Cargo Trailer

[hausmutti]

For someone who has fitted out a cargo trailer.  All the new ones I see look to be wood lined.  How did you insulate it?  Put the insulation and another wall board over it or remove the wood liner, install insulation, and reinstall liner??  After insulating, how do you install windows since the wall is now extra thick?  
Thanks.

 

[owl]

Pull the wood, insulate and reinstall. Same thickness.

 

[ckelly78z]

Don't forget the floor.

 

[kaBLOOnie Boonster]

The two commenters above gave you the right answer. Putting the foam between plywood liner and the outside skin will not complicate your window insulation at all.

Reading between the lines of your original question, Maybe tnttt.com needs to be brought to your attention. Especially the cargo trailer subforum. Bear in mind that a lot of the guys on that sub-forum will over-improve their cargo trailer and get off on perfectionist woodworking. But that doesn't mean that you have to.

 

[ckelly78z]

The "perfectionist woodworking" is a matter of self pride that can showcase their talents in a small area....good for them, but hard for the rest of us hackers to accomplish. Sometimes the best design is a simple design that can be changed as you learn what you need.

 

[Lodi]

I know this is old, but I want to add my 2 cents. 

When i picked up my brand new cargo trailer (for a conversion)  i asked a lot of questions to one of the employees working in the shop, and I told him my plans, and he warned against me removing the original wood paneling, which was 1/2" plywood. He told me I'd have a hell of a time removing it and reinstalling after insulation. To try and gain 1" of interior space was a lot of work, and the worst part is the stainless screws used are torqued on, and removal and reinstalling them would take a lot of the structural integrity out of the walls. 

I confirmed this by trying to remove 1 panel and many of the screws would snap if I tried to loosen, they were all tightened right where they needed to be. 

The 1" space between the inside of the skin, and the plywood makes for a great air gap that will help with condensation and moisture problems. 

Overall I saved a day or more of BS by leaving the plywood up and going over it. It also gave me a solid place to screw foam and paneling and cabinets to later. Since under the walls, I have a solid layer of plywood throughout the whole camper. Which means I can snuggly secure anything I want, anywhere in the trailer.

 

[trailer-t]

Thanks for the post on this Lodi. Can you give a brief summary of how you insulated and
sheeted over the original plywood walls? My trailer is a 12' by 7' + 4 foot v with 3/8 inch plywood and no insulation.
It has like 1/4 inch thick trim over the seams and along the floor & ceiling. I am not wanting to unscrew the original
wood walls that I painted already if I ever decide to add insulation. t.

 

[wayne49]

Lodi's build is documented here:
https://vanlivingforum.com/showthread.php?tid=39319

 

[highdesertranger]

I ordered mine without the interior plywood. so it was never an issue. highdesertranger

 

[maki2]

stainless steel screws can get stuck because of a condition known as "galling" which essentialy cold welds the screw into the hole it is driven into. Then when you try to remove the screw the shaft often breaks off just under the head of the screw or just as likely it will strip out the head and the driver won't be able to grip into the head of the screw.

If you plan on installing stainless screws or bolts into the metal on your vans and trailers get yourself some "anti sieze" to coat the threads. That will prevent them from galling and allow you to remove that stainless fastener at a later date if you need to.

 

[owl]

The screws in question were installed at the factory so the advice the worker gave still stands.

 

[maki2]

A cargo trailer factory would not take the time to apply anti seize to each one of stainless steel screws. That would increase the labor cost. They have no incentive to do so as they have no need to remove those fasteners during the manufacturing process. Also their typical customer does not remove the paneling to install insulation. That means it is highly probable that the a fair percentage of the stainless screws will indeed have gotten galled...ie cold welded to the steel frame.

Such things can indeed make it difficult for someone who is doing a build and wants to remove the panels to add insulation behind the walls. But the reason I am mentioning it is so that when/if they run into trouble getting the screws out then they will have an understanding of the physics that cause the screws to break off or otherwise be very difficult to remove. Also why some of them might come out while others won't.

Many people are new to doing builds and might not understand what is happening. That in itself can be very frustrating sometimes leading them to think it is a failure on their part, that they are doing the job the wrong way.