TOPIC: New project - tiny travel trailer

Kind of a crazy day, but got this home about an hour ago. 1979 Sunline Sunspot. Pics now, more later.

Cool camper Frank, nice score!

sure beats a tent eh frank.........

Very nice. That should be fun to work on.

Bob

Thanks guys!

Was a bit discouraged last night, couldn't get it in the garage because it's too tall. Too tired and stiff to do much last night, plus I had a sciatic nerve that didn't want to let me relax. That is in part because I was an IDIOT yesterday, certainly not the first time nor the last. I left here a few minutes after 7 yesterday morning, and drove 85 miles before I realized I didn't have my wallet. So I added 3 hours to a 6 hour trip and just about killed myself sitting in the truck that long. Idiot...

Anyways, feel better today. Got up, got the measuring tape out and lo and behold, Spot fits in our pole barn. Woo hoo!

So with Spot under cover, it's time to work on Nine Lives, a little cat sitting in my garage...

Frank

Frank,
Glad it worked out in the long run. I know all too well about forgetting stuff! Spot looks good under the pole barn! I hope your back is felling better today.

Bob

Yeah, I was not a happy camper yesterday morning Bob. I knew it was either in the cab of the truck or at home, but could not find it in the truck. So I didn't know for sure till I got home that it wasn't somehow lost. My back is okay today. I've already abused it by painting the deck of my Power Cat again, and putting lights on my brother's trailer. Oh well.

yup, pretty glad Spot fit in the pole barn. Would have had to figure something else out if not.

Frank

The reason Spot was so high was that a previous owner had removed the axle and took the spring seats off the bottom of the axle (which is how it came from the factory) and put the spring seats on top, which of course elevated the trailer. Yesterday I removed the axle, ground off the spring seats, bought some new ones at Tractor Supply, tack welded them on and re-installed. Looks much better don't you think?

Next is a complete 12V re-wiring, plus new 110V wiring. This trailer never had 110V, but that is about to change.

Before



After

Much better Frank. She looks good like that.

Bob

Thanks Bob!

With that done, I cleaned the interior to get ready for some dis-assembly and future construction. The floor is only 73" long, so initially we'll get a 6' air mattress or sleeping bag pad, and if that's not possible we'll buy some high density foam. Good thing I'm just under 6'!

I have the OEM hub caps sitting on my shop bench right now for a bit of minor dent repair and then a good cleaning, polishing and waxing. I've yet to really wash or clean the exterior either. Maybe this weekend. I've ordered all new wiring, a new junction box, new levels, and 4 scissor jacks. Yesterday I got new stop/turn/tail lights (along with white plastic angle brackets) in the mail to replace the old utility trailer style ones. All existing wiring is coming out, new 12V wiring being installed, along with auxiliary power for back up lights (I have yet to purchase). New 110V wiring will be added as well. We're still hashing over plans for the new built interior, but as long as there's room on the floor to sleep, all is good for now!

I have to do a bit of research on trailer doors. This one is falling apart, and needs to be rebuilt.

More to come...

Frank

Came out great!

your a jack of all trades frank,nice job,john

Frank,
Well done, as John said you truly are a jack of al trades.

Bob

Those doors are strong when you see what they are made of. As long as the skin is good you can make it new. Nice little camper. I may have seen it on craiglist? Was it in Pa?

Right John, jack of all trades (mostly living on a budget), master of none!

Thanks Bob, fun to work on something not made out of fiberglass and doesn't have or need a motor!

Robert, I found this in Syracuse. I really don't know if it was on craigslist. I found it on Teardrop and Tiny Travel Trailers ( www.mikenchell.com/forums/ ) "for sale" forum. Bought it sight unseen too!

Frank

I've had boats with wiring challenges, so this didn't surprise me too much. All the wires coming out of the original sheath have been connected to red wire, with one exception - the red wire coming OUT of the sheath was connected to a green wire. I assume that was to avoid confusion?

All I wanted to do was hook up some OEM stop/tail/turn lights. It's gonna have to wait a while till I figure this one out!

Reminds me of the wiring job on the Citroen I had when i lived in Rota Spain. Some Gypsy's stole it by cutting all the wires to the ignition switch instead of just pulling the plug and shorting out the pins. Anyway, the French must have gotten a bargain on Brown wire since all the wires were Brown! to color code them they used 1" long color sleeves, of course when the Gypsy's cut all the wires, they fell off!!!!!!!!! Needless to say I ad to take my Fluke meter to the junkyard, ring out all the wires and draw a schematic so i could rewire the ignition plug! well it worked but don't ever want to do that again.

Bob

hi frank try this website out,i think it will help,at least i hope so,john www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx

John, that is not what I need help with. The colors of the 4 wires running into the back are not what I would expect for a 4 trailer wire harness, plus they were all connected to red wires with one exception. Usually 4 wire trailer harnesses are brown (stop/tail), green (right turn), yellow (left turn) and white (ground), right? On this one, brown is ground, yellow is left turn, red is right turn, and green is stop/tail. In this picture, I have removed most of the red wire, and added new wire to replace it to help me figure out what's going on:



I pretty much figured it out last night and this morning, but now when the right turn signal is on, the rear marker lights flash. Otherwise the marker lights do not work as they are supposed to. That is something I intend to run down after work tonight. Right now, I just want the tail lights to work as they need to, and they do, with the exception of those rear marker lights flashing on a right turn.

Eventually I will wire it to correspond with the 7 contact rv plug in my pick-up, which is fairly standard. It looks like this:



I will have two trailer connecters on it for a while - a regular flat 4 pin so Gail can easily tow it and meet legal light requirements, and a 7 pin for my truck for additional circuits I want to have. Eventually I will wire Gail's Outback for the same 7 pin connector as is on my GMC. I know how to do it, it's just a pain to do!

If I hadn't taken three full days to go to Silver Lake, all this stuff would be done. Now it's going to be every morning and every night till we leave Thursday morning.

Frank

frank on my truck i have the seven pin and the 4 flat wire,but if i didnt have 4 wire flat,i have a connector just to go from 7 to 4.john

So do I John, that's easy on my GMC. It came with a tow package, 7 pin RV connector, and I have a 4 pin flat adapter I use with my trailers. Gail's Outback has a 4 pin flat, that's easy to hook up. Got a connector for her wiring harness from NAPA, presto zippo, done. What is not easy is wiring a 7 pin into Gail's Outback. It is not set up for it and is very difficult to do. I want to eventually have 7 pin power for the trailer, and have a 7 pin connector for Gail's car. Wiring the trailer is not the problem, it's wiring Gail's Outback.

Also, before summer's end, I expect to go to a 5 pin flat for the boat trailer when I add brakes. Most of these new hydraulic couplers have an electric attachment to prevent reverse braking. When I do that I'll get a 5 pin adapter for the 7 pin on the back of the GMC.

With the travel trailer, I hope to add brakes, back up lights, and auxiliary power.

This stuff is not difficult for me John. I wired my t-bucket front to back (for instance). I've re-wired plenty of boats and trailers, and pretty much know what to do. It just takes time, and wiring a 7 pin connector into Gail's car will take up the better part of a day.

I don't know how long it will take to figure out this trailer wiring, because so much of it is hidden and very well may require taking interior walls down. Never "did" a travel trailer before, so I'm learning as I go. But legal lights need to be working by Thursday a.m.

Frank

heck frank i have no doubt you can do it,i was just trying to help,i have done a little rv wiring,as for gails car i dont have a clue,sorry i didnt mean to insult you buddy,john

That link you had for etrailer is foreign stuff to me John. I want to set this up so it corresponds to the colors already part of my 7 pin connector on the GMC.

I didn't take anything you said as an insult. I have done a lot of wiring (110V at home and lots of 12V). In fact, I often add my own "twist" to 12V stuff and believe my wiring is better than most. Some of it is just experience too. I'm certainly better at wiring than I am at painting! Speaking of which, I learned something about Brightsides today and may be able to cover it with a base coat/clear coat next season. Maybe. We'll see how things go.

Frank

All new lights, all new wiring. Only real problem was a dead wire somewhere in the front of the trailer feeding the front right marker light. Fixed that. All the light wires are just twisted at the connections with the new 4 wire. I'm taking along my electrical stuff today and will clean it up at camp. Everything will run to and from a junction box. Forgot to get a license plate light, need to do that plus figure out where the plate should go. Doing great! We'll be out of touch till we get home Sunday.

Frank

Frank,
Looks great, I'd put the plate under one of the tail lights toward the bottom. Hope you have/had fun.

Bob

Lookin' good Frank, I'm sure you'll have her roadworthy in no time.

I'd put the plate under one of the tail lights toward the bottom.

Often the driver's side (port) tail light has a clear lens on the bottom to serve as the license plate light as well.........? Just a thought maybe worth checking out.

yep mark ,and frank if you go to an rv dealer they make a plate holder the bolts to those style of lights,and they are inexpensive,they usually have them in plastic and metal

I didn't realize they made a driver's side rear light with a license plate light and bracket. They do, and Thursday before we left I ordered one. Now I'll have a spare lens. These RV lights are cheap, like 5 or 6 bucks apiece, so no biggie.

Frank

Fish Creek Pond Campground, Franklin County, NY (northern Adirondacks, right outside of Tupper Lake)

wow..lakefront. you lucky dog you.

Frank,
Very nice, GREAT view!

Bob

Yeah, we had a great site, but all the sites there are on the pond. Here's another pic...

So now I'm replacing a bunch of rotten frame wood in the right rear corner. Not much left to do here but shape the wood (poplar) to the right dimensions, clean up what's left of the butyl tape I stripped off with acetone, re-apply butyl tape, staple and screw it back together. Probably will not get done today. Learning a lot!

Frank

I'm not sure how good a job I did, but all the rotted wood that fell out of the right rear got replaced today. Everything inside from the top of the corner seam all the way down, and then back across to the wheel well opening, the entire top frame for the door, other pieces here and there.





I didn't have much to go by, so maybe my door frame will be a bit tight, but I don't think so. I should know tomorrow. This is the Primary piece I made for the side of the door frame and corner of the trailer.



Air stapler gun was a major asset. I should have had one of those a long time ago! A buddy lent me a table top power plane, and I wouldn't mind one of those either.

This all started when we got back from our first Sunspot camping trip the 13th of the month. Soon as I had time a few days later I went down to re-do some of the wiring...

Good this is done. I need to drill new holes in all the new wood, but my right shoulder told me to quit for the day. Tomorrow drill new holes, remove frames, stick butyl tape on, place frames in place and screw them down. Then I can move to wiring and other interior and exterior jobs.

Cleaned the shop up (me too), put all the tools away, and went to dinner at the Midway Cafe. More tomorrow.

Frank

Looking great Frank, you do good work.

Bob

Thanks Bob. Don't really know what I'm doing, but that has never stopped me!

Frank

Lookin' good there Frank. The right tools make the job so much easier, don't they!? The best part about woodworking, the dust doesn't itch like fiberglass! - LOL

i havent been able to see all your pics yet,darn dialup,but i know i can bet money,you did a fantastic job.
john

Wow Frank Those are kind of intense repairs to the little camper! Looks great though!

Thanks Jesse. This should be about it, but now I need to go inside and start work there, right after I get my wiring sorted out.

Back at it!

Frank

The doors shut and open just fine. Frame literally snaps into place. We'll see how it goes.

You can see in the pic the nice bright aluminum above the door frame. That's a result of the weathered paint disappearing when hit with acetone, which I used for removing traces of butyl tape. I need to find some paint for it I guess.

Off to the next project.

Frank