The Moonshine Motel - Enclosed Gooseneck "Crawler Hauler" Build

[87manche]

you'll certainly come to appreciate the abundance of electricity and diesel fuel economy at some point.
6kw is pretty much do whatever you want amounts of angry pixies.

I'm not sure what the fuel economy at 50% load is, but 20 gallons is gonna go for a long while.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

you'll certainly come to appreciate the abundance of electricity and diesel fuel economy at some point.
6kw is pretty much do whatever you want amounts of angry pixies.

I'm not sure what the fuel economy at 50% load is, but 20 gallons is gonna go for a long while.

Book says ~.48gal per hour at half load, about ~.20gal at no load. Yeah, fuel should last a real long time.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Deconstruction continues. Picked up 8x 20' sticks of 1"x2"x.120" wall rectangular tubing to make new studs. Skins should be here this week.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Deconstruction is slowly progressing. As we take apart more, our plan is becoming more refined. The lowest channel that supports the bottom of the skins is pretty rotted, since it's overlapping z-channel and angle iron, so the current thinking is to replace with some of the 1x2 box we got.

Skins have arrived:

Took a break from decon to install the torflex #12 lift kit I bought. Decided to try it instead of investing time in making a lift kit, and the torflex lift kit fits perfectly. Getting the axles lined up within 1/16" was tricky, as all the holes are oversized, but I think we got it.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Brackets bolt in place. I elected to weld the lift brackets to the frame with a few inches of stitch welds for added security, then put some 1" stitches from the axle bracket to the frame bracket to prevent side to side movement, as a supplement to the bolts.

I like the extra height. More than this 3.13" of lift would seem like a ton.

 

[ridered3]

Progress (both deconstruction and construction) is looking good!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Siding stripped off, started planning out the new studs. Double square fasteners strip way easier than you'd think.

The lower channel holds all kind of junk, so I'm cutting it out and replacing it with 1x2 box. Got chased inside by rain, but the lower channel replacement goes in, then the studs to fill the gaps.

 

[Firstram]

WOW, not fucking around are you. Might as well buck some rivets

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I had considered the fancy rivets, but elected to stay with screws. This is more of a refresh than a high dollar trailer build, so screws will be fine. I'll use sealant in the panel seams to try to cut down on water intrusion.
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[KungFooMASTA]

What is the material called that those thin studs are made of?

Are you going to put anything between the studs and aluminum skins to keep it from corroding?

 

[GLTHFJ60]

What is the material called that those thin studs are made of?

Are you going to put anything between the studs and aluminum skins to keep it from corroding?

Hat posts are what the existing studs are called.

I plan to paint the studs before the skins go back up, but otherwise no, no plan for corrosion prevention between the skins and studs.

 

[KungFooMASTA]

10-4 I want to build a camper someday and am just trying to figure out how I want to do things.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Finally got some time in on the crawler hauler this weekend. The main section of the rig on the curb side is reframed, and ready for skins, after some sanding + paint.

Doors framed in:

This rear corner was jacked from someone snagging it on something, and rusty of course, so it got straightened and fixed:

Shit welds on the really rusty bits, but I didn't want to go down the rabbit hole of replacing every rusty stud in the trailer. Will blend what's there, then patch up the bits that have bad porosity, then send it.

Much better than it was:

 

[87manche]

what about a gusset that runs up the side of that rusty stud? easy 15 minute job.

would make me feel better.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

what about a gusset that runs up the side of that rusty stud? easy 15 minute job.

would make me feel better.

I hear you, but it's between the end panel (angle iron) and another good stud, so I'm not sure it does anything. If I get to the gusset, I'll take a pic to show y'all.

 

[ParadisePWoffrd]

The engineer in me would want to run an X-brace down each side to stiffen it up... but Im guessing the flex isnt a bad thing. Interior and exterior sheeting will add alot of structure too.

 

[87manche]

I suppose when you rivet the skin on it's gonna be one big gusset.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Driver side rear section didn't have nearly as much rust, so the finished product is cleaner. I'm happy with this. Got it started and finished done after work.

 

[Muckin_Slusher]

Cool build, haven't read the whole thing yet, but...I once worked at a shop building sleeper cabs for transports.

They'd put duct tape between anywhere aluminum was attached to steel. Doesn't sound like the right thing to me, but putting something there would be cheap insurance.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Cool build, haven't read the whole thing yet, but...I once worked at a shop building sleeper cabs for transports.

They'd put duct tape between anywhere aluminum was attached to steel. Doesn't sound like the right thing to me, but putting something there would be cheap insurance.

I like the duct tape idea. Thank you. I feel like anything else would compress and cause dimples/waves in the panels.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Another section framed in tonight.

 

[CarolinaCrawler]

Thats looking great! I've got a window i need to delete, I should bring it to you! lol

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Better current pics. Treating with ospho today so that we can paint tomorrow. One last rusty section to repair, then skins can go on.

Ordered way too much in parts for this thing this week, including a new entry door. This thing better be tits when it's done.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Seam sealer and paint today. Need to do some more rust repair tomorrow, then start figuring out skins.

This weekend, the goal is to have all the skins up on the main section with some help. Wrangling the full sheets will be a challenge, and a learning experience for sure.

Following that, the rust repair in the goose will occur, along with framing the windows, followed by skins in the goose.

Interior layout is close to finalized, and the vehicle tie down locations more or less finalized as well.

Exciting!

 

[Firstram]

Hell yea

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Finished the final repairs in the main section, then touch up and paint. Skins start going on today.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Put duct tape up on the studs. Thanks for the idea Muckin_Slusher . Had some friends over today and got the skins hung. Went alright, but there are a few apprentice marks for character lol.

Elected not to template the old skins, used chalk lines instead. Laying the sheets up without bubbles or waves is kinda tricky, but fairly easy to figure out. One neat thing we discovered is that if you pull the screws, you can work a bow out by tightening them in an order that follows the bow, or oval the screw holes a hair to relieve the pressure. We clamped a 20' piece of stock to the bottom to stand the sheets on while we screwed them in, which worked out mint.

I'm stoked!

 

[ridered3]

Progress is looking good!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I've taken a break the past few days after last week's big push, so I've been doing some planning.

It's going to be tough to figure out how to fit the electrical systems down low, so it may end up going above the door on the wall where it was when I bought the trailer. Not a super finished look, but it may be the only available spot. Only other place would be within the kitchenette, but the fridge is going to make that tight. May need to downsize the fridge, which wouldn't be a huge deal.

Instead of an RV style fridge, we're going to go with a portable style chest fridge like an ARB, but a cheaper version like Whynter. It'll slide out from under the kitchenette on a drawer slide platform.

I'm going to set this thing up as a 50a RV. That will allow me to power the breaker panel via 50a 240v shore power, or via the 240v diesel genset. I'll also be able to use adapters to plug in to either 30a RV hookups, or my small honda generator. When I get to that phase, I'll draw up some diagrams.

Here are some updated renderings to show the current thinking for the layout, and the position of the truck in the trailer. Everything will fit, but it's going to be tight, lol.

 

[ParadisePWoffrd]

What about mounting the electrical box above the toilet? I know it seems like a weird spot, but is typically an open space, unless you already have a cabinet planned there.