HELP! I'm building a custom travel trailer.

JN_B wrote:
Couple comments...

While I understand people's desire to build their own, I have to ask why? Don't take this the wrong way, as my parents have redone a motorhome, and it was a great project. Basically, just want to know your reasoning.

Next up, would be floor height. I would drop it as much as possible. At least in the sketches it is way above the wheel well. I'd move it to top of wheel well at most. Also, it looks like there isn't much outside storage. Just a couple small openings. Maybe consider a pass thru?

Windows...I know you say security is a concern, but a week of rain and no windows, you'll be in the crazy house..

:E Thanks for your comments. "Take it the wrong way"? No, don't worry about that. I want to be challenged and defend my decisions. Please give it to me straight. Why build? For the same reason you wouldn't want me coming to your house and rearranging the furniture the way I like it. RV manufacturers build things that have to appeal to many, but I think in the process they wind up really appealing to few. The end result is that the RV buying decision becomes a decision of making concessions. No one would ever need to walk on an RV sales lot again if they could just go up to a dealer and say "this is what I want....give it to me at a fair price." Yes, I am going to pay more for a custom built trailer... but I'm going to save money too by not paying for the oven and burners I'll never cook on, not paying for the the garbage jack knife sofa, not paying for 28 plastic cup holders, not paying for that useless floral wallpaper accent thing that lines every RV on the planet, not paying for a refrigerator that takes up floor to ceiling space only to keep things semi-cold, not paying for a dozen mirrors they now stick everywhere including the ceiling. I think in the long term the benefits of better insulation, better specifically chosen equipment and a better construction will make me come out ahead over time. And, in the process I get a floor plan I feel comfortable in... not ones like where the kitchen counter juts into the walking space or to get from the bedroom to the living room you have to walk through the bathroom or where to get into bed you have to turn sideways and shuffle along the wall. Good question!