Metzican's Dream off-road Teardrop Trailer

Muadeeb

Muadeeb

Nissan al Gaib
Admin
Location
Dallas
TheFauxFox said:
Man this trailer is truckin right along.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
So today and the little time I had yesterday I worked on trim work. Trim work is really time consuming. Still have a little more to do in the cabin and a lot to do in the galley. After this, it is time to run all electrical and everything and get all screw holes in place. Then sand, stain, epoxy/varnish everything.

Doing all these corners was a pain in the ass not to mention dealing with all the curves. This trim is not as flexible as I thought it was going to be even after soaking it in water.
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The self in the large cabinet. Larger stuff will go underneath and small stuff up top.
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Steadyhigh

Steadyhigh

Test Drive
Location
Canada
metzican said:
I know it so great! I saw that it was available and had to get it for my upcoming trip. Not to big or to small!! Now I just gotta break it in!!
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Figure it out before your trip. You will need to adjust it once you get up north in high altitudes. They don't like to work properly unless you adjust them
 
Steadyhigh

Steadyhigh

Test Drive
Location
Canada
Oh yeah. BTW , freaking awesome project!!!!!

You should hit me up when you are in Calgary and I can show you some cool stuff and you can meet all the other xterra guys while you are at it. Anything you need we got your back when your up in our neck of the woods. Just don't forget to get my number before you take off!!!!!!!!

Anything you need just let me know!
 
M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
Steadyhigh said:
Figure it out before your trip. You will need to adjust it once you get up north in high altitudes. They don't like to work properly unless you adjust them
Click to expand...

Yeah that is on the to do list along with 20,000 other things. I'm great and projects and organizing but kinda starting to loose control of this one.

Steadyhigh said:
Oh yeah. BTW , freaking awesome project!!!!!

You should hit me up when you are in Calgary and I can show you some cool stuff and you can meet all the other xterra guys while you are at it. Anything you need we got your back when your up in our neck of the woods. Just don't forget to get my number before you take off!!!!!!!!

Anything you need just let me know!
Click to expand...

I will hit you up. And thanks for the offer. I will be collecting numbers/facebook friends and such to hit up in certain areas. Can't wait to meet all the Nissan people up there.
 
M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
Started mounting some things and finishing up the trim work. Got all the trim work done inside and about 70% done in the Galley.

Here is my 10lb propane mount using SS bolts going through the wall.
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Need to pick up some shorter bolts.
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Finished product. I like the way it looks and tucks well behind the tire and fender
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The fender will almost be even with the top.
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This is why it has been so slow getting things done and can't take any good pictures.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
Trying to track down some electrical wires I ran Kinda forgot about the change of the falls floor.
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Mounting my water pump to ensure everything is going to fit before finishing.
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Fishing some wires for a reading light.
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Just some more trim I worked on. Have to pick up some more alum angle iron and corner trim to finish the galley.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
Well I did not get a lot of pictures today phone died at the start of the day.

All the cabinets are going to have led light strips with a switch on the doors to turn them on when the door opens up. So I got these all soldered up last night
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So today I cleaned out the storage area all morning then in the after noon I started installing and running everything.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
Another day of installing appliances then uninstalling them to make sure they fit.

Here is the inverter.
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Vent hole and grating to ensure proper ventilation.
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Water pump insalled, Waiting on glue to dry for the filter holders. Then I get to remove all this stuff too.
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Fantastic fan installed, then uninstalled.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
So I decided to test out some staining today. Now this is nothing i have ever done before and defiantly never used Water base stains.

What it looks like before I got started.
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This was my process.

Run 220grit sand paper over it. Wipe it down with a wet sponge. Let it dry. Quickly apply first layer. Wipe down. Wait 1 hour apply second layer then wipe down. It did not turn out perfect but I like the way it turned out.

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I also did the cabinet doors.

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Tomorrow I will try to do the inside. Will be a bit harder to prep it and clean it before I do it. Saturday hopefully I can get the galley done.
 
NoahSki

NoahSki

Wheeling
Location
Savannah Ga
Looks good. When I worked at the cabinet shop we did it pretty much the same way. After stain was dry we hit it with a clear and one more round with a sanding sponge with a final wipe with mineral spirits to clean it up nice. Then to polish we use old english rubbed with a brown paper bag (secret of the trade) :)
 
M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
Thanks for that info. The stain is water base and looking at it today it is spotty. But what can you do. It was cold and humid out so it dried as slow as possible. I see now why water base is so much harder then oil. This evening when it cools down I'm going to do the interior after I sand it down.

Pro-4Xtreme, When you say polish with a brown paper bag hat was that with or on. Varnish? of did you use a finishing stain? I read this big thing about people making plexy glass cut outs on a sander for better sanding.
 
M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
So today was a long day I got everything ready to stain the inside and then got called into work. Put everything away. Headed home grabbed my key card went to work for 15mins then back to the storage unit.

But on the inside I figured out how to use water base stain. Do not stain an area larger then 2-3 square feet. The other thing it was dark when I finished so we will see tomorrow.

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You can kinda see the difference between the outside and inside color. The outside is much darker to hide dirt and such.

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Some more pics of the inside.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
I flipped the trailer around to be able to work on the hatch much easier.

This give you a good idea of what it looked like before I got started. you can see all the trim.
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Due to the width constrains this is how i'm going to handle the fridge/freezer tie down. I might replace the rope with something that looks better like a cable or something but I don't think it is needed. The turn buckles tighten up nicely where the fridge does not move.
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Easy access to the controls.
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Installed the mount for the foucet sprayer. I will not have a foucet. But this sprayer will be used to fill up things. I also have the external hook up too.
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Stained it to the darker shade like the outside. This turned out better. Still not perfect. Maybe by the 3rd one I would have this water base stain down. From my research it comes down to the wood and sanding. Which I think the wood i
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Also stained the accessories hatches. to match there respective areas.
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You can tell the difference between the two stains here.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
So here is an age old question what batteries should I get for my trailer. Everything I run is 12 volt. But I will have 2 batteries. The blue highlighted one is what I'm considering if going the 6volt route. And the green is what I'm considering if going the 12 volt route.

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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
So does anyone see anything wrong with this wiring. Most of this wiring is 1/0 gauge. Only part that is smaller is to the cabin power and that will be 2 gauge for the inverter and fuse block. There are fuses involved but I did not draw them.

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J Everett

J Everett

Suspension Lift
Founding Member
Location
Houma, LA
Go dual 12 volt batteries in the trailer instead of the 6 volt. That way you have a redundancy with the Xterra. Alternator goes kaput in the boonies? swap dead batt in truck with live one in trailer and recharge the dead one from solar panel / generator. Continue until you get to civilization and can replace the alternator.
 
K

KBC

Bought an X
Location
BC
I put dual 6 volts in our tent trailer and the improvement over the single 12V was huge. Although it's a great point about swapping batteries, I don't think you want to be using trailer deep cycle batteries for starting your vehicle.
All I put in was a couple of super cheap used 6 volts from a battery recycler and the increase in how long they last over the almost new 12 volt they replaced was huge. I don't think I'd ever want to go back to 12 volt batteries if I have room for 2 batteries.
Just make sure you wire them in series.
 
M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
J Everett said:
Go dual 12 volt batteries in the trailer instead of the 6 volt. That way you have a redundancy with the Xterra. Alternator goes kaput in the boonies? swap dead batt in truck with live one in trailer and recharge the dead one from solar panel / generator. Continue until you get to civilization and can replace the alternator.
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I hear you on that. But keep in mind I also have a battery in the truck I already can switch in. Not to mention and spare alternator. The bigger concern is if a battery dies. The duel 6volt offer more ah/rc's then a comparible 12volt system. Which is a plus. But I think I'm aiming towards two 12volt in the end. Just in case 1 battery dies I still have 3 for everything. Plus with my battery switches if the alt dies I can link all 4 batteries no need to pull and replace. Along with this I can rig up my panel to live charge as I drive if I had to.

KBC said:
I put dual 6 volts in our tent trailer and the improvement over the single 12V was huge. Although it's a great point about swapping batteries, I don't think you want to be using trailer deep cycle batteries for starting your vehicle.
All I put in was a couple of super cheap used 6 volts from a battery recycler and the increase in how long they last over the almost new 12 volt they replaced was huge. I don't think I'd ever want to go back to 12 volt batteries if I have room for 2 batteries.
Just make sure you wire them in series.
Click to expand...

I hear you on the two 6's being better then one 12v. But I'm looking at doing two 6's or two 12's. It all comes down to RC's I bet you ended up with golf cart batteries which are designed for deep cycle vs your original 12volt might not have been. If it comes down to it using a trailer deepcycle to start the vehicle is better then not starting. And most AGM's are designed in the middle of the curve. They are slightly better for starting or better for deep cycle but not as extreme as the flooded batteries.

greentennx said:
I have just read this all of this and just want to say that this is simply bad a**. Looks d*** good.
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Thank you, it's been a labor of love.
 
K

KBC

Bought an X
Location
BC
I replaced a deep cycle 12 volt with the two 6 volts. I still think two 6 volts might be better than two 12v unless you spend a lot of money on some really good 12 volts. Since you are going to be carrying 4 batteries you will probably be covered either way though...
 
M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
Not much work done today as it started to suddenly rain in the early afternoon and I had to pack stuff up quickly.

Cutting out all the ribs for the galley. What a pain in the lower back.
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Just some of the ribs.
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Them all pressed together for a little sanding. And fastening them together.
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M

metzican

Suspension Lift
Location
Lafaytte, la
So with it raining all day long, and it being cold I can't do anything on the main trailer so I dealt with this!

I got my bed fabric that a lovely woman sewed up for me. A yes I can sew but I just did not have time and this was a birthday gift.

Bed fabric
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2" foam for the bed.
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3 layers of foam for a bed thickness of 6"
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Half of the bed. Two peaces that combined into one so I can access lower areas easier.
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