13' Casita Trailer Off Restoration.

[CasitaInFL]

Been busy as usual but got some time to work on the camper due to this whole corona situation. It's dirty because they have been burning the sugar cane fields and theres been a ton of ash in the air. No sense in cleaning it right now.

I did the #3500 replacement axle with the 2" lift. Trailer rides significantly better now. Just have to hook up the electric brakes. I dont have a trailer brake system in my truck, so i need to start looking for one of those too.

Also was able to test fit the solar panels today. Going to install just to see how the trailer handles with the extra weight on the roof. It may help if I go to a wider tire or perhaps a deeper back spacing to get the tires a little wider. I have room in the wheel wells. We will see what she does first.

[ShelbyM]

Impressive work!

[alan H]

Originally Posted by ShelbyM

Impressive work!

I love the rack setup very nicely done as is everything else [emoji106][emoji106]

[CasitaInFL]

Currently raining and overcast, but I was able to wire the solar panels up, and it appears they are working.

Going to be intereating to see how much power we start making during the middle of the day and when it stops raining.

[CasitaInFL]

Still kind of overcast today, but I am running the a.c. unit at 73° with solar panels to see how the battery does with power consumption. When the compressor is on, I'm drawing about 20 amps @ 26V and when the sun is out, I'm makimg around 800 watts or 30 amps.

Seems like this setup os going to work out pretty well as long as I have sun. The more sun, the more heat, and the harder the a.c. will have to work though. Balancing act I suppose.

[CasitaInFL]

Decided to give her a bath for the first time in a long time. She cleans up nice.

Looks as though over the past couple cloudy days I'm getting a little over 2 killowats of power from the panels during the day. I'm figuring I could probably double that amount or more or a sunny day with no cloud cover. We shall see.

These LIFePO4 batteries charge so well that the panels are can re charge the batteries pretty quickly at 30+ amps.

Still figuring out the final mounting solution, but I may be adding a couple additional bars.

[AnnaSteve]

WOW you have a plan and a lot of talent

[Wade R]

They were burning sugar cane? Do you live near the Everglades Agricultural Area?

The progress looks great man!

[CasitaInFL]

Yes the burn the fields ocasionaly and it creates a ton of ash. Some of the chunks are pretty big to be honest.
I'm probably 30 miles northeast of the fields.

[CasitaInFL]

Got my cushions today. They look awesome. I went with 4" pretty stiff foam so they would be comfortable to lay on. I'm 6'2" 225lbs and theese cushions dont even come close to bottoming out when you sit or lay on them. Really happy I decided to have these done. I know they wouldn't have turned out this nice if I did them.

[CasitaInFL]

Put a monster water tank in the casita. 32 gallons. We have two dogs and a bunch of equipment we will be hosing off and also hosing ourselves off with some cool water in the summer time. I know this will weigh 300+ lbs when its full so i tried to get it as close to the axle as possible. Hoping it also acts as some balast against the solar panels on the roof.

I had made some aluminum straps but i didnt Like they how the tank was lacking support in the middle from all the weight if the water. So i built a little shelf for the tank out of some aluminum box tubing. The tank is very snug now. Im using a 12v pump mounted to the rail via a bracket i made and welded on. The tank can be filled from inside the cabin via a ball valve when the water is hooked up. There is a clear line overflow that dumps outside when its full. Pretty simple really, but it guves me a ton more water and more space inside. Not to mentuon if it leaks, it will be outside of the cabin.

[CasitaInFL]

So we tested the camper out in a really mosquito infested area and found out the hard way there is a gap in the door that doesnt seem to leak, but sure does let the bugs in. The doors radius doesnt match the side of the camper very well and so i adjusted the latch to the point where you had to slam the door shut to get it to latch, but there was still a gap. Not to mention it put so much pressure on the door latch it stripped the screws out. Add that to the list of things to fix...

Anyway, I gave up on trying to clamp it shut and decided to try to change the shape of the door. I got a 2x4 and some ratcheting straps and started shaping the dopr how I wanted it. I left it like this over night and the shape is almost perfect. Going to make some minor adjustments and leave it on a little longer, as Im sure it's going to spring back a little.

On a side note, i got the electric brakes wired and the trailer cord properly sealed and routed. The rack and other pieces should be going to powder coat next week.

[CasitaInFL]

I disassembled the solar rack to take it to powder coat and weld some brackets on it for lights. I was able to weigh all the pieces to see how much to total weight of the rack is. It is a litrle more than I thought at 214 lbs. Not crazy heavy, but substantial when it is up so high. Going to look into adding shocks to the axle to help stabalize the trailer.

[Wade R]

Originally Posted by CasitaInFL

I'm buying a fiberglass shell and would like to avoid rivets through to the exterior as you have. How difficult was glassing in these wood strips? Any tips on how to do this effectively/precisely?

[CasitaInFL]

Originally Posted by Wade R

I'm buying a fiberglass shell and would like to avoid rivets through to the exterior as you have. How difficult was glassing in these wood strips? Any tips on how to do this effectively/precisely?

The strips were not hard to glass in. What I did was hold up the piece to be mounted and trace around it. I would then temporally glue the wood strips in and the hold the piece back up to make sure the wood pieces were where i wanted them, if not I could still move them. Once i was sure they were in the right spots, I coated the wood with resin and applied 3-4 layers of woven fiberberglass to them and aboit 2 inches onto the shell all the way around. They are rock solid and you can just screw into them. If they arent perfectly in line, you can stick a shim in between to bump them out to where you want them. Id also fix the rivet holes with fiberglass if possible as the Bondi will start to crack due to the shell having so much movement. A piece of fiberglass cloth on the backside of the patch will make it really strong and worry free in the future

[lisantica]

Originally Posted by CasitaInFL

Got my cushions today. They look awesome. I went with 4" pretty stiff foam so they would be comfortable to lay on. I'm 6'2" 225lbs and theese cushions dont even come close to bottoming out when you sit or lay on them. Really happy I decided to have these done. I know they wouldn't have turned out this nice if I did them.

Those turned out great!

[CasitaInFL]

After taking the camper for a ride and mocking the solar panels up on the roof, I knew I needed to do something to mitigate the bouncing side to side.

I figured the best way to do this was to install a set of shocks. A quick google search later and I find a company that makes a kit for the dexter axle and Casita. Awesome! Its a little expensive but I figure it will save me some time and its already a proven design. I call them up and the lady says that its a 6 MONTH WAIT!!!! I asked why so long? And she told me they were just a busy shop. What a joke....

Seeing as that was out of the question, i went on amazon and ordered up the shortest set of air shocks I could find. I found a set that was used on a Harley Davidson air suspension. $60 for thr pair. Then I went down to my local race car fabricator and got some off the shelf brackets that I could modify to make work. $25 a trip to the local ace hardware for all the nuts bolts and spacers, and i was ready to go. $20.

I decided to weld a braket to the frame and another to the axle/arm of the hub. I used a string tied to the upper and lower eyes to hold the shock at the ride height while I mocked up the braxkets. Tacted everything in and made sure it would work, then welded it in. After everything was bolted up, the only thing left to do was run the air hose for the air supply. They say the min air pressure you should run is 25 psi, so that what I have it at.

I pulled the camper around with full water tanks (about 400lbs) and drove over a bunch of speed bumps and awkward angles to test it out. It made a huge difference. It roesnt have the solar panels on it right now, but I cant see how its nots going to help.

[KCan]

you are incredible. I love how your post started years ago and stated you planned to only clean up a few things!

[CasitaInFL]

Originally Posted by KCan

you are incredible. I love how your post started years ago and stated you planned to only clean up a few things!

Haha... Yeah, everyone in my neighborhood jokes with me about it. It was only supposed to be in my driveway for a couple months, as keeping it there is a code violation. Years later, here we are... I even had to make a deal with the code enforcement officer after he told me I had to move it, that I would move it as soon as any of my neighbors complained. Luckily, they all kind of like watching it evolve over the years. Im just ready to stop working on it and use it. After i finish this, I have a car im working on that I need to finish too. Then I'm done with projects for awhile.

[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!