Re-wiring of a U-haul

[Perk]

I am by far no electrician but have a question about rewiring a U-Haul. How is it that with the double hull construction would someone get new wiring around or in between the walls to add new outlets or to replace worn or dry wiring. Hope there isn't a duh answer and I embarrass myself. Just would like to know. Thanks

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Perk

I am by far no electrician but have a question about rewiring a U-Haul. How is it that with the double hull construction would someone get new wiring around or in between the walls to add new outlets or to replace worn or dry wiring. Hope there isn't a duh answer and I embarrass myself. Just would like to know. Thanks

Perk, the space between the hulls is empty, so you can pull wires in that space. If you are clever you pull the new wires with the old.

[djtriceflt]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

Perk, the space between the hulls is empty, so you can pull wires in that space. If you are clever you pull the new wires with the old.

Mr. Perk,
The parts manual and repair manual for the CT has excellent wiring diagrams and repair discussions pertinent to some wiring fixes that are located in the documents section that is on this website. Unfortunately, and come to think of it, there is not a specific manual there for the VT. I wonder if they even exist?

[mmeyer]

as Tom said ,you can pull the new wire in while pulling the old one out, overlap the individual wires about an inch, tape with electricians tape (cheap stuff is OK) tape both wires together for a smooth transition from taped area to wire on both sides, and pull slowly ,should be fine .You can invest in an electricians fish tape which you can snake through the voids and tape the new wire to it and pull back.
Keep in mind in the VT the closet comes out ,the water fill comes out and the sink holder in the bath are removable which opens up everything. pull the christmas tree plugs out of the end plastic panels and you have almost complete access to all major locations and with fairly stiff wire I pushed most through. If you have storage under the sink I believe that comes out too , mine was converted to drawers so I am assuming this will work. the only place I could not get to was behind the upper storage bins on the entrance door side.
I replaced the pull out shore power with a Marinco twist lock connector upgraded to #10 wire and added 2 new circuits. replaced the circuit breakers which were frozen with 20A the breakers you find on air compressors and table saws found them at Granger but you can get them at Amazon and lots of places. When I replaced the GFIs and found the insulation on the 120V side was brittle over a foot back from the connection I was bound and determined to replace it. as I dug into the 12V side adding solar and additional LEDs i didn't like the blue snap on connectors so I decided to replace most of it as well but added stick on circuit numbers so I could trace easily. If you run into problems PM me I can probably work you through them.
Michael j.

[mary and bob]

If your Uhaul has the liners in the lower storage areas, the upper cabinets, and the area under the sink, take them out as this will give you access to areas where you can run wiring. I installed a PD4045 power converter that has 110 breakers and 12 volt fuses. I connected the original power cord to the main breaker in the 4045, then installed new 110 outlets, one below the icebox to power an electric heater, one under the overhead cabinet above the sink, replaced the one on the end of the cabinet and eliminated that breaker, and one on the floor in the lower cabinet to power a dorm fridge that replaced the icebox. With all the storage liners out you can access much of the 12 volt wiring. I rewired all the exterior lights except for the marker light wiring that is in the walls. I installed a couple new 12 volt reading lights, one against the rear wall of the closet, another just inside the door on the right, towards the front window. To get power to that front light I drilled a 3/8" or so hole in the inner wall and pushed a small stiff wire down into the front storage space, attached my wiring to it and pulled it up through. I also have 110 lights on each end of the overhead cabinets.

[mary and bob]

Oops, I didn't notice that the original post was for a VT, I'm talking about wiring a CT.

[Perk]

OK this Friday I will be headed back to NM and will be working on the VT ... I will be able to look at the actual situation and see what I can do based upon all your suggestions. I probably will be posting some more questions too.

I will be replacing the trim on the outside ridge with new trim that I bought from Chuck at fiberglasstraveltrailersrv.com.

So I do have a few items to get done this weekend.

Thanks for all the input.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Perk

OK this Friday I will be headed back to NM and will be working on the VT ... I will be able to look at the actual situation and see what I can do based upon all your suggestions. I probably will be posting some more questions too.

I will be replacing the trim on the outside ridge with new trim that I bought from Chuck at fiberglasstraveltrailersrv.com.

So I do have a few items to get done this weekend.

Thanks for all the input.

Let us know how it goes. I really found this siamesed speaker wire from eBay to be the cat's meow for running new wires.

12 Gauge Speaker Wire 25 Feet Car Home Audio 12g AWG | eBay

[mary and bob]

[QUOTE=Thomas G.;361205]Let us know how it goes. I really found this siamesed speaker wire from eBay to be the cat's meow for running new wires.

I used jacketed wire from NAPA auto parts for rewiring in our Uhaul. Is speaker wire a finer strand?

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

I used jacketed wire from NAPA auto parts for rewiring in our Uhaul. Is speaker wire a finer strand?

The stuff I got was very finely stranded and the insulation was very flexible - more like rubber than plastic. Plus being siamesed made it easy to run two wires at a time.

[mary and bob]

Since I was doing automotive type light wiring, I wanted to use automotive wire. Plus the NAPA store is 3 minutes from my house. The jacketed wire is very resistant to chafing with that extra covering, we used it a lot when I worked on trucks.

[mmeyer]

Lowes sells 12-3 stranded in a rubber cover in bulk hanks, similar to the U haul original. I used it for the 120V rewire with new GFI outlets. Be careful with the rubber rubber insert nut that holds the metal box to the trailer. It may be old and cracked which will cause difficulty in reinstalling. Nuts are available at uhaul eBay store.
MichaelJ.