Mini Camper 1 the idea.
The idea to build a camper came after an extensive search for a small camper trailer.
Karen and I wanted something that wasn’t too big because traveling small is easier.
We looked at lots of 16 ft trailers, but all were way too expensive.
I started to really rethink the whole idea. We were watching some
people on YouTube making their own trailers. I was always good at building
things so I gave it try.
Harbor Freight Utility Trailer.
I went to HF and bought their 8′ x 4′ trailer. It was about $200 at the time.
It was small but I thought it would be fine for our needs. I was able to assemble
the trailer quickly and moved on to the actual build.
The Floor build
The floor was a simple thing to do. I used one sheet of 3/4″ plywood for the floor.
We bolted the floor to the trailer. and started building up from there.
Polyurethane was used on the floor, and it looked good.
The Wall Frame
I laid out the frame at 12″ center using 2x2s for the sides and
2″x3″s on the corner. The 12″ spacing I thought would add more strength
to the walls. My design included a storage area in the back of the camper.
The air-conditioner was installed above the storage area.
The storage area was about 6’x4’x16″. One mistake I made was not putting
a door to the storage area on the inside of the camper.
The ceiling height was 5’6″. We did have to bend down inside the camper.
The Roof
I also use a 12″ spacing for the 2x2s for the roof.
1/4″ plywood was used to close the roof. A mistake with this roof
was the lack of a roof fan. We used Lanco Elastomer on the roof.
It’s an RV roof sealer. This elastomer worked great, we never had a leak.
The Walls
All walls were made with 1/4″ plywood. It went on fast and easy.
Before putting the plywood on we ran all the wires we needed for electrical stuff.
Final work on the window frames and doors was tedious, but we got it done.
I DIYed all the windows and doors.
The Inside
I had a 1-1/2″ wall spacing that I filled with Styrofoam insulation board.
Then used 1/4″ plywood for the inside walls. I used 1/8″ white fiber board
for the ceiling.
The Finish
I used Marine grade polyurethane on the walls. I put about 5 coats on the
exterior. I thought that Marine grade urethane would hold up better in the
elements. It didn’t! We got a couple of years use out of this camper before
sun and rain destroyed it.
Lessons Learned.
This Camper 1 build was a good learning build. We did travel all over the
eastern part of America with it. In the end we both agreed that an 8’x4′
camper was a little too small. We also learned that Marine urethane
doesn’t work very well. But we did enjoy the camper while we had it.
The Harbor Freight utility trailer wasn’t very good either.
It was weak, but it did hold up.
Other interesting links in Frugal Way
Food, Health, Ways to Save, Travel
Interesting, Fix it, Leisure, Reviews
Also check out RickMercier.com
Rick 8/7/25 Team (-) FrugalWay.com
