13' Casita Trailer Off Restoration.

[thrifty bill]

Can you imagine Casita came out with an expedition model that incorporated your design? There is a market for it. Heck, I could see a small shop doing conversions, probably just the outside stuff: frame, axle, lift, cage style wrap around frame, etc.

[CasitaInFL]

Originally Posted by Wade R

I was so impressed by the work you've done that I decided to try and copy some of your methods and buy a casita for myself. My girlfriend and I just purchased and brought home a 2004 17ft Casita. You sold me on fiberglass. Thank you for the inspiration!

Congrats on the purchase. Get ready for a lot of man hours! I cannot believe how much time I have in this thing. Did I go overboard? Of course, but that's what makes it so cool. Hope your project goes smooth.

[CasitaInFL]

Originally Posted by thrifty bill

Can you imagine Casita came out with an expedition model that incorporated your design? There is a market for it. Heck, I could see a small shop doing conversions, probably just the outside stuff: frame, axle, lift, cage style wrap around frame, etc.

Doing it for the first time was pretty rough. Now that all the pieces are made and could potentially be templated, it may make it somewhat easier. Not going to lie, just the cost of the components is pretty high. I could only imagine the mark up being substantial. Here within the next couple months I plan to be traveling with it to GA and TN. Looking forward to enjoying it.

[CasitaInFL]

I thought j posted this before, but I guess not...

I had planned on skinning the solar panel housing with aluminum to help keep water out and just make it look better. I got some aluminum from my local sheet metal shop and had them do some of the critical bends that I could not do at my house. Anyway, this is what it will look like when it's all together. I took this photo before sending everything off to powder coat. I just got everything back from powder coat and it looks great. I still need to assemble it all though.

[Wade R]

How much of the underside of the trailer did you paint? Any photos of underneath?

[CasitaInFL]

Originally Posted by Wade R

How much of the underside of the trailer did you paint? Any photos of underneath?

I painted the underside when I had the shell off the trailer. Didnt really worry about what it looled like, just painted it with that rubberized truck bed stuff to make sure some of the patched holes stayed water tight.

Got to test out the running lights I installed awhile ago too.

[Wade R]

Where did you get the 1/2 polyethylene foam you used? Also what weight did you use? I found this source, but it's offered in both 2lbs and 4lbs weight and I'm not sure which to choose. Thank you!


https://www.foambymail.com/PR/polyet...foam-roll.html

[CasitaInFL]

Originally Posted by Wade R

Where did you get the 1/2 polyethylene foam you used? Also what weight did you use? I found this source, but it's offered in both 2lbs and 4lbs weight and I'm not sure which to choose. Thank you!


https://www.foambymail.com/PR/polyet...foam-roll.html

Sorry have been super busy. But I think I only did the 2lbs. I cant remember why to be honest.

I ended up having to repaint the whole camper. Took some time off from it, and the paint started to bubble and blister. Not sure what went wrong but ended up sanding the whole thing down and repainting it.

I used a high end paint this time called awlgrip .its commonly used on boats and is a two part paint that is very durable and hard. It is also super expensive, but a little seems to go a long way. I needed two quarts of white and one quart of the grand banks beige to complete 3 coats of each color. You can roll and tip it or spray it. I like to spray just because it is easier and I think you can get better results.

Many more pics and updates to come. Stay tuned...

[Jon in AZ]

Gorgeous! I like the color combination.

[CasitaInFL]

I decided to go with some non-trailer wheels and tires. I know, I know, load rating ect.... HOWEVER, going to a 17" x 8"wheel and a tire that is wider with a smaller sidewall, the camper will be much more stable. The sidewall on the current trailer tires allows for a lot of side to side movement and sidewall compression, making the camper a little more "wobbley" than I like

Tires have an 1800lbs load rating and the wheels are around 1700. Axle is a 3500lbs axle, so everything lines up. Went with a 245/45/17 which is 27" tall and 9.6" wide with an 8" tread width. Zero offset on the wheels.

This was before I got the wheels and I was comparing the two tires. Pretty big difference I'd say.

I also decided to paint a lot of the plastic hatch doors and other pieces. Sun is usually pretty hard on these pieces and hopefully the paint can make them last a little longer.

Here you can see the solar frame mounted to the roof for the last time and the door painted and mounted.

I'm not sure if i mentioned, but I bought some stainles boat rub rail to go where the belly band is. I fabricated little brackets around where to top and bottom shell meet so that it can be bolted on and I wasn't screwing into the fiberglass. Brackets are aluminum U channel extrusion, cut into 1.5" pieces and taped for a 1/4" stainless bolt on the bottom of the U. The u channel slides over the lip and is held in by two screws in the corners that scrw into both top and bottom shell lips and a large amount of 5200. You can see these brackets in my previous post.

[CasitaInFL]

Next thing to do was to get the solar panels and the panel covers on the rack, and get the panels all wired up and the lights that I installed on the rack.

While doing this, I noticed I had a bad cell in my battery. Looks as though the BMS didnt catch an over voltage or over amperage event anf the battery puffed up pretty big. Surprisingly, the battery still works very well, but I am going to replace it and also change the configuration of the batteries to be a little more stable and not as hard on the bank.

I'm going over this super fast, there are so mamy details, so just ask if you want to know....

[CasitaInFL]

Here I have the wheels mounted and the solar panels out and operational.

The camper is significantly more stable with this wheel and tire combo. Feels completely different when you try to rock the camper back and forth. Combined with the air-shocks, I'm sure it will tow very nicely. Hope to maybe give it a trial run this weekend.

The front box I made came out awesome and stays water tight. It holds the propane tank and the hot water heater. This hot water heater will produce way more hot water than i need, and I had to turn it down quite a bit. I'm sure the box will also store all my trailering odds and ends at some point.

Still haven't buffed the paint after painting it, or even washed and cleaned much, but it still looks great! IMO, the awlgrip paint is worth the money. Looks great and is hard to scratch.

[CasitaInFL]

Got everything back together today.

Long day but was worth it.

[CalCop]

Bill,
That's absolutely beautiful!
Great job, but I am a bit worried about the gross trailer weight

[CasitaInFL]

Originally Posted by CalCop

Bill,
That's absolutely beautiful!
Great job, but I am a bit worried about the gross trailer weight

Just because I am curious, how much do you think the trailer weighs? FYI, it has a new #3500 axle and all the framing for solar panels and box up front are aluminum.

[CalCop]

I really have no idea what the weight would be.
The batteries, new interior, fresh water tank and solar system adds a good amount.

[CasitaInFL]

Been awhile since I have posted here. But we have started using the camper a little bit.

We took it up to St. Augustine and ended up at Vilano Beach. Turns out if the truck and trailer combined is less than 33FT long, you can take it on the beach. I wouldn't recommend it without a 4x4. Some areas can get a little soft.

Things I would do differently if I did it again...

1. Probably would have just bought a couple lithium batteries rather than building one. Times have a changed a little and the manufactured batteries are pretty nice and easier to use and almost the same cost. Also probably would have tried to add some more watt hours. I can run the AC all day if it is sunny on the battery, but once the sun goes down, you will only make it half way through the night. Or if it is ocercast, you will pull more power than the panels can supply. Fact is, AC units just use a lot of power, and running them off solar 100% of the time will require a large amount of solar panels and power storage.

2. I put an electric tongue jack on it, just because cranking was a little hard for my wife to do when she wanted to use the camper.

3. I should have left the front back windows as framed glass. The sun really eats that plexi-glass. May see what else I can fit in there once these windows get totally destroyed. I guess I can always cut a new piece and put it back in and replace it every couple years. Either way, no Bueno.

However, the camper tows really nice. Maybe because it's heavier or has the new 3500 lbs axle or different wheel and tire combo, but 75mph in my truck is no problem. Bumps and weird road conditions aren't bad. The air shocks really settle the ride down and keep it from being too tippy. I still haven't weighed it. Pretty curious what it weighs.

Overall, I'm really happy with it, and it gets a lot of attention everywhere we go. It's just the right size for me and my wife. Taking our two dogs gets a little cramped.

That's all I got, but figured I'd drop in for an update.

[alan H]

Originally Posted by CasitaInFL

Been awhile since I have posted here. But we have started using the camper a little bit.



We took it up to St. Augustine and ended up at Vilano Beach. Turns out if the truck and trailer combined is less than 33FT long, you can take it on the beach. I wouldn't recommend it without a 4x4. Some areas can get a little soft.



Things I would do differently if I did it again...



1. Probably would have just bought a couple lithium batteries rather than building one. Times have a changed a little and the manufactured batteries are pretty nice and easier to use and almost the same cost. Also probably would have tried to add some more watt hours. I can run the AC all day if it is sunny on the battery, but once the sun goes down, you will only make it half way through the night. Or if it is ocercast, you will pull more power than the panels can supply. Fact is, AC units just use a lot of power, and running them off solar 100% of the time will require a large amount of solar panels and power storage.



2. I put an electric tongue jack on it, just because cranking was a little hard for my wife to do when she wanted to use the camper.



3. I should have left the front back windows as framed glass. The sun really eats that plexi-glass. May see what else I can fit in there once these windows get totally destroyed. I guess I can always cut a new piece and put it back in and replace it every couple years. Either way, no Bueno.



However, the camper tows really nice. Maybe because it's heavier or has the new 3500 lbs axle or different wheel and tire combo, but 75mph in my truck is no problem. Bumps and weird road conditions aren't bad. The air shocks really settle the ride down and keep it from being too tippy. I still haven't weighed it. Pretty curious what it weighs.



Overall, I'm really happy with it, and it gets a lot of attention everywhere we go. It's just the right size for me and my wife. Taking our two dogs gets a little cramped.



That's all I got, but figured I'd drop in for an update.

I’ve been following this thread
Wow what a great job
We picked up a 2002 patriot ( standard model no bath)
Love it