Stewart Campers - Texas Trailer

Introducing our newest camper – The Texas trailer

Here we go for #6. I’m taking the best features of all previous builds and incorporating them into this one. This build will be wider than the other – extending out to seven feet wide and 11 feet long. It will have a tongue box and a few extra goodies to be revealed later. I’m also trying to be light weight as well – we’ll see in the end how well I did. (BTW – the trailer is rated at 2000 lbs) I’ll be using the 5mm, 1 inch foam, 5mm sandwich construction with fiberglassed seams and polyester resin coated. *After searching for possible donor trailer (and even considering building one from scratch), I finally settled on this:

It’s a dual jet ski trailer – but it will do just fine. It is wider that what I wanted, but it means that the camper will be about 8 inches wider. I can live with that. This time I will not be building over the wheels meaning extra space in the interior and no wheel wells to build. Gotta do something about the wiring and the color

*Frame was stripped down and wire brushed and cleaned up a bit. I took the tires off and cleaned and inspected the axels. Repacked the bearing with some fresh grease. Replaced the wiring with a new harness along with some temporary tail lights. I also gave it a good paint job – gloss black! Add to that some shimming of the frame to bring everything level. Installed the spare tire holder. I had this laying around since I built my first camper. I couldn’t use it due to the short tongue lengths of the other campers – so I kept it in storage. Finally I can use it!

*Time to start putting down the flooring. Bolted around the perimeter of the frame, then used self tapping screws along the spine and joists. Everything is pretty solid – no “bounce” in the floor. We did a tape outline to make sure everything fits. There is about 9 Inches of overhang in the rear to add to the balance of camper.

*Trying something new this time – instead of using paint and aluminum to seal the underside – or the Black goo emulsion – I’m using spray bedliner. I used this on the hood and bed of my truck and it worked as advertised. I also did a test piece to on plywood and wood to see how it would hold up in the Texas seasons. I must admit that they held up pretty good, so here goes. Since it’s in a rattle can – I can do touch ups easily if needed. I chose to wait until everything was glued, screwed down, caulked all the seams before giving a good coating.

*Package arrived from ebay today – this is something new . We’re going to install an access panel on the passenger’s side to allow access to under the bed storage from the outside. Usually we just put all of the big set up stuff under the bed and then unload it from the inside when we get to a campsite. No longer – we can unload it to the outside without having to bend over and unload it from inside.

* Mrs Starleen wanted something different for the exterior lights instead of the usual round one that we’ve used on other builds. This is what she came home with

The outside is painted Ford grey and trimmed in red, white, blue vinyl. We’re trying something new with the vinyl. The vinyl comes in 15, 30, 48, and 60 inch widths – so we layered the top with white vinyl. Even though the top was resin coated, fiberglassed, and painted – the vinyl added another layer of waterproof protection.

BTW – the blue trim on the top actual has about and 1/8 reveal on it. It is fiberglass reinforced bondo to cover the edge seam. I ran a strip of tape to form the edges, applied the bondo, removed the tape when the bondo was still soft and pliable – leaving a crisp sharp edge. Then I sanded it smooth and to the desired thickness simulating applied trim. The corner trim is thin gauge aluminum angle

Traded out the old metal fenders because they were rubbing the tires on extreme bumps. I mounted these a bit higher and it solved the problem

Outside access hatch works well – I can even crawl in if I need to reach to the other side.

Tongue Box – plain and simple, but does the job

We are also “wrapped” the front and rear of the camper as well – makes it easier to clean off bug splatter. The vinyl has an outdoor life expectancy of 5-8 years (about the same as if I had used paint) plus the camper is garaged so I should get extended wear life out of it.

Both beds have plenty of storage under them – full size in the rear and single up front. Instead of using a curtain to hide access to underneath the main bed, I used 5mm luan covered with fabric and velcro to secure it place. I was surprised how well it worked. The cabinet with the microwave and toaster oven got the same treatment. Track lighting – two lights are enough, but four really lights things up plus they are aimable. Nice little horse tapestry print The back cabinets are using the same velcro technique on the doors. However, the bottom are set in a track formed by the aluminum trim. Plenty of storage

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