u/cover-your-assets

Decided to put my shower in the V-nose making it 5 sides to squeeze as much space as I could out of the bathroom. This left me with the only option being to build it myself.

Wood, fiberglass, and epoxy resin were the selected choices. I started out with 1x6’s for the perimeter, followed by some additional supports about halfway down for the plywood to sit on. This gave me the access neeeded to run the plumbing underneath.

Cut out some scrap plywood and sat it on the supports and soaked it with a towel and boiling water for 30 min. Then I put a pickle jar upside down and balanced 110 lbs of weights on top of the jar to get the appropriate slope towards the drain. Did my radius fillet around the perimeter and laid 4 layers of 17oz woven mat on top and 3 underneath for additional strength. Sanded it down and topped it with a pour over epoxy bathtub refinishing kit.

The result is better than expected and its stronger than a boat deck. They claim bending wood makes it stronger. After drilling out the drain hole its about 3/4” thick.

Ceiling didn't go in without a fight. I had to rip it out twice due to some unforeseen issues with light placement but we're in!

Need to finish buttoning up the electrical and will get started on the plumbing shortly after.

Due to my funny 5 sided shower I'll be making my own shower pan out of 17oz biaxial fiberglass cloth and epoxy. Record heat in Florida isn't helping me move any quicker, but a Cigar City Jai Alai does, Cheers!

Finished running all my 120V circuits. All wires are sitting on the first layer of insulation, second layer of insulation was channeled to give the wires something to run through so the plywood doesn't squish them. Hooked everything up to a Siemens load center. Waiting on a couple things to finally get the electrical all buttoned up.

Got the trailer raised up to its new height which should help with clearance of gray water tanks underneath and stopping the corners from dragging on steep driveways.

Water tanks came in. I'll have a capacity of 92 gallons of fresh water and 60 gallons of gray water.

Finally installed the 12V Outequip roof top AC unit. Had to reroute the wiring so it enters the trailer through the return duct, no extra holes needed on the roof. This thing cools like crazy! Plus, no condenser hanging off the front, no line sets to be ran, and no bulky mini split head unit.

All 3 windows cut and installed.

My buddy works for a marine supplier so he gave me his price on an Isotherm 4 gal water heater and Cruise 226 refrigerator. Water heater runs off 120V fridge will be on 12V

Need to finish getting the plywood walls back up and start framing out the shower. Opting for metal studs.

Tongue and groove ceiling up next. Its been a hot one!

Since this is something between a home and a boat, I've named her the Spaceship. Can't wait to finish this thing up!

Been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple of days on what it is exactly that I want in my build and headway has been made. Finally got through with my layout on what I think really flows the best. Its one thing to have everything you need on board but its another for it all to flow well. I always take a few extra days to run every possible scenario to make sure no stone goes unturned.

First thing I did is rip out all the plywood that was on the walls. Starting with the "hell nails" which I will admit I really did try and unscrew them thinking they were little phillips screws. What an idiot! I guess the June heat in South Florida was really getting to me.

With the walls uncovered first order of business was sealing every inside corner where the metal stud meets the skin, walls and ceiling. I got a box of Lexel clear sealant and got to work. Any holes gaps larger than a 1/4" got a bead of spray foam. Also addressed a lot of missed spots outside where they did a half-ass job with the sealant. This thing is going to be TIGHT! Since I like to address all wiring while its exposed, I got rid of every wire splice connector I saw on the trailer and rewired with marine grade crimp connectors with heat shrink. Cleaned up all the wiring and neatly ran it up where the wall and ceiling meet. Relocated the battery box for the 7 pin under the trailer. I also wired up the LED lights on the wing to come on whenever the truck is in reverse. I will wire them to a on-off-on switch to be able to keep them off in the event I want to be a little more stealth.

I'd also like to point out that I got this trailer built and requested the 5200lb tandem axles assuming that they would come with straight axles. Nope. When I picked it up I noticed it indeed came with 5200lb axles but they were drop axles. Since I want to be ready to go anywhere, ground clearance is a priority. I went ahead and purchased the over/under axle kit. What was supposed to be an easy install, was not. To my surprise while trying to loosen up the leaf spring bolts I noticed that the manufacturer welded every single nut to the bolt on the leaf spring assembly. WHY?! Just my luck! How many leaf springs came apart on the highway until they decided the proper course of action was to weld them. Out came the angle grinder and quickly ordered a new set of bolts. Hit a speed bump when I found out the flip kit was for 3,500lb axles, awesome. Let me know if anyone is interested in a over/under flip kit for the standard axles before I return them!

Whoever was in charge of cutting the trim where the drop axle came up just didn't seem to care. It's as if the master cut the rear one and they let the new guy go at the front. Zero quality control. But hey, Georgia stuff!

For the first layer of insulation I went with the 1" styrofoam stuff to fit in between the studs. I cant find the purple stuff in 4x8' sheets down here. I could only find the 14.75"x4' and its way overpriced. My second layer will be the Sika R-5 foam ran horizontally to combat some thermal bridging.

I will install (2) 46 gallon fresh water tanks just over each axle connected together giving me 92 gallons of fresh water capacity. They will sit half under the bed and half under a dinette booth and the other half in a base cabinet. For gray water I opted to go with (3) 20 gallon tanks mounted underneath in between the cross-members. A lot yes but better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. I'm not too worried about the weight, I guess we'll see as time goes on.

Knockoff Chinese max air fan, and 12v OutEquip roof mounted AC unit. I was dead set on going with a mini split but having it hang off the front of the V was not really something I wanted to do. Add in the routing of the linesets, inverter losses, and having the big head unit in the trailer, the 12V route sounded like the winner. For $950 you get a self contained unit with no linesets, drainline, bulky head unit, and heat. To add its as quiet as a mini split. What a time to be alive!

For solar: 4 of the biggest panels I can fit on the roof without sticking out over the edge and (3) 300Ah batteries totaling 900Ah. Looking at Vatrer batteries with the Victron goodies. DC to DC charger running from the truck battery all the way to the trailer to charge while we move, especially in the dark.

To come: Bed Lift in the back so I can transport 2 ebikes in the "garage". I was set on a fixed bed but having the adjustability was a no brainer. After all I'll be living in this full time.

Custom epoxy shower pan to get the most space out of the shower in the v-nose.

Waiting on 3 windows to come in.

Let me know what you think! Cheers

I picked up this 7x16 blackout package in the desert tan. We will be going full time around the country so building it out to be boondocking most of the time with the occasional campground. I'll be sharing the build along the way, I'm shooting for a 2 month build out giving it 100% of my time. Hope I'm not crazy, Here we go!