LiL Hauley build out

[David B.]

Originally Posted by CarlD

Dave
You and my husband (Carl) think alike, Its Scary, We are wishing you and Paula a wonderful trip .I hope you can post along the way.Wish we were going with you. Mary

Thank you. Summer 2019 we are planning a tour Michigan (upper & lower), and you should be finished (enough to camp anyway) if we are ever finished, enough to maybe join us?
Dave & Paula

[CarlD]

We would enjoy that. I have the wetbath area pretty much figured out. I just need to do a bit of math to figure the movement of the door. If I get ambitious enough and make some drawings I will post them. It is not easy to work in such a small space efficiently!

[CarlD]

We received our cassette toilet. We went with a Dometic 4110. The price was not too bad. We liked it better than the Thetford because the cassette has wheels and the bowl is ceramic lined. The dimensions are almost identical to the thetford CS200 with the exception of the back which is about 4 inches higher. We are considering mounting the toilet so the back is to the drivers side of the trailer. This would provide a few additional inches of room in the shower. We'll see how things look when we get the trailer. The hard part now is WAITING!

[CarlD]

I received my Battle Born 100 Ah battery today. It looks well made. I plan on using it for both the LiL Hauley and as my trolling motor battery. I really like the weight, and should work great on the boat! I added a strap for easy hauling.

[CarlD]

A LiL Hauley followed me home from SC the other day and is now living in my shed. I removed the tires and lowered it close to the floor for ease of working on it. Now the fun begins.

[charlsara]

Congratulations! I will enjoy following your build out and seeing a LIL Snoozy at the end. Need lots of pictures.

[Mike Magee]

Looks good. I see Wesco is still building the frames. Hey, yours came with a grab handle outside the door; mine didn't!

[CarlD]

Mike,


The frame is welded then hot dipped galvanized. Wheel hubs are vortex 6 year warranty. Maybe they made a mistake with the handle!


I used 3 full tanks of gas towing it home. First tank was traveling on I26 to Ashville in D at about 65 mph. I got about 14.5 mpg. Second tank was on I81 in Virginia in D, drafting trucks at about 2.5 truck lengths at 65 mph. I got 16 mpg. Third tank was in 4 not following anyone at 70 mph. I got 13.5 mpg. Now for the interesting part, when towing the R-Pod (2500 lbs) I have to drive in 4 and follow trucks. I get about 9.5 mpg!!. The really worst part is the trailer weaves and bobs a lot at highway speed even with the WDH and friction bar. It is not a steady oscillation, it feels like turbulence. The truck gets about 19 mpg by itself. I really like the way the Lil Hauley tows. I am sure mileage will drop some as the weight goes up, however that is expected.


After reading about condensation issues from other forum members, we have decided to apply 1 inch insulation main cabin except in the bath area. We figure the bath area will act as our dehumidifier and we can easily clean it as necessary. And because of the complex shape, we are planning on using reflectrix with some kind of rat fur in the bed area. Most likely it will be some kind of marine carpeting.



The first step is smoothing out the interior walls, which are very rough, and scratchy. We are going to fill the voids in the exposed fiberglass in the bath area, sand it smooth and cover it with epoxy paint prior to installing the wet bath we got from Lil Snoozy. Laminate will cover the plywood in the bath area and the door will be a screen type from Stoett. NO curtain!

[Gulfbreeze]

Originally Posted by CarlD

The first step is smoothing out the interior walls, which are very rough, and scratchy.

Are all the Lil Snoozy interior walls rough and scratchy or it just the one you have? I was under the impression the interior (and outside) was smooth on all Lil Snoozy.

[CarlD]

I don't recall other shells being rough on the inside. I think there may have been dust in the air or something amiss with the gel coat. I assumed it would be like the others I looked at so I didn't check it at the factory. It will not be an issue because I am going to insulate it. I will let Richard know because it may be a process issue.

[CarlD]

The decision to work on the trailer or upload some pictures was difficult.

Reflectix installation is complete. Next is the wall coverings. Still need to make a final decision regarding the colors. The ceiling will be maple plywood, curves will be vinyl and bed area will be vinyl.

[alan H]

I’ve also been hoping you would post some pics
Very very nice
Keep them coming

[Mike Magee]

Interesting.

[charlsara]

As a Snoozy owner I am interested in your project. I used Reflectrix in the bed area and covered it with marine headliner. How are you going to attach the plywood?

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by CarlD

Everyday is a Saturday

While I understand the meaning of your quote, and I agree in concept, I personally prefer Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. On weekdays, those unfortunate enough to still have to work are not clogging the roads and stores, inhabiting the campgrounds, and for 9 months out of the year, the children guided by “poor parenting” are, for the most part, in school where their obnoxious behavior is a problem for school authorities rather than the rest of us!
Please don’t interpret me wrong; I like most children. But I also like peace and quiet, especially at 6:00 AM and shorter lines at the grocery store.

[CarlD]

We are planning on shelves over the table area and cabinets over the counter top. The walls will be white laminate on plywood. The curved portion will be white vinyl bonded with 3M 90. A 4 foot wide 1/4" piece of maple plywood will be in the center, where it is mostly flat, screwed to three 3/8 wood strips which are glued and screwed to the ceiling. I will provide pictures. The adhesive is 3m 5200. This stuff has a bond strength of 700 PSI. I figure each 1 inch wide by 96 inch long wood strip will support about 63000 pounds! I am going to fasten the plywood using 1 inch panhead screws with the painted heads, which will penetrate the wood layers and the inner fiberglass layer. It looked quite nice in my hilo. The edges where the plywood meets the vinyl will be trimmed with cherry strips.



Being old school, I was a bit nervous gluing stuff to the ceiling and walls, but after reading and watching some videos on utube university my confidence is very high!

[CarlD]

Carl,


I also understand your comment completely. We too avoid weekend adventures and enjoy the relative tranquility of week day (Saturdays) activities. Being recently retired and having every day to do as my wife requests is like having all Saturdays, hence the quote.

[CarlD]

Here is a picture showing the nailers bonded and screwed to the ceiling and the vinyl on the curved portion.

[charlsara]

Originally Posted by CarlD

Here is a picture showing the nailers bonded and screwed to the ceiling and the vinyl on the curved portion.

Very nice!

[CarlD]

The ceiling plywood is installed and the lights wired. I was concerned with the stress on the plywood and mounting blocks and added some 3 inch square wood blocks on 12 x 16 inch centers for additional support. We decided to go with a removable panel instead of doors for the under bed drawer access. The bedroom windows have been installed and the platform plywood is cut which pretty much completes the bedroom construction. Most of the 12 volt wiring is run to the fuse panel. It is nearing time to install fixtures in the kitchen and wire up the control panel under the bed.