ok...long story made even longer...
i owned enclosed trailers when i had my construction company. they are relatively simple and pretty well made and i had one for nearly 20 years and ended up giving it to my neighbor, so their longeviety is pretty good. i also had RVs that were crappy made and leaked like crazy. most RVs seem to have a lot of issues with roof penetrations/seams leaking, plumbing leaks, door and windows leaking and not closing right, etc...
so yeah, like a lot of other folk, i decided to buy a new cargo trailer and turn it into a travel trailer. even though i hate forest river and their crappy RVs...i did end up buying one of their lines of cargo trailers, the Cargo Mate. it does seem to be very well built and the roof and walls are a sandwich composite, so there is no wood to rot and by not having any roof penetrations, i should be leak free. i went with a higher end model that has the inside finished with metal panels and e-tracks. the roof is one piece with no seams and its going to stay that way.
so, to keep this thing bullet proof, i am NOT installing any windows and pretty much all penetrations will be thru the floor. i am making everything modular, so that it is self contained and easy to move in or out and i can change set ups at a moments notice.
for example, my kitchen is going to be a cabinet that has the water tank and sink and everything in one piece that will attach to the wall via the e-track. the shower is going to be up front in the "V" section and will essentially be a big cabinet with the bottom floor being the water tank. the bed will be a platform at the rear with storage underneath. i can open the ramp door and access the storage area from outside and will use netting to enclose the area around the drop down ramp as it will be used as a deck for nice weather.
my whole approach is to keep the trailer as "hole free" as possible and to be able to modify my set up quick and easy. the wife and i travel a good bit and we never stay inside that much, so even with our current RV, we have windows, but always keep the curtains drawn, so whats the point in having a window? if there is a nice view and its pretty enough outside to want to look out...then i'll just go outside.
i have a shipping container that i keep all our camp gear in, so i will make my modular pieces and can store them in the container when not being used. if i need the enclosed trailer to actually haul stuff, i can remove my camping modules and have the entire trailer open for use. im sure there will be a few challenges along the way, but for the most part, i think this is going to end up being a very versatile and well built unit.
i owned enclosed trailers when i had my construction company. they are relatively simple and pretty well made and i had one for nearly 20 years and ended up giving it to my neighbor, so their longeviety is pretty good. i also had RVs that were crappy made and leaked like crazy. most RVs seem to have a lot of issues with roof penetrations/seams leaking, plumbing leaks, door and windows leaking and not closing right, etc...
so yeah, like a lot of other folk, i decided to buy a new cargo trailer and turn it into a travel trailer. even though i hate forest river and their crappy RVs...i did end up buying one of their lines of cargo trailers, the Cargo Mate. it does seem to be very well built and the roof and walls are a sandwich composite, so there is no wood to rot and by not having any roof penetrations, i should be leak free. i went with a higher end model that has the inside finished with metal panels and e-tracks. the roof is one piece with no seams and its going to stay that way.
so, to keep this thing bullet proof, i am NOT installing any windows and pretty much all penetrations will be thru the floor. i am making everything modular, so that it is self contained and easy to move in or out and i can change set ups at a moments notice.
for example, my kitchen is going to be a cabinet that has the water tank and sink and everything in one piece that will attach to the wall via the e-track. the shower is going to be up front in the "V" section and will essentially be a big cabinet with the bottom floor being the water tank. the bed will be a platform at the rear with storage underneath. i can open the ramp door and access the storage area from outside and will use netting to enclose the area around the drop down ramp as it will be used as a deck for nice weather.
my whole approach is to keep the trailer as "hole free" as possible and to be able to modify my set up quick and easy. the wife and i travel a good bit and we never stay inside that much, so even with our current RV, we have windows, but always keep the curtains drawn, so whats the point in having a window? if there is a nice view and its pretty enough outside to want to look out...then i'll just go outside.
i have a shipping container that i keep all our camp gear in, so i will make my modular pieces and can store them in the container when not being used. if i need the enclosed trailer to actually haul stuff, i can remove my camping modules and have the entire trailer open for use. im sure there will be a few challenges along the way, but for the most part, i think this is going to end up being a very versatile and well built unit.
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