infosociety
New member
Looking forward toward your build. I'll be watching and learning..
Building "Adventure Buddy"
- Thread starter ryanmcrist
- Start date
ryanmcrist
New member
Sorry for being quiet on posting our progress - between work, life, honey-do lists and this project, I couldn't find a 25th hour to squeeze in updates..lol.
Things may look a bit rough, but we will be adding finishing touched shortly, giving it a professional look!
I ended up using 2x4 and pocket-holed them.
I used corner braces to keep things "tied together" for added support.
Installed a 41 gallon fresh-water tank. I used metal straps on each side to secure it, in addition to other means...tbd.
Built a 36" deep drawer for the rear, similar to the Patriot camper. Those drawer slides are F*n expensive...lol. I had to buy two sets - one for the rear drawer and the other for the front cooler / sink setup.
Triton Water tank - will add a vent to the front once i get the sides on.
A wider shot showing more components and rough-in plumbing
Heres a "close-up" on how I setup the water pump
Here is the dual slide - one for the fridge / cooler and the other for the collapsible sink and faucet.
Room for chairs! The top shelf will be coated with a truck bed coating for durability and to polish the look.
Here is the notch out for the weather stripping - .5" wide x .25" deep. Im using the weather stripping supplied by Compact Camping Concepts.
Things may look a bit rough, but we will be adding finishing touched shortly, giving it a professional look!
I ended up using 2x4 and pocket-holed them.
I used corner braces to keep things "tied together" for added support.
Installed a 41 gallon fresh-water tank. I used metal straps on each side to secure it, in addition to other means...tbd.
Built a 36" deep drawer for the rear, similar to the Patriot camper. Those drawer slides are F*n expensive...lol. I had to buy two sets - one for the rear drawer and the other for the front cooler / sink setup.
Triton Water tank - will add a vent to the front once i get the sides on.
A wider shot showing more components and rough-in plumbing
Heres a "close-up" on how I setup the water pump
Here is the dual slide - one for the fridge / cooler and the other for the collapsible sink and faucet.
Room for chairs! The top shelf will be coated with a truck bed coating for durability and to polish the look.
Here is the notch out for the weather stripping - .5" wide x .25" deep. Im using the weather stripping supplied by Compact Camping Concepts.
ryanmcrist
New member
infosociety
New member
Wow, thank-you for the update. Your trailer looks solid. Looking forward to more updates.
Alloy
Well-known member
At 300+pounds when full the tank will need some strong supports. Wouldn't surprise me if the screws break/pull out and/or the tank slides/wobbles causing the metal straps to wear through the edges.
Have you filled the tank to see how much the sides bulge?
How does the tank drain? Side bottom drains leave just enough water in the tank so things start to grow when left to sit for a couple of months.
GRK makes different types of structural grade screws.
Will the water system need to be winterized?
Have you filled the tank to see how much the sides bulge?
How does the tank drain? Side bottom drains leave just enough water in the tank so things start to grow when left to sit for a couple of months.
GRK makes different types of structural grade screws.
GRK Fasteners #8 x 2-1/2 in. Star Drive Low Profile Washer-Head Wood Cabinet Screw (100 per Pack)-113079 - The Home Depot
The GRK Screw #8 x 2-1/2 in. provide you with a quick and secure installation. Typical applications include cabinet installation and construction, trim, molding, and door frames. The washer style head
www.homedepot.com
Will the water system need to be winterized?
jays0n
Adventurer
Looks great so far and agreed on the water tank concerns, that's a lot of weight and if you could get it lower in the trailer you may benefit from that handling wise. Make sure to check your tongue weight when loaded too, there are few things more terrifying to drive down the road than a trailer that is light in the tongue and heavy in the back!
A couple tips from experience, as mentioned before, check out the longer spring option that Scott offers at CCC, easy to add (no welding I believe) and will make a HUGE difference in handling. Not knowing where you'll be running this (offroad or on road) shocks may be something to consider as well. Having a short and relatively light trailer like these are bouncing on dirt roads can actually become a bit of a handful (my personal experience) and adding shocks has been one of the best changes i've made, wish I had done it from the start.
Also, have you fired up that water heater at all yet? I have a similar one for my trailer and A LOT of heat comes out of the top of it when running, I'd do some testing with it before you close any of it in if you haven't already. If the heat is tolerable to the surfaces it's touching you may need a powered vent to pull it out, which then means you need to have a way for that vent air to get in so leaving a door open or something like that. That handle on top is meant to hang the unit to allow clearance for the exhaust, I have mine stowed inside and I hang it in a spot with plenty of clearance above it when I set up and have had no issues so far.
Lastly I'll share my experience with these heaters (i have one in my trailer and a larger one at an off-grid cabin for an outdoor shower) in case you don't have any experience with one yet. You probably don't want to bury the controls on the front where you can't access them easily. The heater's water output temperature is very dependent on the input water and ambient temperature, that said, you may need to "mess" with the knobs a bit, at least that has been my experience. Doing dishes requires hotter water and showers a bit cooler. My plan was to run it to a sink or (or shower head at the cabin) and just mix in cold water to adjust the temperature via the faucet but that didn't really work. I discovered that as I have a single water source with a single pump, when you add cold water to the mix via the faucet you are inadvertently also taking feed water away from the hot side and without enough feed water the burner will shut off to prevent damage to the heat exchanger. So every time I tried to cool the water temp by mixing in cold the burner would just go out. I ended up putting the heater where the temp can be adjusted while in the shower, reach out and adjust the temp knob if necessary.
Sorry for the rambling, hope this helps. Check out my build thread here if you want, steal any ideas you can
A couple tips from experience, as mentioned before, check out the longer spring option that Scott offers at CCC, easy to add (no welding I believe) and will make a HUGE difference in handling. Not knowing where you'll be running this (offroad or on road) shocks may be something to consider as well. Having a short and relatively light trailer like these are bouncing on dirt roads can actually become a bit of a handful (my personal experience) and adding shocks has been one of the best changes i've made, wish I had done it from the start.
Also, have you fired up that water heater at all yet? I have a similar one for my trailer and A LOT of heat comes out of the top of it when running, I'd do some testing with it before you close any of it in if you haven't already. If the heat is tolerable to the surfaces it's touching you may need a powered vent to pull it out, which then means you need to have a way for that vent air to get in so leaving a door open or something like that. That handle on top is meant to hang the unit to allow clearance for the exhaust, I have mine stowed inside and I hang it in a spot with plenty of clearance above it when I set up and have had no issues so far.
Lastly I'll share my experience with these heaters (i have one in my trailer and a larger one at an off-grid cabin for an outdoor shower) in case you don't have any experience with one yet. You probably don't want to bury the controls on the front where you can't access them easily. The heater's water output temperature is very dependent on the input water and ambient temperature, that said, you may need to "mess" with the knobs a bit, at least that has been my experience. Doing dishes requires hotter water and showers a bit cooler. My plan was to run it to a sink or (or shower head at the cabin) and just mix in cold water to adjust the temperature via the faucet but that didn't really work. I discovered that as I have a single water source with a single pump, when you add cold water to the mix via the faucet you are inadvertently also taking feed water away from the hot side and without enough feed water the burner will shut off to prevent damage to the heat exchanger. So every time I tried to cool the water temp by mixing in cold the burner would just go out. I ended up putting the heater where the temp can be adjusted while in the shower, reach out and adjust the temp knob if necessary.
Sorry for the rambling, hope this helps. Check out my build thread here if you want, steal any ideas you can
