lx450landcruiser
Moderator
deffinatly Ive run into quite a few mud guys here in bellingham that would all love to do an overnighter. We just have to pull some dates down.
Mike
Mike
m101 build phase 1 complete: it's a tent trailer! (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter semlin
- Start date
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semlin
curmudgeon
- Thread starter
- #23
you'd need to see it in person but i'd say 18" is about the limit for height in terms of top heaviness and no way would you want to lift it high enough to walk under unless you used telescoping adjustable rails so it ran much lower than that on the highway. One thing to consider is that unless you fully stabilize the trailer in four directions you exert a lot of leverage when shifting weight inside the tent as you go up higher. Even at the current height when I left the rear trailer jack off one night and I slept at the front and my son slept across the back he moved the tent a little every time he shifted his weight.
anyway, after 2500 miles of towing it and a week sleeping in it, the verdict is that it rules. The comments are:
-the best thing is being able to see the trailer when towing at last! With the rails up there in your line of sight you can see how the trailer is riding in your rear view at a glance and I can finally back it up by myself (well in theory anyway).
-it tows great on the interstate. it tracks around corners very nicely and stays surprisingly level even on steep sharp downhill curves. It was not thrown around by some bad cross winds in northern utah and idaho which surprised me. for the most part I could tow it at 75 mph all day long. on rough highway sections you can see right away if it is bouncing and usually compensate by dropping off 5-10 mph.
-The only problem I had was on I-5 coming out of seattle where the slow lane had those dual indented ruts that trucks wear in high traffic areas. a couple of times at 70 mph the trailer started bouncing/walking side to side and got into some kind of harmonic thing where it wouldn't stop until I slowed right down to near a stop. Might have something to do with the trailer axle being narrower than the ruts.
-the only other driving issue is braking as in you have a lot less brakes with it all loaded up. You can tow it a lot faster than you can stop it!
as for camping, the strengths are:
-the tarp keeps the inside of the trailerbed completely dry even towing in heavy rain.
-when parked you have easy access to a lot of clean dry space in the trailer bed with the tarp over it. allows you to keep a neat camp and the tarp also shades the sun for your cooler.
-the tent is very comfortable and roomy. I used the two end trailer jacks and axle stands on the sides to completely level it and the tent was almost static when moving around inside.
-the much maligned mombasa ladder works great on a trailer because it is so much lower. No need to break down the extra ladder piece into two parts and you only need to adjust one pair of pins/cotters to set it up.
-tent is great for hot weather camping. open up the side windows and it will catch any breeze out there.
-lots of covered area underneath the fold out part of the tent to put things out of the rain and to set up a couple of chairs (but you can't walk there
). You can also store rubbermaids under the trailer itself for easy access.
the weaknesses are:
-the mombasa fly is so small (lacking in eaves) and loosely attached that it allows a lot of wind to blow between the tent and the the fly creating a lot of pressure on the fly. a strong wind tore one of the corner poppers holding the fly in place right out of the aluminum tent pole even though it was screwed in there
-almost zero rain resistance. luckily it only rained the last night. the fly is small and loose enough that with a good wind rain will go right under it and soak the roof of the tent (and come through the ceiling vent holes which can't be closed).
-that mesh is not big enough to keep out small determined mosquitos let alone noseeums.
-even if you organize the trailer bed well you are constantly removing the tarp and packing and unpacking to get items. I gradually moved stuff I didn't need very often to the middle of the bed and moved rubbermaids I was using a lot right under the trailer.
in the future I will consider:
-a lift of some kind to get the trailer up level to the truck. I am reluctant to mess with how well it tows on the highway but I have to think that it would track even better with better weight distribution and the springs parallel to the ground.
-a new fly or better tent
-a removable rectangular camping box hanging between the side rails right under the tent. This would be the full width of the trailer, about 9" deep and about 42" long centred to allow continued access to the trailer bed from either end. I would either set it up to hold flat stuff like a folding table, chairs and tarps, or I would put in some sliding drawers opening out the opposite side to where the tent opens. These would hold cutlery and utensils and maybe a stove and cooking area.
anyway, after 2500 miles of towing it and a week sleeping in it, the verdict is that it rules. The comments are:
-the best thing is being able to see the trailer when towing at last! With the rails up there in your line of sight you can see how the trailer is riding in your rear view at a glance and I can finally back it up by myself (well in theory anyway).
-it tows great on the interstate. it tracks around corners very nicely and stays surprisingly level even on steep sharp downhill curves. It was not thrown around by some bad cross winds in northern utah and idaho which surprised me. for the most part I could tow it at 75 mph all day long. on rough highway sections you can see right away if it is bouncing and usually compensate by dropping off 5-10 mph.
-The only problem I had was on I-5 coming out of seattle where the slow lane had those dual indented ruts that trucks wear in high traffic areas. a couple of times at 70 mph the trailer started bouncing/walking side to side and got into some kind of harmonic thing where it wouldn't stop until I slowed right down to near a stop. Might have something to do with the trailer axle being narrower than the ruts.
-the only other driving issue is braking as in you have a lot less brakes with it all loaded up. You can tow it a lot faster than you can stop it!
as for camping, the strengths are:
-the tarp keeps the inside of the trailerbed completely dry even towing in heavy rain.
-when parked you have easy access to a lot of clean dry space in the trailer bed with the tarp over it. allows you to keep a neat camp and the tarp also shades the sun for your cooler.
-the tent is very comfortable and roomy. I used the two end trailer jacks and axle stands on the sides to completely level it and the tent was almost static when moving around inside.
-the much maligned mombasa ladder works great on a trailer because it is so much lower. No need to break down the extra ladder piece into two parts and you only need to adjust one pair of pins/cotters to set it up.
-tent is great for hot weather camping. open up the side windows and it will catch any breeze out there.
-lots of covered area underneath the fold out part of the tent to put things out of the rain and to set up a couple of chairs (but you can't walk there
). You can also store rubbermaids under the trailer itself for easy access.the weaknesses are:
-the mombasa fly is so small (lacking in eaves) and loosely attached that it allows a lot of wind to blow between the tent and the the fly creating a lot of pressure on the fly. a strong wind tore one of the corner poppers holding the fly in place right out of the aluminum tent pole even though it was screwed in there
-almost zero rain resistance. luckily it only rained the last night. the fly is small and loose enough that with a good wind rain will go right under it and soak the roof of the tent (and come through the ceiling vent holes which can't be closed).
-that mesh is not big enough to keep out small determined mosquitos let alone noseeums.
-even if you organize the trailer bed well you are constantly removing the tarp and packing and unpacking to get items. I gradually moved stuff I didn't need very often to the middle of the bed and moved rubbermaids I was using a lot right under the trailer.
in the future I will consider:
-a lift of some kind to get the trailer up level to the truck. I am reluctant to mess with how well it tows on the highway but I have to think that it would track even better with better weight distribution and the springs parallel to the ground.
-a new fly or better tent
-a removable rectangular camping box hanging between the side rails right under the tent. This would be the full width of the trailer, about 9" deep and about 42" long centred to allow continued access to the trailer bed from either end. I would either set it up to hold flat stuff like a folding table, chairs and tarps, or I would put in some sliding drawers opening out the opposite side to where the tent opens. These would hold cutlery and utensils and maybe a stove and cooking area.
Thanks for the pics.
Welcome to Canyonlands Campground, and all the new additions for ttrailers here. You guys are to be commended for your attention to detail on this website and sharing info for all the others to use, IE myself. There were a lot of trailers here over the past few weeks and the boys from Adventure were among them Congratulations on all the hard work and be proud of what you built. Jim
Exiled
SILVER Star
Sweet! I really like the elevated tent!....hmmmm.........mine *is* due for some mods, I've quietly amassing parts and components for some much needed changes....
