Cargo Camper Trailer Build (3 Viewers)

[stevezero]

You could also save weight by using 1/8th inch or 1/4 inch aviation plywood for strength (minus wallet damage), or luan ply as a skin. 3/8 inch ply is a lot of added weight.

Build it as if gas is $5.00 a gallon, and every 10 lbs takes away 1mpg

 

[jamesurq]

Or skip the plywood and go with the 'wall covering' they have at Home Depot. It's rigid textured plastic sheets for $20 (4x8) super thin and light but strong. Sold over by the fake clapboard wainscoting and tacky wood paneling that every basement built in the 70s has.

Putting this in soon. I'll let you know if the installation sucks.

 

[lumbee1]

I installed Reflectx in my roof of my Cruiser. When it sits in the heat the interior actually gets hotter than it did before with no reflectx. Once the heat is inside the truck, the double layer foil holds it in. If I forget to crack a window, it can be stifling when I get in after sitting in the sun all day.

The benefit is that when the truck is moving, the AC doesn't have to be on arctic blast to keep the whole truck comfortable.

 

[jamesurq]

You can also use it as a sun shade on the windows to stop the heat from coming through. But yes, it's job is to block heat transfer in both directions - so the winter that same problem becomes a benefit.

 

[weejub]

You could also save weight by using 1/8th inch or 1/4 inch aviation plywood for strength (minus wallet damage), or luan ply as a skin. 3/8 inch ply is a lot of added weight.

Build it as if gas is $5.00 a gallon, and every 10 lbs takes away 1mpg

Well hell . . I'm at -1K MPG right off the bat!

 

[weejub]

Or skip the plywood and go with the 'wall covering' they have at Home Depot. It's rigid textured plastic sheets for $20 (4x8) super thin and light but strong. Sold over by the fake clapboard wainscoting and tacky wood paneling that every basement built in the 70s has.

Putting this in soon. I'll let you know if the installation sucks.

Awesome - will look forward to your new wall covering.

If I go 2" foam, I was hoping to use the plywood as "structural" to use for shelving etc.

 

[weejub]

2" is a lot. That reflectix stuff I just put on is less than a half inch and it's R rating is 4.4 in a "heat going up" scenario in a metal walled building (the closeset I could find to what I'm using it for). not only that it's a radiant barrier - blocks 94% of the heat entering the 'building'

Was hoping to not have to have any air space between the insulator and the walls and floor, and to make an entirely contained space like a room with sheet rock.

I know the rigid foam is tested and gets the R value expected. There is a lot of weird info on Reflectix that install is very important, etc.

I am thinking about living out of this thing, so I am trying to build it like a house and R10 is really not great compared to a modern R30 home.