HELP! I'm building a custom travel trailer.

rfryer wrote:
Thanks for your extensive feedback, I really appreciate it. Oh, no need to worry about criticizing my plans

:h

I am TOTALLY confused. You're not the O.P. of this thread-or are you??? Is "Darla" of the thread opener quoted below somehow connected to you???

myrvplans1 wrote:
Hi everyone,

My name is Darla and I’m going to be building a small custom RV later this year to travel solo full time throughout the United States. Yup, I’m doin it! I would love to share my RV plans with you and hopefully get your feedback on them. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, comments or suggestions based on your RV experience. (i.e. my floor plan design, equipment, decor, structural design, sustainability, etc.) It’s even okay to tell me I am crazy! :–)

I put my plans online at: http://myrvplans.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for your time and for your input. - Darla

Thanks for your extensive feedback, I really appreciate it. Oh, no need to worry about criticizing my plans... I WANT THAT! In fact, most here are going too easy on me. It's making me feel smarter than I am and giving me a big head :--) So you are a frequent boondocker? ...where do you dump your grey tank? 16' with 8 windows? That's a lot of glass. 16' is a nice size to park. I would be interested in knowing more about solo traveling security. Do you know if mace is legal in all states? SWAT?.... LOL. What about putting a really big bone and a really big leash outside my door.... they'd have to imagine just how big the dog is. :--) What model TT do you have?

My favorite and most frequent camping is to take forest service roads as far back in as I can get and the little TT allows me to do that. I get all the “civilization” I can stand at home and this is my way of escaping, I guess. I dump my tanks when needed at a dump station somewhere convenient to where I’m traveling. The rules vary all over the place about that. Some places allow it, some do not. BLM, for example, will allow bath water dumping, but not dish water, it’s classed as sewage. But it all goes in the same tank. Some national forests allow it, some don’t. Mainly, I have too much respect for the outdoors to litter or even dump gray water. Besides, I have to dump my black water somewhere anyway; it’s nothing to dump the gray at the same time. And I travel all over the west and I don’t want to have to research the plethora of regulations everywhere I go.

As far as security goes, I think I’ve had far more than my share of incidents than most people. So both I and my DW carry handguns. But I don’t want to turn this into a gun thread, there are other options. Some people carry mace, bear spray, wasp spray, bats, tazers, etc. My own experience has been that threats often involve two or three people, so I consider tazers and bats and such relatively useless. Having made that statement I have to emphasize that in 50 years of boondocking and camping in remote, campgrounds, I’ve never once had to pull the gun. Most all the hairy incidents have been in the city.

Your best security is being aware of your surrounding and if your gut tells you to move don’t engage in intellectual exercises, move. You'd likely be fine in the boondocks or in a private or public campground somewhere with other campers around.I don’t know if mace is universally legal, I’d think it would be. Your best option is to go online and research it. Keep in mind that not all, but most riff raff are from the city and don’t have the means to get in the backcountry. Besides, the lack of pavement and seclusion is unfamiliar territory and they’re not comfortable there. Thus my prior statement that your risk goes well down in relationship to the distance from “civilization”.

I think the food dish, leash, size 12 boots and bone ideas are already in use by a few ladies so no harm is trying it. To answer your last question my TT is a 1989 Wilderness Yukon.

Francesca Knowles wrote:

myrvplans1 wrote:
. Road travel provides a lot of rumbling and that vibration will most likely cause gaps in the floor over time.

Further research on your part would likely reveal that most problems associated with RV flooring are actually related to exactly the materials/method you contemplate: sheet vinyl installed on floors under/before interior cabinetry.

That method is the cause of a major headache for folks in climates where winter temps get/stay below freezing. Pinned by the cabinetry, the vinyl can't expand/contract in response to temperature extremes and will simply tear instead.

Not a pretty springtime picture, but a fairly common one for those with underneath-installed sheet vinyl flooring.

Look up vinyl plank tiles. I helped a friend put these in his RV and it worked out quite nice. It is free floating so it shouldn't pull apart due to changes in weather and such as long as you don't install it under cabinets. Put it down over a good subfloor, some quarter round trim stained to match and you're good!

myrvplans1 wrote:
. Road travel provides a lot of rumbling and that vibration will most likely cause gaps in the floor over time.

Further research on your part would likely reveal that most problems associated with RV flooring are actually related to exactly the materials/method you contemplate: sheet vinyl installed on floors under/before interior cabinetry.

That method is the cause of a major headache for folks in climates where winter temps get/stay below freezing. Pinned by the cabinetry, the vinyl can't expand/contract in response to temperature extremes and will simply tear instead.

Not a pretty springtime picture, but a fairly common one for those with underneath-installed sheet vinyl flooring.

myrvplans1 wrote:

oughtsix wrote:

NYCgrrl wrote:
I read some of your text and noted you where thinking of using different grades of carpeting throughout your TT. I'd consider other flooring options like sealed cork or a good quality linoleum. Easier to clean, and still good feel for feet with the added bonus of noise control to counteract the unit's metal.

It's great to be able to fulfil a dream and I too will be watching your progress.

I would not use vinyl for the seal layer of your floor. Vinyl is actually quite fragile. Take a look at http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/construction/materials/marmoleum.htm. It is MUCH tougher than vinyl and very common in commercial settings. You could probably get a remnant piece pretty cheap for the size you need. Go look Marmoleum in a flooring showroom. You will be sold on the toughness when you look at it!

I would also use cork for the finish layer. Cork also holds up very well and is a pleasure to walk on!

:E Thanks for the feedback. I checked into the Marmoleum... first, I think it only comes in 79" roll widths max and I'm not crazy about things that piece together like tiles, carpet squares and wood slats. Road travel provides a lot of rumbling and that vibration will most likely cause gaps in the floor over time.

I am positive marmoleum comes in standard widths. I have laid some that was off of a 12' wide roll. My girl friend insisted on putting it in her place because she had it installed in her day care. I was like "What ever" until I saw it in person, it is seriously heavy duty! Go to a shop that carries it and look for yourself is the best advice I can give. I agree, I don't like pieced together stuff.

I have seen cork flooring that has spent 10 years in a retail setting. It was in great shape! I didn't believe it myself at first. I don't expect you to take my word on either of these, just some suggestions, you will need to do your own research!

My first house I purchased fire damaged. I refurbished the whole house myself with some help from my parents. I used no contractors, mainly because I consider their work very inferior! I have improved every house I have owned since and always complain about the original workmanship. My girl friend has told me several times that I should just build my own place because I am so picky. As tempting as that would be I always tell her I would end up with a 1500 square foot million dollar mansion! Please take this as positive advice from a fellow nit picker, please realize it sounds like you are headed down this same road as my 1500 sq foot million dollar mansion. This is fine, just realize no one else will hold its worth at the same level you do. (Like you infer, people throw away much more money on much more frivolous and stupid things... like gambling)

Good luck with your adventure!

Here is a blog that I came across about a guy who started full-timing in a Casita and moved up to a NASH. You might find some good information from his experiences about what it's like to live "off-grid" full-time. He ultimately moved up to a small Nash (heavy duty off road frame) made by Northwoodmfg.

http://www.simplelivingandsimpletravel.com/2013_05_01_archive.html

I'm going to throw in a further post here, and kindly take as intended to be constructive. It will probably come off sounding harsh and as though I am bashing....that is certainly not the intent.

First, from a housekeeping standpoint of the forum here, it might be useful if you were to consolidate your responses into one post back. Having endless posts back from you, saying "thanks for feedback" ( we understand....you really do appreciate the feedback )....and then replying to one persons thoughts is making this a very long thread indeed. We have not even laid a keel on this ship yet, and we're up to what...40 or so posts ? Folks are going to lose interest in following along if this gets crazy long.

Now for the part that is going to sound harsh. I don't think "you get it". Folks are coming back with solid suggestions, and your replies are coming back with comments like 15 foot tall RV's and $100,000 dollar sets of tires. And sorry, but when I see a artist rendering of a cargo trailer with six or seven steps up, I'm thinking this is not well thought out yet.
I would strongly recommend you sit down with someone who has an engineering background, and a good CAD program on their computer, and step thru some of this. And I don't mean Bubba down the street that has a buzz box and some scrap steel out behind the shed.... I mean someone who understands design, materials, and how to lay this out in a way that it can be correctly built, on a predicable budget.

Hope this helps, and hopefully you will take it the right way. A project like this could be fun and rewarding done right. Or it could be a lot of wasted time, money and poorly functioning if done wrong.

I know the joy and challenge of doing something just so it'll suit you. Go for it! Through the years I've converted Dodge vans, used a popup, hard-sided trailer, and a Class A but now a little converted cargo trailer will do it for me. Check for a PM and I'll send you some pics of a work in progress.

oughtsix wrote:

NYCgrrl wrote:
I read some of your text and noted you where thinking of using different grades of carpeting throughout your TT. I'd consider other flooring options like sealed cork or a good quality linoleum. Easier to clean, and still good feel for feet with the added bonus of noise control to counteract the unit's metal.

It's great to be able to fulfil a dream and I too will be watching your progress.

I would not use vinyl for the seal layer of your floor. Vinyl is actually quite fragile. Take a look at http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/construction/materials/marmoleum.htm. It is MUCH tougher than vinyl and very common in commercial settings. You could probably get a remnant piece pretty cheap for the size you need. Go look Marmoleum in a flooring showroom. You will be sold on the toughness when you look at it!

I would also use cork for the finish layer. Cork also holds up very well and is a pleasure to walk on!

:E Thanks for the feedback. I checked into the Marmoleum... first, I think it only comes in 79" roll widths max and I'm not crazy about things that piece together like tiles, carpet squares and wood slats. Road travel provides a lot of rumbling and that vibration will most likely cause gaps in the floor over time.

Bucky Badger wrote:
Good luck. Thats a lot of coin for a small tt

:E Thanks for the comments. Yeah, I know. Hopefully it wont be quite that much. But, I don't drink, I don't smoke, no gambling problem, never touched drugs, I don't own a fancy car (just a die hard Toyota Corolla), I don't eat at expensive restaurants, I don't travel overseas, I buy my clothes at the outlets.... so if I'm gonna spend the coin somewhere it might as well be on my "land spaceship." When you die you can't take a bank balance with ya!