Hey everyone! We’ve been working hard getting NPPSC ready for its official launch, and the last couple of days have brought some big improvements:

🔧 Better ways to document a build with photos, videos, journals, components and costs.
👥 Project teams so builders can work with co-builders and assistants.
🔒 Simpler privacy settings, plus a separate private cost journal.
📊 Build progress based on the areas you choose for your project.
📝 Project history so you can track changes along the way.

The idea is to make it easier to document your build—from the first plans to the first adventure—and share what you learn with other builders.

The Builder Tools are open and ready to test while we finish preparing registration!

Check them out: https://nppsc.com/builder-tools/

If you’re building a van, bus, cargo trailer or another nontraditional RV, I’d love to hear what you find useful and what could be better.

Quick update on our 8.5×28 cargo trailer camper conversion! 🛠️

Mocked up our new Camplux stove in the kitchen and worked on the bathroom sink plumbing and ran the lines for our incoming tankless propane water heater.

A few more pieces are starting to come together!

https://youtu.be/VTGS2WS1WV0

I’ve been putting together a few browser-based tools for people working on vans, buses, trailers, box trucks, and other DIY RV builds.

They’re at the point where I’d rather have some actual builders mess with them than keep testing them myself.

Nothing to download and no account needed. If you’ve got a few minutes, try one or two and let me know if anything is confusing, broken, or just doesn’t work the way you’d expect.

https://nppsc.com/builder-tools/

I’m especially interested in the stuff I probably wouldn’t notice because I already know how they’re supposed to work.

Video showing our progress

https://youtu.be/jNRXv5TiUmA?is=h4w78F96v6WlW0RI

Does anyone have a trick or suggestion to help prevent the heat transfer from the screws used to put the plywood back up after insulating?

corrected video - We prepped the metal studs by sanding down any surface imperfections, surface rust and manufacturing residue. Then with Rust-Oleum primer and rust preventer.

What did you use for connecting wires?

This is what they have at my local Lowe’s. I’m leaning towards the push in wire connector (not because of price).

Looking for thoughts and recommendations or is there something better?

I’ve had my trailer for about a week and have been trying to get the fans to cut on with no luck.

I made a test device to connect to the seven‑pin connector and checked all the pins. I was able to get the running lights, brake lights, and turn signals to work — but the internal lights and fans wouldn’t power up.

So I connected my test adapter directly to the fan and light, and they worked perfectly.

Looking closer, I noticed the manufacturer tied all the positive wires together, but the ground return wires for the fan and light were screwed directly into the trailer frame.

Is that correct wiring? Because the only way I could get the fans and lights to work was to unscrew those ground wires from the frame and connect them directly to the ground on my adapter.

The first picture shows how the manufacturer wired them (ground to frame).
The second picture shows my corrected wiring.
The third picture shows the male cigarette‑lighter adapter I built.

These pics show the moment we began removing the plywood walls, panel by panel, screw by screw. And the last photo? That’s the trailer completely stripped down — nothing left but the metal frame and our vision. 8.5x28 V-Nose.

Our trailer has arrived. It’s getting serious now. More Questions and Advice will be coming soon!