|
Full timing in our Carbon 327.
Well it's official, we are living in our 5th wheel. Over the next 10 months to a year we will be mostly permanent in our own parking area while we tear down our perfectly good stick built home to build our even better more amazing stick built dream home. It's still February and we are in the Pacific Northwest so I had to prepare for cold and freezing weather. The following is a brief description of what I have done to make our full-time adventure more comfortable.
Most 5th wheels are not four season rated and if they are you still should prepare for cold weather. So first thing first, before de-winterizing and exposing to the elements, I inspected our Carbon 327 very closely for any necessary repairs. It's only a year old, but after our 8000 mile adventure there were a few little repairs needed. Our roof needed some attention due to low hanging branches and failed di-core sealant. After the roof, I tackled the installation of the JT Strong-arm 5th wheel stabilizers. Not a terribly difficult task with amazing results. I "strongly" recommend installing these. The next day or so, I pulled her out of our heated shop and parked her in the parking lot where I had just recently cleared the snow and ice. Knowing the ground was still wet and soft, I placed large landscaping bricks on the gravel with a double layer of offset 2x8s to establish a solid platform for the landing gear and rear stabilizers. I got the unit perfectly leveled, tightened the stabilizers and established a rock solid 5th wheel. I'm sure I will have to go back and re adjust one the settling is complete.
The next project was to skirt the entire trailer. A trip to Lowe's we found one inch thick thermo - tech insulating foam board with reflective barrier on one side and vapor barrier on the other. Using aluminum tape on the out side and duct tape in the inside, I cut, fit and taped the foam board between the bottom of the trailer and the ground. I found that removing the fender flares and license plate frame helped establish a uniform flat surface to attach the foam board. I buried the 50 amp power cord under the edges of the skirting all the way to the power supply. I also buried the water supply hose and ran the cable TV line under the trailer. This kept the area around the trailer much cleaner looking and fewer tripping hazards. I made one panel an access panel so I can easily get under the trailer for future maintenance.
I contacted our local propane supplier and they delivered and hooked up a 100 gallon tank that they can fill on an on call basis.
And, as far as when nature calls, I don't have a dump station here yet so I had to figure that out too. We are a semi permanent setup so I didn't want to move it every week to dump. I found a used 250 gallon waste tank and placed it under the trailer behind the axles. To establish proper drainage slope from trailer sewer drain, I had to dig the tank down about 8 inches. Using a gutter, I made a sloping sewer pipe support from trailer drain to tank input. The tank will be mainly used for black water and local poop pumper will be on call for pumping when full.
To help keep the holding tanks warm, I placed two light sockets with 65 watt flood lights under the trailer mounted on a 2x6.
We also had Direct TV people come out and place a dish for TV in the unit. That included re wiring some stuff inside to accept the new system.
So far we have been in the trailer for one week and have a had a good time. I found that our outside water supply hose will freeze pretty easily (it's a 200 foot run from the house above ground) but if I leave it running just a bit at the "Y" it may not freeze. We have not had any pipes in the trailer its self freeze. All in all, it's pretty comfy living.
__________________
CarbonFun
2014 Keystone Carbon 327
2015 Ford F-350 Super Duty 6.7L Diesel Dully
|
Linear Mode
