Build Specs

When we started planning our year-long adventure in 2019, our first question was: what type of rig do we want? Van life is certainly the most popular, but we opted for a two piece truck/trailer combo. This provided considerably more living and storage space, ease of construction (rectangular build space and simple metallic stud construction), and flexibility to drop the trailer in one location while we explored in the truck.

RecPro was our preferred supplier for much of the build. They use the Trader Joe's model of only offering one or two of each product. Most of their products are bigger brand names sold under the RecPro label, and their customer support has been top notch. Using coupon code "FRRTCWT" on RecPro will net you a 5% discount and help us continue trailer life-ing a little longer before returning to the corporate ladder. That being said, we want to remain impartial, and not all of their products lived up to our expectations...learn more on our construction and review pages.

The Truck

We originally considered a mid-size truck like the Chevy Colorado, but after doing some quick math realized we were going to end up with a heavy trailer and a lack of storage space. Our Toyota Tundra Limited Extended Cab with 6.6' bed is the perfect solution for both power and storage.

The Trailer

Nothing fancy here. It's a 16' x 7' Wells Cargo trailer. While many may say "bigger is better", we think this is the right size. Having completed the build, another foot would have been greatly appreciated, but everything ended up fitting. The final wet weight landed around 6,500 lbs, with a tongue weight of 800 lbs.

The Finished Product

General Construction

For insulation, I used 1" and 2" XPS foam. While not the most environmentally friendly, it does a great job insulating cutting down on propane needed, is highly water resistant, and is very easy to install in large, square cavities. Over that, I installed a floating 3/4" wood subfloor and vinyl, 1/4" prefinished shiplap walls, and stained 1/4" sanded plywood ceilings. Ikea cabinets simplified much of the carpentry, although there was plenty of custom framing and finishing

Electrical System

Our electrical system is built around the Bluetti AC500 system with two B300S batteries. This is a fully plug-and-play system, including shore and solar power inputs, MPPT, inverters, 6000 kWh of storage, and 120V AC, 12V DC, and 24V DC outputs. This was paired with four, 320 W Rynology solar panels. I directly plugged the AC and two AC power strips into the AC500, plugged the Dometic 75X into the units 24V DC output, and used a Blue Sea DC bus for the 12V DC components.

Water System

The water system consists of a 68 gallon fresh water tank and a 62 gallon grey water tank. We opted for a composting toilet rather than dealing with a black water tank, and have no regrets! The fresh water system includes a Clean Source Pro filter system and shore water. To keep everything inside and ready for winter adventures, we installed a Whale Gupper IC marine galley and shower pump to enable the grey water tank to be above the shower and sink drains. No issues so far!

Propane System

The seemingly simple propane system, consisting of two 30 lb tanks, an automatic source selector, and two-stage regulator providing propane to the heater, stove, and water heater, ended up being one of the most challenging. Incompatible fittings, cramped installations, and leaking flare fittings made this one of the most annoying parts of the build.