How to tear it apart and build it back up

[kcallis]

I have a 2001 29' Shasta Phoenix that need to be torn apart and put back to a trailer that allow my 10 year old son and I to live the way we need to. For instance, I would love to turn my queen size bed 90 degrees so that I am able to get more room in the master bed room. I would love to run wire all through out the trailer to provide network drops to various drops. I would love to create a closed-in bedroom for my son, so rather than sleeping on the sofa-bed, he could have his own sleeping area.

I have read about people building their own trailers and I have read about people modifying their trailers, but I have not seen any sites where people can get ideas and examples. For instance, I have been trying to get wiring schematics on how the antenna goes into the trailer and gets fed to the TV drop in the living room and also in the bed room. Since I have a wifi antenna roof, I thought I would feed CAT5 cable for the wifi antenna down to my router. Of course, I tried to call Shasta and could not get any ideas on how the cabling it run.

I am not a DIY sort of person, but over the past 8 months, I have started to become one. So how does one find the resources to re-tool their trailer. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

[PAThwacker]

16 year old trailer, wrong floor plan, time to let it go. I had 4 campers in 10 years. Constant evolution of family dynamics. Present situation, screw the family and get a truck camper.

[chr_]

TNTT.COM

[BarneyS]

I agree with the comment on starting with the leaking water heater first. Any kind of leak can rapidly lead to the death of a trailer because of rotting and mold.

The bedroom should probably be the last of your projects in my opinion. You have received some excellent suggestions from Westend and others.
Good luck! 🙂
Barney

[rbpru]

I always remind people that almost everything in a TT covers something else. In my case I wanted to move the dinette table and seats. One seat covered the furnace, the other covered the water pump.

Some jobs are not as simple as they seem.

Many of the rebuilds are labors of love. Something folks like to do.

Good luck.

[westend]

You haven't touched this in a year and now things are starting to break or get discomfortable. I would start with the mechanical faults that exist and go from there. The sleeping arrangement is an easy fix. More on that in a bit.

I'd fix the water heater first. Nothing is going to impact the structure more than leaking water. Track it down, it may be a leaking fitting.

Outlets in one section usually means a GFCI has tripped. Check them all, including any on the exterior. Check all circuit breakers.

About your son and the sofa bed:Throw it out. Get him a real bed with a real mattress. Lacking that, buy foam he can sleep on. I'd suggest to do this before tackling the bedroom.

The bedroom is the last project since it is the only part that is still functional. Measure the inside of the bedroom area and draw the room on paper or CAD. Make cutouts or use CAD to situate various furniture items in that room. This will avoid the "I think I can..." engineering process that usually doesn't bring good results. Bottom line--Good plans=good results.
I'd suggest that you enlist a friend or acquaintance that has carpentry skills to look over the structure and give you input on what is possible. You should know, too, that any improvements you make will have little bearing on resale value, i.e. you are going to eat these costs. A 2001 trailer has little value, anyway, so that shouldn't impact any remodeling plans.
Good luck on the work.

[kcallis]

I started this posting almost 2 years ago and although I have a lot of ideas about changing out my trailer, it has just far been a pipe dream. The problem now is that my 10 year old son is now 11 and soon to be 12 years old. Once upon a time, when I was a home owner, I said that the purpose of a sofa bed was to motivated all guest to leave as soon as possible.

My son as been tortured with a sofa bed for to long, so it is time for me to start making changes. I have started finding weak areas in my floor, I have no electricity to any of the 110v sockets in the master bedroom, my hot water heater is leaking, and the list goes on.

I was reading over some of the posting, and although I would love to tear apart my trailer, since we are currently living in the trailer, the ability to move to the trailer for refurb is not going to happen. So I need to come up with a action plan to so making things work.

I think that phase one of this rebuild is the master bedroom. I wonder what the planned idea of the master bedroom was. I have a Queen side bed that fills the entire room with maybe 2 1/2' on either side of the bed, and I can't even go around the front of the bed.

I believe if I remove the overhanging cabinets and the side cabinets, purchase a bunk bed with a full on top and a queen (full) on the bottom (placing the fresh water tank and pump under the queen below) and turn the bed 90 degrees, I think with that I could then have a small dresser, a desk and wall mount the TV. That would make for a functional bedroom and a major milestone!

I guess I am just writing this down for my own edification, because it is 0430 and my mind is grinding right now, but it anyone has any ideas or thoughts, I would appreciate any responses. I unfortunately thought that shop classes were beneath me. How so wrong I was!!!

[kcallis]

Golden_HVAC wrote:
Most networks now are wireless. It used to be popular to install network cables in newly built homes, but today, I have a wireless Wi-Fi router in my living room, and it transmits to all areas of my house, and outside for about 100'.

You really only need the router to have a good antenna to pick up the signal from that distant Wi-Fi, and then re-transmit around your RV. Then all your network devices can pick up that signal.

Check with a place like 'Frys electronics' for items like that.

I found that a Hawkins remote wi-fi antenna works great with my laptop to pick up signals from as far as 800' away. I used a 6' USB extension cord, and put the antenna into a baggy to keep it water tight, and placed that on my refrigerator air vent, to pick up a signal from all the way across the campground.

Good luck!

Fred.

The reason for the CAT5 drops is that I have a server that provides media to my TVs. Although I have a Ubiquiti Bullet on the roof, I would like to run the CAT5 from the Bullet through the wall and from there connect to my Linksys router which is providing wireless to the household.

[Golden_HVAC]

Most networks now are wireless. It used to be popular to install network cables in newly built homes, but today, I have a wireless Wi-Fi router in my living room, and it transmits to all areas of my house, and outside for about 100'.

You really only need the router to have a good antenna to pick up the signal from that distant Wi-Fi, and then re-transmit around your RV. Then all your network devices can pick up that signal.

Check with a place like 'Frys electronics' for items like that.

I found that a Hawkins remote wi-fi antenna works great with my laptop to pick up signals from as far as 800' away. I used a 6' USB extension cord, and put the antenna into a baggy to keep it water tight, and placed that on my refrigerator air vent, to pick up a signal from all the way across the campground.

Good luck!

Fred.

[RoyB]

Having a barn or large garage area would really be a big help. Then you can tear it down to the trailer frame if you like.

Just changing out walls and such is really no big deal. You can find all you need at LOWES... Wood work as well as Electrical...

Have no idea how this compares cost wise to do the extreme mods or just find another trailer that suits your needs.

I have done alot of small changes to my OFF-ROAD Camper setup but it was mostly playing with better battery system setup to be able to survive several days camping off the power grid back in the woods somewhere. If you do it right it doesn't come cheap...

i would be Leary of playing with the roof structure or running down major water damage areas.

I'm also wanting to do some changes in my suspension and like what the Australia trailers do with those problems with their independent suspension wheel setups.. My OFF-ROAD trailer sits high off the ground and uses 15-inch off-road wheels...

My real problems is not having enough storage room for supplies and added electronics and external antennas supporting my emergency radio comms off-road alerts with the local Ham Radio community. This is my main excuse for wanting to be OFF-ROAD like we are...

My OFF-ROAD trailer has a 5x8 front deck and between that and my truck bed and back seat area we do get to carry some serious supplies. I still want to build on that idea evenmore it seems...









I might want to think along these lines making mods just to my 5X8 front deck to enclose things better like this Australia off-road setup does... My 12-foot box with this front enclosed deck would be very nice for enclosing things.


Roy Ken

[myredracer]

Altering cabinetry, bed frames, dinette seating,etc. in a TT isn't as difficult as one might think. Most, or all of these are screwed in place and stapled together which makes dis-assembly and reconstruction straightforward.

If you have space at home, I would invest in a chop saw, table saw and some other basic tools. Otherwise find a shop that rents a workbench and woodworking tools. Consider taking a basic night school woodworking course. Out of all the post-secondary education I have, woodworking classes in grade 11 & 12 have been the most useful classes I've ever taken. Should be mandatory in all high schools... :W

If doing remodeling and re-wiring, you also have the opportunity to do things like add switches on the walls for lights, additional 120 volt receptacles and perhaps wiring for built-in elect. heater(s). There's possibly a number of other mods and upgrades that could be done while in there doing major changes.

What is the existing TT and floor plan?

[TravelingTeache]

Here is our remodel. Not a total gut job, but may give you some ideas.Traveling Teacher

[westend]

I did a full gut out and rebuild. There are a lot of pictures in the restoration thread, The Cowboy/Hilton
Good luck!