The CrowsWing - Offroad Teardrop Trailer

[suntinez]

Tongue box and the propane locker that Beth built

OK now I get it – awesome!

The parting 3/4 shot

With no access to Crosswing LTD’s facilities, I can’t wait to see what’s going in all those snoam-holes. I tried sneaking in by clicking on Beth’s account of the build, but that door is closed?

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Oh, yeah, we'll get it out West someday

We’ll have the grits and okra waiting. Maybe even kill the fatted pig and smoke him for ya! :sombrero:

This build is over-the-top beautiful, something to be very proud of.

 

[jim65wagon]

Could you post a pic of the galley door and how it rests on the walls? I have a thread started to figure out how people seal the galley door . Your hatch design is similar to the one I will use on my build and any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Derek

I saw your thread and was going to reply, but I doubt anyone would understand a purely descriptive explanation. I will post pictures when we get to that point. As it stands, the 3/4" plywood wall has a channel routed into the edge, the hatch itself has a "wing" of plywood that will mate to the wall. The channel gets some aluminum trim along with a rubber seal (that fits tight to the wing). If you think about how a Pelican box seals, this is similar in function.

VW fender welt? Heh Heh Good choice.

We are not against borrowing from any company that makes quality products.....

Liking black isn't a problem .... it that it shows everything bad. Dirt scratches Etc. On a year you will have to buff it or it will look terrible.

Come see the truck sometime,it looks good in pictures but you can still see some of the scratches. It gets buffed twice a year, more if we wind up in some truck hugging spots. The trailer will wind up with the same treatment, cleaned before a trip, cleaned after a trip. It won't always look perfect, but it will always look good wherever it goes....

Almost like the trailer was designed for it.... Nice job, as usual.

I guess that year we spent on Sketchup wasn't wasted afterall:sombrero: Thanks!

With no access to Crosswing LTD's facilities, I can't wait to see what's going in all those snoam-holes. I tried sneaking in by clicking on Beth's account of the build, but that door is closed?We'll have the grits and okra waiting. Maybe even kill the fatted pig and smoke him for ya! :sombrero:

This build is over-the-top beautiful, something to be very proud of.

If we let Tim and his eidetic memory in we could maybe let you in too.....come on over. The snoamholes are boring really, just some channels to fit the wiring for the porch lights. I'll fix Beth's link, T&TTT had an upgrade recently and everything got moved.
Smoked pig:chowtime: and grits I'm definitely down for! You can have my share of Okra though

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Looking VERY nice I must say!!

 

[jim65wagon]

After the trailer was mounted to the frame it was time for wiring the electricals. In continuation of my "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" life studies course (subtitled "Too Cheap to Pay Someone Else, so Just Buckle Down and Do It Your Own Self"). I'm told that while I may pass the course, they don't give out degrees for your successes - certainly not Masters Degrees......maybe I can get a BS out of it....hmmmm.
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The wiring, which you won't get to see being done, (sorry, I took extra days off work, and it's just darned hard to stop and take pictures sometimes - as you'll note the dates on what pics I do provide don't jive with the actual wordays), is fairly straightforward.
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Power from two WalMart Maxx 29 Marine batteries (125 AH each, tied in series(?) for a total of 250AH). They're not as sexy as Optima's, Liflelines, or Oddesseys, but they get the job done and they're easily replaced.

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....goes through a circuit breaker. I liked this one (from Autozone) because it has a nice pushbutton "power off" and it's easily recognized when tripped

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.....to a Blue Sea fuse block. 12 circuits with a nuetral bus bar included. No the wires installed are not tied down yet, but they will be when I'm through. There's a left and right cabin circuit for lights, MaxxFan, Refrigerator, and Kitchen lights, kitchen outlets, cabin outlets, TV/DVD player, and two outlets on the outside (L/R) of the trailer.

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the Vexilar D-130 keeps us posted on how much power we have left in the batteries

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and all the lights work as intended. Here is (L/R) reading lights, and ambient lights (to be hidden behind a painting)

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and the central dome light

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kitchen outlets and the US Marine Products Water Tank Monitor

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This is the 15amp power inlet. It'll take a regular old extension cord, and it's water proof. Mounting it was the first hole (well second really, counting the bulkhead wires) I put in the tongue box.....it made me a bit nervous...

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The charging duties fall to an Intellipower 9260 RV unit. It will charge the batteries (intelligently, according to the manual) and provide clean 12v power to all of our accessories. and yeah, that's a standard old household outlet.

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For Linda, this is what the Snoamholes turned into. From the bottom is trailer wiring running to the license plate in the hatch, and lights on the body of the trailer. From the top ( and using the same channel in the wall) is power coming to the LED Porch light and then heading for the on/off switch just inside the door. The duct tape isn't just there for looks either. It's keeping all the wires in their channels, so they don't cause any problems when we skin the trailer

 

[GREENI]

Loving this, looking back to your first page.....a cut out of yourself next to a crude mock up, then the pic of you with the money.
Really enjoyed the lot, great build:wings:

 

[Every Miles A Memory]

I'm questioning how blinding it's going to be if you need to do any work in that diamond plate box in direct sunlight? You might need to keep a pair of welding goggles hung in there :Wow1:

Other than that, this rig is shaping up beautifully!!

 

[suntinez]

OK now I get the snoamholes. Maybe I should've asked what the snoam-rectangles (9) and triangles (2) on the entry side are about? Is it for weight?

Love the lighting! Gonna be nice and cozy in there.

BTW your batteries are wired in parallel, not series. Not that it matters (my EE is showing), you got it right for getting a net 12V out of them.

 

[JMann2380]

Can you post a close-up of the tongue? Curious how the frame manufacturer handled the front receiver for the Max Coupler.

Nice trailer btw:rockon:

 

[jim65wagon]

OK now I get the snoamholes. Maybe I should've asked what the snoam-rectangles (9) and triangles (2) on the entry side are about? Is it for weight?
Love the lighting! Gonna be nice and cozy in there.
BTW your batteries are wired in parallel, not series. Not that it matters (my EE is showing), you got it right for getting a net 12V out of them.

It does matter, but that's why I won't get my Masters Degree in Jack of All Trades class! Attention everyone! My batteries are wired in parallel!
The snoam rectangles and triangles fill in the holes in the ply we cut to (1)lighten and (2) add insulation

Can you post a close-up of the tongue?

sure thing, give me a bit

I'm questioning how blinding it's going to be if you need to do any work in that diamond plate box in direct sunlight? You might need to keep a pair of welding goggles hung in there :Wow1:

Yeah, it is a bit blinding in the sunshine, I may have to do a little paint job in there to minimalize the potential retinal burn....

 

[rocrunr]

Thanks Jim I was thinking along those lines and can't wait to see how you finish it . I was thinking that wire rubbing in the wall against the skin might be a future issue? maybe ,maybe not? Where did ya buy your water tank indicator ? Awesome as always. Derek

 

[jim65wagon]

With the majority of the wiring out of the way ( and by majority I really mean all the wiring that will be covered up by the exterior skin - the rest I can finish as we go) it was time to insulate.
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We used RMax Thermasheath-3 frome Home Depot to insulate the roof. It cut super easy on the table saw, but if you weren't paying attention and let the insulation twist in the saw blade, it would bog the motor on the saw down almost to stopping the blade from turning. We measured all the areas between the spars and electrical wires and filled them in.

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The measurements you see are for us to remember not to staple the ply sheathing to the electricals! All the space in between the wiring and the insulation was filled in with expanding foam.

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After insulating, we got to sheath the roof! The chalk lines are showing us the electrical channels we measured out earlier. Lots of Liquid Nails and staples hold two layers of 1/8" ply to the roof.

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The ply was flush trimmed to the walls.

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Then it was time to skin the walls! It's really starting to look like a trailer now! The pattern that Maddy cutout earlier was taped to the wall and let us draw out the areas the foam was in. No good reason to staple the skin to the foam!

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Thanks Jim I was thinking along those lines and can't wait to see how you finish it . I was thinking that wire rubbing in the wall against the skin might be a future issue? maybe ,maybe not? Where did ya buy your water tank indicator ? Awesome as always. Derek

I don't think there will be a rubbing issue. The channels are just deep enough and wide enough for the wiring to fit into. The ply skin should hold the wire firmly in the channel.
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The Water Level Indicator was purchased from Defender (Marine Outfitters). It was a little pricey, but it's one of those convenient touches that should make life on (and off) the road a little easier.

 

[rocrunr]

Jim thanks for the link on the water level. It is definitely starting to take shape now. Awesome job as usual,can't wait for the finishing touches. Derek

 

[jim65wagon]

Can you post a close-up of the tongue? Curious how the frame manufacturer handled the front receiver for the Max Coupler.

Nice trailer btw:rockon:

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[jim65wagon]

Well, it's time to show some more of what we've been up to lately. We started building basement hatch doors last weekend.
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What we used is: a homemeade 3/8" thick plywood panel, a .040 mill finish panel, a .063 diamond plate panel, 1/2" aluminum C-channel, a Southco Latch, 3/4" Z-channel (to make the door frame on the trailer), and a piece of angle for the "door sill" of the frame
The parts for the door look like this:

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We started by cutting the C-channel to our door length (at a 45 degree angle of course), and the Z-channel, and the hinge

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Our pieces cut. The gap in the hinge is made for a weather seal to be installed

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We clamped one C channel to the hinge and predrilled the mounting holes

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The C channel was placed on the door panels as a guide

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The holes in the door panle had to be enlarged. They simply hide the butt end of the rivets used to mate the C channel to the hinge

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The upper C channel had to have a cutout for the Latch to fit into as the latch protrudes through the backside of the door a bit.
A little tricky, but doable

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The C channels frame got siliconed. This should waterproof the inner plywood fairly well.

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All the pieces were clamped together tightly until the silicone sets

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In the end you wind up with a door like this.....soon to have rivets around its perimeter to help the silicone hold it all together

 

[TheThom]

Wow. That's a well made door. Thanks for posting such detail! It'll help guys like me.