Cargo Trailer Conversion TOUR- Ditch the RV parks | AC and Heat with No Hookups
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.ค. 2024
- Avoid the RV parks. Avoid the crap RV build quality. Avoid crowds. Save money and enjoy more.
This is our 2nd Tour video of our DIY Cargo Trailer Conversion. We've made a lot of comfort changes over the last year and want to show you that you too can do something like this.
Living Tiny has greatly increased our life quality and has increased our retirement savings since we don't have to pay for things we don't need (like a large house with all the bills that come with it).
If you ENJOY these videos, consider giving us a TIP (Super Thanks). It helps us bring more content to you!
Cheers,
Daniel & LZ
*Disclaimer: this video is sponsored by Colorado Trailers. We've lived in one of their trailers for over a year and love our trailer. We paid for our trailer 100% and only work with companies that we have used their products and trust their business priorities*
Some links below are Affiliate links. We get a small (very small) kickback if you shop through our links with no additional cost to you.
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PRODUCTS in this video
Solar Panels:
www.santansolar.com/?ref=Tiny...
MINI SPLIT:
amzn.to/3shGlmp
Pressure Cooker:
amzn.to/3FMV3EU
Water Purifier:
amzn.to/3MqDKNZ
Rocking Camping Chair:
amzn.to/3QpYc2J
Full electrical products here:
sites.google.com/view/tiny-ho...
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RV, cargo trailer build, van build, or other? What do you guys have or how would you prefer to travel?
Retired and full-time in our 5th wheel. East coast was home and has been fully explored. Maine to Florida. We'd love to travel west but financial worries for our country keep us relatively close to security in friends and family.
Love your cargo trailer I will use some of your ideas for the build out using my 36 ft. Motor home now but plan to start work on cargo trailer as soon as the Universe(God) gives the go-ahead.Thank You For Sharing.
@@fredw1984 Totally understand. The east coast has plenty to offer in terms of beauty and things to explore.
I'm currently building out a Colorado Cargo trailer. I custom ordered it gutted on the inside without insulation or electrical wiring. I own a sawmill and am milling all the interior wood including Aspen flooring, Maple counter and cabinets. I ordered the trailer without the generator box on the tongue so I could build my own. It will house a 2,500watt dual fuel (gas, lpg) generator that keeps my Ecoflow Delta 2 Max charged. The trailer also has a separate fiberglass shower and an apartment, ac mini fridge. I installed an E-track system (wall and floor) to tie down my Norden 901 Expedition bike. I made a maple live edge slab shelf that also locks into the E-track on the wall when I'm in camp. I'm finishing up a slide-out bed made from Doug Fir and a futon mattress. I chose this type of bed setup because when the bike in inside, the bed retracts into a couch.That way if I need to sleep in a rest area stop on the highway on the way to a destination, I can still crash on the couch without messing with the bike. I may add solar, but I doubt it. I always camp in the forest where it's shady.
Once you put the first hole in your build, you're ready to put the second hole...
This is so very true. I'm now one year into my build. We are out every Sunday, either planning or working but it's coming along very nice.
We've done all of our framing Plumbing, electrical,solar panels, 240v split phase and hope to have the trailers spray foamed within the next month.
After which will be adding plywood walls and spending some time to smooth and paint them before moving on to cabinets and appliances.
We've taken in a lot of information from this Channel and a few others so our trailer was planned and built in 3D/ Rhino before we purchased our fist screw, most of our appliances were purchased and tested in our rough layout.
Thanks for all the great information guys
@michael,
We are frequent contributors on vanLiving and skoolie forums.
We see first-time builders use elaborate computer simulations prior to turning their first screw.
.
Our suggestion:
Semi-retired welder-fabricator here.
In the shop, we verify fit with full-size cardboard mocks.
.
In a potential live-aboard, we like to see mocks of furniture and cabinets to verify access and interference.
.
A 2D image can be difficult to transfer into 3D Real-World.
I built mine in 2014. Best thing I've ever done. Still going strong. Many trips to Colorado. Kid's love it. Great video guys.
Excellent build. Thanks for taking us along!
Thanks for watching and coming along 🙏
Sweet build. That 100-gallon water tank is a practical size. We find we go through about 110 gallons in 2 weeks. It sure looks like you maximized your roof space, as did we. If you ever decide you want more, you could always add some to the side like we did. Five years ago, we took an early retirement, sold everything, bought an older MH and hit the road FT. It was the best decision we ever made. We discovered that we enjoy boondocking and it helps stretch our budget too. We quickly learned the advantages of solar and decided to build our solar/battery system in 2 phases, a 12v system for our basic 12v DC needs and a 48v system for our 110v A/C needs. We started our build 4 years ago with a pair of lead acid golf cart batteries and custom built a 620-watt liftable solar array mounted on the side of our motorhome. We lift the array to the optimal angle to improve their output by 20-30% vs flat mounted panels - even more in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky. It serves as a nice bedroom window awning too, practically lifting itself to the desired angle with a couple gas struts, and it's easy to clean with a windshield squeegee, standing safely on the ground. This set-up, while far from optimal, allowed us to boondock till we could afford to do better.
We just finished the 12v part of our build last January, with the addition of a 560ah LiFePo-4 battery that we built with 8, 280ah "A" grade prismatic cells. We use a Heltec 350amp BMS, and a 5a active balancer to keep the cells synched up. We typically use less than 20% of their capacity daily giving us enough reserve capacity for about a week of bad weather before we have to run our generator for charging. It cost us less than $1,500 to build this 560ah 12v (7.1Kwh) battery, including the high amp BMS and balancer. We chose these cells rather than a pre-built battery because they fit perfectly under the steps of our MH where our old pair of GC-2 golf cart batteries used to reside, saving 35lbs too. We insulated the battery compartment, cut a 1" hole in our step risers and installed a tiny computer CPU fan to keep this space at close to room temperature, so we don't have to worry about the BMS shutting down charging if they get too cold - or their life reduced from getting too hot. We use an 80A Progressive Dynamics LFP converter/charger, a 1,000w Renogy PSW inverter (to run our TV, PC, ice maker, etc.), an Epever 50a MPPT charge controller and a Lnex battery monitor/shunt. This entire 12v system cost us under $3,500 to build and takes care of all of our basic off-grid needs except for air conditioning and microwave use. We have been running our 5,500-watt generator for this till we get our second 48v phase completed.
By mounting our solar array on the side of our MH, we left the roof free to rack 8, 550W Sungold Power solar panels (4,400 watts) down the length of our 35ft Class A about 15" off our roof, above our AC, fan shrouds, etc. They will cover the entire roof, providing some nice shade with plenty of cooling air underneath, further increasing solar output and reducing the heat load on the air conditioners too. We bought them for $2,226. That's only 51 cents/watt shipped to our door! We're assembling the components of this build now. We bought our aluminum racking material in Yuma, where we're wintering over this year, for under $400, which is the best price we've found. Our solar panels, wiring breakers, etc. arrived last week, but we're taking our time to get everything in and installed over the winter. At 67 yrs old, we're moving much slower these days. Our Sungold Power all-in-one 48V, 5,000W, 120V PSW Inverter/100A charge controller/battery charger just arrived Saturday. Our 48v battery bank will use 16, 320ah grade A prismatic cells which only cost us $1,726 from EEL batteries. So together with our 560ah (7.1 Kwh)12v bank, we will have a total of 23.5 Kwh of batteries onboard - kept charged over 5,000 watts of solar. We will be replacing our 24 yr old rear 13.5k btu rooftop Dometic AC with an EG4 28.5 seer-2 plug and play 12k btu mini-split heat pump. This second phase will provide 24/7 off-grid air conditioning, supplemental heat from the heat pump and allow occasional usage of our rooftop mounted high-efficiency Furrion AC in the front of our MH to cool things down quickly during peak afternoon hours, as well as give us whole house 120v ac power. We'll soon have total off-grid electrical independence on a budget we can afford, reserving our generator for emergency back-up use only. Take care, we hope to see you down the road!
Wow, that is an awesome story and quite the solar/off-grid setup! I’m starting a podcast for the channel to dive deeper into our road stories and to share other people’s story who live an alternative lifestyle. If you’d be interested in doing one with me send me an email: dfsheehy.productions@gmail.com
Cheers,
-Daniel
that port a.pot is expensive that's why I just use those horses pellets and a 5 gallon bucket in a compartment with a toilet seat
@@greg925911
You have a bucket?
We use newspapers.
.
As they say in televisionprogramming:
* "Ask your proctologist if squatting is right for you!"
@@greg925911me too, mine only has pipe insulation on it , better than my home throne 😊
That's my plan. My emergency toilet is set up but I never need it. Been 2 months of urban stealth camping lol. @@greg925911
Love your outlook on why you wanted to do this route versus "falling into place". I have and sometimes I consider my home, pool, and 7 acres as a huge anchor! Kudos to you both!
The trailer is also an anchor of sorts. After experiencing these 2 very different ways of life, I think the key is living intentionally. This doesn't mean you have to sell everything or be a minimalist. Just finding contentless and not giving into the external pressure that "more is better". It's a daily challenge for us for sure. Thanks for watching and for your comments. Cheers 🙏
@@TinyHouseVentures For sure! Very wise words! I completely resonate with that!
Excellent job I built a 30 ‘ trailer and work out of it and love it
❤i love your build, great job. I have done about the same thing, i used an 1963 airstream, which was by most peoples opinion was just trash, striped it out completly and started with my on design, love it. Thanks for the info on the composit head, never thought about horse beading, goin to be a game changer for me. Happy travels
Stan 😊
That’s awesome, Stan. I love older airstreams. Ton of work, but so is anything worthwhile. When using the horse bed pellets it’s critical to leave some of the old compost in there when switching out the compost because the horse bed pellets don’t go in already expanded unlike coconut coir. You’ll have to play with how many pellets to add at first. I typically add less and then add some more after the first week of use. Cheers.
Here from the FB SOK Channel! We are both boondocking from our SOK batteries. Love what you said, "You don't want to just fall into your life". Well said. Thanks for sharing your home.
For sure! Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Excellent presentation! Love your work!
Thanks for your kind comment🙏. Always trying to learn and create something better.
Very nice i really enjoyed the update Reminds me of( i ride tiny house adventure ) " We are not camping we are living" What a nice couple Keep on doing what you're doing cause what you doing is a good thang we got your back Motorcity love.👍
Thanks man. Yeah I love their videos too. My wife doesn't watch any TH-cam and she came up with that line herself, so I think Bill and Deb have hit the essence of what a lot of us are looking for when doing these builds.
I love your lifestyle and videos, so inspiring!
Thanks 🙏🏻. Going against the tide has its challenges, but we find it rewarding. Thanks for watching.
Smart couple, smart design!
I appreciate your kind comment 🙏🏻
03:55
With a factory RecreateVehicle, you get deluxe staples into particle-board.
You get impressive decals.
You get innovative flexi-steel frames.
.
And you get to camp in the repair-shop parking-lot while they fiddle with factory-installed warranty 'issues'.
Great setup! Thanks for sharing
Thank you! Thanks for watching 🙏🏻
Glad you guys are living your dream. Great build!
Thank you, from a fellow Trekkie!
@@TinyHouseVentures
Browncoat here.
Awesome trailer build folks, Happy Trails
Thanks 🙏🏻
Absolutely epic👍 amazing ideas and execution for a dream home.. you guys are cool as heck
Thank you for the kind words. It’s basic, but it’s our kind of basic ☺️
@@TinyHouseVentures
We are fond of saying:
* "In our ExpeditionVehicle, we have everything we need... we just need less of it."
Great build! Love Colorado TrailerS. If, I ever get to buy that's who it'll be from. Already seen several that I love. Yours is AUsome! Thanks 😎🚲🔥🏔
Thanks for the compliment! They are a great company and we love our trailer. Endless options of what to do with them.
Nice build and great video!
Glad you enjoyed. Thanks for watching!
Love your traiiler....I've been using Hoffman's sphagnum peat moss (no added growth chems) in my Nature Head toilet full time for six years now....works great!
Awesome! Yeah we started with coconut coir based on all the recommendations from Natures Head and TH-cam at that time and it was a nightmare, lol. Then we were at a farm with horses and got the idea for the bedding pellets.
Great job.
Thank you! It gets us pretty much everywhere.
Geez, the prices of cargo trailers these days make this out of reach for some people before they even get started on a build. 😬
It depends I guess. You can still get a standard cargo trailer for much less than we did, but relatively they are all much much more than they were, say, 5-10 years ago. Ours came with quite a few "upgrades" and a bit higher quality so we paid for that.
I’m so glad I got my 6x10 v-nose 11 years ago- only $2700! Used it for tools and storage for years… Wish I had gotten a little bigger but working on converting now, got idea for expanding fold out onto ramp deck💪
For sure I went to the sight to see. The price and some curse words slipped out😢
They literally addressed the budgeting portion of this 12:20. Everything has a time and financial cost.
Great Job! Thanks!
Excellent video. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it ☺️ Thank you for watching.
Good stuff guys 😊
Thank you 🙏
I fabricated our toy-hauler on a commercial chassis.
7'/2.1m x 16'/4.6m, with a Tuck-a-Way lift-gate.
We used it several years as a fifth-wheel, but realized significant binding and bounce on rough logger tracks to remote mountain lakes and across deserts to isolated Baja beaches.
.
I torched off that hitch combo, and fabricated a goose-neck hitch combo.
We immediately noticed less bounce and less binding.
.
All tolled, our investment in the entire trailer is less than us$1,500.
.
Of course, we could simplify by purchasing retail, and dump tens of thousands in a declining 'asset'.
Hey guys like the video good to see you again I met you in Florida in Ocala National Forest I was a guy on the Fat Tire Bike if you remember when are you coming back to Florida
Yeah man! Of course we remember. How's the truck camper treating you? I think you headed out right before the wildfire started right down that road. We had to pack up and leave in a hurry when that happened.
Not sure when we are headed back to FL. We are over in CA right now and likely heading to the Midwest for the holidays. Maybe some snow camping in our future, lol.
I'm currently building an 18 ft x 8.5 w. X 7 H cargo trailer tiny home. Thanks for the video! I wish I had more clearance.
The extra clearance is certainly nice, but you can still get to some amazing locations without it. You can always do a torsion axle swap in the future if you find you really want more clearance too.
I was in the military for 21 years and this is one thing I miss about the desert. 2:30 Or being out in the middle of the ocean. It definitely is big sky country!
Thank you for your service 🇺🇸. I lived 10 years in AZ and that was one of the things I loved most: the big night sky. The most amazing sky I’ve seen though was in Yellowstone on top of a mountain at night. It was a religious experience for sure.
Wow that's amazing that's beautiful love the way it was constructed in all the solar panels and and all that man that's something I can live comfortably in travel around and enjoy my retired life😊😊😊
Thank you for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed watching!
Wow!!!
Liked!
Subscribed!!
All!!!
Great built and very well said!
Exactly what I am looking to do and was torn between sprinter van vs cargo trailer.
Following to see how are things are going. Very excited!! 😊
Thank you for your kindness and glad it was a helpful video! We've got a whole suite of them showing what life has been like for us the past 1.5 years in the trailer...and more yet to come! Let me know if you have any questions.
@@TinyHouseVentures I had goose bumps while watching the video as if you guys read my mind. I am an avid skier, cyclist and go to burning man! WFH but soon be traveling as Roam is working out really well!!
Ride safe!!
I am from Colorado and will be visiting Colorado Trailer for sure!!!
Question: what is weight of your rig and what do you pull it with?
@@Jgjginkg244 Awesome! Our 7x18 weighed 4,800 lbs from Colorado Trailers, with our build and 100 gallons of water it now weighs 8,500 lbs. We pull it with a F250 gas. If you go smaller and build with lightweight materials (thin wood or aluminum) you could pull it with a F150 size truck just fine. Technically a F150 can pull ours, but these are tall trailers and you'll feel a lot more comfortable towing this weight with a 3/4 or 1 ton truck.
When you go to Colorado Trailers, tell Julie and Tyler we say hi!
@@TinyHouseVentures thanks for the info and will be sure to say hello!
Thanks again!! :)
@J,
We were in Costa Rica with our caravan chums for surfing and SCUBA.
Just in that one tiny village, we saw about eighteen (18) Sprinter-type vans down for repairs.
Some were waiting for entire engines to get shipped from Florida and Arizona.
.
An aside:
Everybody in our caravan operates old clunkers.
Reliable, with most of the warranty issues resolved decades ago.
nice build
Glad you like it. Thank you for watching 🙏🏻
Definitely you should make a shield for those panels incase of hail storms, have like a multi layer canvas that can be easily deployed with standoffs underneath it like ruber or Styrofoam standoffs
I see your point and if we were stationary in an area known to get hail I would do that. We’ve been through some pretty darn big hail storms in South Dakota/Colorado with our original panels. No problem. And these have seen good hail in Colorado. No problem.
It has like a cattle trailer chassis. I like it. Looks very solid. I think that is sellable in Europe. Anyways very cool trailers. The small versions are sellable in Europe too. I would investigate. We can ride freely with a 1500lbs. Just good.
Yeah, I think the smaller ones that Colorado Trailers sells could work really well for a ton of people with smaller tow vehicles. You have to get more creative with the small ones and make everything multiuse, but I think that just makes the build process more fun. Cheers!
Nice build. My tip would be to treat the wood underneath the trailer and install insulation and moisture protection.
Thanks. I know it’s treated already, but insulation install was on the list.
09:49
With a high towel, does water drip in your sleeves?
Me, too!
Merci beaucoup madame 👍👍👍👍
Love your trailer and your design. Love the simplicity. So what do y'all do for money to live? Or are you living on savings? Thanks in advance. Safe travels
Thanks for checking out the video! Glad you enjoyed it. We live off of dividends from investing in ETFs. Basically we make our money go to work for us making money. To cover monthly/yearly costs you need a pretty large amount invested unless your monthly/yearly living costs are kept very low...which is what we have accomplished by living like this. We will eventually do an entire video on this topic if you'd like to know more. If you subscribe it should show up in your feed when we do publish it. Cheers!
Horse bedding pellets !👍🏼
Yep, that or regular ole sawdust. All this stuff out there about using coconut coir is overhyped. That stuff is costly, needs water added to it, and runs the risk of coming with bugs in it. None of that is conducive to off-grid or RV living.
Wow...
I'm so glad you said that. I never drink city water. I wont even drink water at a restaurant and I say no to ice.
Yeah it’s a sad reality unfortunately. I’ve been all over the US now and have only found 3 places where the city water needs no filtration or further purification. Those locations: Front range outside of Boulder CO, Greenville SC, and Lake George NY.
Aint that the truth?! Drilling the first hole is always the hardest.
I nearly had a heart attack before the first one 😂.
You unknowingly captured a ufo at about 2:29 towards the left side it dropped straight down and made a 90 degree turn to the left 😅
That's an astonishingly tiny ROWPU
It really is! Waterdrop makes some pretty great purification systems. It has it's limits. For instance, some wells we can pull from and purify perfectly fine. Other wells we can't. So if you get one for an off-grid property I would make sure to put it through it's paces before the return window is up just to make sure it works for you.
I would like to know where you had the solar racks made and also how you installed the Mini Split. I Love everything about your trailer it's an inspiration
Thanks for the kind words, Steve. I wish I had filmed the mini split install. I was on a time crunch so didn’t film any of the build process.
The mini split is installed on a generator box rack that came with the trailer. I brought the HVAC and power lines in through the floor of the trailer which meant properly bending them under the tongue (this part was not easy and only reason it worked was thanks to LZ’s patience).
The solar rack I had custom fabricated by a welder in San Diego. They did a great job getting all the measurements 100% exact. I can give you his contact info if you need.
@@TinyHouseVentures You said to ask, so here goes.
I am looking for a 6 x 12 or a 6 x 14 trailer with the 32-inch mud train tires, Single Torsion axle, and electric trailer brakes. Do you know of someone who can retrofit that onto an existing trailer or someone who can build one? I emailed Colorado Trailers, but I have not heard back from them.
Thank you
@@steveschaefer5835 I would call Colorado Trailers. They are a small family business so it sometimes takes a bit to hear back especially around the holidays. If that doesn’t work, email me your phone number and I’ll pass it along to them…I’ve got the in 😉
Thank you!!
Hi mate, great video and awesome trailer and we'll done on your build.. how do you go travelling with your NAS, PC and monitors.. what's your routine with these on travel days with protecting them.
Hey, thanks for asking! So the NAS is sandwiched on all sides but the rear by styrofoam and then I have a bungee cord over the top to hold it in place. The monitors also have bungee cords and an eyelet directly behind each monitor in the wall where the bungee cords snap into place. Each bungee cord has a clip mechanism on it, so it stay super secure. All the computers ride up on the bed with our Starlink with pillows surrounding them. Nothing has ever shifted even on the more rough off-road trails we’ve taken. Are you working on a build?
@@TinyHouseVentures thankyou for your reply.. I'm in the process of starting my build and this was my main concern with HDD and GPU getting broken. I'm guessing the Nas is switched off when travelling? I have the same thinking and putting PC on the bed.. when I seen you off roading. I thought to myself I will be ok as I'm not off roading, just sticking to the highways :)
@@holdenman8850 sweet! Also, check out Cargo Trailer Conversion Facebook groups. I’m on there a lot and people have tons of great builds and ideas for things.
Yes, the NAS is off. I currently run it in Raid 0 but really should run in at least Raid 5 for safety. I have a bunch of old film projects that I need to edit first to clear up space to do that. The biggest risk to the PC is getting into an accident on the freeway. It could go flying. But honestly I have insurance for everything in the trailer and the trailer itself, so I don’t lose sleep over it.
@@TinyHouseVentures that's great, do you have a link to your FB page please.. Oh scary RAID 😂 mine is JBOD and like yourself films and music etc but still don't want to lose it
@@holdenman8850 Here’s the link. Not my page but I’m on there a lot: m.facebook.com/groups/1523347697884895/?ref=sharem.facebook.com/groups/1523347697884895/?ref%3Dshare&exp=8ce3&mibextid=S66gvF
Nice I am doing 7x14 I looking at you cover over mini split you have
Yeah, that cover came with the trailer. It’s actually a generator cover and I took off 1 side of it so the HVAC and electrical could come out of the mini split. Any trailer dealer can probably order you a generator platform and cover, then you just need to get the platform welded to the tongue.
With the ever growing popularity of utility cargo trailers todays prices are thru the roof!!!!! Post covid, items have doubled in many areas. If you want it, just bite the bullet!!!!!
Seems like you should get some propane just for cooking and heating and use the pv electricity just for a/c and lighting.
The diesel heater works better than a propane heater. No moisture build up. We have a small camping stove that we used every now and again before we did the solar panel upgrade. We typically have power to spare and if we run low I have no problem running our propane generator to give us a boost.
Nice setup. That’s alot of solar! Jealous
Thanks. Yeah, just a wee bit of solar power 😎
I love. It! I really like the freezer to. Cycling saves my life
5:40 did they put the big bicycle wheel on a tiny wooden platform with tiny wheels? 😂
If it works, it works 🤷♂️
Don’t hold your breath for that Eufy cam system to reliably detect human motion. I have six of them around my house with mixed results.
Good to know. Ours has worked flawlessly for us over this past year. It’s really nice to check in on the trailer when we are in town doing chores or off on a hike.
Great build out ! Good video also. How does the 18ft seem to work out for you two ?
Thanks 🙏🏻. Lengthwise it works amazing. I wish we had the wider 8.5 vs our 7 ft. It wasn’t offered at the time but is now. That would have made it easier to put the bathroom in and I would have done the bed side to side which would have opened up the space a lot more.
On the flip side, there have been a few camping spots that I’ve been glad we weren’t wider because of how tight the tree branches made it for getting into the site. But choosing a different site is always a solution.
@@TinyHouseVentures
To open narrow tracks, we carry tree-trimming tools:
* loppers
* bow-saw
* Craftsman 20v chain-saw.
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We like Craftsman, their 20v batteries fit our other tools:
* impact driver
* weed-whacker
* drills and saws.
.
One of my hobbies is acquiring cast-iron skillets.
I use a Craftsman 20v DA (dual-action orbital sander) to polish the cooking surface to a mirror shine.
Thank you. Can you share your water pump info for filling your tank from the stream?
Yeah, it’s part of our instant hot water Joolca system. If you need to fill more than 15 gallons, then I don’t recommend using it like that. It’s intended to pull water from a stream for taking a shower directly, so its flow rate is really low. Took us 2.5 hrs to fill 100 gallons.
The best product I’ve seen out there for filling water into your tank from a stream is from Guzzle H2O. It does purification at the same time: www.guzzleh2o.com/collections/portable-drinking-water-systems/products/overland-bundle
@@TinyHouseVentures Thanks a bunch. Happy trails.
Wow
Thanks🙏🏻 And thank you for watching! Cheers.
this really seems to be the way to go over just buying a brand name travel trailer nowadays.
Yeah, unfortunately the build quality on brand new RVs is just doesn’t justify their price.
Not just trailers motorhomes and campers.
@@Grasshopper.80 Absolutely. There are a few companies out there still producing super high quality products, but they are either outrageously expensive or tend to be smaller in size. For instance, our friends have a NuCamp TAB 400 teardrop. Super nice and high quality. It will run you the same amount as a 30 foot RV, but it's going to out perform that large RV.
@@TinyHouseVentures not to mention the customization factor.
Happy biking and your international adventures.
@@Grasshopper.80 Thanks!
You have a mini split with heat pump but installed a diesel heater. I'm just curious if the heat pump was not able to keep up with cold temps? What is the lowest cold temps it is rated for.
I never found the mini split lacking in keeping up with temps. BUT, when it gets below 30 F it pulls a lot of power (like 600-900 watts) constantly to keep the defrost cycle going. That was a problem for us last year before we upgraded from 1,400 to 2,730 watts of solar. I haven't used the diesel heater yet this year as we've had enough sun so far. But I like having it as a backup. I think we'll be doing some camping in the snow this year, so I'll judge it based on the sun coming in as to which to use.
@@TinyHouseVentures Thank you for the response. It's good to get this perspective as I have not used my mini split in cold weather yet. I may have to consider a diesel heater myself since I would like to be in some cold temps occasionally.
@@bobknob8440 No problem. I did a whole video on our diesel heater install and gave a lot of power usage specs between the two and how much fuel is used by the diesel heater, so I recommend checking that out before you make a decision. Good news is the diesel heaters are cheap and fairly easy to install.
Wow very nice build and going from 1400w to 2700w of solar, crazy!! (in a good way). Anyway wanted to ask if you could share some of the rationale for going with a split ac unit. I like the idea. Just would like to know more like this is way more than what you would need (I think) and why not go with the traditional roof ac (aside from the fact that you have already spent the real estate on solar).
So our trailer came with a roof mounted AC and the first thing I did was remove it and sold it. It pulls way too much power for the amount of cooling it provides and it is super loud. It would pull between 1800-1500 watts when cooling. Our mini split pulls a max of 1200 watts and then settles down to ~300 once it reaches temperature. The mini split is fairly cheap too.
@@TinyHouseVenturesthank you for responding!! May you guys continue to have good speed 😊🙏
We see you visited the Torrey Pines glider port. Did you get a chance to hike down to the beach below? We live off grid about an hour East and it's our favorite beach.
Yep! The black beach was so dreamy with the sun flares, gliders like birds in the air, nice waves, and the black sand contrasted against the cliffs. I also didn’t know until recently that there is this super high end shopping area just south of there. We spent a day wondering through the art galleries and having coffee overlooking the ocean.
@@TinyHouseVentures Yeah, Prospect has some high end shopping and restaurants for sure. Did you go to The Living Room for coffee? That's where we go.
@@McDIY EXACTLY!! Hahaha, that's where we went.
Nice build!
I don’t see the simplicity anywhere.
I guess the simplicity is in the every day lifestyle. Because our costs are so low, I can chose to take remote work or not. We’ve bought time to use as we wish. If I want to read all day long on a Tuesday, I can. If I want to work 18 hours on a Saturday, I can. Being our own boss with little overhead is about as simple as it gets unless you are fully retired.
How is the underfloor holding up after driving in rain or pulling through puddles like they show in the advertisement? I notice it appears to be exposed OSB and that stuff doesn't mix with water well.
It has a treatment on it and looks still brand new. We've got around 10k miles of driving with the trailer now taking it coast to coast to coast with all sorts of driving conditions (rain, snow, salted roads), and have gone through some river crossings with it too. No issues.
They have a new designed floor since we bought ours. Their new floor has our interior noodle covering on the underside too, so it's going to be even more durable.
Interesting. Thanks.
Where did you get the solar panel rack fabricated?
From a former welder in the Navy when we were in San Diego. If you want his contact info send me an email (located on the “About” section on my channel page).
@@TinyHouseVentureswill do, how much did it cost
Have you considered an electric incinerator toilet?
That would be awesome. I’ve seen one in an off-road RV and was super jealous.
Does that amount of solar work in winter now 2,700 thats a lot of power..what are the size of batteries bank?
It’s so much better than it was. We still run the generator every now and again if we get several cloudy days in a row. Could be offset if we changed our power consumption or used our propane camping grill…I just don’t want to lol.
Batteries are 4800 watt hours total (100 Amp hr at 48V). The ideal setup would be to double or triple the battery bank but $$$$
Grest build.
I do want to say you might be mistaken about tap water being bad.. the particles you mention might be healthy for you..
I have heard reverse osmosis removes everything and is juat H2O but we get healthy minerals from water so Pure H20 is not at healthy..
Best to check it out.. i am from Campbell river, BC and we have some of the best city water..much better then bottle water
Anything under 50 ppm of minerals is fine. Reverse Osmosis doesn’t remove all minerals. You still end up with about 8-10 ppm which is perfectly safe. Over 50 ppm and you are more likely to get kidney stones, 0 ppm and your cells will be hypotonic which is not safe and why you do not ever drink Millipore water (super pure water…essentially only used for cell culture or biology lab experiments). I have a PhD in Chemistry 😉
@TinyHouseVentures thanks for the information. It is good to know.
What make and model is your RO treatment machine
@@philipwalters5254 Sure thing! Ours is from Waterdrop. We use the countertop one, which is great for RVing. If I was stationary I would use their inline filter system for convenience. Here is the link to the one we have: amzn.to/47a3Yww
So, your solar power system is strong enough for you to have an all electric 110v system except for your diesel heater?
Yep. All our cooking is electric too. We can run the mini split for heat too, but sometimes not enough sun during winter if we aren’t in the desert. We use propane for our instant hot water heater instead of electric for the same reason.
How did you do the rack on top? Thanks
Hi there, we did a whole video on the process that you can find here: th-cam.com/video/1Dr1uh0b1Gw/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=TinyHouseVentures
This was our second rack system and by far the harder and more expensive of the two.
Hi was the issue not enough solar panels or not enough battery system
Good question. Specifically, last winter we had 2 months of almost no sun. So that’s why we went with more panels. If we had gone back to Arizona we maybe could have just expanded the battery system. But we are now more resilient to weather patterns.
@@TinyHouseVentures I'm asking about the batteries, because that's your power bank. And that bank can carries power even when you draw from it. Now that bank may decrease , but if you have 13kwh power bank that can last awhile if you start full and continue to draw in power even as you use it. i'm surprised that 1700 watts was not enough. What was your battery bank at the time please?
@@hmmm2564 We have 2 videos on the whole setup and the changes. It is the same battery bank. The only difference is I went from running the batteries at 24v in parallel to 48v in series. But we didn't change the batteries or add more. Just changed the mppt charge controller from a 24v one to a 48v one. We use on average 8 kWh of power per day. We used to have 1400 watts of solar and last winter we only charged 10-20% of that capacity due to the atmospheric rivers we got in southern California. So, let's say 300 watt peak charge. That led to us only charging a max of 2,000-4,000 watts per day. Meaning we would need an additional 4,000-6,000 watts every day. Thus, if we doubled our battery bank from 4,800 watt hours to 9,600 watt hours it would look like this from full: Day 1) 9.6KWh - 8kWh + 4kWh = 5.6kWh left. Day 2) 5.6kWh -8kWh +4kWh = 1.6 kWh left. Day 3) 1.6kWh -8kWh +4kWh = -2.4kWh deficient. So, yes, having a larger battery bank helps get you by if there is a few cloudy/rainy days. BUT if it persists then you have a problem. However, doubling the solar doubles how much we bring in every day. So instead of 4kWh it would be 8kWh, which is our average daily usage. This is how we came to the conclusion to spend our money on more panels instead of more batteries. In the ideal world I would expand both systems or have a super large battery bank. But that is a lot of money that I didn't have to spend. Hope that helps clear up our decision to go this direction. (for full reference: these batteries are SOK 24v 100Ah each. We have 2).
The only issue I have with these trailers is lack of insulation.
Plenty of people insulate the walls, floor, and ceiling of them. Ours has insulation everywhere but the floor and our mini split keeps us cold and our diesel heater keeps us super warm 🤷♂️
What size batteries?
And is it a 12v or 24v system?
It’s a 48v system. The 2 batteries are each 24v, 100 Ah. So 4800 watt-hour. Relatively small battery bank for the amount of panels we have. We charge full by 11 am every day. Would love to double the battery bank, but they are so expensive!
@@TinyHouseVentures how long can you run the mini split before you have dead batteries?
@@dangeroustoman Super dependent on the outside temperature. For example, it got to 110 when we traveled through Arizona in September and the mini split pulled around 900 watts constantly during the day and dropped to more of an average of 600 watts as the sun was setting. With 4800 watt hours battery we can run it for 6-8 hours overnight, BUT we never do. We only use the AC when there is sun out so our solar system can directly cover the energy use. The issue we ran into in AZ was most of our daily solar production went to running the AC during the day (tilting panels would help with this, maybe a future project lol), and had to use battery at night to keep cool enough to go to bed. Needless to say we decided to move through AZ pretty quickly and get somewhere cooler to be more comfortable. That said, we rarely see it pull more than 1,000 watts at any point.
eventually, the over-demand of trailers will result in a temporary over-supply. Wait patiently, select carefully, act swiftly.
Very true. From the release last week from some RV manufacturers it looks like we are entering a buyers market, at least in the RV industry.
Without propane how does the hot water heater work? Also it looks like the bottom of the trailer is h treated particle board.
We use propane for the hot water heater. Started with refillable 1 lbs tanks and now use an 11 lbs tank we keep in the truck bed and just bring it in when showering.
And the floor is definitely not particle board. These floors are meant to have razors drive up into them (around 1,600 lbs). I’ve had to put a few holes in the floor for things like the diesel heater exhaust and it takes a powerful drill to make a hole in it. They now make the top coating on the underside as standard, and offer a pre insulated floor as well.
@@TinyHouseVenturesgotcha. @1:23 sure made it look like particle board.
@@TinyHouseVentures edit: I was also watching the video while riding the bike trainer with zwift going on a other screen. Lol
@@kleinbiker1 Love IT! We both Zwift too…think one of our trainers showed up in the video.
Do you find 4800WH adequate for 2370W solar? I'd expect a bigger battery to hold capacity over cloudy days.
I would prefer to double our battery bank size. We get by just fine, but if we have a few cloudy days and I don’t want to change my power consumption habits then I have to pull out our small generator and run it for an hour. Really came down to price. To double our battery bank it would cost another $2k and I’m just not ready to invest that into the power system right now to fix an issue that really isn’t an issue for us.
@@TinyHouseVentures makes total sense. I'm running on 640W/2500WH setup, will likely keep that ratio if I build something similar to your setup, which has a lot of common criteria to my build now (a van conversion).
@@doronsherman yeah, if you can build your panels to be tilting that will be super helpful. If I had more time that is one thing I would have liked to engineer differently with the rack.
@@TinyHouseVentures I was about to say the same, seen that hydraulic tilted setup on a modern van build. While at it, make the panels slide to the side to make shade like Living Vehicle. Another idea is lifting double sided panels with extra reflection from a mirror coated roof underneath, extra 30% power iirc.
@@doronsherman yeah the Living vehicle panels are super nice. If I were to build another trailer I would spend a lot of my time figuring out how to maximize the solar input with some neat engineering. Just didn’t have the time or bandwidth this go around. But we’ve lived and traveled for 18 months so far without any issue that you can’t deal with. So, I’m practicing staying content, haha.
2730 watts kinda... seems like a lot.
Do you ever get stopped by police? Do they insist on searching your home?
Never been stopped. It’s our legal domicile and they can’t insist on searching without probable cause.
0:12 2 very important sinks or sings?
Things. I uploaded subtitles if you need to use them.
What sort of price was the trailer
This size starts now at 25k. Pricey for sure, but it will get you where other trailers simply cannot go.
You wouldn’t need so much water if you didn’t use a reverse osmosis filter. That kills water and the filter rejects so much.
Not really honestly. It’s a 3:1 RO system, so one liter discarded for every 3 liter filtered. Our largest water usage came from doing dishes (we cook 100% of our meals and don’t use plastic/paper) and taking showers. 100 gallons lasts us about 3.5-4 weeks. Even though we move spots every 2 weeks, we don’t always go back into a place that has water available for us to fill, so the extra capacity is very helpful.
@@TinyHouseVentures so places that are in droughts like California, 3 to 1 is a lot
Chinese PhD girl so cute I want one
dont get mad at me... but... it still looks like you are camping :D
Everyone has a different definition of “camping”. For us, camping is roughing it with no climate control, computers, bathroom, or comfortable bed. For others camping means a $200k motor home at an RV park.
@@TinyHouseVentures to be more clear what i meaned:
It doesnt look very cosy, the floortiles, open plumbing etc
Nice, but looks unfinished.
I'm not an interior designer haha, but I tried. 🤷♂
Its a cargo trailer not a million $ mansion. Let's see you do better.
Man you guys are stem
You think it shows a bit? 🤭
It would be much easier video to watch if you turn the damn music down. You are like so many TH-camrs you overdo the music. I like the content. Just not the sound. Sorry if this is harsh
I appreciate your feedback. It’s a continual development of finding my own style that I like and resonates with people. I think the music in the 2 videos published after this are much more in the background. You’re welcome to let me know though if they aren’t. Cheers.
Damn bro! Could just say “Hey the music is kind of loud folks. May want to bring it down a notch while you’re editing.”
A how to be kind lesson from the mother you obviously didn’t have. -Morgan
ditch RV parks because many will not accept your cargo trailer - and you are extremely limited where and when you can go because you do not have enough solar or batteries to handle heat and cold
We handle both extremes of heat and cold just fine. 2,730 watts of solar with a backup generator and a diesel heater…yeah we’re fine. We full time in this, so not limited on when or where we go at all ✌️
@@TinyHouseVentures how would you handle high temps and humidity in places like Florida and Texas at night in places where generators are not allowed to run at night - or do you simply avoid such places? The limitation I reference is places like 1000 Trails (the largest network at the lowest cost) - my mistake, you do have a lot of solar, congrats - I am running 700 amp hours in battleborn and boondocking will deplete ALL batteries in certain temp conditions. I also have a mini split. They make a handle for the fridge that locks both doors.
We only camp in free locations because there are so many of them where we want to be and we have no need of hookups. If we don’t like the weather we move. That’s the joy of this lifestyle and why we built the trailer the way we did.
Turn off the music !!!