Raising the Roof

Raising the Roof:  Looking around the internet, I've read about places that refurbish AirStream trailers.  One of these talked about a project in which the height of the trailer was increased.  Sleeping on that, makes be think that might be a good idea for me as well.

Why should I raise the roof?  I'd need some compelling reasons to do that.

1. I'm tall and have to hunch over a bit right now.  It is not uncomfortable, but the ceiling is lower than I would like.
2. Refrigerator Sizes:  I have a brand new 5' tall refrigerator I can get cheap from my brother. He paid $1600 for it.  I can get it by buying his entire trailer for $500 or make some other sort of deal with him.  In any case, I want that refrigerator, and raising the roof is the only practical way to make it fit.  I would fit where my closet and propane/battery locker was, but then I'd need to move those items.
3. I need more space for holding tanks.  My camper did not have holding tanks.  I will need to make changes to accommodate them.
4. I need space for solar hot water pre-heater tank, and a water heater for cloudy days. My new refrigerator will take up the space used by the water heater and old refrigerator.
5. Extra Storage Space.  I need more space than I have in there.  I don't see how I can fit everything I want without more space, or sacrificing the dinette, which I don't want to do.
6. The original 3.5" mattress is too thin.  If I put a bigger mattress in, I lose too much headroom.  I'd want a 5.5" mattress, and would prefer to have an 8" mattress.  What I have now is a crawlspace of a sleeping area.  It is ok, but not as useful as it could be.

How to Separate the Roof from the Body?  


I studied the seams and there are two lengthwise rails on each side close to the roofline that can be separated easily.  I would separate  just below the angle L piece on the sides.

In front, I'd want to raise the windows higher up, so I would pick seams that are lower than the windows.  I would need to make cut in two places to free that side.

Under the vertical piece of aluminum is some C-channel that could be split.

 Here is the other side.  It is more exposed.  Visible is the outside door access to the refrigerator.  Just the the right is a doubled framing I could split.  Then I'd separate it under the window.  So the front walls and windows would stay attached to the roof when I lifted it up. 

I did not take a good look at the back, but I'm sure that would work out fine too up high like on the sides.  The only question about the back is should I put in a taller door or keep the one I have.  I lean towards keeping the one I have but adding a doggie door at the bottom.  Also, could I fit my motorcycle inside with double doors or a ramp--with big enough doors a motorcycle would fit.


How High?


My design model is the Bigfoot Truck 10.6E  2500 camper.  It has a basement, carries 50 gal of water with 24 gray water, and 19 black water holding tanks.

I am just under 6'4" and with boots on add at least another 1.5 inches.  I also have a friend that is 6'8"  I would like him to be able to walk around upright.   So I'd want at least another 10" may 12" more.


If I could go up another 12" the bathroom I could fit 4.5 cubic feet of gray/black water tank(s) under a step up bathroom--that is 33 gallons. If I also dropped the bottom of the floor in the overhang area, that would add more tank space in what is now outside the camper.  Doing the same thing on the other side at the same time make sense also.  That could remain battery/propane space or perhaps space for a Honda 2000U generator.

Spare Tire and Access:  I've been thinking about removing the bumper of my truck to save weight, lowering the license plate a bit (or relocating it to the camper), and relocating the spare tire to the front of the truck.  My spare tire can't be lowered with the camper in place unless I modify the mechanism.  I am not sure I need a spare with a dually for daily use.  For long trips I'd rather have it on the front.

What I'd like  is a second fuel tank. I could fit perhaps another 40 gallons in the spare tire area.  That would give me an 1000+ mile range loaded and an unloaded range of 1350 miles.

The bottom line, is the more I learn about these campers the easier it seems they are to modify.  That is the beauty of aluminum framing.  It doesn't rot, lasts forever, and is put together with rivets which are both very strong and easy to remove and re-rivet.

Jack Support Concept

Now that I've removed the jack support bracing, I have a good idea of how to build a cheap strong internal mount for these jacks.

I had first considered buying a fiberglass panel and cutting it up and laminated them together.  The costs are high for that option.  The material is harder to work with, and it is heavy.

 I just removed the old backing, which was 2x8 lumber.  This was rotted out on the port side, and was cracked on the other.  It was not tough enough and IMHO a weak point in the design or at least material's selection.

Wood Reinforcing:  One problem was they would tend to split in one direction.   I want a stronger  wood and strength on two axis.  I had a piece of oak shelving, and my friend George just gave me a 10' section of identical wood.  The two of these together makes up eactly 1.5" and will fill the area nicely.  Laminating two boards together with glue will make it strong.  Also instead of counter sinking the nuts into the pumber I plan to let them stand proud and  exposed for any future maintenance access.

Aluminum Reinforcing:  A close inspection of the aluminum C channel revealed tha all four corners of the jack mount support area have cracks.  This is the other axis.  These are comprised of two 8' sections of aluminum.   I need to either remove these pieces and replace them, or else scab on a piece of Angle (L) aluminum on top of them.  That means drilling out the rivet on the curved trim on the outside.  I don't think it will be all that difficult.
 Dented Corners:  Several of my corners are bent, and not accessible from the inside of the camper.  So I've been mulling over how to fix these.  It seems best to drill out the rivets, fix or replace the pieces, and then re-install.  I am unsure how to put pressure on the back of rivets that are not exposed.

Riveting:  I have been watching YouTube videos of the different methods of riveting.  So I will need to order the appropriate size rivet and tools to install them.  I have blind rivets, but these can only be used in some places.

So the bottom line, is I will have to do some metal work. And I'm excited about the idea.  That will delay finishing off the jack mounts a bit.  I'll have to remove the curved corner trim to scope things out from the other side, and research materials, and rivet sizes to fix the jack mounting supports.

Coming up--a crazy idea or pure genius?

Floor Removal

Another milestone!

Marco and I removed the old plywood floor in the camper. This was tough because the camper was build on top of this plywood, so it was sandwiched between two layers of aluminum and screwed into it from both sides.  Fortunately the bottom was only fastened buy a few screws.

Also all the deck screw heads were rusted. I discovered the best way to remove the plywood floor was to chisel around each screw head, or in some cased I made shallow cuts with a battery powered skill saw to expose the head.  It was easy enough to back the screw out of the light gauge aluminum C channel with vise grips.  The only difficult part was adjusting the vise grips to be tight enough, would took a lot of force to clamp it on, and once backed out, it was a bit of a hassle to get the vise grip unclamped from the screw head.

Here is a picture of a screw prior to the vise grip removal.  With a recently removed screw showing the typical state of these machine screws.

Here is the camper with the floors removed. There are a few places where the aluminum needs to be banged back into shape (see left side and right under window).

As much as I'd like to use a fiberglass floor, it seems like it would be both difficult to work with and expensive.  An attractive plywood for the exposed areas will be cheaper.  And I can save a bit more money by using still cheaper marine plywood under the closet, water tank and bathroom.   Those I would supplement with a layer of fiberglass  cloth and epoxy for a smooth water proof finish.

For the visible flooring, I have decided to use yacht style teak and holly plywood.  Still to do is, is take apart one of the ladder frames supporting one of the wings, so a piece of new plywood will fit in one piece.  I can slide it under one side, drop it down and refasten the ladder frame on the other side with pop rivets. 

In any case, I will need to take some measurements, determine a plywood floor layout--the old plywood had a seam conveniently under the water tank, and drill out some rivets to remove one of the ladder support frames under one wing to get the plywood to fit in one piece.  I also do not want any screws showing.  So my plan is to perimeter screw the plywood where aluminum C channel covers it up and to use a high strength adhesive two sided tape to secure the other areas. 

One possible issue is the open floor area may be greater than 8'.  Since the size of the panels is 4'x8' I may need to revise my planning some.  I may want to add one more floor rib at the 8' point--8' forward of the rear door.  I'll have to check with my tape measure to see if that will be a problem.

Here is what the new floor will look like.  This is what is typically used in yachts.  It is marine plywood with a teak and holly veneer on top.  Sharp looking.  I love this look on a yacht.

 

I am leaning towards teak cabinets and furniture finished as "bright work" which means high gloss vanish.  Yacht also provide ventilation for lockers so wet things can dry out.  Something to think about.  The Herreshoft syle is for white walls with teak trim.  A combination of these two is what I will likely do.  Whatever I ultimately do, it needs to be something I can wipe down easily for cleanup.

 

Marine Theme Ideas

I thought I'd brain storm about my idea for a Marine Theme, and writing down everything I could think of. Some of these are electrical, so those might be relevant in the near future.

Here are some things I have I'd like to use.

Bronze Port Hole--Make into a mirror

Brass Oil Lamp--saw one on eBay for $325! I paid $10 for mine and it could come in handy for lighting if I every lose power.  It can be hung under a vent to avoid any odor.

Compass

Navigational Charts:  Norwalk Islands, Vieques, St John, and Georgian Islands [framed]

Marine Inverter Charger

Solar Panels

WAGO DIN Rail wiring bus.

Marine VHF Radio

Solar Hot Water Coil

DVD Captain Ron

Thule Roof Storage Pod [not nautical but useful]

Groco Head

Things I'd like to add:

Searchlight [on Roof]

Bow Lights and Stern Light [for when parked]

Ships Weather instruments [temperature, barometer, and clock]

NMEA 2000 Bus [tank levels, speed, GPS position]

Blue Seas Marine electrical panel and battery switches.

Antenna Mast Mount [Stainless]

Nautical Music CD [or iPod Playlist--Jimmy Buffet etc]

Pictures of all my boats

Yacht type reading lamps

Sunbrealla fabric for dinette cushions.

Fold out Bimini for shade [for back side of camper]

Outdoor Grill [marine type, stainless steel, removable to mount of back]

Ships Wheel [for decoration--on back]

LED lighting [wherever practical, I plan to use some Fluorescent too]

Sea Shells decorations or curtains

Half Hull models for wall decoration

Here are a few ideas: