Author Topic: My Trailer Trash Project 2 (Read 17686 times)

PeteSC · « **Reply #30 on:** August 29, 2005, 11:49:28 PM »

Waterfall? After I've had a couple of drinks, there'll be a yellow stream gurgling near the side door, in the middle of the night....

Bantana · « **Reply #31 on:** August 30, 2005, 11:07:54 AM »

PeteSC · « **Reply #32 on:** August 30, 2005, 01:30:53 PM »

Depending on how drunk I am, I may even open the side door, first........

12sdrag · « **Reply #33 on:** August 31, 2005, 10:48:50 PM »

Pete, will we be seeing this trailer in AR?

PeteSC · « **Reply #34 on:** August 31, 2005, 11:35:02 PM »

If I can go, and gas isn't outrageous. IT probably doesn't make sense to roll it that far unless I have 3 bikes/riders in it.
Gonna take it to Road Atlanta friday morning and camp in it at the track.

PeteSC · « **Reply #35 on:** September 06, 2005, 01:17:48 PM »

Update.
Got 11 MPG with it, roundtrip to Road A, and back.
Not totally shocking, or good. Just the DR 650 in it, and maybe 500 pounds of stuff. I still need to raise the ball hitch about an inch, since the trailer is slightly nose down when towing. This should hurt MPG a bit, more 'drag'.

On the way there, I did 70 mph on the interstate portion of the trip, 60 mph on the 2 lane. It's about half interstate, and half back roads to Road A.
On the way back, I slowed down to 65-67 on the interstate, since I figured I wouldn't make it all the way home for the round trip on a 26 gallon tank.

The trailer was comfortable to sleep in. During the day, a large fan kept the inside comfortable enough to cool off a bit in....
It is pitch black inside when closed up at night. Gonna find a night light!
It was nice to have solid walls between me and the howling generators at the track. It also muffled the sound of Lloyd and Mark drunkenly singing in the wee hours around the campfire, but the sounds of sheep bleating still could be heard.....

jwalters · « **Reply #36 on:** September 30, 2005, 06:07:24 PM »

Pete, curious to see what you came up for a trap door when the A/C isn't in place. Pics!

PeteSC · « **Reply #37 on:** September 30, 2005, 07:14:49 PM »

I'll try to take a picture this weekend, but I took the simplest route.

I cut a 1/2 inch thick piece of plywood so it was 3 inches or so wider and taller than the hole, then painted the outside white.

I then put glued and screwed some chunks of wood on the inside of the piece of plywood, to position it squarely in the framed hole.

Then....I drilled a hole in the center of the plywood, and stuck a 9 inch long carriage bolt through the hole, with a large fender washer.
On the inside of the trailer door, I have a chunk of 2x4, with a hole drilled in the center, that is a little longer than the inside framing for the hole is wide.
WHen I want to plug up the hole, I slap the plywood cover on, and use a wing nut and large spring washer to snug the chunk of 2x4 I'll slide over the bolt, against the framed opening.
It works. I did put some tape backed weather stripping on the underside edge of the plywood to seal the hole up a little.
It takes maybe 2-3 minutes to put the cover in place, and it didn't take any expensive hardware.
The head of the bolt is rounded, and kind of flush with the outside, so there's really no easy way for a crook to get inside by trying to loosen the bolt from the outside.
From a distance, it doesn't look too bad, and may just leave it this way.

I'll try to take a picture this weekend, but the cover is essentially clamped in place with one large wing nut.
I put about 350 miles on the trailer, and the cover stays in place, doesn't seem to loosen up.

PeteSC · « **Reply #38 on:** October 02, 2005, 02:56:33 PM »

Here's the outside of the cover.

Here's the interior of the cover, showing the 2x4 being used to clamp it in place.

GETFURIOUS · « **Reply #39 on:** June 01, 2006, 11:10:12 PM »

Quote

"PeteSC" They were supposed to come out with a smaller powerstroke for the F150, and Expedition. Sure wish they'd come out with a decently powered, mid sized diesel truck.
Heck....I'd almost consider the diesel Liberty, or a Sprinter van, either will tow 5000 pounds....ALMOST enough.

I DROVE THE DIESEL JEEP LIBERTY.....IT IS A NICE TRUCK, BUT IT CANNOT GET OUT OF IT'S OWN WAY.....

JUST THE TRUCK, WITHOUT A TRAILER, AND 4 PASSENGERS AND IT WAS NOT PEPPY AT ALL.....

I LIKE THE TRUCK, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO MOVE FASTER THAN A TURTLE.....

I WASN'T EXPECTING A POWERSTROKE, BUT I ALSO WASN'T EXPECTING A PACER EITHER.....

GETFURIOUS · « **Reply #40 on:** June 01, 2006, 11:47:47 PM »

Quote

"PeteSC" I may throw a microwave on the shelf where the a/c unit is sitting, temporarily.
I thought about buying a new one for $40, but the one I have in my kitchen is like 10 years old, and small, so may throw it in the trailer...and buy a new one for home.
(Dang, they're like under $40 now.)

I bought a new, large inverter on Ebay, 2000 watts, and have come up with a strategy to run the a/c unit. The a/c will run off of the generator, but pretty much keeps it at full tilt until the inside temperature drops down, and the compressor cycles on/off.
If I use the inverter and house battery to bring the inside temp to the point the compressor is cycling off and on, then switch to the generator, the generator should last 6-7 hours on a fill up.
The other alternative is to run the a/c off of the inverter all of the time, and hook my deep cycle charger up to the battery. The generator runs barely above idle with the 10 amp charger hooked up.
The battery would have to be moved outside, maybe on the tongue...since I don't need the charging gases inside.
I've been reluctant to mount the battery outside, since it would be more prone to theft, and freezing temps.
Maybe I'll come up with a 'secondary' battery position, and just put the battery outside when I'm using the a/c?
May work....just some longer cables, long enough to reach a few feet outside the side door. The battery is mounted in a boat battery box just inside the side door.
Hey, I'm kind of liking that.....

HEY PETE,

GREAT TRAILER PROJECT.....

I WAS WONDERING ABOUT PUTTING A BATTERY IN MY TRAILER.....

DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT HAVING THE BATTERY INSIDE OF THE TRAILER? (ACID, GASES, FUMES, EXTREME HEAT IN THE SUMMER, ETC.).....

WILL I NEED EXTRA VENTS?.....(MY TRAILER CURRENTLY DOES NOT HAVE "ANY" VENTS).....

WILL I NEED VENTS THAT STAY OPEN AT ALL TIMES?....

WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR SOLAR CHARGER?....

HOW AND WHERE IS IT MOUNTED TO THE TRAILER?....

WAS IT EXPENSIVE?....

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP.....

Jason F. · « **Reply #41 on:** June 05, 2006, 06:10:05 PM »

Wow someone woke up an old thread.

Side notes... What are you pulling with?

Two weekends back to back we pulled the race car on an open trailer with gear about 1500 miles total. We averaged just over 14mpg with a 97 Ford F-150 4x4 (5.4l gas motor). Wet weight of race car is 2242lbs and the trailer is roughly 1400lbs. Throw in about 500lbs of gear, a spare set of race tires on the front mounted tire rack, and two pit bikes and you get just over 4400lbs of trailer. The truck was loaded as well with two passengers, luggage, and coolers.

Not sure where that fits in to the weight of you inclosed trailer. Our trailer has a fairly full front fairing with the tire rack, storage box, and rock shield so it cuts a big hole in the wind. I would love to go to an full trailer so we can camp at the track but would have to go to one big enough for the race car and any future growth if I go to a C5 vette in the next couple years as a replacement for the current race car. That would require more truck I think.

jbrough7 · « **Reply #42 on:** June 05, 2006, 06:20:54 PM »

PeteSC: I just saw this thread a couple of days ago and wanted to tell you how awesome the trailer is! Great job, dude!

Red01 · « **Reply #43 on:** June 06, 2006, 11:03:02 AM »

Jason, Pete is pretty busy with work, so he might be a while answering.
IIRC, he's pulling the trailer with a late model GMC 1/2T V8, not sure what size though.

scooter trash · « **Reply #44 on:** June 06, 2006, 11:20:40 AM »

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