Offroad popup camper build

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what a great feeling to build somthing like that and finally get out and use it the first time.. good work !
i have a question bout the hitch .. i know everbody likes them but yours is not the first of that type that i have seen twisted up .. (not in person) and i know your'e gettin the new and improved model .. i guess the question is would you recomend that '' type'' of hitch.
 
Rock_Wagon said:
The McGyver award clearly goes to Nick, the guy that can dig through some random trashpiles while risking being bitten by some local dogs, get the gas station attendant to lend him a circular saw and then use duct tape to fix a suspension issue.
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ROR!:lol: That was one of the best parts of the trip. Cruisin' Hanksville for garbage and tools. You forgot to mention that the 2x4 came off a pallet outside some mining company, and that when I asked the guy in the cave if he had a saw I could borrow, he said, "No. What do you need to cut?"

rdsk8ter said:
yeah I thing lockand roll has a serious design flaw check my build thread might consider building a hitch like the one I did check the video its stout
https://forum.ih8mud.com/trailer-tech/374190-my-slow-project-slow.html
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That's a sweet hitch. They've already got my money, so as long as they are willing to replace them for free, I'm good with it. As I mentioned, I think the twisting might have had more to do with the rotation limiter.

swampman said:
what a great feeling to build somthing like that and finally get out and use it the first time.. good work !
i have a question bout the hitch .. i know everbody likes them but yours is not the first of that type that i have seen twisted up .. (not in person) and i know your'e gettin the new and improved model .. i guess the question is would you recomend that '' type'' of hitch.
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Thanks! It was awesome, and I'm daydreaming of the places I get to drag it this summer.;)

Unofrtunately, in the US, the only multi-axis hitches that I'm aware of are the Lock N Roll and the AT Max Coupler. Initially, I wanted the rotation limiter to keep the camper from rolling, but I think it is too limiting. The Max Coupler was more expensive and would have required me to install a receiver tube, whcih I'm now doing anyway. In retrospect, I prolly should have gone with the Max Coupler, but I'll stick with the Lock N Roll until they figure it out or quit replacing stuff I twist.:meh:
 
I don't know if people will be able to follow my rambling but here it goes.

I think the design flaw in the hitch happens when the trailer gets close to 90 degrees to the land cruiser, the tongue of the trailer lowers a little and when the trailer straiten out it binds and bends parts.

The trailer has 3 motions: 1) up and down this would happen when you start up a hill 2) turning corners and such 3) rotating or twisting. I think when you get the truck and trailer get to 90 degrees the up and down rotating axis and the twisting axis line up parallel and it lets the tongue down a bit. because of the weight on the tongue it will not come back up on its own without twisting the metal.

This will happen on flat ground as well I think.

Test it out when you get the new one and let us know

Awesome job on the trailer
 
Do you have any pics of the trailer on the vehicle? I'm curious how it relates in size to the cruiser.

Great work!
 
what's wrong with a lunette and pintle hook?
 
Muleysam said:
I don't know if people will be able to follow my rambling but here it goes.

I think the design flaw in the hitch happens when the trailer gets close to 90 degrees to the land cruiser, the tongue of the trailer lowers a little and when the trailer straiten out it binds and bends parts.

The trailer has 3 motions: 1) up and down this would happen when you start up a hill 2) turning corners and such 3) rotating or twisting. I think when you get the truck and trailer get to 90 degrees the up and down rotating axis and the twisting axis line up parallel and it lets the tongue down a bit. because of the weight on the tongue it will not come back up on its own without twisting the metal.

This will happen on flat ground as well I think.

Test it out when you get the new one and let us know

Awesome job on the trailer
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I'm following you as I've seen it before. I don't think that's what happened with mine due to the rotation limiter. The limiter wouldn't allow the rotational axis to turn vertical and cause the binding as I understand it. I'll take a video when I het the new one and demonstrate the binding.

p8nt said:
Do you have any pics of the trailer on the vehicle? I'm curious how it relates in size to the cruiser.

Great work!
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Here's a few shots. Also if you search "Atoyot1031" on youtube, you'll find my channel and can see the camper in action. If your headed to CM10, we should be pulling into BFE Tuesday nite through Sunday as well.
:cheers:

camper.webp

camper2.webp

camper3.webp


e9999 said:
what's wrong with a lunette and pintle hook?
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Nothing. I prefer the positive connection of a multi-axis. Ball hitches annoy me with their noise and banging, so you can imagine a pintle would bother me considerably more. The pintle/lunette is tried and true though that's why the military has used it for ever. However, the military isn't know for a comfy ride either.;) There's a reason (besides my kids) that I don't wheel in a minitruck w/o AC, leather, cruise control, etc. anymore. I'm in the 80 for the magic carpet ride.:grinpimp:
camper.webp
camper2.webp
camper3.webp
 
rdsk8ter said:
can you snap a couple pics of those stabilizer legs for me ....please
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Check out posts #21, 22, and 89. If those pics aren't what yer looking for, let me know whatcha need, and I'll snap a couple more. FYI, I was originally going to go with two rear stabilizing jacks and the tongue leveling jack. After installing the two rears and the tongue jack, there was WAY to much movement for me. It was like hanging out on an anchored boat. After installing the front stabilizer jacks as well, this thing is pretty darn rock steady. Last weekend, the fronts were fully extended and blocked as we were on a down hill (setup in the middle of the nite:doh:), and it still felt pretty darn solid.

Assassin said:
nice pic's---looks like good times
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Thanks, it's been night and day camping with this thing versus tent camping, like Motel 6 versus staying at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
 
I'll try and snap a couple pics this weekend when I'm getting her ready for CM.

On another note, I spoke to the folks at Lock N Roll early this week, and I've put off the replacement until next week. It sounds like I will be getting one of the first runs of their new design, which supposedly overcomes their twisting design flaw. We'll see...
 
rdsk8ter, I'll try and get yer pics up this weekend.

Leaving for CM10 Tuesday. So this weekend, I have a few loose ends to tie up. I'm gonna reinforce the other two bunkend corners, install the twin memory foam mattress and get final dimensions for the mattress/cushion covers, install the bumpstops, try and cut off the shackle mounts and make frame extensions to gain the proper final shackle angle (this should help immensely with the suspension bottoming out), and install a few more snaps...

P.S. I broke out the torch w/ rosebud and bent the trailer coupler back somewhat to straight. This should do until the new hitch arrives end of next week/beginning of the following. More pics to come.
 
I remedied the suspension issue yesterday.

The problem was my initial shackle angle was too great. Therefore under load, the shackle essentially laid flat with the leaf pack eliminating the desired lift from the shackle.

I was fortunate that of the original 40' of 2"x3" box steel that I used for the frame construction I had about 3' remaining.

After jacking up the camper on the stabilizer jacks, I removed the bolt holding the top of the shackle into the shackle mount welded to the camper frame. Using a cutting wheel, I cut the shackle mount free from the frame as well as the bunkend mounts which were welded directly above the shackle mount.

Using the 2"x3" box steel, I cut and welded L-shaped extensions that I welded to the rear frame crossmember as well as the bumper arms (to tie the extensions in for better structural strength).

Overall, the shackle position moved ~6" rearward, which provided an effective 4" of lift. As the springs are relatively soft, I'm still going to install the bumpstops as a safety measure.

Here's the before...






Here's the after...






I'll take pictures of the new ride height later.
 
Excellent job!
 
Thanks for the kind words all!

The camper performed great for the six days, five nights we were at Area BFE for Cruise Moab. I did have the control board on the furnace go down Thursday morning, but the RV shop in Moab had one, so we had heat back up for Friday night, which was nice considering it was about 25'F ( but 65'F inside:)).

I've ordered a little 1,000W generator for it as well. I'll also be replacing the power converter with a coverter/charger so that when I'm on shore power or the generator, it will be charging the battery.

Vitesse_6 said:
Looked great @ BFE!
Nice to chat with you as well :)
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Brian, it was great to see you all. My wife really enjoyed hanging out with you and your :princess:. We'll have to make plans to do a trail together next year. She said you cleaned up at the raffle. We got the Foxwing Awning which is transforming into headrest DVD players for the kids.;)

LandCruiserPhil said:
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Nice work!
Did I miss the final weight?
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Phil,
I need to get somewhere with a scale to check it out, but my guess is 1,500# with the water tank empty and our gear loaded up.
 
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