Buildout of our race car trailer (Long)

[PineApple Express]

We have a 48 foot race trailer. My wife and I spent the last 2 months on weekends upgrading our trailer. We got this trailer back in 05. There were no living quarters in the trailer.

This is a shot of before we got started looking to the back of the trailer



Progress during the last 2 month of the build out. I installed the electrical system and a 32-inch shower. I also installed 2-inch insulation in the ceilings and 1-inch insulation in the walls.



I got tired of dragging the computer cables thru the door in 110 degree days and having cables run thru the trailer as tripping hazards. I hate falling over cables. Now these are several shots of what we have gotten done.

The loft area over the goose neck



The kitchen area



Yes it still in progress. The next major step will be install the propane hard pipes and the water systems.

Chuck
PineApple Express Race Team.

[NWJeeper]

Nice work! I love a good project. There was a really long thread on another forum group I had found where a guy did the same thing you are doing. He had pictures of the entire project. His wood work was astounding and once done the thing looked like any high end RV inside. Was a nice read, wished I knew where that was now. I like the idea of the metal studs. Strong, light weight, great thinking.

Post more pics as you progress.

[tmmar]

Nice Job!!! As NWJEEPER said, post more pictures of the project.

[PineApple Express]

I do have a lot more pictures but this site restricts pic to only 4. I have them linked to my photo bucket account. I may get a web page started up so I can post all the pictures in the near future. I am not quite finished but some small things. I also included a 12 volt power system for lighting as well. The wiring was sure a challenge especially the serial cable routing and the right angle fittings to fit a 1-inch wall. I also made boxes on the exterior for power lighting ac as well as dc. Then the serial cables for the down load from the car and my weather station cables. So no cables running thru doors or holes into the floors.

Chuck
PAE

[PineApple Express]

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

Nice work! I love a good project. There was a really long thread on another forum group I had found where a guy did the same thing you are doing. He had pictures of the entire project. His wood work was astounding and once done the thing looked like any high end RV inside. Was a nice read, wished I knew where that was now. I like the idea of the metal studs. Strong, light weight, great thinking.

Post more pics as you progress.

The greatest problem with metal studs is the screws backing out from the metal studs. I have a 1/2 drywall for a semi fire wall separation between the car area and living area. I tried using a typical drywall screw and it backed out from vibrations and a typical coarse thread, I tried both a fine thread screws. Then I went to a wafer head screw which seems to hold better with more surface area on the head of the screws. When I glued the finish wall I made sure the glue covered the head to help anchor it in place. I also got the plastic caps from MC Master Carr as in bulk it was a lot cheaper than the small packages from RV wholesalers.

Chuck
PAE

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by PineApple Express Racing

The greatest problem with metal studs is the screws backing out from the metal studs. I have a 1/2 drywall for a semi fire wall separation between the car area and living area. I tried using a typical drywall screw and it backed out from vibrations and a typical coarse thread, I tried both a fine thread screws. Then I went to a wafer head screw which seems to hold better with more surface area on the head of the screws. When I glued the finish wall I made sure the glue covered the head to help anchor it in place. I also got the plastic caps from MC Master Carr as in bulk it was a lot cheaper than the small packages from RV wholesalers.

Chuck
PAE

Did you apply something like Liquid Nails to the metal studs before putting the drywall on?

[PineApple Express]

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

Did you apply something like Liquid Nails to the metal studs before putting the drywall on?

No I didn't. As a matter of fact I called several adhesive manufacturers and they didn't want to recommend any products as it was a trailer. But one of them did offer a personal suggestion and I didn't use it on the stud to drywall. I did use adhesive on the finish walls to the 3/8 side walls that were original in the trailer. I also used the adhesive on the drywall to the finish wall. I also used a 3/4 finish nail to hold the panels in place while the adhesive dried.

Chuck
PAE