I was way too busy trying to finish the trailer and get ready for Utah to post any pics but here are a few of the trailer "finished". I have some clean up work to do. We just did Utah Border to Border and the trailer was great. I look forward to making a few tweaks in the coming weeks and then off to Oregon I go for Oregon Border to Border. The FJ is racking up some serious miles this summer. I eventually want to add a swing-out with a spare tire carrier and a Foxwing awning. The kitchen cabinet is going to get rebuilt as well.
Can you say mud! Day 1 of Utah Border to Border ended up a muddy mess. We couldn't make it to our planned camp site. The good news was after we got off of this mountain there was another great campground available. The next day we tried to continue on the planned route. We had to clear 3 trees from the road in different sections and then ended up running into deep snow above 10,000ft. Oh well, we turned around and headed for pavement. The trailer did just fine in the mud.
Electrical system panel
There are too many people to thank for helping with this project. Without all of them it would not have been possible. A lot of what you see on the trailer is from Turtleback Trailers. Dave is working on a store for DIY folks to help enhance their builds. I purchased my doors, utility boxes, stove/sink, electrical, plumbing, shower, tank fill and water heater from Dave. He pushed this trailer to the next level. In the end it was a scramble to "finish". We worked on the trailer for nearly 24 hours to get it done prior to the trip.
The one MAJOR recommendation out of this is for your doors see if you can make aluminum frames. Then hang the doors in the frames and then insert the frame into the trailer you are building. My DIY 1" square tube steel frames were just not going to work. They were going to be too heavy and not seal well. Also, I way underestimated the man hours required to do a project like this. When you look at trailers for sale and think "Hey I can do it cheaper" that is only true if you have the time and skills available to build it. Many do and many don't. I was lucky and have many skilled friends who were willing to help. I am guessing there are at least 300 man hours into this build. It's probably more. I gave up tracking it.
I am going to work on a bigger lessons learned document but I am still unpacking from 7 days on the trail.
I hope this build thread gives folks some ideas. I have learned a lot from others. The trailer is amazing. Thankfully Dave from TB pushed me into completing the electrical and plumbing in phase 1. He also convinced me to get better doors built from the folks that build his. That was a smart move. Yes it cost me more money but was a smart long term investment. I look forward to keeping this trailer and using it for a long time. Only reason to sell would be to buy a Turtleback trailer down the road. You cannot compare the finish quality between my DIY and the TB's even though this is an amazing trailer.