eatSleepWoof's Rockwood 1640ESP (1 Viewer)

[eatSleepWoof]

Went exploring this past weekend with the trailer in tow for an overnighter. Spent about 60km on FSRs of various upkeep, set up camp, only to find that the trailer's electric winch (which raises/lowers the roof) did not work. Tried the manual crank, and within seconds that broke, too. The idiots that built this simply threaded a nut on a shaft, and as soon as you start cranking via that nut, it comes right off, leaving you with no way to keep cranking. I guess it would have killed them to spot-weld the nut in a few spots.

With no way to raise the roof and set up, as a last measure with no real hope, I started pulling off the plastic cover over the winch mechanism. Three (of four) of the metal screws came out reasonably easily, the other was/is rusted in place. Pried back the cover and spotted that one of the spade connectors attached to the winch mechanism was completely disconnected. Must have rattled off in transit. Another great design decision! Reconnected it and the winch started working again. Yet another thing for me to fix.

Ah well

In happier news, trailer is going in for removal of the existing coupler, and tongue extension sometime soon (shop is waiting for receiver tube to arrive). MaxCoupler and ARK XO750 jockey wheel are sitting and awaiting installation.

 

[ntsqd]

It isn't an Adventure until there's something to overcome. Until then it's just car camping and anyone can do that.

Sometimes I could do with a little less adventure in my life.........

 

[eatSleepWoof]

And just like that, this trailer has been sold to some very nice people. Listed it only three days ago on local classifieds and had a surprising amount of interested parties.

After accounting for the taxes I paid on the purchase, and the money I spent on the little mods and improvements, this ~2.5 month "rental" ran us about $400 CAD. Not bad at all!

What's next? No idea. But this setup wasn't something I was thrilled with.

We will probably go back to a simple ground tent with a minimalistic, backpacking-like gear setup, and reserve the "trailer money" for other hobbies. An alternative would be a quality tear drop, but those are more expensive than I'd like. Time will tell.

 

[80t0ylc]

And just like that, this trailer has been sold to some very nice people. Listed it only three days ago on local classifieds and had a surprising amount of interested parties.

After accounting for the taxes I paid on the purchase, and the money I spent on the little mods and improvements, this ~2.5 month "rental" ran us about $400 CAD. Not bad at all!

What's next? No idea. But this setup wasn't something I was thrilled with.

We will probably go back to a simple ground tent with a minimalistic, backpacking-like gear setup, and reserve the "trailer money" for other hobbies. An alternative would be a quality tear drop, but those are more expensive than I'd like. Time will tell.

Sounds like a good decision - especially for the way you wanted to use it. Hard to get motivated with something when your confidence is challenged because build quality was substandard for your needs. Thanks for keeping us informed and giving a heads up to beware when buying - even new product. Glad you didn't get hurt financially and best of luck on your next venture!

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Sounds like a good decision - especially for the way you wanted to use it. Hard to get motivated with something when your confidence is challenged because build quality was substandard for your needs. Thanks for keeping us informed and giving a heads up to beware when buying - even new product. Glad you didn't get hurt financially and best of luck on your next venture!

You're spot on. Once the 'spark' of the new toy was gone, it was time to move on. In its own ways the trailer was really nice, and would make an awesome basecamp for a week at a time, but that's not really how we camp.

I talked with a local shop and made a deal for a demo AluCab Gen3 RTT, and an already-mounted ShadowAwn. Both products are about 3-4 months old, were only used a few times, and are in new condition. Got a fairly decent (not great) deal that's noticeably better than retail prices in Canada, but still more than retail prices in the US. Waiting for new roof cross bars to arrive this week, and then the tent gets mounted mid next week. Going back to a 'simpler' setup. The shop is only an hour away, and being able to see the items in person (for once!) was really nice.

On another note, the same shop had a display off-road trailer from CVT. I had no idea CVT made such trailers. It looked amazing, and surprisingly great value at approximately $12500 CAD. It was one of these, with a few extras: CVT Product Manuals and Resources | Cascadia Vehicle Tents . Extras were a huge tongue box, proper rack (higher than the display in CVT's photos, tons of mounting points for accessories, etc.) and probably other goodies. It was also in white colour.

The box on that trailer is HUGE. Tons of room. Rear door is properly designed in that there's no "lip" that limits access to the floor or sides. The top also lifts up, and is held in place by a pair of really impressive, custom-looking latches. Front tongue box was massive and a perfect fit for the trailer. Timbren suspension. Huge, stand-on fenders. Very clean, flat underbody. Seemed like every seam was fully welded on both the trailer and tongue box. Rear hitch receiver, and I think it had an articulating hitch, although my memory is fuzzy on that one. From first glance I was really, really impressed, and if I were to get another trailer, I'd pick that one up in a heartbeat.

 

[80t0ylc]

You're spot on. Once the 'spark' of the new toy was gone, it was time to move on. In its own ways the trailer was really nice, and would make an awesome basecamp for a week at a time, but that's not really how we camp.

I talked with a local shop and made a deal for a demo AluCab Gen3 RTT, and an already-mounted ShadowAwn. Both products are about 3-4 months old, were only used a few times, and are in new condition. Got a fairly decent (not great) deal that's noticeably better than retail prices in Canada, but still more than retail prices in the US. Waiting for new roof cross bars to arrive this week, and then the tent gets mounted mid next week. Going back to a 'simpler' setup. The shop is only an hour away, and being able to see the items in person (for once!) was really nice.

On another note, the same shop had a display off-road trailer from CVT. I had no idea CVT made such trailers. It looked amazing, and surprisingly great value at approximately $12500 CAD. It was one of these, with a few extras: CVT Product Manuals and Resources | Cascadia Vehicle Tents . Extras were a huge tongue box, proper rack (higher than the display in CVT's photos, tons of mounting points for accessories, etc.) and probably other goodies. It was also in white colour.

The box on that trailer is HUGE. Tons of room. Rear door is properly designed in that there's no "lip" that limits access to the floor or sides. The top also lifts up, and is held in place by a pair of really impressive, custom-looking latches. Front tongue box was massive and a perfect fit for the trailer. Timbren suspension. Huge, stand-on fenders. Very clean, flat underbody. Seemed like every seam was fully welded on both the trailer and tongue box. Rear hitch receiver, and I think it had an articulating hitch, although my memory is fuzzy on that one. From first glance I was really, really impressed, and if I were to get another trailer, I'd pick that one up in a heartbeat.

I've heard good things about the Gen3 RTT. Heavy tent, but very good quality. Another retired old fart that I wheel with got a used one, too and he likes it. I have the ShadowAwn with the wall kit. Love the awning, but the wall kit has it's shortcomings. If you have any questions that I can help you with, feel free to ask. Is the ShadowAwn a left or right side deploy? Mine's the right side or U.S. passenger side.

If that CVT trailer is anything like the one I had, it's a tough cookie. You can pull it anywhere your rig can go. Mine was older with leaf springs and a super HD axle rated at 5.2 - 6k lb. Very good build quality.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

I've heard good things about the Gen3 RTT. Heavy tent, but very good quality. Another retired old fart that I wheel with got a used one, too and he likes it. I have the ShadowAwn with the wall kit. Love the awning, but the wall kit has it's shortcomings. If you have any questions that I can help you with, feel free to ask. Is the ShadowAwn a left or right side deploy? Mine's the right side or U.S. passenger side.

If that CVT trailer is anything like the one I had, it's a tough cookie. You can pull it anywhere your rig can go. Mine was older with leaf springs and a super HD axle rated at 5.2 - 6k lb. Very good build quality.

The awning will be on the driver's side. I've always had mixed feelings about which side is preferable, as both have their upsides. Not a big deal either way!

I'm actually quite aware of the wall kit's issues - largely due to your posts on ExPo . I don't plan on getting that for now.

The trailer I saw was very different from the one you had; I think this is a new model that they released in the last few years. Slick unit all around!

 

[Theodore]

I too purchased a Rockwood 1640 ESP. In around the Ottawa Ontario area with the same results. The tech who did the initial inspection and walk around would be best described as Gill, the salesman from the Simpsons. I too spent quite a few hours underneath the trailer cleaning up the wiring. Although pleased with the initial layout of the trailer I am amazed at the poor quality of the trailer in General.

 

[ntsqd]

I got a tour of a Fleetwood RV production facility once. I came away appalled and vowed to never, ever buy any of their products.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

A shame, really. The form factor has potential.

Opus is doing it right with their OP2 and OP4 models. Too bad they're so difficult to get in Canada, and so expensive.