BY DOUG MASON
250-240-0787
CARGO TRAILER CONVERSION 101
A couple of years ago, my wife Jennie and I were living in Nova Scotia making plans to return to BC. “But what do we do when we get
there?” Jen asked. I suggested, “Let’s travel.” Tat simple statement led us on an
interesting journey. You see Jen had polio as a kid. Now, suffering with post-polio syndrome, she requires the frequent use of her Invacare M91 power wheelchair. Our high-top conversion van has a wheelchair liſt installed in the side door. But how to travel comfortably was the question. Te answer, aſter a lot of thought and discussion, was simple – convert our cargo trailer (NEO 7’ x 16’ w/2’ v-nose) into a custom travel trailer. Okay, so what do we need in the trailer?
A place to sit, a place to sleep, a place to cook, a place to eat, a bathroom, and some storage space. Long story short, most everything that’s in a commercial RV trailer. However we didn’t want an 8’ wide
trailer. Good, our cargo trailer is only 7’ wide. We didn’t want a heavy steel trailer. Great, our trailer is all aluminum and weighed only 1,870 lbs (850 kgs) empty. We didn’t want a bedroom – dedicated space that’s
really only used 8 hrs a
day, or the extra length that it requires. Good, our trailer is only 18’ long. Also, our trailer has a 7’ ramp in the rear. We can use the ramp to get the wheelchair
18 RVT 174 • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
into the trailer and, if we do the interior design right, Jen could actually use her wheelchair inside. Okay, so what’s the plan? See our build
plan diagram on page 19. Let the transformation begin! My first task was to transfer the paper
design we’d come up with to the trailer. I used green masking tape to indicate where things were going to be located – walls, windows, cabinets, counters, sofa, chair, etc. Once that was done, I knew where
to locate the incoming utilities. Some plywood glued to the back of the exterior siding would suffice. I installed a 30A power receptacle, “shore” water input, water fill (for the onboard 15-gal fresh water tank), and cable (TV). Te next item: insulation. Te wall
and ceiling ribs are 1” square aluminum tubing. Between the ribs I added 1” rigid foam insulation. To eliminate condensation forming
on the screw heads holding the interior plywood “walls” in place, wide 5
I added 3” /8” plywood strips to each rib.
Between the plywood strips I added ½” rigid foam insulation for a total of 1½”. I taped each seam with aluminum tape. I put the interior plywood back screwing it to the 3” plywood strips, not to the aluminum ribs. I insulated the ceiling a bit differently than the walls. I ripped 1” strips of 5
/8”
plywood that I screwed to each rib. Ten I added 1½” of rigid insulation between the ribs. I also added 2 – 14” x
Our high-top conversion van has a wheelchair lift installed in the side door.
22” skylights and a MaxxAir 10-speed ceiling fan from
Amazon.ca. When the windows arrived, I girded
my loins and cut into the nice clean sidewalls. Yes, I had to cut ribs. I framed the openings with a glued and screwed overlapping plywood frame. Te four utilities were grouped under
the kitchen window. Back inside, I strapped 3” wide strips /8” plywood down the length of the
of 5
ceiling. Tis gave me a “chase” to run the
electrical wiring between what
would be the finished ceiling and the insulation. I also insulated the floor using 2x2s
/8” t&g plywood. On top of that I laid a single piece of heavyweight “laminate” vinyl flooring - the kind that’s designed to “float”.
and 1½” rigid insulation covered by 5
Her favourite Invacare M91 power
wheelchair.
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