Update

We've had a number of trips away since the camper hit the road at the end of 2015.

It's been absolutely brilliant and I have had many "tours" of the set-up from interested campers. I probably could have sold it many times but it's just too good.

After a couple of trips away, it was evident that some things had to change. The water system needed an overhaul as the water containers ended up being too small in the space under the sink. We ended up taking additional water containers which only took up space elsewhere.

With that in mind, I sourced a couple of 53 lite rotational moulded drinking standard water tanks. The dimensions of the tanks allowed them to fit perfectly under the deck of the trailer between cross members. With the assistance of my brother in law, we made up a few "hangars" and a couple of frames to support the tank beneath the deck. Once I'd decided where the fittings needed to go, I took the tanks back to the manufacturer and they spun welded in some plastic fittings.

 

This is a 1/2" fitting spin welded into the water tank

 

 

Once the tanks were secured beneath the trailer, I installed some drawers under the sink using some off-cuts from the cabinets. I found some drawers with runners from an old bathroom vanity and modified the drawers to fit the width. Once these were completed, I connected up a basic water meter to provide an indication of the water level in both the fresh water and grey water tanks.

 

 

Removing the water tanks opened up the space in the galley beneath the sink.

 

Tailgate

Well its been a while since the last post but its winter and too cold to be spending too much time in the garage. But I have been chipping away at fabricating the tailgate and have managed to get it all but completed. The gas fitter arrived today and hooked the gas bottle up to the hob and I got him to tee in a connection for the barbecue so both can be run at the same time.

Here are some photos of the completed tailgate:





 

 

The gas locker installed with 19mm thick plywood finished with 3mm caravan plywood backing. The water pump was mounted on top of the gas locker with plenty of room to spare under the bench top.

 

 

 

View of the tailgate with bench top, fridge and hob installed

 

 

 

 

 

The almost completed galley. I need to build a cabinet but I think I'll wait until I've done a couple of trips before I decide on how best to go about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gas bottle installation. I'll need to glue some carpet off cuts to the base and strap the gas bottle to the locker at some point to stop it sliding around.

 

 

 

 

The gas installation inside the galley. The yellow tap is to connect to the barbecue with a custom made hose

 

 

 

 

The tailgate handles are fairly basic and reasonably priced from Comac

 

 

 

 

 

The hob/sink combo. The wire hanging down is for an extra strip light which will eventually be installed under the cabinet 

 

 

 

So apart from a few things to tidy up its all but done. I need to install the other window (whenever that arrives??), and make up a striker plate for the side door then it can hit the road. I'll throw some pictures up of some trips away.

 

 

 

If you are thinking of making your own camper, then I wish you well. It has taken me twice as long as I first thought and probably cost about 1.5 times my original budget. But overall I'm pretty stoked with the almost finished product and hope to get a few trips under our belts over summer.

 

Cheers

Mike

Side Door

Since my last post and after ANZAC weekend, I managed to knock out most of the side door. I still have to conjure up a striking plate so the door can lock but other than that it's all done.

The stainless self tapping screws were a pain to work with as the threads stripped off them quite easily and the heads ripped off more than I could count. For each hole I had to pre-tap a thread using a self-tapping screw with a similar thread which helped a bit. The outside aluminium extrusions looked great when they were screwed onto the door but looked average once they were glued and screwed. If you take a passing look at the door then it doesn't look too bad but I'm not super excited about it. Hopefully the rear door will look the part.

The wind-lace seals were purchased from a car restoration shop and fitted to a 'T' profile aluminium extrusion which was glued and screwed to the trailer door frame.



The door handle and stainless hinges were purchased online from Comac which is where a lot of the components I bought came from.

I tried fixing the wind-lace around the 90° bend without cutting it but the door wouldn't shut. In the end I had to mitre cut the corners using a sharp utility knife and long nose pliers to extract the exposed steel 'U' shaped clips lurking beneath the protective plastic outer. The corners will be glued so they don't look as untidy as they do in the photos so I'm experimenting with some scrap pieces to get the finish I'm after.

 

 

Overall, not a bad result - I'm a little disappointed with the finish of the aluminium extrusions around the edge of the door as they are not exactly flush with the panel. I'll get over it with time I'm sure...

 

 

Now its onto the rear door which will test my patience me thinks. Once that's done then I'll get the gas fitter in and plumb in the gas cylinder and hob. I'm also thinking of getting them to provide an outlet handy to where I can connect the bar-be-que into so that I can run both at the same time which will decrease cooking times.

 

The bench top has been cut to size to fit the galley and dad helped with routering out the hole for the hob/sink combo unit which I got on special from Burnsco (a little extravagant and definitely not part of the original plans but looks good and will compliment the galley area and functionality of the camper).

 

The glass lid lifts up and doubles as a splash back to keep the mess down.

 

 

 

I lined the galley with the ACM panel I used on the outside - except I used the white side instead of the silver - so it should make cleaning up a little more user friendly. The ACM has a protective plastic lining on both sides which I will peel off at the end. No need to paint - the ACM sheets are all you need.

 

The fridge is also an expensive luxury item that was never part of the plan - but I ended up purchasing an 85L Isotherm Cruise Fridge/Freezer from Burnsco - again on special. It slots nicely under the bench and will provide ample room to keep the brewskies cold. The 77L fridge has an 8L freezer compartment which will come in handy. Combine the fridge with the 68L Waeco Cool-Ice chilly bin and we'll be styling (although the chilly bin will have to live in the back of the ute - no room in the galley any more).

 

Here's a photo of the galley space with the bench top, hob/sink and fridge in place. There's room under the sink for fresh water and grey water tanks (ie: containers). There probably won't be too much room for anything else under there as the LPG cylinder locker takes up quite a bit of galley space .

 

Depending on how things go after the first couple of trips, I might end up putting the fresh and grey water tanks underneath the trailer deck. There's an outfit in town that makes them any size and shape you want. The biggest problem would be securing it to the under side of the trailer but that problem can wait for a year or five. I want to get it on the road and enjoy it for a bit before deciding on the final setup. The same goes for the cabinet in the galley - after a couple of trips we'll know what we want in terms of storage above the bench so that can wait too.

Anyway, things to do, back doors to make....

 

 

Inside Cabinet 2

I took a week off work after Easter and during some of this time off I managed to complete the front cabin shelf unit. It's more or less based on the first one I made at the back of the cabin with the exception of the electronics panel. The marine ply was given a couple of coats of timber oil and it scrubbed up quite well. 

The final product differs from the original SketchUp design as changes were made on the fly with my continuous changes of mind. The solar regulator was mounted on the inside so that the front face was flush with the ply panel. The alternative option was to mount the solar regulator directly onto the ply panel and have the wires come through the ply from beneath as shown in the photo example below.

The option I went with has all the wires behind the panel out of sight.


Here's my original SketchUp drawing which allowed for the panel on the left for the electronics panel:

Here's a photo of it partially installed. The red tape along the ceiling was to remind me where electrical cables were inside the steel frame so I didn't drill into them.

 

The white cable on the right side of the cabinet is from the charger in the galley to the battery located in the front storage box. I put in an extra panel to hide this cable from view.

 

The router was used quite a bit on this cabinet and improved the quality of the cut outs. There was plenty of test runs on scrap pieces to make sure I didn't waste what little ply I had left.

The completed unit:

 

 

I installed a USB charger port and a standard 12v socket inside the left hand side cabinet beside the electronics panel. I figured this location would better suit charging tablets and phones etc rather than having the cables loop around the front.

 

 

 

The completed electronics panel with the solar regulator at the top and the switch panel below

 Next on the agenda is the side door. More to come

Inside Cabinet 1

I've managed to complete one of the cabin cabinets after many hours of toil. Fairly pleased with the result as it actually scrubbed up quite good. I used a couple of coats of wood oil on the marine ply and it came up quite well - better than staining it I think.

Next on the to-do-list is construct the other cabinet at the front of the cabin which will include the electrics panel and solar regulator. Now that I've completed one, this will be finished in no time (that would make a great Tui billboard).

So here's the first completed cabinet including the reading lights underneath.

Exterior Aluminium Extrusions

Well the weekend has been and gone and I tried getting all the exterior extrusions completed but came up short. A lot of time was spent playing back yard cricket with the kids which I don't mind in the least. In between times I did get the front and the right hand side completed so it's just the left had side to complete for now which I'll do during the week after the kids have gone to bed. The back corners will have to wait until I've completed the tailgate.

I also began cutting up a sheet of marine ply for one of the cabinets in the main cabin. My woodworking skills are almost non-existent so I may need extensive instruction from my un-paid consultant (ie: dad).

 

I'll re-post when I've done something a little more constructive.

Intro, Construction of Trailer and Frame, Lining and Windows

After a family camping trip in February 2014, I decided that packing the ute with all the gear we needed took a considerable amount of time and figured that there must be a better way. There was very little room left available in the back of the ute and the rear canopy door had to be closed very carefully for fear of damaging the glass. Also, once the bike rack and bikes were loaded, we could not get into the back of the truck without taking them off again which proved to be an added incentive to come up with something better.

Setting up the tent once we arrived at our destination also took up valuable beer drinking time (and spending time with the kids of course). So once the tent site was set up, we took a casual stroll with the kids around the camp site and checked out a number of camping trailers.

After building a mental list of all the things I liked about the trailers we had seen, I decided to build a trailer that met all our needs. The main focus was that it had to be packed easily and rapidly without needing a 2 hour window before leaving home, while keeping everything dry and provided room for the bikes. It also needed to be small and light weight enough to tow comfortably behind any vehicle. My original concept was basically a trailer with slide out drawers for the cooker and kitchen bench with room in the top for all our gear.

A short time after, I read an article in the April/May 2014 Shed Magazine about a home built camper trailer. I was impressed by the design and the completed product so I set about planning and designing a similar one of my own.

The image above was a basic SketchUp design I did after pricing the parts and materials for the build - loosely based on the one I read about but with a few amendments.

The build started in earnest in June 2014 and I ordered many of the materials which were delivered a week or so later. I purchased a few sheets of Aluminium Composite Panel for the exterior cladding, a TransTex plywood trailer deck and 3mm caravan plywood for the internal walls from Plywood City in Auckland. I purchased a set of 4 Holden Commodore wheels and a set of galvanised mudguards off Trade Me, and the trailer components from a local supplier. After a little while I ordered a rotational moulded plastic storage box that would sit on the drawbar and contain the battery.

I purchased all the steel I thought I'd need from a local supplier and they delivered it for free. The trailer frame I decided to use 40mm x 40mm x 3mm RHS with 40mm x 40mm x 3mm angle iron for bracing. The draw bar steel was 65mm x 35mm x 3mm and the axle was 50mm x 50mm x 6mm RHS. The axle wall thickness allowed the wheel stubs to be located within the boxed section with a neat fit and they were welded in place by a professional.

The first step was to weld up the trailer. I had never welded before, so had a few welding lessons from my brother-in-law which went reasonably well. Welding ended up being quite good fun and I enjoyed melting metal late into the night. After a few weeks practice, I purchased a welder and chop saw and got down to business.

I have a day job, so the camper build would have to be left for weekends and after work. In a moment of pure madness, I allowed myself until Christmas to get the trailer on the road and complete a couple of road trips before getting back to work in the New Year. 

After a wee bit it began looking like a trailer

After a few weeks, and with a bit of help from my dad, we managed to knock up something that resembled a trailer and then sent it off to get Thermal Arced Galvanised. I would much rather have had it hot dipped galvanised, but that meant getting it transported to Christchurch which was a return trip of 700km = $$$$. I decided to get it Thermal Arced galvanised at a local engineering firm and was pleased with the results as it was a considerable saving in time and dollars. Here's the result:

With some more help from my dad (he would end up spending quite a bit of time out at my house during this build), we put it together and then trotted off down to the testing station to get a warrant of fitness and get it registered. It passed with flying colours.

So now that the trailer part of it was completed, thoughts moved on to knocking up the cabin frame which was constructed out of 19mm x 19mm x 1.6mm galvanised steel. Welding the thin walled galvanised steel with my arc welder proved problematic and so I borrowed my dad's brand new MIG welder which I "broke" in for him and has been at my house ever since. So a new welding skill was learnt on the fly and things again progressed well but slowly.

I laid and clamped the steel for the left hand side wall onto the deck of the trailer as I knew the deck was square and tack welded the frame together. For the other side wall, I basically clamped the steel to the already welded together left hand side frame and tack welded it. Once it was tack welded, I removed the clamps and completed welding the joints properly

I took a week off work and hammered out the rest of the frame. It was about this time that I seriously wondered whether I would make my self imposed Christmas deadline but persevered never-the-less. My initial enthusiasm for welding waned about this point too as I had welding coming out my ears and was getting a little bit over it. However, I completed the frame in my week off and began thinking about the next stage of the build.

The kids were a great help during my week off

During this week, I considered (after dad's suggestion) installing a permanent fibreglass gas locker as gas cylinders should not be stored in the same storage box as batteries which I had initially planned on. Eventually I purchased a fibreglass gas locker from a manufacturer in Nelson that would fit a 9kg gas bottle. The next day I checked the dimensions of the gas locker and thought that maybe a smaller locker would be better. It was then that my wife offered up that she wanted 240 volts available instead of just the 12 volts I had envisaged. Luckily the gas locker manufacturer also produced locker boxes for power supply and were large enough to hold a wound up 15 metre length outdoor cable. I knew then that this would only cause me some financial hardship (ie: the cost of an electrician) but a happy wife is a happy life. Fortunately, they hadn't started making the gas locker when I phoned them the next day and I was able to order a smaller gas locker and a power locker. Unfortunately the colour match wasn't spot on so I'm considering getting them painted black at some point. We'll see...

The sexy looking wheels are so that the trailer could fit through the garage door once the frame was mounted to the trailer. The plywood inserts at the back in the galley were to mount the electrical sockets, switch board and battery charger. I decided to hard wire in a C-Tek battery charger so that when we connected to mains power at a camp site, the charger would kick in and top up the battery. I purchased a 110 Ah house battery which would normally last a week or so, but I've  also made provision to connect a solar panel up if I ever decide to go down that track later.

My electrician is a busy man and he only had a small window to install the 240 volt cable, switch board and sockets. So I ended up gluing the right hand side exterior Aluminium Composite Panel (ACM) with the power box cut out. I also lined the galley area with ACM with the white side showing - not the silver as is the colour outside. The ACM panels come pre-coloured so there is no painting and each side has a protective plastic coating which is easily peeled off when required. I used a really grunty glue purchased from the Glue Guru and the glue adheres to a broad range of materials and can withstand vibration which is ideal for this job.

Here's the side sheet shortly after being glued on:

And after the glue dried:

Plenty of propping was required:

Once the side was glued on and the galley was lined, the sparky came in and did what he needed to do:

 

The black vents below the power locker are for the fridge.



 

I had pre-booked an electrical inspection on the afternoon the sparky finished to provide an Electrical Warrant of Fitness which is needed if I want to connect in to most camp sites. A 10 minute visit to run a few tests and $80 later, I had my electrical WoF sticker and paperwork.

I was quite pleased with the 240 volt install results in the end (apart from the colour match with the locker box) after my initial hesitation.

Once the 240 volt was installed, I ran a few 12 volt cables to where they needed to go. The intention was to have a patch panel located just inside the cabin door which would house the switch board, solar regulator, bus bars, 12 volt sockets and USB ports. I bought the solar regulator as it has a digital read out of the battery health and all it's statistics as opposed to a single volt meter. Also, when and if I decide to get a solar panel, the feed from the panel needs to go through the regulator for it to charge the battery so it seemed appropriate I put it in first so there wouldn't be a job of installing one later.

After installing 18mm thick polystyrene insulation in the wall cavity, attention then turned to lining out the rest of the interior with 3mm caravan ply. This required even more props:

I had already glued the ceiling ply when I had the frame turned upside down on the shed floor to make life easier. Perhaps I should have done the 45° sloped ceiling at the front of the camper at the same time as it proved quite difficult once the frame was fastened to the trailer. We got there in the end.

I used an aluminium extrusion from Ullrich Aluminium to create a nice neat corner. Unfortunately they did not have 135° extrusions for along the edge of the ceiling so I had to cut the corner ones downs so only the milled front face was left. These were then carefully glued along the edges of the ceiling and while its not perfect, it should do the trick.

You can see the corner extrusions and the cut down ceiling edges in the photo above. A 240 volt double wall socket is located in the top left and a 12 volt cable on the right side for reading lights. I also installed a roof vent with fly screen to keep the cabin cool on those stinking hot days. Along the back wall will be a shelf/cabinet that will be installed soon which will hide the horizontal plywood join and wall socket. A couple of reading lights will be mounted under the cabinet too.

Here's some SketchUp drawings of the cabinets:

Rear cabin wall

 

 

Front cabin wall and floor storage cabinets

 

 

These cabinets will be constructed from 9mm marine ply and stained. There will be a cabinet in the galley too which will be tricky, as it will need to cover the back of the power locker box which protrudes into the galley space. I will add a SketchUp drawing of the galley cabinet when its finished.

 

Any thought of getting this finished and on the road for the Christmas holidays were dashed when Christmas came and went and next thing it was 2015. However, we did go camping at Quinneys Bush near Nelson and arrived to pouring rain. As we sat under the gazebo deciding when to set up the tent the rain kept getting heavier. We bit the bullet about 9pm and everything got soaked while we battled rain and darkness setting up the tent - a few cheeky comments from my lovely wife about not having the camper ready went down well.

 

So now its March and I've attached the draw bar box and installed the battery.

 

 

Isolation switch mounted on plywood base

 

I have also installed only one of the side windows after recently discovering that the guy I bought the windows off  early on in the build sent me two of the same window. This is very frustrating as I waited 8 months for the internal window trims I  originally ordered to arrive. When the package of windows originally arrived, I pulled out one of the windows to make sure it was the one I ordered and assumed the other one was for the other side - rookie mistake!! I used one of the windows as a template for the hole size in the frames and after that they both sat in their packaging for about 10 months. When I went to install the second window my heart sank and had to order another one for the right hand side. I was told they did not have any in stock and would have to come from USA (same story as the window trims!!). Also, apparently they are having wharfie strikes in the States so the window could be 2-3 months away. Aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!

 

 

Currently I'm attaching exterior trims around the edges of the camper with zincilum flashings for the 135° edges and a simple aluminium angle for the 90° corners. Hopefully that job will be completed this weekend and I can stop procrastinating and get on to fabricating the side door and then the tail gate.