FoamStream...

[GPW]

Top cut and trimmed to fit the keystone topper.... back rough sanded flush with the sides ... Almost done here...everything solid as a Rock ... Now on to the door ...



Ps. just thinking it would be Nice to have a little porthole style window right next to the door in the Mini Galley area... The door would have a window too ... naturally ... Just a little more natural light for cooking /food prep ...finding the Beer opener...

[dodgedartgt]

GPW,

How 'bout more pics, like a stand-off quartering rear view?

Mike

[GPW]

OK, give me a few minutes to cool down first ... plenty HOT today ...

[GPW]

Mike , this is about the best I could do without moving the trailer forward , which frankly isn’t going to happen on those flat old tires... Which brings up another question , Tires, rims and fenders ??? No idea what to do about that yet ...

[linuxmanxxx]

What tie size and bolt pattern is it Glen?

[dodgedartgt]

Thnx, that's great. I'm trying to visualize the interior space. Could you maybe put something inside of it to give it scale, maybe camp chairs or something? Are you building the door, or do you already have something?

Mike

[GPW]

Regarding tires .... I have to buy some new tires and wheels ... Have 4 hole 13”s on there now ... Pretty SHOT , both rims and tires ... and both Flat .
reading some tire facts :
"The combined capacity of the tires must equal or exceed the Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) of the axle.
The combined capacity of all of the tires should exceed the loaded trailer weight by 20 percent.
If the actual weight is not available, use the trailer GVW.

I’ve guesstimated the weight of the FS at < 1000lb. From weights of materials , etc. Should be fairly close ...The homemade trailer is fairly stout compared to HF's biggest trailer , bigger thicker everything , so think we could easily load it up to 2000# , not that I’d need or want to ..... So if we get some 12” tires with a good load range it should be OK , huh ? I saw some with a 1200 lb. load range ... so if add the two up we should be way over the 20% margin ... Maybe ??? I’m still not sure of all this ... Any help would be greatly appreciated ...

I have to get some simple fenders too .... something that can bolt under the floor ... A pair of those flat HF fenders would be perfect , but i don’t think they sell them separately ...

The bolt pattern is 4 lugs on what looks like 2 3/4" ctr -ctr... same as my other spare trailer with 12” rims ...

Here’s a shot with one of those Cloud 9 folding recliners everyone has ... and a shop vac...

Please note the interior nose rounding is almost done too ... Just a little more shaping and sanding by hand ...

And yes , I’m building the door , just not today .... time for a little rest ...

[dodgedartgt]

Thnx G,

The pics helps me a lot. You could just about sleep in those chairs :-)

I'm sure you've got a standard 4 x 4" trailer wheel bolt pattern. Measure center to center across the circle, not just from one lug nut / lug bolt to the next. I would opt to keep the 13" wheels rather than downsize to 12" and I wouldn't be too concerned about replacing the rims unless they were REALLY rust pitted on the tire bead seating area.

(BTW, 4 x 4" is the same size pattern as the Vega / Monza / Sunbird et al. I think at some point, there were even 14" rims in the 4 x 4" pattern.)

Just have the tires dismounted, then clean up the bead seat of the rim with wire brush and sandpaper. Personally, I'd just use a a knotted wire wheel on an angle grinder or drill. For that fact, the "wheel" you've been using to shape the inside of the nose should do a bang-up job of cleaning the bead seat up. After that, brush or scrape the loose scale off of the outside and rattle can them for a nicer look.

The advantage of a larger wheel / tire combo is that you can run them at a lower pressure than the 4.80" or 5.30" x 12" tires, helping to add some shock cushioning to the ride. After all, it is gonna be very light. And, larger tires spin at slower RPM's. You don't want to have your spring rate significantly higher than your loaded weight.

If you still can't remove the rims from the hubs, then remove the bearing caps, pull the cotter pin and castellated nut, and take wheels / tires / hubs and all to the tire shop. They'll have an impact gun to loosen the nuts with. You WILL need to inspect and repack the bearings before you start towing it anyhow.

Are you planning on panelling at least the lower walls, to prevent any damage from cargo sliding around the interior when traveling?

Mike

[GPW]

Actually I did sleep in that chair during the Katrina evacuation ... outside on a covered patio ... Very Comfortable ...!!!

The rims on there are pretty badly rusted ... Not really worth fooling with them, but did manage to get them loosened up ... The reason I wanted to go with the smaller tires is for clearance between tire and Floor .... I used no wheel wells and must depend on the spacing for the right clearance .. and we still have to add some fenders too ... probably could use some spacer blocks above the axle to add some height , but thought the smaller tires would be easier (maybe?) ... And I never drive over 55mph (old guy ) especially towing something ... and likely for intended purpose we’ll be traveling much slower than that ... (4.75mph EVAC speed ) ... And the thought had crossed my mind of adding some shocks (nice time to think about that now eh ? )

Paneling ... yes that was one of the ideas , but we won’t be carrying much cargo in the cabin , but in the back of the pickup (TV) ... so there won’t be anything bouncing around inside the trailer .. To save weight , the side inner paneling would have large cutouts that also function as small storage areas in the walls .. something like this .. (see pic)

Now thinking about the front area as a sitting /reading room ... Rather cozy feeling sitting up there ... and the front panelling will be solid ... no holes , no storage , and maybe no shelf as originally planned ...

[linuxmanxxx]

Look at both tractor supply and walmart and get the tire/wheel with the highest ply rating. Make sure you keep them inflated to the 90psi they rate them or they'll chunk rubber.

[GPW]

Steve I checked out both sites and really couldn’t make heads or tails of what they had ... (Sorry, my Dumb!!! ) I did measure across the wheel center from lug to lug and got 4” ... does that sound right ? ... Thinking I could Pirate those rims off the other trailer , save a few bucks ... They’re not so bad as the ones on the FS now ...
Clearance now between tire and floor is 1” ... That’s all ... so I’ll have to do something to get a bit more room ...

[dodgedartgt]

G,

Here are two 12" 6-ply tires at WalMart. (These are tires only.) The prices are by ordering online for pick-up at the store.'
4.80 - 12 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hi-Run-Boat-T ... e/23597300 $31 / ea
5.30 - 12 http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hi-Run-Boat-T ... e/23597312 $35 / ea

The specs show the first is 21.9" tall, and the second at 21.0" tall. but that doesn't seem right to me. I know the 5.30 is a taller tire.

Boy, howdy though... I didn't realize how much more stuff is available on the website than in the store. I've been putting of buying 4.80's so I'm gonna order three of the 5.30's on payday!

Mike

[GPW]

Odd, Wal Mart doesn’t seem to give the load ratings on their tires ???

[linuxmanxxx]

They carry them in the store premounted on white rims go look at the rating on the tire.

[GPW]

OK , I can do that ... today !

Still find myself Confused by all this tire business, so I went outside and measured the tires I have ... The 13” on the trailer measured ~11” from hub center to the top of the tire . The 12” tire (on my spare trailer , measured 10” .... so by going to the smaller 12” tire I only gain an inch of floor height above the tire ... for a total of 2” clearance ... That really doesn’t seem like enough huh ? How much clearance do I really need ? ( I dunno’) Checked around on commercial pop ups and see they weigh as much or more than the FS ...and they use some tiny (shorter)looking tires ... also checked around and found no spacer blocks for trailer axles ... Now I’m just wondering if I need to add some wheel wells to the FS (which might be , er , difficult at this time ), or get the spring holders re-welded with a little more height, or just stick some smaller tires on there and not worry about it ... This is just an EVAC trailer which we hope will never be used (long story)... But if it does , it would be nice if it worked.. tire wise ... Really don’t want to blow the retirement on a couple “specialized’ tires , but we do have to get this done .... somehow ... and soon ......