Work and Play trailer mods

[Mike Gilliland]

We have purchased a Forest River Work and Play trailer to join the traveling CMRA circus in 2013. I have seen several at the track and have some questons. We want to mount some cabinets and have a question on spare tire mounting options. The factory is of no use, that I can tell for advice. Because of it's construction it looks like you would need to bolt the cabinets to the wall with bolts/screws that go all the way through to the outside. Is this true, or does someone have another suggestion? I was thinking of mounting a trailer tongue box, so was considering bolting a spare tire carrier, low on the outside of the ramp rear door. Suggestions by anybody experienced with this trailer?

Mike

[Jim Dugger]

I've never put cabinets in a vehicle, but when putting in custom builds at home, this is what I've done:

http://woodworking.about.com/od/deal...geBrackets.htm.

I've used construction adhesive for the load bearing cleat with good results. How thick is the exterior material?

[Carl Price]

My only experience has been in my old haul mark. It had plywood that I screwed into. The same with my current trailer.

[Mike Gilliland]

Jim, from what I can tell the walls are fiberglass reinforced plywood, and may not have any other structure to them except at the corners(?) It is one reason they are so solid and heavy. I may pick up a stud finder and see if anything comes up. The factory is useless from what my local dealer could get from them. I will check out some of the forums but on one of them, they recommended exactly what I am contemplating, bolting it to the wall with a bolt going all the way through to the outside.

[Will Shupak]

i think you can see the bottom of the metal wall studs if you look at wall from under the trailer.

[Mike Gilliland]

I don't see anything under there and just by the quick and dirty tapping on the outside walls, I get no indication there is a change in tone or that there are studs. Time to do some internet research on my part. I thought some of the CMRA folks may have done my leg work for me and could save me some time.

[Kasey Lewis]

I don't see anything under there and just by the quick and dirty tapping on the outside walls, I get no indication there is a change in tone or that there are studs. Time to do some internet research on my part. I thought some of the CMRA folks may have done my leg work for me and could save me some time.

I've added a lot of stuff to my trailer, here's my .02;

If you're mounting them at floor level you should be fine with "self tappers" into the ribs of the trailer side. Most manufacturers use thin C channel as upright support, then cover it with a thin layer of wood/glass etc. use over long brackets on the cabinet side. If you're going to wall mount them, it gets tricky. The only way to get ones that won't fall apart mid season from road wear is to build them out of solid wood, which gets real heavy. If it were me, I'd build them onto a 3/4" sheet of plywood, then use carriage bolts and a back plate to mount the entire thing to the wall. The cabinets hide the wood and bolt ends, the outside bolt heads are domed and should not stick out.

[Greg LeClair]

Mike,
I have a Jayco toy hauler and had a similar issue...with the "vaccum bonded" walls, there is no standard stud pattern. It was a pain to mount stuff...eventually I found these hollow wall anchors at Lowe's, and they work about as well as anything can. I used a bunch of them to mount this "gear track" from Sears, and now I can configure it anyway I need to. So far it's held up very well, much better then even the stock mounting from the factory. Depending on weight, you might be able to use them to mount cabinets, especially if you can find at least one stud.


Geartrack:
http://www.sears.com/gladiator-geart...p-00959441000P

Another suggestion...on a cold, damp morning, go look at the outside of the trailer and the condensation will show where the frame studs are...