The (failed) Moonshine Camper (2 Viewers)

[mtweller]

we bring them cookies around the holidays. It goes a long way.

"You know John, I really like cookies in general, but man there's just something about your cookies that really put a smile on my face. It's like they just take all my cares away for a few hours and I sit around watching reruns of Hanging With Mr Cooper, laughing my ass off. You go on building s*** in your driveway all you want, doesn't bother us in the least!"

 

[S4Cruiser]

Hey - I want some of those ^^^ cookies too!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I am the VP of my HOA. That helps too!

No HOA here my man. Buying criteria number 1 for us, no HOA.

"You know John, I really like cookies in general, but man there's just something about your cookies that really put a smile on my face. It's like they just take all my cares away for a few hours and I sit around watching reruns of Hanging With Mr Cooper, laughing my ass off. You go on building s*** in your driveway all you want, doesn't bother us in the least!"

 

[roadstr6]

 

[lt1fire]

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Two months later, actually getting some s*** done.

Depsite canceling my moab plans, the decision was made to press forward with this camper instead of building from scratch. We made a to-do list:

- frame repair
- convert to square (it will live on a flat bed truck)
- re-skin sides and likely roof
- likely new jacks
- inter reconfig/freshen up

In looking into the frame repairs, we found that prior owners have had the skins off a few times to repair rot and change things. Tail lights were moved, braces replaced, wiring changed, etc. The flanges of the skins are almost gone with old holes, so there's not much we can do to save them. We'll replace the skins with 1/4" plywood that will be sealed and gel-coated white, like a boat!

Frame repair and converting to square is first up. Decided to add rails underneath the existing frame to facilitate this, for as much rigidity as possible. Doesn't look like a whole lot, but it feels like we got a bunch done today, building the new structure. From these rails we'll go up to the existing framework to tie in.

 

[AndrewHadji]

why no moab?

 

[AJR]

Yeah what he ^^^^ said. Are you using plywood/gel coat because it’s easy, or other benefits? Aluminum like an airstream would be cool.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

See rant thread posts for past two months. Messed up my knee pretty bad in January, had surgery a week ago. Surgery is expensive, and I can't kneel to work under anything, specifically to get moonshine ready for moab. Next year.

Ply/gel/paint whatever for cost and water resistance. Aluminum would be cool, but I don't want that look

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Progress is slow, but progress is progress. Made some key decisions:

- Rebuilding this camper to fit us is the desired, and less expensive, route for me at this point. Perhaps when I have a larger garage in the future I can build an updated version of this camper from scratch.
- Decided to eliminate one window and replace the others
- Decided to reskin the whole thing with epoxied, then glassed and painted, OSB
- Decided to rebuild the roof, hopefully with a roof rack to stand on 'cause nascar
- Decided to build new camper jacks and jack mounts for maximum sexiness
- Decided to upgrade the propane tank to a 20# BBQ tank
- Decided to upgrade the fresh water tank (undecided on size) and possibly add a grey water tank
- Need to revisit the AC situation and see if we need to move to a rooftop AC unit - overall vehicle height might become a concern

In light of that, I've been making progress. New windows and access doors will be here today, so we're gonna hit the throttle on framing.

This might start to make more sense to others now. We're walling in the notches in the camper to add storage and make this fit better on my flat bed 550. This will also work well on a gooseneck trailer in the future if i want to build a redneck crawler hauler.

A notch is framed into the leading corners due to a headache rack reinforcement in the flat bed.

The following is my OSB sheeting with penetrating epoxy applied. Takes a day to cure. Will coat the inside face of each OSB sheet prior to attaching it to the camper. After that, doors and windows will be cut out. Finally, resin and fiberglass will be applied over the entire camper to protect it from the elements.

Overkill? Yes. Will it work? Very well. Weight? Not a huge concern.

 

[jamesurq]

Consider the portable AC unit like I have. You’ll likely never find a reasonably priced 12v AC unit. And even if you did that’s a lot of batteries and solar panels to keep it working. The portable AC / AC unit can come in and out (leave it at home for boondocking) and bring it for car camping (110v service).

A refurbished $300 or so model was had for less than $200. Did the same refurb deal with the small sized expensive ‘super quiet’ dehumidifier- which as we talked about is the only thing I use to heat the trailer now. (Strongly suggest that you consider it your insulation will be nice with the new skin, it shouldn’t need much to stay warm) The humidifier fan is quiet but when the compressor kicks in there’s a noise that probably resulted in all the customer returns. Hence the availability of refurbished models.

Looks good by the way. Did you look into thin starboard (1/4”) instead of the OSB? Probably lots more money but no painting, no epoxy, etc. so time would be saved. Maybe even a thicker starboard for the roof. Because NASCAR with Boat Shoes.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I had forgotten about the dehumidifier. Does it make the interior too dry in the winter? Post up a link to the models you used for both the dehumidifier and the portable AC unit if you don't mind! I may just end up sticking with the window AC unit that's in the camper now.

I hadn't heard of starboard TBH. I'm trying to stick to stuff that's cheaper and more readily available. Picking the OSB over say a 3/8" ply was strictly a cost decision, $8 a sheet of OSB vs $15 a sheet for 3/8" ply. I might be rethinking that decision though.

 

[AndrewHadji]

if you end up using a diesel or dc heat, you dont have to worry too much, they dry the air. Propane heaters add moisture to the air, so those would be less than ideal... if you dont go the full blown AC route... To be fair, one of those vanlife ceiling fans and a cracked window will allow a ton of airflow, unless you are in the desert.... then its a convection oven

 

[Pick]

Nice work... I got a free camper and did some work on it and a few trucks & campers later, we have a 44' toyhauler. Upgraditus is contagious!!

 

[Pick]

@GLTHFJ60
If you're doing a rubber roof and Dicor 901BA will work for you, I have an almost full gallon leftover from a repair that you're welcome to have...

 

[S4Cruiser]

Nice. Yay nascar. See you are making lots of use of a kreg jig? I love how well they work.

 

[jamesurq]

Amazon product ASIN B01GL78U8O
Here's the dehumidifier. Your question about being too dry? Not that I noticed. Typically I wake up covered in moisture from the air when I camp and its hot in the tent or camper. With that little guy in my 50 sq ft it was great.

And you can set the humidity level you're happy with - so if it's too dry just bump it up with the little digital thingy... Only drawback, it's water capacity is tiny. But it has a hose attachment too.

The AC:
Amazon product ASIN B01DLPUWL2
It's about 250 now - the reviews aren't great, but it's the smallest btu I could find for a reasonable price.

The dehumidifier is nice and compace versus a shorter, wider one which is nice for tucking in a corner. If I were you, I'd get both of these and build a little corner for them to fit into and strap down.

For the AC output hole, I used one of these: (not this one specifically - if you end up going this route, I'll search some more and find you the exact one I used.

Seasense Waterproof Deck Plate

Open it when you use the AC, close it when you don't. nice and water tight.

Crap, no clue why those amazon links went bye bye... lmk if you need me to get you them.

 

[David70FJ40]

@jamesurq Starboard? Do you know of any retailers in this area?

 

[stevezero]

I'd really reconsider osb. It wont like the vibration of road travel, as well as all the extra glue involved in making it will offgas for a while.

Ply or marine ply is your friend. Do it right once, so you dont have to do it over later

 

[David70FJ40]

Looking for alternatives. Still a long way from having the trailer ready for anything. Seems like I keep running into roadblocks.