My Homemade 12 foot Travel Trailer (UPDATED - 07/30/2011)

Dave, liquid nails will work, but it's overkill. They have stuff just for that that is applied with a notched trowel. Last time I put that peel and stick vinyl on OSB I got some at Lowes and it was considerably cheaper than buying tubes of liquid nails. Spreads more evenly that way, so you don't get little "glue waves" in the final product. I also used vinyl patch over the seams in the OSB, much like one would use drywall mud. In fact, drywall mud might work if you painted over it to seal it before putting on the glue. If it's already down, I'd just fix the loose corners with the Liquid Nails.

Got a little done today. I bought my cabinet hardware and paint. I got the first coat on the one cabinet that was already cut out. I should have it finished my Friday or Saturday. I also made the 2 ft lower section of my front wall. I am thinking about doing wall paper on the inside. Anyone know how well it sticks to plywood. I am going to get some better pics. I did bot realize how much I needed a drill press. I have had one down in my shop for over 2 years and I just used it for the first time today. Man I was missing out. I will have some pics this weekend

Richard thanks for the heads up. I will check that stuff out at lowes. Tim. I am going to build my own shower system. Hot water will be provided by 7 gallon water heater and the shower it self I am going to do completely in Frp and the drain will be straight out to a cap that can be hooked to sewer or to my grey water tote.

I got a few updates today, hopefully more will come tomorrow.. I plan on getting started early tomorrow.

Cut out the area for the sink to reside



The two foot section for the front wall, I will have to re-do it once I buy the AC unit



The one cabinet finished, notice the gap in the floor, I am going to have to take it loose and weld in a piece of angle iron to even it out..



A little closer picture

Nice looking work there Dave.

One question Dave. Are you going to wire your trailer for 12volt & 110?

yeah but im not going to use a converter. I plan on running all my 120 for sure power via a regular RV plug and a jumper box, The 12vdc system i am going to run straight off of a Deep cycle battery, I plan on only using the DC for the interior lights, vent vans and for a porch light.. I will keep a battery charger on hand that I can plug in to the site if need be.. We should be good to go with this system because we always camp with shore power, and if we were to stop for an over nighter our lights and fan would work off the battery

ocb_dave_ocb wrote:yeah but im not going to use a converter. I plan on running all my 120 for sure power via a regular RV plug and a jumper box, The 12vdc system i am going to run straight off of a Deep cycle battery, I plan on only using the DC for the interior lights, vent vans and for a porch light.. I will keep a battery charger on hand that I can plug in to the site if need be.. We should be good to go with this system because we always camp with shore power, and if we were to stop for an over nighter our lights and fan would work off the battery

OK. I just thought you might go with a convertor, did the old pup have a working one in it?

I didn't even test it, it was such an old unit, plus there was so much water that got in there I was afraid to even try it out

Dave, thanks for sharing the steps. It's like being a part of it without all the sweat. My Daughter, Caroline, said the other day, "Daddy, I bet you've got the most modified camper in the club." I told her about your project. I told her that I might have more individual mods, but that you had the "most modded" camper of all.

Richard wrote:Dave, thanks for sharing the steps. It's like being a part of it without all the sweat. My Daughter, Caroline, said the other day, "Daddy, I bet you've got the most modified camper in the club." I told her about your project. I told her that I might have more individual mods, but that you had the "most modded" camper of all.

Dave could be considered the extreme makeover, "RV Edition"

Lol. I am ready to be camping I will take some more pics tonight. I got the back wall and curb side wall done. But I'm on my way to sing now. Hopefully tonight I will get
The front or driver side finished. I got them tacked in place. More pics to come

Glad to see that things are coming along. Will be looking for more pics.

I didn't get to work on it anymore tonight, the singing at church held until 10PM.. We are going for out infant CPR classes tomorrow after church. I should be back home by 5 or 6 gonna try some more then..

But for now here are some more pictures.

The framing isn't finished yet, but its coming along

Your really making some good progress on this. In the pic, where the 2x4 is at a angle is that towards the tongue of the trailer? When you plumb for your water are you going to use pex tubing? How much insulation are you going to put in?

coolbreeze1 wrote:Your really making some good progress on this. In the pic, where the 2x4 is at a angle is that towards the tongue of the trailer? When you plumb for your water are you going to use pex tubing? How much insulation are you going to put in?

Yeah the angle is at the front toward the tongue, those are actually 1'x1.5" I ripped out of 2x4's.

For the plumbing, I will probably use plain ole PVC for all of the drain lines, as far as the water in, I will either be using PEX tubing or CPVC.

As for the insulation, I have a bunch of the aluminum backed insulation, I believe it is 1" thick. I have enough of it to do at least both sides and the back, then I will buy more to do the rest.

From what I have read, that PEX tubing is really strong and can withstand cold temps. The biggest part of it freezing is at joints. they tend to be the weakest part.

Yeah I may just go with CPVC I wont have a lot of pipe in there and pex is like $28 bucks a roll and the fittings are like $3 bucks each

Never knew how much PEX tubing cost.

coolbreeze1 wrote:Never knew how much PEX tubing cost.

Its really not too bad though, that is for a 100 foot roll so its about 28 cents a foot. But the crimping tool is like $100 bucks, or you can use the barb fittings.

Anyway I got a bit more done today, I have it all done in sections so it will be easy to take apart add the luan, pull it outside and re-assemble. The back is one wall, each side is a separate wall, the lower portion of the front and the lower portion of the back..

I measured this thing to day and the height of the camper is right at 7'10" or 94" the overall height of my sorento is 5'8" or 68". So I am looking at it being exactly 2'2" or 26" above the sorento roof line.

Here is the front profile



Looking at the front from the back



Side shot showing it all



Better pic of the front



Front different angle



Future location of the port-a-potti/shower



Picture of our little boy for those of you who followed my other thread



One of our little girl, this is her decorations for her birthday party which is a few days away



And here is the builder and his queen for those of you who don't know us.

Dave, you said it was going to have a porta pottie/shower. Is this like those dual combinations like I have seen in pop ups? If you planning on hooking up to a sewer, you will need away to vent it, or it will have sewer gas coming back up into the rv.

How old will the birthday girl be? I hope she has a fun birthday party.

Hey Tim, Kylie will be turning 4. As for the shower pottie, it is going to have a port-a-potti literally the Passport 8L so it is easily removable, there isn't enough room for a real potti, the shower and sink will be ran together and they will both be P trapped and vented to the roof

ocb_dave_ocb wrote:Hey Tim, Kylie will be turning 4. As for the shower pottie, it is going to have a port-a-potti literally the Passport 8L so it is easily removable, there isn't enough room for a real potti, the shower and sink will be ran together and they will both be P trapped and vented to the roof

Ok,I was kinda thinking it maybe a shower/toliet combination. I have seen alot of them in smaller campers. Tell Kylie happy b-day.

Those combo Potty/Shower deals are nice, but they are costly. That's why I haven't done that Mod either. Dumping the portable potty (also known as Wildfire) is gross, but it's a quick chore.

Richard wrote:Those combo Potty/Shower deals are nice, but they are costly. That's why I haven't done that Mod either. Dumping the portable potty (also known as Wildfire) is gross, but it's a quick chore.

I wonder if one could find one that has come from a used unit that is being parted out?