Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => PRODUCT REVIEWS => Topic started by: PeteSC on July 30, 2005, 09:01:20 AM
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I love my little, black, Cargo Pro Vnose trailer, but it was really too small to put two bikes in, without taking one apart!
I've been looking for a larger trailer, to serve as bike storage, and sort of a rolling garage.
With the steel prices going crazy, the same trailer I had spec'd 4-5 years ago while shopping, was about $700 higher.
I've been watching Ebay, and checking a lot of the online trailer places.
I noticed a nice 7x17 vnose trailer for sale on Ebay at a dealer about 70 miles away. I ran down to look at it, and it turned out to be a hair too small for my uses.
I was looking for a trailer that would handle 4 bikes, with some room to spare.
The various manufacturers 'name' the trailers a bit differently.
This was a Pace American Aerosport, and the '17' foot long, yielded about 15 feet something on the centerline of the trailer interior.
I am figuring roughly 7 linear feet of space per bike.
(The bandits are roughly 6'6" long, overall)
The 7x17 wouldn't quite do 4 bikes comfortably....but....next to it sat a comparable 7x19, roughly the same price, since it didn't have a rear ramp door.
Out comes the tape measure.....and we had a winner.
I can live without a rear ramp. They're great when loading/unloading the bikes, but worthless otherwise. Since I tend to camp out of my trailers at the track, or on trips, the ramp doors give me something else to trip over when I've had a couple of drinks. :motorsmile:
Anyway, I continued looking at several other trailers in the area, and ended up buying the 7x19 Pace American Aerosport Vnose.
(http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/preview/64384.jpg)
It has tandem axles, 6'6" interior height, RV type side door, flat roof with one vent....and a diamond plate stone guard.
In general, it's a decently built trailer, but not as nice as my smaller, black trailer..... :sad:
This is the size I wanted, and a comparable aluminum trailer would have been about twice the $$.
So far, I've painted the interior walls white, and the floor a non-skid dark gray. I've been busy bolting in some shelves, and tie-down stuff.
(http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/preview/66722.jpg)
I've bought e-track stips on Ebay, and they'll be bolted in when they show up.
The solar panel and deep cycle battery from my old trailer will be moved over to the new trailer this week, and I'll put some interior lights and power outlets in.
With the Etrack, I'll be able to put in a temporary 'bunk', that's movable, removable, and repositionable. (Over the bikes when they're loaded, or positioned lower when empty.)
I bought some thin diamond plate sheet stock, and will be testing my skills adding some fancy bits to the exterior.
I'm heading to Home Depot in a bit, to look for some shelf brackets to mount my little air compressor high on a rear wall, out of the way.
Anyway.....here's the link to some pix on my photo blog thing....
http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/?albumid=3539
I'll update this as I work on it......
As soon as I transfer the hard bits from the black trailer, and the new trailer is ready, I'll post the black trailer for sale on this board.
It's a 2000, all aluminum Cargo Pro, black, Vnose......5x10 1/2 feet, rear ramp door, very light, 890 pounds empty. Decent shape.
Suitable for one bike, of any size.......tows good.
The company changed hands, but the same trailer is still produced in Maine under the THULE name.
Here's the current specs, same as the old trailer. They call it a 5x8, but that's the dimensions of the 'box', the nose section adds 2 and half feet.
Oh yeah, I bought the new trailer at http://www.dorseytrailersales.com
in Brooklet, GA.
They have a decent stock of new trailers, with good prices, and can also order a trailer from the factory for pickup at a goo price, with 5-6 week wait. Well worth checking with, if you're in the southeast.
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Holy crap Pete. A guy could live in that thing. :congrats:
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I might have to live in it!
Actually.....it will be comfortable to camp in during the long trips I like to take a couple of times a year.....and I should be able to haul a little beer to the next rally....
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More pictures please. Where are you putting the wet bar?
~lloyd
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Wet Bar, whatcha want? A paper umbrella dispenser? :shock:
I'm stalled a bit, waiting on the e-track strips to show up.
I did mount the air compressor, and a retractable air line, and retractable corded worklight in the rear.
Bolted in a cheap set of cabinets in the nose, and mounted an old car stereo. (no....not an 8 track...)
While I'm waiting for the e-track to show up....I'm finishing up hooking up some lights, mounting the solar panel and stuff........
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Pete,
I think you should put a hot tub in it for the next BOSS rally :lol:
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Wouldn't have room for the waterbed, then....Gary.
It would be nice to actually put a couple of bikes in there.... :duh:
30 ft of Etrack showed up today, so will install it when it cools off a bit.
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I've got 32 feet of the etrack installed, with another 30 feet on the way.
Etrack isn't cheap.....I've been buying mine on Ebay.
I think I'm ending up around $12 per 5 foot section.
The various tie downs for the etrack are available on Ebay, also.
For motorcycle uses, probably the clip with a short section of strap, and a large ring, are probably the best type to use.
They also sell the clips with a ring attached....(without the section of strap.)
Here's a picture of two of the attachment devices I'll use.
(http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/preview/70229.jpg)
The clip, with a ring on a short section of strap lets you use your 'normal' motorcycle tied downs on the etrack.
You can get various straps with etrack clips on each end...(ratchet, cam) but they wouldn't really work with bikes.
I'll probably end up buying a couple of cam straps, if I find them at a good price....to strap big stuff against a wall.
The wood sockets will hold a 2x4, and you can use them to build a second 'deck' by putting sheets of plywood on top, or as cargo control bars.
I used to do electronics and specialized hauling for a large moving company. We used OAK 2x4's and could load a car on top of plywood deck built on oak 2x4's, plywood, and wood sockets.
The limit to what you put up there is based on how well you bolted the etrack in, and how many wood cross sections you use.
I'll mostly be using one sheet of plywood, cut to fit the inside width, as a temporary bunk to sleep on when travelling.
It should set up in 5 minutes, and break down to be stored against a wall in a few minutes.
I might end up with a strip of etrack running down the center of the floor of the the trailer. This would mean I wouldn't have to use use any floor mounted tie down rings to secure 4 bikes.
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Being a trucker, maybe you've heard of ANCRA, (http://www.ancra-llc.com/truck/) a leading manufacturer of cargo products. They make straps and fittings for the OTR industry as well as consumer products like m/c and auto tie downs. They are also a big supplier to commercial aviation. Seats and cargo are held in place on commercial aircraft with ANCRA's stuff. These little jewels are rated for 2000 lbs.
(http://www.denniskirk.com/denniskirk/b2c/product_images/e/4/0/300pix/e4089010.jpg)
Rather than the button fitting shown with the tie down ring above, they make track, too. I've seen it in the local 4WD shops before, but couldn't find it on-line in the brief search I did, but it's the same stuff we use at work on Boeing jets in the cargo bay to secure cargo and the passenger compartment to secure seats, galleys and lavatories (all of which are rated to withstand a 9G impact). This stuff may work better for floor use as it's easier to clean out.
(http://www.ancra-llc.com/aircraft/images/40456-10.jpg)
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The ancra stuff is pretty nice, but I bet it's a lot more pricey.
I'm familiar with the etrack stuff, and have used it for at least 15 years....and can find it cheaply on ebay, so I'll stick with it.
As far as cleaning out the floor track.....there shouldn't be any muddy stuff entering the trailer...so I can just use an air hose to blow it out.
I'll only have 15 feet of it on the floor, on the centerline from the rear of the trailer. It doesn't stick up enough to be a nuisance.
If I put a lavatory in....it won't need to be removable.... :monkeymoon:
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hey pete, Do you think the vee nose makes a big difference in gas mileage? I towed my 6x10 flat front to FL. for bike week the gas mileage was not good. The big dodge only got about 10 to 12 mpg. I could actually see the of the front of the trailer bending in. I`ve been thinking of buying a toy hauler? I think I need to get another diesel first. Don`t like the gas powered dodge.
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It's supposed to make a difference, JR.
(Long story coming... :shock: )
I hauled the little black trailer with my 6 cylinder Ranger on a couple of long trips, at 'normal' highway speeds, and only got around 12 mpg, with two bikes. I got about the same with the 8 cyl GMC, and 4 bikes....and a slightly larger Vnose trailer that Larry has.
I think the biggest improvement in fuel economy will come from dropping from an average 75mph on the interstate, to 65-67 mph.
With the gas prices still going crazy, I'll have to do this with the bigger trailer.
I'm hoping to get no worse than 10 mpg with the new trailer, fully loaded, sticking to the speed limit.
The little rounded things you can mount on the front of a flat nosed trailer are supposed to help, also.
It's hard to keep your foot out of the gas when you're on a trip, pulling a trailer....trying to get somewhere.
With the bigger trailer, I'm gonna have to try!
Has anybody else noticed that a majority of motorhomes are hauling arse, now? Used to be, they'd all be doing 55-60, just plugging away......
Now they're more prone to be on your butt, keeping up with, or passing traffic.
Don't know if it's because a lot of the new motorhomes have bigger, more powerful and efficient diesel engines, or they just don't give a dang about fuel prices.
I keep thinking about a diesel pickup, but figure they'd net me about 2 mpg more for the trailers I haul. Not sure the purchase premium would be made up in fuel savings, unless I kept the pickup for 6 years or more.
Heck, diesel seems to be higher than gas now, anyway.
Most of the 'big trucks' have incorporated some aerodynamics in the design, and a lot of the side body cladding you see is OEM, but optional.
(Smooth panels over the fuel tanks, etc.)
They help with MPG.......a real fractional percent, but it adds up when you're doing 120,000 miles a year.
(he's rambling again......)
Anyway...once i get the trailer 'finished', I'll check the mPG at various speeds, and come up with a game plan.
So far, I've only hauled the thing back empty from the dealer, about 75 miles....and think I was getting 12 mpg or so.
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Has anybody else noticed that a majority of motorhomes are hauling arse, now? Used to be, they'd all be doing 55-60, just plugging away......
Now they're more prone to be on your butt, keeping up with, or passing traffic.
Don't know if it's because a lot of the new motorhomes have bigger, more powerful and efficient diesel engines, or they just don't give a dang about fuel prices.
I rarely hold anyone up with my 1990 motorhome, and it's a gas burner (460 EFI). Pulls my Jeep on a car trailer (~5000 lbs?) over WA's Snoqualmie Pass at 55 (truck's speed limit). If I'm not going up a pass, I'm moving along with the cars just fine.
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ya know pete I`ve noticed that too. In some cases (not pertaining to you Paul) some owners of these vehicles may not know that they should not be driving so fast, But with twin rail injectors and variable geometry turbo one can`t help driving fast. Now you can push a button and extra 150 foot lbs. The dodge will be traded in for another DuraMax. I miss my chevy. Good luck with the new trailer.
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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.
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With a Sprinter, you wouldn't need a trailer, would you?
You could dress it up inside like your trailer trash projects...
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Naw, the goal is to haul at least 4 bikes...4 people.
Right now, I need to store 2 bikes safely....and I'm always on the lookout for a third.
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Just a couple thoughts on the construction of the Pace American Aerosport trailer I bought....
It is a much more 'mass produced' trailer. A lot of the little details weren't noticed until I started improving it.
You can really tell the difference in quality between my smaller Cargo Pro trailer, and the Pace.
The Cargo Pro is a higher quality, (and price) trailer, made in a smaller shop. The fit and finish is much better.
The Pace has a lot of exposed sheet metal screws. A lot of the trim screws were overdriven so the heads are under the trim piece.
The roof is almost flimsy. I can get on the roof with my big arse on my Cargo Pro....the Pace, i wouldn't try.
The Cargo Pro has a screwless exterior, the Pace has thousands of little Torx type security screws I can't find the proper driver for.....
I finally got a ladder, and mounted the Maxxair roof vent cover today.
My order of the rest of the Etrack I need to finish the trailer got screwed up, and probably won't arrive until the end of the week......or later.
Anyway, I'm close to having it ready for the road. I'm looking for a couple of small opening windows with screens to mount....but can live without them.
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No new pictures, but I've made a lot of progress.
Most of the etrack is in. I have one section I need to cut up in 18 inch chunks to fill in some gaps.
I ended up sawing the plywood bunk shelf in half for easier handling, and storage. Somehow.....moving a 6'7" inch long piece of plywood inside a trailer with 6'6" headroom got to be annoying.
Sawed in half, I'll make a hinge out of webbing, fold it....and strap it to the wall of the trailer when it's not being used.
I'm still fumbling with the a/c unit I bought, have the shroud roughed in, most of the ducting I need, but am waiting on some exterior vents to show up before I cut holes in the floor or roof.
The temps in the trailer are pretty rough around mid-day. When it's 95, the inside thermometer can hit 110. The trailer is sitting in full sun.
I try to get a couple of hours work in during the morning, and a few after dusk.
"work' is being kind of liberally. It's more like 15 minutes work, 45 minutes head scratching out of each hour.
Fans help, but not much.
I may end up insulating the roof, which is easy to get to, and really gets hot to the touch during the day.
Anyway, the trailer will be ready to roll to Road Atlanta for the AMA races.......I should have a little room for beer! :beers:
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Still a mess, but getting closer. The a/c unit will probably be the last thing installed.
I'm finishing up all the little stuff that wasn't done....etrack is all in, will re-wire my solar panels and charge controller tonight.
(http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/preview/79177.jpg)
The unpainted plywood box on the floor in the front is the almost completed shroud for the a/c unit, sitting on the top left shelf.
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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.....
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Keep this up and you wont need you apartment anymore heh ?
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Hey Pete, Something to think about. This year alone I have replaced about 15 inverters all due to over working the unit. I`m not saying that your idea won`t work. I think it is easier to run the gen. and keep the inverter for back up. I know the a-c unit in our race trailer would kill an inverter, batteries, the truck and anything that got in its path. Alot of my customers want me to wire in inverters so don`t waste fuel when they are on the hook, but they always seem to come back with some kind of problem. Does your inverter say anything about duty cycle?
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Yeah, JR. I've had a lot of problems with inverters, also.
The one I bought on Ebay for $70, was cheap enough, has a 2 year warranty of some sort, and 'satisfaction guaranteed', plus it's oversized enough that there's no reason it shouldn't start my little a/c.
The a/c draws a stated 530 watts, which I'm not sure if that's an average, or includes start up amp/watts.
The 1000 watt generator I have will start it, it idles up pretty much to the max pretty much.
The inverter I bought, and am still waiting for.....is rated a constant 1000 watts, and 2500 surge.
Here's the 'claimed' specs/features......
Specifications:
Soft Start Technology
2 AC 110 - 120 Volt Outlets
Dimensions (LxWxH): 13 3/4 x 4 7/8 x 3 1/8"
Weight: 5 lbs. 15 oz.
DC Input Voltage: 12V (10 - 15V)
Output Wave Form: Modified Sinewave
Output Power: 1000 Watts
Maximum Surge Power Capacity: 2500 Watts
Efficiency: Over 90%
No Load Current: <0.5A
Protections:
Battery Low Alarm: DC 10.5V
Battery Low Shutdown: DC 9.5V
Alarm and Thermal Shutdown (Automatic Recovery): Yes
Cooling Fan
Internal DC Fuse
Power Switch
Of course, I'v seen a lot of inverters with claimed high watt output, and they'll come with 16 gauge hook up wire. a 5 amp fuse, or cigarette lighter plugs! :duh:
I've also known of one tractor trailer that caught on fire from the guy using a cheap inverter to run a clock radio in the sleeper. The inverter ran hot, caught on fire, and did a lot of damage.
If this inverter I bought works....it isn't going to be used when I'm not around.
The problem I've had with a lot of smaller inverters, particularily in trucks...is they weren't real tolerant of voltages that were slightly low.
A lot of them wouldn't work in the sleeper when the truck wasn't running , due to the slight voltage drop you have with DC current, and the maybe 10 feet of wire from the sleeper socket, to the batteries.
Typically, I won't spend a lot of money on an inverter, since even the high priced ones don't work this great.
Worse comes to worse, if this one works OK to run a microwave or power tool for a few minutes, it's worth the money.
I've got 35 watts of solar panels on the roof of the trailer now, would like to get up to about a total of 100 watts or so. I'm keeping my eyes open for cheap panels... My charge controller will handle up to 12 amps of panels. The 35 watts I have is only putting out around 2.2 amps.
100 watts or so would be enough to run the a/c during sunlight, or power my koolatron fridge 24 hours a day.
I'm guessing the generator will only run about 4 hours on a tank if it has to cool down the trailer. I was hoping I could get it to run long enough to sleep overnite. I think it will do that if I either cool it down with the inverter/battery....then switch to the generator, or cool it down, then top off the gas tank before I go to sleep, also.
Anyway, I ended up insulating half of the trailer roof today.
I used Reflectix,or something, insulation. This is two layers of thin bubble wrap type stuff, with two outside skins of aluminum foil.
Overall, it's like 3/8 inch thick, and easy to work with. The way the trailer roof is constructed has the roof only fastened on the extreme edges, I guess welded. It's not fastened to the roof cross frames. There's enough slack in the roof skin, I could cut the stuff to 24 inch wide pieces and slide it under the frames. I bought some self stick tape to hold it against the roof, but didn't need it. The stuff is stiff enough.
I taped it on the ends, and where it passed under the center strip of plywood on the ceiling. Out of a 25 foot roll of the 48 inch wide stuff, I have enough left to do about half of what's left of the trailer, which is mostly sections that are either not square, or have some protrusion to work around.
Ideally, I would have left an air gap between it and the roof skin, but sticking it up there the way I did made it so easy, didn't rob any headroom....and should at least tone down the heat the roof throws off inside during the day.
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sounds like you know, hate to see a mishap, all the rigging work sounds good should be a great bike trailer.The bandit and dr can sit in the a-c while you make frozen drinks and watch tv :stickpoke: :bigdrink: btw are you going to put a brass pole from floor to ceiling, mirrors, lights and awesome sound system? You could name it "BANDITS" rolling strip club :bigok: :beers: :stickpoke:
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well, I've got an anemic car stereo...satellite radio....and might be able to spring for a suggestive poster............... :grin:
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Pete, Do you think you chould point me in the direction to find some of that etrack? or was it just someone selling on ebay? :thanks:
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JR, I bought mine on Ebay, and don't 100% recommend the seller.
(Had some problems with the way they shipped the stuff, and although they straightened it out....it took a couple of weeks.)
I think with shipping, I ended up paying $80, for 6, 5 foot pieces.
I did see somebody selling the stuff outright on the 'net for around that price.
I don't see the seller who I bought mine from on Ebay with any to sell right now.
This guy always has lots of 6 pieces, but is $10-20 higher.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/E-TRACK-6-5PCS-ENCLOSED-TRAILER-VAN-CARGO-TIEDOWN-GLV_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ50466QQitemZ4570869887QQrdZ1
Somebody is always selling some E-track on ebay, just do a search for 'e-track'.
6 pcs of 5 foot etrack weighs 57 pounds, so shipping eats you up.
If you need a LOT of it....make sure you check shipping costs.
I did a search on Google and found one seller 'claims' to have 5 foot painted sections for $8.99, but I couldn't find shipping costs.
The stuff is easy enough to cut with a hacksaw, or a jig saw.
I bought 2 pieces of 2 foot sections to fill in some gaps, and it ended up costing more than the 5 ft sections. Buy the big stuff, and cut it....
Anyway, back to the trailer.....
It took me quite a while to get the nerve up to cut a hole in a rear door to mount the air conditioner.
When I finally started cutting, it went fairly easy.
The door was constructed as I guessed......outer aluminum frame, with some wood bracing, and a center foam core.
I cut through the inner plywood, and foam layer first, leaving the outer skin intact....in case I screwed up!
I kept measuring...and double checking. Didn't want to miss anything.
When everything looked good, I mounted my wood framing for the a/c, and screwed it in.
Then....I cut the metal outer skin. I drilled a hole on each corner of the opening, and used a cheap metal nibbler I bought at Harbor Freight.
($6). This worked pretty well....and wasn't prone to get away from me like a power tool.
The foam is only lightly glued to the interior and exterior sheathing, so it was easy to get rid of it.
I need to fashion some sort of trap door or flap to cover the hole on the outside, since the a/c unit won't be permanently mounted there.
I don't think the door will handle the extra 50 pounds, particularily when opening and closing repeatedly.
I'll just open the trap door, and slide the unit in when I want to use it.....
Oh yeah, I did screw up something......
I forgot to take into account the handle on the rear door cam when I did my measuring.
When I had everything bolted in, the handle hit the a/c unit, and wouldn't close. :duh:
I initially thought about cutting off the offending 2 inches or so with a hacksaw....but ended up just bending the end of the handle outward a bit....
(http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/preview/81742.jpg)
Anyway, I'm over my 'fear' of cutting holes in the trailer, and am hunting a few opening windows to put in..... :beers:
I've got some more stuff to do this week, before heading to Road Atlanta for the AMA races friday morning.
Oh yeah, JR, the inverter showed up, and it will power the A/c unit. I just hooked it up, and ran it for about 10 minutes.....not a serious test, but it barely got warm. (The inverter)
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Pete, glad to hear the inverter is working. I think the true test will be an hour or two into a cycle. You should be fine. Now for the hole in the back door :duh: :duh: :duh: what were you thinking :stickpoke: just mess`in with you :lol: I`ve cut holes in 1/2 millon dollar boats and had to fill them back in, because I didn`t like the way it turned out. I would have thought you would have gone with a roof mount a-c (RV sytle) with reverse cycle for heat? Thanks for the info. on the etrack have a 7x10 utility trailer to build.
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Lookin good Pete. Did you install the waterfall yet?
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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....
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:stop:
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Depending on how drunk I am, I may even open the side door, first........ :shock:
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Pete, will we be seeing this trailer in AR?
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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.
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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..... :duh:
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Pete, curious to see what you came up for a trap door when the A/C isn't in place. Pics! :thanks:
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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.
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Here's the outside of the cover.
(http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/preview/101715.jpg)
Here's the interior of the cover, showing the 2x4 being used to clamp it in place.
(http://www.splashblog.com/pcedel/preview/101303.jpg)
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"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.....
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"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.....
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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.
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PeteSC: I just saw this thread a couple of days ago and wanted to tell you how awesome the trailer is! Great job, dude!
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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.
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Gentleman,
It just so happens Susie and I are in the motorcycle trailer selling business. We are dealers for the Sport trailers built by Fibrecore. If you are in need of a very lightweight aerodynamic trailer check this out. They are all Fiberglass. And NO they are not the old Excaliber or Iron Horse.
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Yeah Paul - it's the last generation GMC, full-size, gas powered V8, 4x4.
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Hey Rob, I think Pete's Jimmy is a 2-wheel drive, but I might be wrong :?:
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It's a Sierra, not a Jimmy. Of that, I'm pretty sure. I'm picturing it with the Z71 decals or whatever the GMC equivelant 4x4 package is but I could be wrong.