NC Mountain Campers

Since having the new lock installed and putting the tiny table together I have been working on the electrical and insulation. On the outside I installed the 30 amp electrical plug to bring power into the camper, a 15 amp outlet, a 12 volt light, and the coaxial cable connector. I have mostly worked with wood in the past and quickly found the metal siding on the trailer to be very unforgiving compared to wood. Drilling holes in the metal was not difficult, but trying to cut out larger holes with a jig saw was not fun. Perhaps in time it will get easier.

On the inside I removed the plywood walls and cut out foam insulation panels (1 inch thick blue foam) to fit into the metal channels. I filled any gaps with spray foam insulation. After the spray foam cured I trimmed the excess and notched out a channel in the foam for the electrical wires. Then I put the plywood back on and mounted three outlets, the cable connector, and a TV mount. I also put a small breaker box on the floor to connect all the AC wiring. A DC electrical panel is due to arrive any time. For DC electrical I will have the outside light, an inside light, a ceiling fan, and a accessory plug. (The inside light, ceiling fan, and accessory plug will be installed later.)

My next focus will be to build the frame of the bed. I want to be able to store stuff under the bed (spare tire, electrical panels, batteries, etc.) Then I will start putting some finishing touches on the walls, corners, and floor.

Again while driving home last week (sitting in traffic once again) I saw this neat looking cargo trailer being pulled by a “Power/Energy” utility truck.

While commuting to the big city everyday I see a lot of interesting things. Here is a really nice Winnebago camper. You just don’t see many of these around.

I spotted this interesting cargo trailer on the way home from work the other day. It has the Texas flag on each side and a nice rack/basket on top. Looks much better than a plain white trailer.

I made a small table for the new trailer. This small fold down table leaf came from a previous RV I owned. It looked like it would make the perfect tiny table for the tiny camper, so I made a bracket to allow it to fold up and down on the wall. The table will be used to set small items such as a drink or snack, not anything heavy. I plan to mount a TV to the wall above the shelf.

The bracket with hinge

The table support

The table folded down

The table ready to be used

I took the new trailer back to Trailers of the East Coast to have them remove the old lock and install an RV type lock. This will enable me to lock the door from the inside and not allow someone to lock me inside. I have read where people were concerned that a door with a RV type lock could actually open while driving down the road from the flex of the cargo trailer.  This is likely because a cargo trailer is made with small ribs and light aluminum sheeting. In many cases there are very little internal heavy duty bracing to reduce flexing. My trailer is a Pace America Journey series and the rear door frame is made of heavy duty steel. The service technician assured me that this would not flex as in the possible case with having a door on the side. He also commented that it is always good practice to lock both the regular lock and the dead bolt lock when towing the trailer.

Old Lock

New Lock

The new lock with installation cost me $205.71. That’s a little more than I expected, but I think they did a great job. In most cases I only pay someone to do the jobs that I am not familiar with or I don’t feel comfortable doing. I may also get these guys to install one or two vents in the roof because I want them supported with metal bracing that will need to be welded in place and I’m not a welder. Most of the other modifications to the trailer will be done by me.