2018 Three Feathers Mfg. 'Trail Head' (3 Viewers)

[80t0ylc]

A problem that surfaced on my Owyhee trip was the fenders contacting the tires during suspension flex when loaded with camping gear. The rims that came with the trailer were an alloy 5.5" x 15". Their back space caused the tires to hang outside the fenders aprox 2" - they didn't have enough of a positive offset for the fenders on this trailer. My first inclination was to trim the fenders since they had fairly sharp points at their ends where they blend with the trailer's running boards. I decided to go talk to my local Les Schwab tire store (which gets a lot of my business ) and see if there were some rims available to tuck my wheels more under the fenders. It was a difficult task because of the limitations of that size wheel. The hubs on the trailer are bigger in diameter than most auto hubs that use that size wheel. I was ready to order special wheels if necessary, but Clint, the Les Schwab tech, had an idea to look in their used wheels for uni-lug wheels that are used to mount snow tires on some older front wheel drive cars. The specs said they could have a more positive offset by as much as an inch and a half. I was hoping for 2", but the wheels we found measured aprox 1.5" more positive offset and are close to perfect for this trailer.

So, I went from this:

To this:

View from side:

They charged me $30/tire, so $60 bucks for everything including new valve stems. I left Les Schwab a happy camper! I'm glad they're steel. They should be problem free. I'm still going to trim the sharp points from the ends of the fender opening since there's still a chance under full stuff (or flex), they could contact the sidewall or tread.

 

[80t0ylc]

One other issue, actually more of a dissapointment, that surfaced on my shakedown camping trip is the galley or kitchen. The sink and stove setup has to be improved, especially after looking at the galley in this trailer. I looked at this Boreas trailers thread on Expo and have been drooling ever since. First glaring issue in the galley that will be improved is the sink's faucet. As you can see in the pic, yes it is a faucet but barely. I have ordered one off Amazon that is taller and pivots both left & right and can be folded down for whatever reason.

Sink and existing faucet:

This is the faucet that is ordered:

Second improvement will hopefully be an under the counter pull out tray for my stove. I was hoping to find one that I could just attach to the counter, but it appears that I'll have to order slides and fabricate the tray locally. Currently, I'm hauling the stove around in it's retail box to protect it. The tray, when finished will also house the stove while traveling. I'm going to try and design the tray so it can be easily modified in the case where I need to change stoves.

As you can see in the pic below, the stove takes up considerable counter space. The pull out tray should get the stove off the counter and that should make the improvement desired.

 

[ntsqd]

What about a pocket under the counter for travel and a fold-down or fold-up surface on the inner surface of the door for when in use? Seems like a slide-out will limit access to the available counter space. What I'm envisioning would be similar to the fold-down stove trays / prep surfaces some have on the inner face of their spare tire carriers.
The door may need a positive stop that limits how far it can open and stops it from unintentionally closing.

 

[80t0ylc]

What about a pocket under the counter for travel and a fold-down or fold-up surface on the inner surface of the door for when in use? Seems like a slide-out will limit access to the available counter space. What I'm envisioning would be similar to the fold-down stove trays / prep surfaces some have on the inner face of their spare tire carriers.
The door may need a positive stop that limits how far it can open and stops it from unintentionally closing.

It will be a "pocket" when the slide is retracted for travel. It will also be at 90 degrees to the sink when extended to be like a corner kitchen counter. Slides will be mounted as far to the right (in the above pic) as the existing counter will allow. Also, the existing counter optionally slides out. But if not desired, I will be able to leave it retracted and only slide out the stove.

Nice idea on the door mounted fold up shelf! The door's range is limited when I have the wall kit set up. I might be able to install a tether type of limiting strap to the awning arm above it. That door is quite fragile though, for mounting things on it. It's just an aluminum and foam insulation "sandwich" with a frame. Also, don't want to stress the hinge too much, but worth investigating, IMHO. Thanks!

 

[80t0ylc]

The water pump in this galley is the traditional RV pump that is pressure activated. Open a faucet and the loss of pressure from the water escaping will kick on the pump until you shut the faucet off. When it reaches a set pressure, the pump shuts off. New faucet has improved water flow as well as a superior position to work with and more flexible. Definitely an improvement!

New vs old:

Easy access:

Looks better, too:

I really like the improvement - such a simple upgrade made a big difference! Now on to a slide/ pocket for my stove.

 

[80t0ylc]

Working on the right side of my galley where I'm fabbing a slide system for my stove which will also house it while traveling. Had some aluminum brackets and slides donated to me by my brother-in-law for this. He lives 7 hrs away from me, but he'll be helping with some plans I have later, for a propane heater and a cabinet sized door through galley wall into sleeping area. Needed some more specifically sized aluminum pieces fabbed for my slide assy, so I visited my local welding and fab shop and got the tray and sides fabbed for a very reasonable $35. Got the side plates with slides and tray assembled.

Angle brackets will attach to top of side plates and then will be attached to bottom of counter to hold slide asm. The wood lattice piece that they're setting on is the floor for my 23Zero shower enclosure.

I've got a 2" square aluminum tube cut to attach the left side plate to the counter top to match the existing wood 2x2.

I hope to have this finished this week and will post pics of results.

 

[80t0ylc]

More progress - the slide assembly is installed. When retracted for traveling:

Room for Water Bricks and shower floor underneath:

With stove extended, but counter not extended:

Continued in next post.

 

[80t0ylc]

With both counter and stove extended:

Was thinking that with both extended it might over stress the slides on the countertop, so I borrowed a support pole from my Trail Kitchen and drilled a hole in the slide tray to attach support pole:

Good place to store pole and a additional grill for stove:

Can't wait for the next opportunity to try out the mods to the galley!

 

[Armed in Utah]

Nice job !

Have an Escapod Topo ordered....

Delivery date April '21 (ish)

 

[ntsqd]

Do yo foresee extending the counter top in use? I'm not sure that I ever would.

 

[80t0ylc]

Nice job !

Have an Escapod Topo ordered....
Delivery date April '21 (ish)

Thanks! That's an awesome trailer with lots of options, although in the 2 reviews I watched there was water system hookups in front of the D.S. fender, but no galley sink. I guess you bring your own tub for dishes or food prep?

 

[80t0ylc]

Do yo foresee extending the counter top in use? I'm not sure that I ever would.

That's a good question and brings up a point. With the stove slide and stove off the counter, the need for more countertop vertical room isn't as great. Before, it was necessary to extend the counter to use the stove. It is still possible to reach the upper cupboard with the counter extended, but it isn't real convenient. It's nice to have the option, though and future use will determine what works best. I'm not real excited about the sturdiness of the counter when it's extended, so that will be a factor. The 270 degree awning ends right above the galley and doesn't seal to the trailer, so inclimate weather will be another factor. I'm in process of dealing with that issue, too.

 

[ntsqd]

Can picture that cabinet/stove interference easily. The slide-out for the stove is a nice solution.

Possible to push the awning fwd and have it over-lap a little? I'm betting that is a whole set of compromises by itself....

 

[80t0ylc]

Can picture that cabinet/stove interference easily. The slide-out for the stove is a nice solution.

Possible to push the awning fwd and have it over-lap a little? I'm betting that is a whole set of compromises by itself....

Thanks! The Shadow Awn's alignment window on the trailer is extremely narrow. And you're right - "sealing the edges" of this awning has been an "adventure" from the start. Although, the awning itself is awesome and extremely easy to deploy and pack up. I've made some progress on weatherproofing that spot, but I'm sure I'll need to revisit it. I'll post the results, with pics after testing in some wetter weather, if I get the chance.

 

[80t0ylc]

Got my brother-in-law, Dave, to install a pass-thru window in the wall between galley and sleeping area. It's not for me to "pass-thru", but for convenience. Other similar trailers to mine have this built in from the shop, but it wasn't a TFM option back in 2018. So what do you do? Improvise. Dave has considerable experience with trailer and houseboat construction and repair and offered to give it a go when I showed him what I wanted. Of course, he wanted to finish it off with more trim, but all I wanted was simple access to the galley from my bed. Turned out perfect for me. And just the cost of hinges, knob and I added some coat hooks from Lowes for convenience.

Wall above counter before:

Wall from sleeping area before:

During project:

 

[80t0ylc]

Finished as far as I was concerned:

Midnight snacks with less chance of spilling food or drinks all over my bed and not having to walk around to the galley are now possible. Door shuts and seals sleeping quarters from bugs during the day.

 

[80t0ylc]

Went on a trip with ROF's to KOFA in AZ between Yuma and Quartzite which was a good opportunity to check out the mods made to the galley.

All mods made were an improvement and made for a more organized and efficient kitchen. However, on the way back to OR the 12 gallon water tank developed a leak. I noticed water dripping from the rear of the trailer while fueling up. Opening up the rear door revealed water on the floor which thankfully hadn't wicked into the sleeping quarters. So I drained the tank as much as possible since I was less than a day's drive to home. I'll need to pull the tank since the plumbing is behind it. I've been keeping the galley temps above freezing at all times, so I'm thinking something has vibrated loose or broken.

Another problem that has surfaced, actually before the trip, was with the electrical control center. I had plugged into shore power and noticed the 12v fuse was blown. This prevents charging of the battery from shore power, however all outlets - 115 ac,12v, USB & lights have power. When I remove shore power and replace the blown 20 amp 12v fuse, everything seems normal. Until this issue is resolved, I must charge battery with solar or 12v from tow rig.

 

[80t0ylc]

Pulled the water tank and found a loose fitting that could only be found by pulling the tank. It was the 1st nylon 90* fitting off the exit line brass fitting. It was loose enough to make me wonder if it was not checked during assembly. Also replaced short hose that's cable clamped with thicker walled stock.

Pic of water tank out of trailer with vent and fill fittings shown:

The water tank was not secured by the manufacturer, which did not set well with me. It was just setting on the galley floor which I think contributed to the loose fitting. So when I re-installed it I secured it with wood blocks glued & screwed to the floor. Vent hose was replaced and fill hose shortened to remove unnecessary length. I like the tank and plumbing being inside design, though for below freezing camping. It is easier to avoid freeze damage to the system. I will be replacing the tank eventually because I can't totally drain it because the exit line is like an inch above the tank bottom. On this size of tank, that's more than a gallon of water. Funky design, IMHO.

Trouble shooting the battery charging problem with the originally installed WFCO WF-8735P Power Center that is located in the upper front left corner of the cabin shown below to the left of the open storage door:

The converter has an internal problem that blows the 12v fuse when you connect shore power. Researching availability on Amazon, I could have replaced with same Power Center, but reading reviews revealed a substantial number of complaints of same problem, even with very little use. Looked at upgrading the WFCO unit with a higher rating, but again, lots of negative reviews. Not to mention having to try and deal with a physically larger unit. So checked out a different brand, Progressive Dynamics (still on Amazon) and found my replacement. Old unit converter/charger is rated at 30 amps. My replacement, PD4045KV is rated at 45 amps. Very close size physically - might have to do some minor triming on cutout in paneling. Reviews looked quite a bit better, of course the price indicated that it was a better quality unit. I will be getting this wired up in the near future:

 

[80t0ylc]

The new Progressive Dynamics Power Control Center is installed. It has twice the number of fused D.C. circuits available and 2 more A.C. breaker slots available. The converter is more heavy duty. It's really designed for a larger trailer, but like my Land Cruiser, I like the "overbuilt" idea.

Top half of the old 'busted' WFCO power center

Cutout in cabinet needed some trimming to fit new power center; 1/4" more - both horizontal and vertical

Both power centers shown in the transition. Old one on the left, new one on the right

New power center wired up and ready for final touches

Installed and ready for service.

 

[80t0ylc]

Well, it's been a year and finally got around to a heater. On a trip to Costco (Carson City, NV) today with my sister and her husband and found a propane radiant heater on sale ($10 off) for $64.99.

It includes a hose and filter for my 2.5 gal tanks.

Can be wall mounted, which I'll take advantage of. The hanger holes (2) can be seen for screws in trailer wall

Easy to use 2 heat level (Hi or Low) control knob

Hose will route from tank mount through wall on passenger side. Had the idea to use an RV power cord door to accomplish this. I'll provide pics when installed. Found this on Amazon

Amazon product ASIN B09J1FXJYX