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5x8 cargo camper build

I got the cabin shelving roughed in and functional, with the limited space I wanted to make the most out of it.

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I'll circle back at some point and tidy this up and add some sort of doors to the bottom and mid sections.

These trailers are a great application for rivnuts, it makes a rock solid attachment point for shelving or anything else where you don't trust a self-tapper.

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I grinded this week and finished up all of the trailer\tow wiring. Took advantage of the benefits of 7 pin wiring and have brakes, 12v charging, and reverse lights wired up. That was one of the big items on my list to fully complete

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I somehow got the wrong 7 pin wiring harness.

I think this was a 'RV' style or something and most of the wire colors didn't match up to standard trailer wiring. Seems like a silly thing to not be standardized. It was annoying but after some trial and error I pushed through and figured it out :grinpimp:. I laminated a small piece of paper with a simple wiring schematic on it and put it inside the wiring box to avoid future confusion

I like to use these small ground blocks to keep all of the grounds under control.

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With the wiring out of the way this thing is technically ready for a trip.

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First piece of paneling up to get an idea of how it's going to look. This is just some cheap ass 4x8 paneling that lowes had, good enough for me :grinpimp:

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Do you need doors? Add a lip to the front edge? Bungee net/line?
 
Roll down/snap/Velcro canvas covers from the top of each section. Light, take up no space, hide the mess when you show off the rape shack, but can all be up at once in camp.
 
Do you need doors? Add a lip to the front edge? Bungee net/line?

I want to keep those sections concealed, yes. I've been kicking around an idea of locating the door with 2 pins on the bottom so that it can be lifted out, and some sort of spring latch at the top.

Roll down/snap/Velcro canvas covers from the top of each section. Light, take up no space, hide the mess when you show off the rape shack, but can all be up at once in camp.

That's actually a pretty good idea, I'm going to keep that option in mind. Thanks
 
So here's what I ended up doing with the cabinet doors.

Made some brackets out of 3/4 angle, pinned the bottom ones with 5/16 round stock, and used 1/4 inch spring plungers to lock it in place.

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Tapped some threads for the spring latch

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Added a paracord extension loop to access the spring plunger easier, the metal loop is a bit small.

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Hit all of the exposed wood with leftover deck stain. Bonus points for repurposing the plywood that I originally yanked out of the trailer for those doors (and some of the shelves)

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Very pleased with how it turned out.
 
Diesel heater install - 3KW

I wasn't planning on putting a heater in this thing right away but here we are. I somehow did not know that these type of heaters existed until recently. I figured that I'd go the propane route until I started doing some research. The diesel heaters are cheap (the china ones, anyway - $150 bucks for this 3KW one) and it's a 'dry' heat that doesn't cause condensation like propane. They also are very efficient and do not use much electricity - they claim a full 2.6 gallon tank will run the heater for 100 hours :eek:

I originally planned on putting the unit in the truck tool box but it just happened to be small enough to fit in the cabin. If you buy one of these, go with the basic on\off unit. The fancy LCD interface is prone to failing and is unnecessary IMO.

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Air intake, fuel line, and exhaust all hooked up.

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Routed the exhaust as high as I could, I don't expect it to get mashed here

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I intended to install the fuel tank inside the truck box but it was a bit too big. No problem mounting it to the outside of it.

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I set a timer for 20 minutes and let 'er chooch. I think winter camping is doable now. :eek::laughing:

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Any plans for a CO detector in there? Thats awesome, I always worry about the silent killers.
 
Any plans for a CO detector in there? Thats awesome, I always worry about the silent killers.
I knew the safety police would show up at some point :flipoff2:

I purposely waited until I had one installed before taking pictures, you can see it here.

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That's nice build! I'll definitely will look into getting good diesel heater for mine. That's going to be handy.
 
Is that heater thermostatically controlled? If it is does the fan run constantly and only the burner cycles?
And if not, what is the lighting procedure?
What I’m getting at is when I wake up in the middle of the night can I simply reach over and hit a switch to fire it up?
 
Is that heater thermostatically controlled? If it is does the fan run constantly and only the burner cycles?
And if not, what is the lighting procedure?
What I’m getting at is when I wake up in the middle of the night can I simply reach over and hit a switch to fire it up?

No thermostat. You just hit the on button, it will run through a cycle where it the glow plug heats up and the fan runs at high speed. It will start putting out heat after about 2-3 minutes and then the fan speed will drop back down to the dial setting (its very quiet on the lowest setting).

When you turn it off it will go through a similar cycle, which I assume is like a cleaning cycle to fully burn the fuel in the unit. It takes a couple minutes for it to actually turn off.
 
It would suck to fall asleep with it running!
Yeah, I cannot sleep when it's too warm so I'd wake up quick if I left it on

I wanted to keep things simple, it's really just to take the chill off. My mindset is that I'd fire it up 15 minutes before bed and turn it off, most nights I won't have to turn it back on again. Plus, I'm not sure how much winter camping I can talk the family into :laughing:

With that being said, I finally pulled it out of the garage yesterday and the boys talked me into some backyard camping. The temps were in the 30's all day and dipped into the high 20's overnight. I ended up firing it up twice for about 10 minutes each time, all night. Good times were had :grinpimp:

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Cool deal man! I really want to convert an old Uhaul box into camper that I can then load onto back of truck like a roll off container. Only thing I would worry about with your setup is the fuel tank outside of tool box, if it gets really cold and you need heat it would suck to figure out the fuel gelled up. Maybe just move it to inside the toolbox with little insulated area just for it? I've seen few guys switch that tank out to the marine ones with the no spill quick connector so when it needs fuel you just pull the tank out and fill it instead of dealing with trying to fill from a jerry can. Also you can run the exhaust through an old EGR cooler and scavenge some free heated water through it for keeping floor warm or maybe heat the tool box area a bit.
 
Cool deal man! I really want to convert an old Uhaul box into camper that I can then load onto back of truck like a roll off container. Only thing I would worry about with your setup is the fuel tank outside of tool box, if it gets really cold and you need heat it would suck to figure out the fuel gelled up. Maybe just move it to inside the toolbox with little insulated area just for it? I've seen few guys switch that tank out to the marine ones with the no spill quick connector so when it needs fuel you just pull the tank out and fill it instead of dealing with trying to fill from a jerry can. Also you can run the exhaust through an old EGR cooler and scavenge some free heated water through it for keeping floor warm or maybe heat the tool box area a bit.

Thanks! The diesel gelling up is a minor concern, but I figured I could just add anti-gel to the tank in the rare case that I'd be camping when it's that cold. I intended to put the tank in the toolbox but it's a bit too big and won't fit.

I do like the idea of using an egr cooler and getting free heated water from the exhaust
 
Been using this thing a good bit this year and I'm loving it.

I quickly realized that some sort of awning was priority. After a miserable failed attempt at making my own with a tarp and poles :homer:, I ended up just buying one. This is a sunseeker awning (8x12) from e-trailer - very pleased with it, quick to setup and take down. I was able to mount it up high onto the roof\cargo rack, super solid.

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Added a bunk for some additional space for the kids and it's also nice to use as a shelf for extra storage

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Here's how the galley \ kitchen area turned out, just did some finishing touches to it this weekend.

I used peel and stick tile for the backsplash, I added some heavy duty spray adhesive to give it a fighting chance to stay in place... so we'll see what happens over time. The counter is left over scrap pieces of flooring that was originally used inside

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I've always been curious of the weight of thing so I finally took it to the scales.

1840lbs (nearly fully loaded and ready to camp), which is a few hundred pounds heavier than I expected. The stock, unloaded trailer, weighed in at 910lbs per the registration.

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PSA - Don't be a dumbass like me and forget to use mag style lug nuts on toyota wheels. I knew to use these but had the acorn\conical style on temporarily and completely forgot it :homer: Thank god nobody got hurt and nothing broke, I got lucky.

It let loose around 50mph and the drum brake was my new tire for a half mile until I could pull over :eek:

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Anyway, this thing has been awesome and it gets a lot of use

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Follow up question on the exhaust for the 3KW diesel heater....did it get filled/peppered with rocks? Wondering if it will collect dirt/debris inside it on long journeys down dirt roads!
 
Follow up question on the exhaust for the 3KW diesel heater....did it get filled/peppered with rocks? Wondering if it will collect dirt/debris inside it on long journeys down dirt roads!

No, never had any issues like that
 
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