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Screwball's budget diy toyhauler for fulltime RV living/boondocking

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Screwball

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Apr 3, 2021
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53
Got tired of the flimsy & crappy rv quality so I decided to build my own toyhauler based on a 26' x 102" commercial cargo box i found locally here in Vegas for just $500 ? ....
I added a subframe structure, twin 7klbs axles, 33" tires as well as the gooseneck hitch structure to it.
The nose mounted 9000btu Senville minisplit heat pump as well as a side mounted powered vent allowed me to cover the entire roof area with 2000w of PV panels (8 gently used 250w commercial Trina panels i picked up locally for $50 each in a 4s4p layout).
The tall interior height of the box allowed for generous ceiling insulation (7-8") but still resulted in a 96" finished interior height.
The front kitchen/bathroom is elevated over the (heated space) of the 170 gallon fresh water holding tanks for frost protection.
I sacrificed "lightweight" for comfort/sound dampening: all walls are insulated with ridgid foam and sheated in 3/4" fir ply. The entire ceiling is covered in 3/4" pine T&G ... interior is extremly quiet compared to my previous (1/8" plywood ?) forrest river toyhauler.
....
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Still not completely finished, but here are a couple interior pics ...
Floor is 100% waterproof "driftwood" vinyl planks ...
I currently work in the marble&granite business, so all top surfaces are real granite "leftovers" ? (brazilian jurassic river rock fused together by a couple million years of intense pressure) ... love the look, so I don't care much about the extra weight ?
...
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Initially I wanted to go with an all Victron setup (split the 8 pv panels into twin 2s2p sets going into 150/35 chargers and a multiplus 24/3000) but unfortunately I broke my back riding out at the dunes, so as a stopgap I decided on a simple all in one growatt 24/3000 for now ...
Still undecided on the batteries: thinking one or two diy 24v (8x 200 -280ah cells) with overkill bms.... or maybe twin 12/200 SOK ?!?
Goal is to run my residential fridge, micro, coffeemaker, toaster, PC and bigscreen TV, as well as the minisplit (at least during peak midday heat)
The split is a heat pump, but it is not a very economical way to heat, so I installed a small lp/forced air heater for the cold/low pv months.
Water heater is a 10g lp/110v unit (to possible "burn" some excessive pv input into hot water).
A 3-flame cooktop as well as an external hookup for BBQ round up the propane side ...
Couple more random "under construction" pics ?...
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That is a really cool idea brought to life. We, wife and I, are full time RVers and also very fed up with the "quality" of RVs. I'll have to show her this. If you don't mind me asking, how much did the build cost you to do the interior?
 
Nice! What is the weight on the trailer?

The RV industry sure isn't producing a lot of quality. My toy hauler is a 2006 and I'm close to having all the problems resolved.
 
TankFish said:
That is a really cool idea brought to life. We, wife and I, are full time RVers and also very fed up with the "quality" of RVs. I'll have to show her this. If you don't mind me asking, how much did the build cost you to do the interior?
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The whole thing is one big recycling bin ? : reused boxtruck body, axles from my previous toyhauler, all the T&G is leftovers from building my friends cabin, lvp planks and kitchen cabinets are leftovers from another job, granite is remnants, .. etc etc etc ? ... sadly I did not keep track of the $$ spendt overall

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Screwball said:
The whole thing is one big recycling bin ? : reused boxtruck body, axles from my previous toyhauler, all the T&G is leftovers from building my friends cabin, lvp planks and kitchen cabinets are leftovers from another job, granite is remnants, .. etc etc etc ? ... sadly I did not keep track of the $$ spendt overall

View attachment 45646
Click to expand...
Still a great idea! I showed the other half and now it looks like I'll be making a small one for us, when you can't get into a place with the 42'. She likes the ability to have it your way, now I'm stuck building it ?. Thanks for the share! Cool project!
 
HRTKD said:
I'm thinking he has a bit less room in that toy hauler than that. Maybe a midget sized version of that?
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Lol... yes, I can only fit a RZR sized toy.... but I dont have much love for them barbiejeeps ? (especially the little displacement & droning CVT transmissions) , so im building one myself around a light little torque monster (2.0 ecoboost direct injection turbo with unleashed Ford racing ecm) paired up with a miata nc 6-speed manual and going into a stout "super8.8" torsion diff irs ... long travel suspension for mostly desert and sand dunes, so I don't mind it only being rwd ... my shattered back slowed this project to a standstill ? ... hopefully I can get back to it soon (after my solar system is finished)
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Somehow I was just not completely happy with how I mounted my 8 x 250w panels ? .... and the volts and amps going into the scc didn't work out very good as well...
So out of frustration I posted the panels on marketplace (for $10 more each then what I payed for), they sold in 15 minutes ?
So despite my recent broken back I hauled them off of the roof.
Remembered that I have a pro solar system installer friend, so a phone call and 24 hours later I had 6 brand new 320w Q-peak half cell mono panels sitting next to my trailer.
Not exactly cheap at $.50/watt , but the combined voltage matches my victron 150/60 controller choise perfectly and I get 25 year warranty peace of mind ?
I guess I know what I'm doing this evening : hauling panels onto the roof again ? (hopefully for the last time)
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Got the new panels up on the roof !!!
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... and the first blue parts arrived ?
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After lots of going back and forth I finally settled on all Victron parts ?
 
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