could tell between a 10,000 BTU unit, 12k, 15k, etc. I think I'm going to try it trial by fire. The ceiling will be real easy to insulate, so I will do that and see how it goes. If it looks like the A/C unit can't keep up, I guess that'll be my motive to tear down the walls. My A/C unit is rated for 12k BTU, so we'll see how it works out. From what I can tell, it's a bit on the small size for the size of the trailer, but I already had it...so it's still a free A/C set up for me. :adore:

Single space, roughly 140 sq ft, uninsulated (for now at least), probably taking a lot of direct sunlight... guidelines vary but given those conditions 12k BTU actually should be a good fit.

 

[zenpixel@yahoo.com]

i ran across this:

http://www.southbayriders.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106437

 

[noobinacan]

good luck man,
take it slow...measure twice, cut once - rush NOTHING!
its great to get ideas from other trailers, but what I learned during my build was that one man's setup may not work for another.

Do a half build with essentials, then try it at the track and refine it...

Next thing for me right now is to figure out lighting...do a better job of the scooter choke.

 

[depredador1198s]

Really looking forward to seeing the completed masterpiece.

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but, what are you using to pull this?