A Trailer for Our Next Chapter - Part VII: We've almost reached the top

The clock is ticking. We are 10 days from hooking up to leave and deliver our 5th wheel to its new owner and 16 days from arriving at Kingdom Camping to move into our new trailer. We'll need every one of those 16 days to finish up final maintenance chores on the 5th wheel and truck, move all of our belongings into a UHaul trailer, give the new owner of our 5th wheel a full day of RV bootcamp training, and complete the 1,900 mile trek to Millersburg, Indiana.

We've reached the point where all the major work below the roof is done and the many little details like a missing cabinet door or light fixture need to be taken care of.

There's a small 12v fan that continually aerates the water-free toilet. Combined with one small window, those will be the only "holes" in the bathroom envelope. No ceiling fan vents or skylights needed.

For the best insulation and ease of wiring/maintenance, it's advisable not to place outlets in the exterior walls of an RV. To achieve this in a bathroom where three of the four walls are exterior and the fourth wall is not suitable for wiring, we solved the outlet placement by using this nifty little pop up outlet in the corner to the left of the sink. It will live most of its life in the popped up position, but will be lowered/stored into the counter top as needed.

The nice big fiberglass shower with a metal detachable shower head. You can't see it in this photo, but there is a large cabinet to the left, between the edge of the bathroom countertop and the shower, that will make for a convenient laundry hamper and for towel/bedding storage.

Large kitchen sink and a lot of counter space. We'll be using portable electric cooktops as, and where, needed rather than having a cutout in the solid surface countertop with an inset permanent cooktop unit. This will give us a lot more flexibility in a small space and make replacing/upgrading a cooktop inexpensive and easy. Note the hole in the roof where the low profile 12v AC unit will be mounted. That's the only spot on the trailer where the roof is breached.

Testing the color for the kitchen backsplash. The copper/goldish look seems to work pretty well.

For those occasions when a 17" laptop screen isn't big enough, the wall mounted smart TV can be extended and rotated to face either the kitchen/living area or the bed. We added that neat little flip up solid surface counter extension at the end to give a little extra counterspace when needed (while leaving plenty of room to move round in front of and on that side of the queen bed).

Across from the kitchen we opted for a flip up bar table (made from the same solid surface material as the kitchen countertop) rather than the typical fixed in place dinette set up. We lose the extra sleeping area a dinette offers, but we gain a huge amount of living space. That will make it a lot easier for two adults and two dogs to maneuver around each other, work on computers, and eat meals. The barn door style sliding bathroom door also helps us maximize the open space in the center of the trailer between the bathroom and the bed.

We've been intrigued by the awning designs that extend out from the top of the trailer without using vertical guide arms attached to the trailer on either side of the awning. Those vertical arms can get in the way of entry doors you want to latch open, windows, outside outlets, basement doors, etc. These newer designs offer a much cleaner look. This awning has all of the usual automatic features and a motion detector to retract it in high wind. Regardless, everyone who travels in the West should always live by the rule that an awning can be damaged by the wind at any time. We've managed to guide our current awning through 11 years of use without a mishap and plan to do the same with this updated version. You can also see all of the various systems controls/monitors mounted just inside the doorway. 

What's a post without a picture of the fully articulating McHitch? Here's the truck side of the hitch patiently waiting for us to bring a truck to it.

The next step will be all of the build on top of the roof. The permanent "no maintenance" roof sealant/coating, the mounting frame for the solar panels, the solar panels with combiner boxes, and the 12v AC unit are all next on the to do list.

A Trailer for Our Next Chapter - Part VI: Bits and Pieces

We are about four weeks away from moving into our new home on wheels. All of the planning is underway to deliver our current 5th wheel (home for the last eleven years) to its new owner, transfer all of our belongings to a U-Haul, give the new owner of our 5th wheel a one day RV bootcamp, and make our way out to Indiana. It will be strange to sleep in motels for three nights. Multiple bits and pieces are being finished.

We wanted a nice sized bathroom sink that was integrated into the solid countertop. The ceramic, above the countertop, basins seem to be all the rage these days, but that didn't make much sense to us for an off road trailer. We did raise the height of the countertops giving us more cabinet space below and ensuring we won't need to bend over as far to reach the sink as we get older.😀

The Separett dry flush toilet uses no water and doesn't need any expensive proprietary bags or liners to operate. It's not a composter, but like those units, it uses a small 12V fan to manage odor. 

The kitchen has solid surface countertops with plenty of space and three outlets. We will be going all electric except for heat. The Truma Combi Comfort Plus on demand hot water/heat unit ended up underneath the 10.5 cuft Dometic 12V refrigerator. From that location we were able to duct six vents throughout the trailer, including two vents below the floor to protect the fresh and gray water tanks/plumbing. Since the tanks are directly below this area, there's not much plumbing at all under the floor. That is an important freeze protection element.

The solar components are staged and ready to go in the front basement area. That area can be easily vented in hot weather and the electrical components will help keep the space warm in cold weather. There is no plumbing anywhere near this expensive electrical equipment. In addition to giving us extra storage space in the front basement, skipping the outdoor "pull out" kitchen set up frees up that space for solar equipment. We're not EMF fanatics, but the rule of thumb we've always read and been told is that it's a good idea to keep your solar inverter at least three feet away from where you spend most of your time.

Another cool, multi function inverting outlet, just because.

Is this our TV? No, it's the remote Victron controller. We aren't attached at the hip, or any other body part, to a smart phone, so bluetooth doesn't interest us. We can convert to bluetooth in the future if we want. 

The space under the queensize bed holds the Expion batteries. 1,104 amp hours of power storage with room for more storage.

Which one of these is not like the other? We love to see brass fittings in our plumbing system! What is that solo white plastic fitting in the center? We don't know yet, but we will find out.

A Trailer for Our Next Chapter - Part V: Starting to look like a trailer, and a small speed bump

Everything is progressing well except for one hiccup. Thick foam filled walls with inside/outside foam over the aluminum studs, extra thick Crane Noble Select fiberglass, and Azdel sheets are coming together to give us what finally looks like a livable off road capable trailer.

The exterior fiberglass is a specialty product that is ultra thick and fused onto a composite backing. The color is an Aztec Gray that is mixed into the fiberglass rather than painted on. No chips in the paint or fading decals to worry about. The exterior has an automotive grade gel-coat finish.

It's fun and useful to see the behind the scenes building of any structure. standing on the port side bow and looking at the bed platform and kitchen cabinets, we can see where all of the plumbing, heating and electrical wiring is going. We'll have plenty of outlets, all operational on the inverter, with USB-A and USB-C ports in each outlet. Don't worry, the particle board you see through the window and door cutouts is a wall in the shop, not in the trailer. There are no cheap wood composites onboard.😉

The water management system and Cruise Master ATX control panel are built into a weather protected cabinet on the port side of the trailer. We have a central water manifold system on our current trailer. This Nautilus water system is a newer version of that concept which should provide more convenient operation.

The toilet on a trailer is always an interesting choice. Gone are the days of the single choice foot flush to a black tank system. This Separett model will allow us to skip the black tank, saving weight, maintenance, and space within the frame. 

Since no project can be completed these days without some bumps in the road, this project is no different. We've been surprisingly lucky so far with being able to source everything needed on a timely basis to keep the project rolling on schedule. The receipt of the wrong entry door will push off our delivery date by a week while the correct door is produced and delivered. After originally planning was to move in on April 4th, we're now planning for April 12th. Not a bad delay by today's standards!