2015 Rockwood A122S Pop-up Camper rebuild

Well, my "vacation" ended today. I'm working 60 hours this coming week and am glad to have a break.



Got the bed platform finished. Screwed and glued a board along the edge to strengthen it and help keep the mattress in place. Also built that box on top of the nightstand. Gonna put a hinged lid on it I think.



The openings under the microwave will hold storage bins once I get them ordered. There's still some trim work to be done as well. Oh, I forgot to take a picture, but that board under the microwave is a drawer I built for the spot. It'll be the utensils drawer. It's 22 inches wide, 16 inches long, and about 2 inches tall. A main reason for this whole project was to maximize the space that's in this little thing. Fitting in a little drawer like that is satisfying.




Bed platform is lifted here. I put a second lid over the storage area so it can double as a seat when the bed is lifted up. The box to the right is either gonna get carpeted or lined with foam. Might make it a place to store binoculars and such that I don't want getting knocked around. Its bottom is pressure treated because I figured it's at risk of condensation from the AC (maybe?). The small carpeted hatch between those two areas covers the ducts for the AC.



The big storage hatch. I'll probably eventually cover the underside of the inner lid in carpet for continuity's sake, but I ran out of carpet today. This thing is huge. We should be able to fit all the hunting or fishing gear 2 or 3 people would take just in this area alone. It's roughly 4x5 feet. There's another storage area on the back right corner here. It's only accessible from an outside hatch. It'll be for muddy boots, firewood, etc., that we won't want in the main quarters.



Microwave is installed. Just have to wait on the storage bins and then I'll finish all this up and make a couple doors to go over the open areas. The heater, breaker box, and electrical outlet in the seat box there have covers to make it look a lot more tidy there. I haven't installed them yet because we're still going to paint the interior. I put carpet on the seat box tops and made loop pull handles for them.



Table/bunk area again. Seat boxes are 45 x 24 x 16 (or maybe 18) inches. The box on the right is done and completely available for storage, and can also be accessed from the outside. The left box still needs a little finish work on the inside to hide the electrical stuff in there. Almost half of it is usable storage.

I don't have pics of it, but there's another big storage area on the front of the camper that is probably 7ft x 2ft, maybe more. It'll hold the gas stove, spare propane tanks, gas cans, etc. I insulated the back wall of it with 1 inch foam board and then screwed some plywood from the original bed platform over it.

My wife came in and looked at it today. My clothes line is in the way of a padded head board that goes over the door, so I have to find other spots for them.

Next weekend, I hope to finish the counter/cabinet and the few odds and ends, tape it off, and get the interior painted as well. If anyone still reads the tread, thanks for staying with me!

 

Ended up not working on it last weekend. Quarantine has decreased my motivation. The only thing I did today was make this drawer. It'll go in under the microwave on the right side. It took me a long time, but I've never built a real drawer before, and the box joint jig I made for it will be used on all the other drawers, and what I learned from this one should make the others go faster. It isn't perfect, but it'll work, and isn't too bad for a guinea pig, I don't think. I was gonna put plastic bins in as storage, and make cabinet doors to cover them, but I decided I've put too much work into this thing to finish it out with plastic, so custom drawers it is.

 

Today's progress was mostly drawers and drawer related work. I reworked the microwave positioning so it's recessed a bit more so the door handle is flush with the cabinet front. Figured as small as the camper is, having the microwave handle stick out might end up with it getting broken off when I'm slinging the cooler or stove around or what have you. I then did a bit of work on the cabinet to make it ready to put the drawers in. I realized the drawer I made yesterday ended up being a tad too tall to fit so I had to trim it down. Then I made the drawers.



I made this first. It's a 28"H x 10"W x 19"L box that I called "drawer stock." It's the size of the opening of the hole where drawers will go. I did this for two reasons. First, it filled the entire whole and made it easier to check for clearance issues, spacing, relative squareness, etc. Secondly, this way I only had to use my box joint jig for one session. Once I was done with the solid unit, I ran it across my table saw and cut it into individual drawers.


This will be the bottom drawer. It's the same height as the drawer I made yesterday and will go beside it. It's a bit deeper than I probably need it to be, but figured the continuous look would be nice. I just stuck with a single hole for a pull on the dividers today because it's easier to make look good than cutting handles like I did in yesterday's drawer. The box joints came together better today. I had one hang up I'll show below, but I'm satisfied overall.



I made this organizer for the top drawer. Any of the long or short dividers can be taken out to customize it to whatever we put in it. My wife already has eyes on it as her spice drawer. When your wife cooks as well as mine does, you let her have her pick for that!



The top drawer.



As I ran one panel across my box joint jig, I didn't check close enough and a few of the cuts weren't deep enough. When I mocked up the "drawer stock," I had to use a hammer to get the joints in place. Some of these pins broke because of the shallow cuts. This looks pretty awful, but it's thankfully the back of the bottom drawer, so it'll be hidden. These pictures are after I realized what happened and ran the panel back across the jig to deepen the shallow cuts. Ugly, but not a failure and not enough to redo the whole drawer.

 

Just a quick video of the drawer organizer.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yBI5PEuUoyw

 

Installed the drawers today. Filled in some holes with wood filler. Hope to sand, tape, and paint this weekend.





Here's where my inexperience in building cabinets and drawers comes into play. I built everything to fit snug, and then realized I didn't leave enough room for drawer sliders. So, I improvised. I bought a couple strips of red oak angle trim and cut it down to use as slides. The bottom set of slides rests on the floor, then the bottom drawer goes on top of them. This helps protect the floor. Then, I rested the slides for the next drawer on top of the bottom drawer and screwed it into place. This process was repeated on all of the drawers. This gives me pretty even spacing up and down. It also gives good holding friction on each drawer, being held between the two rails like that. I waxed each rail to make them slide smoothly.

I figured the biggest risk of doing this is having the bottom of the trim break under load, especially while hauling it around. With this setup, it makes it one solid column of wood when all the drawers are pushed in, and should be strong enough since all the heaviest stuff will be in the bottom drawers anyway. I could also see things swelling and getting too tight if we go somewhere humid or if condensation builds up in it. Hopefully the wax and being kiln dried trim helps against that. If they do break or swell too much, I'll replace them with 90 degree angle steel or aluminum.

Anyway, here's what the sliders look like:




I still have a few things to finish up with those drawers. I rebuilt the little drawer that goes under the microwave and must've written the width down wrong, because it's an inch too wide! I'm not too bummed though, because I ran out of thin plywood and rushed through it by screwing a piece of the brown fiber board I used as dividers on as the bottom of the drawer. I'll buy some more plywood and do it right next time. And I still need to build a bin for the opening to the left, under the microwave.

 

Another weekend, another update.

My wife painted yesterday. I finally got the trim put on over the heater and fuse panel. I put fronts on the drawers, until I ran out of material. Here a few pics of those developments:





I'm going to build one more small cabinet and drawer for that opening beside the microwave, but I have to reinstall the folding shelf on that side and measure what will fit, so that's still on the list. This thing came with one cabinet and one small drawer. It'll have ten drawers by the time I'm done with it.

Got the AC ducts reinstalled.



I built a drawer to put in the cubby in the bedside table. I also reworked the top of the bedside table for the third time. This is a small cabinet that will also have a drawer in it. The thing in the back is my Bluetooth speaker. It sounded really good sitting in there!



My wife found these bungee storage nets and I hung them on one of the seat boxes. Might hang a couple more of them. They'll be good for slippers, books, maps, etc.

 

One quick pic from today. Got a lot more than this done but this is just a teaser pic. My wife wanted to make frickin pillows with frickin hearts on them. I decided it wasn't worth the fight, so I caved...
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I actually really like them. Different for sure. I wrote the above as if she wanted your standard ❤️ shape on the pillows.

 

Sweet build.

 

Thanks!

 

Today was a big day. Got a lot done and we are so close to getting this thing out to the woods!

The first priority for today was to finally put the crossmember under to support the Timbren axle-less suspension that bent when I pulled it home. I bought a piece of 2" x 3" rectangular tubing with 0.25" wall thickness. It took a lot of persuading with a 4lb hammer, creative use of a floor jack, bottle jack, hi-lift jack, some pipe clamps, 2 jack stands, 16 pieces of 4x4 wood blocks, and some 2x3 boards, but I got it done. I also drilled out the previous holes where I mounted each side of the suspension and put bigger hardware all around. The bolts holding the suspension to the frame are now 9/16" grade 8 hardware. The bolts holding the crossmember in place are 1/2" grade 8 hardware. The first trip for this thing will be to a nearby welding shop to get the crossmember and suspension all welded to the frame. Not taking any more chances. Anyway, pics...







After the crossmember, I started reassembling the interior. We had disassembled all the unpainted pine. My wife has been busy working on the project, too. She did all the painting, and put three coats of matte polyurethane on all the unpainted pine. She has also been working on sewing new curtains, pillows, and panels that go in the corners where the halves of the a-frame fold up when it's set up.

Anyway, pics after reassembly...

We trimmed the corners off the table to make it easier to get in and out of the seats. They're cut off at 45 degrees but this pics makes it look like a different angle. We ordered the cushion covers. The material is a vinyl that should clean up easy. That's the only part of the project we didn't do ourselves.


The two floor drawers on the left match up closer than all the others. I wish the column to the right matched as well with the middle drawers but I'll live with it.




Finally got around to finishing construction of the bedside table and drawer. The sides will be painted dark grey to match everything else but we ran out of time today. The drawer below it is catching on something and I'll have to figure that out so they fit flush when they're both closed.




I recut the counter to match with the drawer fronts. I left the folding shelf at its previous width. It looks a bit odd when it's up, but it would have jutted out and looked worse when down if it was wider to match the counter.



The bed platform is almost ready to put down the mattress and bedding. We ordered a mattress in a bag so it'll be easier to move in. It'll be a bear to get it out if we ever have to. I still need to figure out the gas struts for the lifting of the platform but it's otherwise done.



Some more of my wife's handiwork. She made the curtain and the head cushion over the door. She bought fabric and is backing all the curtains with room darkening curtains to help keep it cooler and dimmer in the summer.


Only little stuff left now:
-Get the frame welded. That'll be the second and last part of the project we don't do ourselves
-Finish the curtains
-I bought some fancy 3M skylight sealant tape I'm gonna put around the skylights and ceiling fan
-Buy a new fire extinguisher
-Cut out holes for electrical outlets and thermostat and mount them
-I have a small wiring issue with the thermostat I need to run down
-A little bit of finish carpentry in the seat box with the heater so the wiring is hidden from view
-Figure out why the one drawer under the nightstand isn't closing
-Gonna install a second battery and a solar charger eventually
-Need to reseal some of the exterior seams
-Mount the spare tire. Bought stainless steel nuts and bolts and used the impact because I was lazy and boogered one up so bad I have to cut it and replace it
-I have a better folding table leg on order that'll need installed when it comes
-Take it camping!!!!

 

Here are a couple more pics of the curatins my wife is working on.

 

Trailer looks great... Excellent job..

 

Not sure if this would help or not, but you could buy a 3rd hand so that your table leg is adjustable for uneven ground.

https://www.fastcap.com/product/upper-hand

 

That's a good idea. I have a better leg on order. It's a folding adjustable height leg with two feet. It's made for casino tables and should be a lot sturdier. I doubt we'll use this table outside much. The new legs comes in a set of two, so I'll probably make a longer table made out of hardwood plywood using the other leg and another table mounting rail I have, and leave it in the front storage area. Might even cover it with steel so we can use it for food prep and fish/game processing.

This is the new leg. It adjusts from 24 to 38 inches and supports like 300lbs.

 

Subbed to potentially copy some ideas. Very nice. At first I was wondering why a 2015 has that much water intrusion, then I saw your quote.

I'll be curious to hear how those timbrens pull once they are set up, and how much it bounces/chucks on rough terrain.

 

Thank you. It turned out way better than I thought it would, considering I've never done anything like this. I really wish I could have replaced the floor, but it just isn't practical with how it's made. And I'll update the post once we have some miles on it with my impressions on the Timbrens. Might have to leak a few psi out of each tire on rougher roads.

 

It was a rainy, fairly lazy day today, but we did a few things to it.

New table leg. I also put the edging on the underside of this end of the table but that was last week. Figured it need some support if anyone ever actually sleeps over there.





My wife and I put up the curtains she finished this week:






She also bought two of these cool folding lamps. They're super light, super bright, and have a charger cord that will charge rechargeable batteries.




I didn't take pics last weekend but I painted the nightstand and put in electrical outlets.

 

Very nice work! Looking back at it, do you regret all the written you've had to put into the trailer ? I like these pop ups but that makes me nervous with all the work you've had to put into it

 

We didn't HAVE to do it, we just got out of control with what started out as moving the microwave and putting in a new table and counters. We accomplished those missions, at least!

 

I wish i had the skill set and tools to do something like this.