wytunie

Well, after many distractions from the wife.....the toy hauler is almost complete. A few items to finish and tweak. Thank you all for some great ideas. I will try and attach a few shots of my trailer. The 24' car hauler that was picked up so cheap, the wife even said couldn't pass up has changed quite a bit. Started by completely gutting the inside. Wired for 12V and 110 with each having fuse box systems and battery charging system for 2 marine batteries. Several plugs of each throughout the trailer. Divided the cargo/workshop and lounge area. Installed windows in the lounge area. Completely insulated the whole inside. Lounge area being about 9X8 with 4' V nose includes: Air/Heat, Fridge, Microwave, Audio system, TV/DVD/Satilite, Coffee, Toaster oven, fold out couch, carpet and storage. Quite comfy. The rear being about 15' has room for plenty of airplanes and now the truck/cars. Includes: large rolling tool box, peg board rack for parts, small bin rack for small parts, larger drawers for larger parts, controller rack, fuel bottle rack, generator (on wheels), aircompressor, work bench with vise, lots of racks movable on rack system and more. Was a long drug out project, but now the wife says I can go play.. Yee haa.

wytunie

Here are a few more pictures of the project that is almost complete.

wattmeter

Really looks great and someone's dream.
wattmeter

wattmeter

Really looks good and someone's dream
wattmeter

F-16WpnsTech

Unreal wattmeter, outstanding job! One thing you might consider is a shot gun at the entrance with a trip wire on the trigger so you can keep the guys at the field from stealing your parts!!

Fili

Jeez, I'm almost embarrased to post my pics after what I've seen here. This is what my budget allows. Maybe in the future I can go BIG. This'll do for now.....

I still have some tweaking to do.

testfly

No worries Phil. If you look back my first trailer post was in 2002 and it took 7 years for me to get where I am now with mine.

My trailer is setup so I can work full time in it. So, it doubles as a rolling hanger & workshop. Which makes it nice when I am at the field and I or someone else needs something.
IE last week a guy was having his glider esc cut off after 1 minute of flight. he Had servos just no motor. His ESC went bad. Asked me about it and I offered one to him to try.
We went to the trailer, opened a new esc, soldered on 3.5 bullet connectors to match his motor and he flew the rest of the day with no problem. He offered to pay for the esc and I told him to just order a new one and replace it. I try to help guys out when I can and I never charge for a part. I just ask that they replace it. I tell them that I am not a hobby shop but am always willing to help if I can.

This is a wonderful hobby and I have found that if your in it long enough you will grow with it.

So, let's see where you are in say 7 years.....:-)

/ Troy

testfly

Real nice setup there wytunie.

I see you are using bed stays as I did. I have updated to using tarp bungees and cabinet door handles for the fuselages.

I have found that after a while the bed stays will stretch.

Below are images of what I have found to work well so far.

Super08

My Feedback: (2)

Never be embarrased. You've done a very nice job converting it and have made good use of the space. It's all about what you can do with what you got. It's all good. [8D]

Fili

Thanks Guys...I recently got into giant scale, and I could fit one at a time in my van. When gas prices went sky high, I traded and bought a Honda Element. I like the idea of a "cargo" type vehicle, and she's better onm gas. But.....she is too small for my big birds, so I had to do something. the pop up conversion was the quickest, cost effective way for now. She'll serve well. Thanks again for the kind words!

AIRPLANENUTS

My Feedback: (2)

Nice job, Phil. I envy you. I think the converted pop-up is a great airplane trailer. Unfortunately, its sometimes hard to find a large pop-up that isn't too new, and too expensive.

Rick

TomCrump

I like your hauler, Phil.

Our club president had one similar, for years. It served him well.

Prairie Mike

I tried something like this and found that going down the road they wiggled fore & aft. I think your solution with the wood on the arms and the board along the back side solves that problem. Thanks for the idea.

wytunie

I used the double slot hangers rather than the single, which keeps some of the movement down on the hangers. When I did my first test run of the trailer, due to the light weight on the hangers, some of them did manage to bounce up and out of their slots in the rear of the trailer. To keep the options of moving the hangers around, left the hangers in, but did drill some small holes just above the hanger on the wall support and put small cotter pins in. Now there is no way the hanger will bounce up and out unless the cotter pins are removed first.

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

Don't you just love it when the wife starts talking like that!

dasintex

My Feedback: (10)

Hey Guys;

I will be modifying my Trailer which has curved corners which transition between the interior walls and the ceiling; the walls are covered with a thin white paneling of somesort, the ceiling is bare, just the single layer of the Roof Skin serving as the ceiling; spanning the width, with the same contour of the ceiling/roof and these corners are a series of ribs which are about an inch thick creating a depth of 1"; what I would like to do, is place some 1 inch styrofoam insulation between these ribs and cover the ceiling with a material that can be bent to follow the contour of the roof and corners without cracking; thin plywood or paneling would probably not work, because of the curvature or the corners; alumium sheeting may work but hard to form the curvature; my thought was to use 1/8 to1/4 inch thick plastic sheeting that was semi rigid; I don't know the name or what the Plastic is called, but that semi-translucent white plastic stuff, like cutting board material only thinner; I would appreciate your replys and ideas; and what the Plastic is called; I think its called Low Density Polyethylene; a cheap source would be helpful.

Thanks, Doug.

jbarnes

Hey Doug,
I insulated my entire trailer and finished the ceiling and walls using 1/4" ply. I removed all the luan ply on the side walls and got down to a bare trailer. I then placed 1" styro in all the walls and ceiling using foam safe adhesive. I cut wiring channels and wiring boxes in the styro to support my 110 and 12 volt outlets. Ran all the wiring and then sheeted everything with 1/4" ply using 1" self drilling screws into the trailer frame. You are correct that you can not make the bends in the corners on the ceiling or wall. Sheet the entire trailer as close as you can to the corners.
I ripped some 1/4" ply to bridge between the wall and ceiling, roughly 12" wide. I took those bridge pieces and stapled them to the wall and ceiling and then used thin strips to finish off the joint so it looked nice.
I'll get you some pictures this weekend to help you visualize what I did.
My trailer sits out and I wanted it insulated from the heat. I took the vent in the ceiling and replaced it with a 12volt RV fan driven by a thermostat set at 95 degrees. When the trailer gets 95 inside the fan comes on. I've got six vents in the floor that draw the air from under the trailer out through the roof vent.
The power is provided via a large deep cycle battery which is fed by a 45 watt solar panel mounted on the top of the trailer. I never have to plug in to any kind of power, its all self contained. The 110 outlets are powered by a 800 watt inverter via a swich on the wall. The trailer also has interior lighting and 12 volt power for battery chargers.
Lesson learned are that I have never used the 110. The inverter sucks the life out of the battery in pretty short order (within two days). The deep cycle battery is not a good choice if you have large battery chargers to charge your lipo's. I've started flying some larger electrics using 8s packs that charge at 10 amps. A deep cycle battery is not made for high discharge so when I have two chargers running the battery gets below 11 volts due to the amp load. If I use a car battery I don't have that problem because they are made for a higher discharge rate.
I'll post you some pictures this weekend. Good luck, its a fun project and well worth the effort when completed. Jerry

Prop Nut

My Feedback: (3)

Fili, I have a 6x12 enclosed trailer now...I really miss my popup conversion that I used to have before this one. It was way more convienent to use. No not feel at all bad with what you have (and no, I do not want to trade )

dasintex

My Feedback: (10)

Jerry;

Thanks for the Info; I like what you have described; and what you did to your trailer is what I plan on doing with mine; I bought the trailer used and it needs some cosmetic rework on the interior so I was going to strip it down to the metal like you had done, insulate and re cover; the walls are a no-brainer, its the curvature of the corners and ceiling is the problem; if you could post some pictures would be great or Email them to me at [email protected] als, what do your floor vents look like?

Thanks, Doug.

jbarnes

Here's the pics I promised. Its a 6 X 10 which I've been using for three years now. Going to put together a larger on next year.

jbarnes

More pics

jbarnes

more pics

jbarnes

Last ones!

dasintex

My Feedback: (10)

Jerry;

Thanks for posting the Photos, the trailer looks great; on the walls, did you cover the Styrofoam Insulation with 1/4" Ply, then with carpet, same carpet on floor, right? Also, is it possible to see your air vents that vent the air out?

Thanks, Doug.

jbarnes

Doug, the entire trailer is sheeted with 1/4" and then the carpet glued to that. The vents are just simple round vents you get any home improvement store. You drill a 3" diameter hole in the floor and the vent pops in and screws down. The vents I used are not screened so for folks that live in a area with alot of bugs it may not be the best choice.
Thanks, Jerry.