"Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Tue Sep 20, 2022 4:25 pm

Onajourney wrote:I been thinking about this cool mount. I have to ask if you used larger and longer screws to mount the trim track down? It won't last with the typical 3/4" #6 screws.


I installed my trim with Stainless #8 1" screws. I did all my testing with the same screws so I had a direct comparison to how the trim would perform on the roof of my trailer.
Cody - Westmont, IL

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http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:06 pm

I added a waterproof LED light strip to the bottom side of my awning track. For now I’m just running a USB extension cord to the galley. I may eventually add a SAE outlet near the awning for quick clean connection.

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Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Mon Oct 03, 2022 10:37 am

Pulled the trailer another 700 miles over the last two weekends. The first stop was the Camp Inn Camp Outt up in Mauston, Wi. It was a ton of fun and I would suggest anyone with an interest in tiny campers check it out next year. This past weekend we had a family camping reunion at the Clinton Lake State Recreation area. Fantastic weather, fantastic food and lots of good times had by the whole family. Did a little fishing from my dad's fishing boat and saw a large group of migrating pelicans. The latest addition to the camping equipment was a bed slider I built to help load and unload the bed when my kayak rack and tonneau cover are in place. It worked wonderfully and I'll be leaving it in my truck full time. It's super convenient not having to crawl into the bed or get up into the box whenever I need something from the front of the bed. I used extra trim from my camper as a mounting track to strap down lawn chairs and coolers so they didn't shift around in the bed. It all worked great.

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The awnings worked out wonderfully and the trim mounting system is still very tight. No issues discovered yet.

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Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Tue May 30, 2023 6:21 pm

Got the camper out of storage and washed up. We camped over the holiday weekend in Jubilee College State Park. Next up for the camper is general hub and axle maintenance and hooking up the trailer brakes. I installed the trailer brakes but never bought a controller for the tow rig. I just ordered a Redarc Tow-Pro brake controller. Once that gets installed I’ll adjust the trailer drum brakes and test them out.

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Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby Tom&Shelly » Wed May 31, 2023 6:53 am

Like your curtains. I think Shelly made ours out of similar material.

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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Wed May 31, 2023 10:36 am

Tom&Shelly wrote:Like your curtains. I think Shelly made ours out of similar material.

Tom


Thanks! My wife picked out the fabric and made the curtains. They are probably one of the items most commented on in our camper.
Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby dabend » Wed May 31, 2023 12:44 pm

What is the track that the curtains are hanging on?

Thanks Darrin.
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Sat Jun 03, 2023 7:45 am

dabend wrote:What is the track that the curtains are hanging on?

Thanks Darrin.


It’s an extruded aluminum curtain track we salvaged from the pop up camper before we stripped it for the trailer frame. Looks like sail rite sells them. They also sell the sew on tabs that slide in the rail.

https://www.sailrite.com/Curtain-Track- ... luminum-48
https://www.sailrite.com/Sew-on-Tab-Tape
Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Mon Aug 28, 2023 8:28 pm

Me the wife and the dog made it 1700 miles to Banff National Park! We have an incredible view from our campsite in Tunnel Mountain Village. I’ll post more pics and a trip report when we return next week.

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Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby Tom&Shelly » Tue Aug 29, 2023 7:22 am

Absolutely beautiful! :thumbsup:

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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby KCStudly » Tue Aug 29, 2023 9:55 am

Tom&Shelly wrote:Absolutely beautiful! :thumbsup:


My thoughts exactly.
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Thu Sep 07, 2023 5:31 pm

A few day back from Banff now. The total trip was 4060 miles round trip. I did a good amount of maintenance to the truck and trailer before heading out and it paid off. We had zero issues the entire trip. We left Wednesday, August 23 after work and drove 5.5 hours up Rochester Minnesota. Given the late hour of arrival and the fact it was still 100 degrees when we got there, we booked a hotel room for the night. That would be the last night on our trip that we did not sleep in the camper. The next day we drove 13 hours to Moose Jaw, Canada. We stayed at the Lorne Calvert Campground. It was fine. Perfectly fine place to sleep for a night, but it was a heavily trafficked area and very near a refinery, so not the most pleasant smelling. On Saturday we drove 8 hours to Banff. It was a rather uneventful drive with very little traffic until we hit Calgary. We stopped in Calgary for fuel and both my wife and I were extremely surprised at the density of the housing even at the very outer edges of Calgary. It seemed like they were stacking houses as close as possible, one right on top of the next. Thankfully, we were only there long enough to fuel up and move on.

We stayed our entire trip at the Tunnel Mountain Village 2 campground in site B71. The views were absolutely stunning. The facilities at the campground were great. The campground is very busy between 2:00-5:00 PM every day as the sites have a pretty high turnover rate. However, every night was quite and peaceful in the campground. We spend every evening sitting behind our camper watching the sunset on the mountains. It was wonderful.
First Day
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Last Day
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Day 1 we did a 6 mile hike on C-level Cirque trail and did a little bit of a driving tour of the area. We entered the town of Banff to pick up a few odds and ends. It was not the most pleasant experience with a large truck. Parking is minimal, most spaces very tight and the town is overrun with tourists. We did our best to limit our trips into the local IGA grocery store.
Dusk from our campsite
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Day 2 we got up early and scored parking at Lake Louise. We were in the lot by 7:30AM. I would guess the lot typically fills by 8:00. After that, you are relegated to taking a shuttle, which was not possible since we brought the dog along. Early is definitely better for Lake Louise. As we started a 8 mile hike up to the Plain of 6 Glaciers Tea House there were few tourists out and about around the lake which made for easy photo ops. Upon our return we found the area packed with people, making it difficult to navigate around the perimeter trail. Thankfully most people don't venture more than a half mile or so from the lake so once on the trail it was a very pleasant experience and beautiful hike.
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Day 3 we drove to Emerald Lake with intentions of only hiking the 3 mile lake loop but last minute decided to hike the Glacier Basin trail. It added about 6 miles to the hike, but was well worth it. My wife especially enjoyed the hike up and through the dense, lush forest. The dog did not overly enjoy the blistering heat and little to no shade in the basin, but we made shelter under some lower shrubs from the sun and had lunch before heading back to Emerald Lake. The reward was a nice swim in Emerald lake before completing our hike. The lake is just stunning as are all the bodies of water we observed. Pristine, clean lakes. Unfortunately, on this day we had the worst of the smoke from the wild fires Southwest of us so the picture really don't do it justice.
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Day 4 we drove back up towards Emerald Lake stopping to check out the Paint Pots and Marble Canyon. Both were easily accessible roadside stops right off highway 93 just across the border into British Columbia.
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Day 5-6 we did some shorter easier hikes closer to our campsite, as our flatlander legs were feeling all the elevation we had ascended and descended at the start of the week. Both days were calling for rain so we didn't want to get too far out from the vehicle, though it only ended up raining on Day 6 after we returned to camp. We explored Johnson Lake, and Lake Minnewanka as well as another short hike in the Kootenay forest.
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Unfortunately, it was then time to head home. We took the scenic drive home down highway 93 to Missoula then Interstate 90 over to the Missouri Headwaters State Park. It was a very small primitive campground but was well kept. I wish we could have explored the park more, but we got in just before sunset and had a 13 hour drive ahead of us the next day so we were up and on the road early.
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Our last night on the road was at the Blue Mounds State park outside Luverne, MN. This was our second stay at this campground. I wish it was closer to home as it is a great little campground with excellent facilities. It's a great place to stay if you are traveling down I90 and need a rest day or a place to stay over. We arrived at dark and were back on the road at 9:00AM to complete our 7 hour drive home.

4060 miles of beauty, fun, and adventure. Already looking forward to our next trip!
Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby Tom&Shelly » Thu Sep 07, 2023 6:15 pm

We are jealous! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby Capebuild » Fri Sep 08, 2023 6:51 pm

Beautiful pictures, Cody. Looks like a great time. Nice!!
"Success can be defined as moving from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm".... Churchill

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Re: "Phoenix" 5'x11' Build

Postby cjlangellier » Sat Sep 09, 2023 8:35 am

Tom&Shelly wrote:We are jealous! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Tom & Shelly


We feel so fortunate that we are able to go on these adventures!

Capebuild wrote:Beautiful pictures, Cody. Looks like a great time. Nice!!


Thanks John! I hope you were able to get out and enjoy your camper this summer!
Cody - Westmont, IL

5x11 Teardrop
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=73740
6x12 Cargo Trailer/Ice Shanty/Toy Hauler
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=73743
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