7'*18' V-Nose Cargo Trailer Toy Hauler Conversion

[flboy]

Glad to hear you made it home safe. Will do for sure. Will be doing some in state trips prior to January.

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[flboy]

All deep cleaned. Will be put back onto pad in back yard. Next trip planned for Ocala NF Nov 17- 21. Boondocking and dirt bike riding.. sure to be a good time.

Just got my Spare Tire back from Discount Tire. They replaced the valve stem as I suspected. The tire was the only malfunction for 3 months on the road, except for the awning incident which was my fault for not double securing. I can deal with that!








BTW-- Thankful for the tire pressure monitoring system I installed previously but cannot help but wonder if it was responsible for the valve stem failure in the first place... or just a weak stem to start. The system worked great the entire trip. I saw the pressure getting low on the left rear tire and was able to replace the tire with the spare on my terms before it got too low and was damaged. I had alarms set for 30PSI but noticed it at 34 lbs before the alarms tripped.

I was wondering, however, if anyone has any idea if the TPMS sensors could have anything to do with the valve stem failure due to the additional weight at the end and the centrifugal forces... only one stem failed after about ~5,000 miles... the others were/are fine. The failure was a very small leak where rubber meets the metal on the stem itself (could see very small but steady bubbles when I tested with soapy water). It am sure the sensors are adding additional stress, but not sure if it is exceeding some limit for force on the stem.







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[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

Do you have metal 'bolt-on' type valve stems
https://www.amazon.com/VTR-TR-416-S-Out ... FDFJ9AJKAP
or the regular pulled up through the rim type?
https://www.amazon.com/ACCRETION-Rubber ... FDFJ9AJKAP

Some of those tire folks pull them up with excessive force sometimes. Not intentionally,
may be upset with life , wife, interruption, any number of things... I try to get the metal
ones whenever I can, some rims don't have clearance for the nuts. I always use Loctite when
installing them.

hank

PS. That interior looks clean enough for open heart surgery...

[flboy]

Hi Hank... It looks like I have the "pull up through rim" type.

Yes, the CTC is about as clean as it gets... until I use it again! LOL

[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

I used to have the pull-thru type, when I lived in Fl. I had a few get torn by
deep sand and in Md. some got torn by heavy brush, tallish grasses and such.
When to the nut and screw type and haven't looked back.

If you decied to shift watch how they 'pull the old ones out. Same tool
removes as installs they just pull harder to remove.

hank

[flboy]

I ordered one of these today so I can get a real measurement on CTC tongue weight when I am loaded, unloaded, and etc.. With this and knowing the actual tongue weight, I can roll across any scale with all 8 wheels on and then just 4 and determine truck weight and trailer weight. With bikes and full tanks of water, my loads may vary by over 1000 lbs on the CTC and hundreds of pounds in truck bed, so it will be nice to know and understand the actual weights. All tows fine, but if ever in an accident, you want to make sure you have not exceeded any limits anywhere or the ambulance chasers will press on that and you may have issues with insurance company.

In any case and regardless, this will be a nice tool to throw in the box. It can measure up to a 2,000 lb hitch weight with decent accuracy.








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[Karebru]

No tool is a bad investment.
I've looked the TW scales up a few times. My load isn't going to vary that much from trip to trip, but it would be nice to know what's going on... How to best distribute the weight of my gear when I pack, etc. My build added a lot of weight ahead of the axles.

[flboy]

Bought a new 2020 F250 4wd yesterday and going to build a new CTC when I get back from my trip out West with current CTC I am leaving for in January. Going to be a gooseneck trailer that I will have custom built and then I will convert it.. Truck will be delivered Thursday so I still have to accept delivery before officially mine.

Need to shop the trailer around a bit then order. Going all aluminum , tandem 5K Straight axles, and probably only extend 20ft behind truck to keep my total rig length the same as I have now. Going to play with some floor plan designs a bit. This will be my 3rd build, so I have a clear picture of how I will build and what will be different this time around in terms of construction and finish.

New blog to come when I actually order new gooseneck cargo trailer.

Pics of stock TV. Ordering larger all terrain tires/custom rims, hard tonneau, and running boards to put on right away. Any other mods will have to wait.






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[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

You're gonna miss the storage in the bed of the truck.
Is the new truck diesel? There is a learning curve there.

Best wishes for a smooth transition from one vehicle to the next.

hank

[aggie79]

Bought a new 2020 F250 4wd yesterday... Truck will be delivered Thursday.

Hi Don,

I've been considering a heavier-duty truck myself. My current F-150 with the 5.0 liter pulls our travel trailer pretty well; however, it seems it is "working too hard" on grades and/or high headwinds.

...going to build a new CTC when I get back from my trip with current CTC I am leaving for in January. Going to be a gooseneck trailer I will have custom built and then I will convert it. Need to shop the trailer around a bit then order. Going all aluminum , tandem 5K Straight axles, and probably only extend 20ft behind truck to keep my total rig length the same as I have now.

You may want to check out Sundowner Trailers in Oklahoma: http://www.sundownertrailer.com/tlr-CargoGN.html. They're a little ways from Florida, but all they build are all-aluminum trailers, and the trailers they build are for continuous, heavy-duty use. Their quality is fantastic. They are a little spendy though.

New blog to come then

Can't wait for the new build journal!

Take care,
Tom

[flboy]

Hi Don,

I've been considering a heavier-duty truck myself. My current F-150 with the 5.0 liter pulls our travel trailer pretty well; however, it seems it is "working too hard" on grades and/or high headwinds.

This is exactly my experience pulling out to Sturgis and also some 8 to 10% grades I encountered on a lot of primary and secondary state roads. Seems the interstates mitigate the grades better. My F-150 is a fine truck. I had it since 2012 and I have been saving for this day since... so now is the time. It will look almost identical... just be newer and an F250 with a GVWR of 10,000 lbs. With what I have planned to build... the F-250 won't even break a sweat mostly likely and certainly will not be pushing against cargo limits which includes hitch weight. Looking for the best towing and stability possible. F250 will stop much better as well.. Brakes on F150 were getting too hot down hill on steep grades in my opinion also.

I like to run way under capacity and I felt the F-150 was working too hard and loaded heavy given my CTC's 950lbs hitch weight and the 1,360 lb cargo limit (officially per sticker). . I did get the gas motor as I didn't want to deal with diesel and I do not need the extra tow/pull capacity that affords... I just won't need it and the extra cost of the diesel option and more expensive diesel fuel would probably never break even in my case with the little MPG benefit it would bring. I wanted to keep the engine simple where I can diagnose and fix most things external to the engine block myself as I always do. 6.2L V8 is tried and true like my 5.0L is in the F-150.

[Karebru]

Congratulations, Don!
You never let the dust settle, do you.
aggie79 mentioned Sundowner trailers. The largest of my employer's three horse trailers in an old, all-aluminum
Sundowner. It seems to be built like a tank.
I had an 04, 5.4L-F150. I think towing a moderately heavy boat is what shortened it's life.

[flboy]

You may want to check out Sundowner Trailers in Oklahoma: http://www.sundownertrailer.com/tlr-CargoGN.html. They're a little ways from Florida, but all they build are all-aluminum trailers, and the trailers they build are for continuous, heavy-duty use. Their quality is fantastic. They are a little spendy though.
Take care,
Tom

Tom, thanks for the information. I will call them. Been doing a little research and I would not mind driving to Oklahoma to get the right trailer. I am going to go with a Gooseneck this time around. I am designing the interior layout now and will give them a call when I am sure what I am going to do. I think I will have them place and install the windows and RV door. I do not want more that 22 Ft of trailer behind the truck as my existing 7*18 with 2' V nose is about that long. I still have the same design length criteria for my driveway and etc... just going to layout for 1 large motorcycle... and put in a large rear bathroom on the other half of the garage area with a more roomy front end. I will go full width this time also to gain the space and of course the bed will be in the part over the bed of the truck. .

[flboy]

Got the tires and etc. on the TV today.. looks much like the previous TV but just 9 years newer and about 2,000 lbs. more payload and 5,000 lbs more towing capacity.








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[PiddleFart]

Hope I'm not opening a can of worms with this question, but did you change the gearing to compensate for the increased tire size?

I had a Chevrolet with the 5.3 in it and I went up one tire size and it turned into a total turd.

Nice truck. Looks great with the new tires and rims.