Our van Alfie, as in "What's it all about, Alfie", is a high-top 'conversion' van.
Our trailer, Ali, as in "Tin Can Alley", is a 2014 NEO NAVR trailer – 7'x16' with an interior height of 7'. The V-nose adds approximately 24" inside. The side door is 32" wide. Seven (7') foot rear ramp. All aluminum.
Here is the interior layout:
WHY convert a cargo trailer?
A major factor in the decision to convert a cargo trailer was Jennie's power wheelchair. The 7' long rear ramp allows her to use her wheelchair in the trailer and the area at the front provides enough space for her to turn it around.
WHY NOT buy a real travel trailer?
Jennie and I looked at various small "lite weight" travel trailers with permanent beds but these commercially manufactured trailers were just terrible – very expensive for what you get, poor fit and finish, and really lousy layouts - would you like to sit on a side-facing leatherette sofa and look at the dinette? Not us! We'd rather look out a window at the view outside! And not only that, manufactured trailers are typically 8' wide, 24' or longer, and weigh in at around 4,000+ lbs empty!
WHAT did you put in it?
We will mostly plug in to park power so I installed a 110v panel, wiring, plugs, all 12v LED lighting, etc. Future additions might include 12v (battery power) and possibly solar.
HOW much does it weigh?
On Sunday April 26 2015, the conversion was very close to being finished. So I took the trailer to the weigh scale. From 1,870 lbs empty when purchased, the completed trailer now weighs 3,410 lbs.
HAVE you added anything new from the original design?
After living in Ali for six months, we decided to add a proper sewer connection. The 5 gallon "portable" grey water holding tanks work well; however, most of the time we are in a site that has an available sewer connection. With a proper setup on Ali, we don't have to worry about how full the portable blue tanks are.
The second addition was a 2.6 gal hot water tank. Small enough not to take up any real space, but it is nice to have - no more boiling the kettle for hot water.
Finally, we recently replaced the batteries in Jennie's wheelchair, so rather than recycle them, I moved the batteries to the trailer to power the LED lights, water pump, and MaxxAir ceiling fan for when we are not connected to "shore" power.
Here are pictures from Day 1:
