tony.latham wrote:Thanks Tony! Electrical demand will be the Fantastic, a 65L dual zone Dometic fridge, the exterior LED lights, interior LED lights, charging cell phones/a laptop, an electric tea kettle (1500W) and/or toaster oven (1000W). Those last two were demands from the wife that drove me to the group 31 over something smaller and lighter. Of course if that is overkill I'd be happy to return it and get a smaller AGM if I could get away with it. Are your power demands similar?
Our power demands are similar with the exception of the Dometic. (We use coolers and ice.) And propane:
Since you've looked up the watts on the toaster and teapot, I'm sure you know how fast they will suck that big battery down to its 50% point. (about a half hour?) Hot water and toast are quicker when "cooking with gas."
We charge our phones (3-4 amps), have a Fantastic fan (2 amp/hours), watch a movie on an iPad (4 amps) and preheat the bed with a 12V electric blanket (4 amps). I can't even measure the power our LEDs use. If I weren't using a CPAP at night, which uses another 2 amps/hour, I'd drop down to a 35 amp AGM. I still might give it a shot.
Tony
Everything is more or less sized based upon the kettle and toaster oven. I'll try out a few experiments to see how fast the Partner stove can boil water compared to the electric kettle (4.25 minutes). If it were up to me I would leave both of those behind, but I'm trying to be accommodating since she agreed to give up the indoor shower and separate bathroom. I figure with that battery plus 200W of solar panel I won't have to worry about shore power plug-ins or any contribution from the truck.
Foy1deR wrote:This is like looking into the future. My wife and I have started planning our build. Our initial plans are a little different from yours but the list of wifely needs are strikingly similar. I'll even be pulling it with MGM double cab long bed Tacoma. We'll be visiting some trailer dealers in the coming weeks to make sure that 6x12 is what is going to work for us.
One question though, I've looked at Colorado Trailers, but being from the right coast, getting the trailer seemed to be an issues as well as the steep buy in. Do you find the build quality to be worth the price? The alternative for me would be to buy something local and then modify it for offroad use after the fact.
The build quality is okay, but then again I'm pretty anal about such things. The only reason I purchased it all done was time, if I had 1+ years instead of months I'd be building it. It's a really simple structure, nothing you couldn't build with a tubing bender, a welder, a chop saw, and some layout tools.
You'd probably be just as well served buying a regular old cargo trailer, cutting the leaf spring suspension and axle out of it, then throwing in the Timbren axle-less torsion suspension with larger tires to match. The windows and insulation would be pretty easy to add after the fact. So long as you aren't afraid of doing some work this is probably the best route...
aggie79 wrote::thumbsup:
Nice CT trailer and very nice work.
I'm interested in your build and to see the floor plan when it "firms up." We would like to build something similar but maybe not with all your design's off-road capabilities.
Now that I have access to Solidworks again, I'm going to try and model the inside and create some 3D renderings. I'll be sure to share when I get to that point, hopefully get some dialogue going about various design options.
Rainier70 wrote:Flooded Lead Batteries can be put inside, you just need to put them in a sealed compartment that is vented to the outside.
Such as this:
I'm leaning towards putting the battery in the passenger compartment now with some sort of positive ventilation system like a computer fan to evacuate gasses. As nice as a sealed and vented unit like that is, they are a bit of a PITA to deal with, I'm hoping having a semi-sealed battery compartment with a fan will suffice. After all, I don't want to be the wheeled Hindenberg!
beachguy005 wrote:Foy1deR wrote:This is like looking into the future. My wife and I have started planning our build. Our initial plans are a little different from yours but the list of wifely needs are strikingly similar. I'll even be pulling it with MGM double cab long bed Tacoma. We'll be visiting some trailer dealers in the coming weeks to make sure that 6x12 is what is going to work for us.
One question though, I've looked at Colorado Trailers, but being from the right coast, getting the trailer seemed to be an issues as well as the steep buy in. Do you find the build quality to be worth the price? The alternative for me would be to buy something local and then modify it for offroad use after the fact.
Just an FYI. I looked at those trailers and would have purchased one until I realized I couldn't park it in my yard, or fit it in my garage. I ended up with a smaller C.C. trailer that fits in the garage. One thing I learned is that those off road units that Cargo Craft makes were made in their TX plant and not it their GA plant. I called TX and had to go to a dealer in LA, which was the closest to me in SW FL. They would have to order it from TX but the cost was quite a bit less than the stocked units priced at CO Trailers.
Correct, ours came from the Texas plant. Ours is quite tall, unless you have 10' doors there is no way you are getting it into the garage. It's also a shade over 15', so it's not a shorty either. There's just enough space in our driveway for the trailer and the wife's Civic, but I'll take it!
by Rainier70 » Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:21 pm 
Was so enjoying your enthusiasm and build. Sorry to see you go. Hopefully we will see you back at it some day.
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