Groot 2.0 Build Log

[reaver]

Heading out on Thursday for a 4 day trip. I'll finally be able to test the water tank sensor. Im still not sure how I'm going to solve the freezing water lines, but it's getting warm enough where I won't really need to worry about it for a while.

I've been getting some smaller tasks done on the trailer.

Ran the wires through conduit underneath the trailer.

I also made a rack for the top of the fridge box, and mounted dewaltmounted dewalt on the frame up there. I store a drill, wheel chocks, spare fuses, and some screwdrivers up there.




I also finally made new control panels for the inside. These look MUCH nicer than the temporary panels I had before.



I also added an air inlet port to the side of the trailer. I used a 4 inch marine inspection port, and used high temp epoxy to connect a 3 inch coupling to that. Now I just unthread the cap, and thread on the hose, then connect the magnetic side to the heater. I sealed all around it with sikaflex.



I covered the front of the trailer with a rubber diamond plate, and trimmed 3 sides. The vertical trim is the edge trim that I used on the rest of the trailer. This will allow me to have a rack there as well. I plan on moving the traction boards to the front, and possibly the axe and shovel, if there's enough room. I need to paint the aluminum angle along the top, and get another piece for the bottom.



I also had a mishap with the Xterra last weekend. It seems the locating pin through my drivers side leaf pack decided to take a hike at some point. While scouting a trail last weekend, my axle decided to shift back about 1.5 inches. I was able to get it fixed enough to drive 120 miles home, but won't have time to fix it properly until after this trip. So.... I'm taking the Frontier.

I made this out of the tongue box for my original trailer, and some Jerry can holders.

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Fun build to watch. Thanks for sharing. I love how everyone does very specific things for their use case scenarios... stuff I wouldn't do because my use case scenario is different, but man I appreciate seeing the creative problem solving.

 

[reaver]

Fun build to watch. Thanks for sharing. I love how everyone does very specific things for their use case scenarios... stuff I wouldn't do because my use case scenario is different, but man I appreciate seeing the creative problem solving.

That, I think, is the best part about building your own trailer. You can build and modify to fit your exact needs, and not what some manufacturer thinks most people need.

 

[S. Heisley]

Have a safe trip!

 

[reaver]

So, a few things have happened since my last post.

My method of mounting crossbars to my trim didn't work very well. I had to come up with a better solution.

What I ended up doing was taking elevator bolts and cutting them down, so I can
drop them into the track, and turn them 90° to lock them in. I've had these on for a few months now, and they worked perfectly.

I also had one of the fenders rip off due to the weight of the propane tank. I've moved it underneath the stove box, and mounted it on two steel flat bars. This has worked great so far.

The last thing I've had to do is fix my fender. The fenders are cheap folded sheet metal, so it tore through the bolt hole. I ended up re-enforcing it with a piece of 1 1/2 inch angle steel, and riveted that on to the original fender.

This is a recent fix, so we'll see how it holds.

One other fix that I've not tackled yet is adding some aluminum angle over the corners of the stove box and heater box. On one of the trips, the PMF took a beating from some very tight tree branches. The aluminum will protect the corners, and keep things nice and waterproof.

That's all for now. Overall, everything is working beautifully, and I'm loving the trailer. I'm about to take it out for the 9th time this year. Going for 4 nights while my ladies are up at Grill Scout camp for next week.

 

[reaver]

I've spent the last few days camped just outside of McCall, ID with a buddy of mine (I'm still up here, and posting this via his starlink, as he works remotely).

The 400w of solar has done a fantastic job of keeping my trailer topped off.

My buddy bought a battery operated smoker, and we tried that out.

Made some delicious Thai chili smoked chicken wings!

Yesterday, I spent much of the day exploring the area. I drove up to Granite Lake to check that out.

The I drove up to Fisher Creek saddle, and found a couple of fantastic camp sites.

Today will be spent relaxing, and getting things packed up, since I have to be in McCall at 10am when my kid and wife are all wrapped up at girl scout camp.

 

[gearsoup]

And Groot 2.0 is holding up just fine?

 

[reaver]

And Groot 2.0 is holding up just fine?

Absolutely. Though, there are a few things I need to fix. The pmf has gotten damaged in a couple of areas, primarily on the corners of the stove box (from trees through tight trails), and where the fender bounced on top of the tire when it tore through one of the bolts, but that's it.

There are several modifications I'm planning to do, including a new aluminum fridge slide, now that I have a pneumatic rivet gun, as well as building a cargo basket for the fridge box.

 

[ghcoe]

George trails will find weaknesses in just about anything! My foamy has been a trooper for many years however.