A Trailer for Our Next Chapter - Part IV: Starting to build up the old fashioned way

After living in a 5th wheel for the past 11 years, we have come to admire "traditional tech" products that can take a beating. For this build, we've purposely avoided all of the technology that can control everything from a tablet or phone. We prefer manual switches that rarely fail and are easily replaced if they do. We want independent monitors and controls mounted in convenient locations rather than bluetooth this, that, and everything else. If any one mechanical or electrical component fails, it must not impact any other system and it must, again, be easy to fix or replace.

In keeping with this philosophy, we chose to skip the high tech composite wall options and opt for old fashioned aluminum welded walls. Heavier yes, but also strong, durable, time tested, and easily loaded up with insulation capacity.

Here is a mock up test lamination of the walls. We're using Crane Composites Noble Select exterior FRP panels (their thickest, premium option) that are fused onto a composite substrate. Everything is wood-free and the color is mixed into the fiberglass rather than being painted on. There will be high density foam between the aluminum studs as well as on the outside and inside of each stud to minimize thermal bridging. The interior will be Azdel (no lauan wood substrate). The walls will be more than 3 1/2 inches thick. They are old school, but should be very effective at keeping us warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Having just five reasonably sized double pane windows should also help with our insulation values. 

Cabinets are starting to spring up from the floor. 

It's not for everyone, but we prefer the wood tones over the multiple shades of white many new trailers are going with.

The under-bed rough in of three hundred pounds of lithium batteries offering 1,104 amp hours of power. Directly on the other side of that bulkhead is the passthrough basement where the inverter will be wall mounted. Having the inverter as close to the batteries as possible is the goal. Another goal has been to make sure there's absolutely no plumbing anywhere near the solar components. Water from broken/damaged/leaking plumbing and solar components is a bad mix.   

We never get tired of photos of the CruiseMaster ATX suspension and its components. Here's the control panel getting ready for it's new home.

A Trailer for Our Next Chapter - Part III: Houston we have a chassis

The foundation of any structure is the least glamorous, but arguably the most important, part of a build. This is particularly true for a trailer intended for off road use. This last week, all the elements of our chassis build (wheels, tires, suspension, frame, tanks, flooring) came together.

After being "polished" the frame was finished with galvanized compatible paint and prepped for the CruiseMaster ATX suspension installation.

The on board air compressor will be used to tune the suspension ride, level the trailer in camp, and air up tires as needed.

The ENTIRE underside of the frame will eventually be covered with a 10 gauge insulated aluminum skid plate to protect all the plumbing, wiring, tanks, and suspension equipment from road debris/dust. It will also give us a first line of defense against freezing weather.

The taller and wider (285/R17) wheels and rims are looking like a nice fit. The Maxxis RAZR AT tires are mean looking and very capable. We'll have a 12,800lb total load rating on a 9,820lb GVWR trailer.

After the suspension, wheels, and tires are assembled, it's time for the oversized fresh water (100 gallons) and gray water (80 gallons) tanks to be snugged in. Both tanks will have 12V heating pads and See Level fluid sensors. The areas in the frame that carry tanks and plumbing will have vented heat to them. All of this together with the insulated skid plate, should be enough to prevent any freeze issues.

Don't forget the metal reinforcement under the tanks.

Tank fill level monitor.

Between the corner jacks and the tongue jack, we'll have 11,500lbs of lifting capacity.

We've eliminated the black tank by opting for a Separett dry toilet. No black tank means less water use, less maintenance, less clutter between the frame, and reduced freeze concerns. The only dump point will be from the gray tank. It's located between the frame and above insulated skid plates. No need to worry about dragging that plumbing on the low points of the nastier arroyo crossings. We particularly like the rough/rustic looking finish of the galvanization process on the frame.

Insulated sub flooring and high traffic finished flooring complete the chassis. No wood is used. Everything is water and mold resistant polymers and composites. The way the chassis is built and sealed from the skid plates through to the finished flooring would probably allow us to float if needed.😀

The upcoming week will bring us the first above the floor construction including aluminum wall framing and cabinets. We moved into our New Horizons on April 1, 2012. So far, we're shooting to move into our Kingdom Camping Caravan XL by April 1, 2023.

Our 2012 New Horizons 5th Wheel is For Sale

Update: After three days on RV Trader, our trailer is SOLD.

It's Official. A new trailer is coming so our current trailer is now on the market.

After almost 11 years of fulltime enjoyment, we're selling our 31' 2012 Summit and transitioning to a smaller bumper pull trailer. Our New Horizons is unique in that it has many of the upgrades of a Majestic model in a much smaller footprint that can reach and fit into tighter spaces. It's easily towable with a one ton truck or a properly configured 3/4 ton truck. With all of the solar upgrades we've done, we've never needed to plug into the grid. We're posting on the New Horizons Facebook pages first and will be posting on RV Trader and Escapees in a week or so. $49,000

For more photos and lots of details:

https://2012newhorizons5thwheelforsale.blogspot.com/

A Trailer for Our Next Chapter - Part II: Everything starts to come together

At four months, the planning stage for our new trailer seemed to take a long time, but that time was well spent. When everything from the initial five pages of specifications starts coming together, the project moves fast. All of that advance planning results in a smooth, efficient build.

 
The frame has been welded, smoothed out, suspension prepped, and made ready for the hot dip galvanization process. Holes were made to for future wiring and to allow molten zinc to drain during the galvanization process.

Six tanks are used to chemically clean and prep the frame for the 875 degree zinc tank. After removal and cooling, the frame is ground smooth at any points where too much zinc has dried in small clumps. Paint specially formulated to adhere to galvanized steel will be used to coat the entire frame. The black paint is for appearance rather than performance. This galvanized frame is coated inside and out, it will not suffer from rust and will outlive us.

We like still photos, but here's a link to a good video of this process.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/732216828274165/?s=single_unit

https://www.facebook.com/reel/732216828274165/?s=single_unit

Materials are converging on Kingdom Camping in Millersburg, Indiana. Wall/roof/flooring materials, toilet, faucets, shower, suspension and hitch kits, solar system components, and hundreds of other bits and pieces.

This is the top load rated model of the McHitch, a fully articulating off road hitch from Australia. It's rated to 13,200lbs (heavy duty galvanized steel), so it should handle everything we'll ever throw at it.

The CruiseMaster ATX airbag/shock trailing arm suspension with hydraulic brakes (also from Australia). It will give us four wheel independent wheel travel, height ride adjustment, and campsite leveling.

The CruiseMaster suspension has an onboard air compressor that can also be used for airing up tires and blowing off dust.

Boxes and boxes of Victron solar components

Our solar panels are a unique find in that they offer excellent efficiency, high Watt/sqft, and fit exactly into the footprint of the roof without any wasted space. Getting 2,020W onto the roof of a trailer this size is an accomplishment. It's a nice bump up from our current set up of 1,200W.

Our lithium batteries are from a newer company called Expion. They pack more storage power into a smaller footprint than you typically see. The internal cells are a proprietary design intended for harsh, vibration intense environments. Each battery stores 368 amp hours (Ah). With three batteries, we'll be storing 1,104 Ah. Again, a nice bump up from our current system with 600 Ah of lithium battery storage.

Soon the frame will be back in the shop and ready for the ATX suspension mounting. Our special order of Crane Noble Select fiberglass composite should be delivered around February 8th.

In the next two weeks we should see the suspension/tanks/floor installed on the chassis while the cabinets are being built and the walls/roof are being framed. Lamination of the walls and roof could be done as well. So far, it looks like we're still on track for an end of March or first week in April.