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

[flboy]

Are the equipped with air brakes?

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Yes.. they work well. :-)

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[Padilen]

That's good.
But I asked because I think air brakes require a different drivers endorsement. @least in Michigan for commercial it is wonder if for personal too. I'd hope so anyway.

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[flboy]

Yes, I hold a Class B CDL with Passenger endorsement. That covers basically anything over 26,000 lbs. In Florida , the CDL testing and etc. included air brakes. Should be valid for any state I drive in.

I had the equivalent of a Class A in the Army I use to pull my mobile EW shop with. I did not know I could use that and get the equivalent CDL in Florida and had no use for it in my civilan career after I got out of the Army and went to college, so it all expired. I later got the Class B to drive the busses doing exactly what I did two weeks ago. It comes in handy.

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[Padilen]

That sounds like MI endorsements too.i just have chauffeur and cycle.

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[McDave]

[quote="flboy"]and I backed two of the bikes out to clean up the workbench before I start.... big mistake.. that hardest part was deciding which one to ride.

I still need to clean up the work bench. LOL


I am thinking a bus similar to that would make a nice project? Get one with a handicap lift and it would make a great toy hauler. Our church picked that bus up a few years ago at Auction for ~$12,000. Of course they painted it and had to do some maintenance, but all in all... very solid! . It has a CAT engine and an Allison transmission and only has 72,000 miles. Just broke in! I better stop thinking about this before I get in trouble with the Mrs.. I told her I would build it out nice. Can't do it in the backyard like I did the CTC however. Big stumbling block... probably should forget about it for now!

[quote]

Bingo!
I can't get anything done by the time I move the bikes and cars most of the day is gone. You gotta take em' for a ride if you are gonna move em'. My work bench looks like a junkyard exploded. I'm starting to run out of tools and supplies cause it's all tangled up in that mess.
I have been thinking for a long time about building/converting a larger vehicle to RV/toy hauler and not pulling a trailer. I'm not necessarily sold on the bus but that is the most obvious choice. My problem is much like yours in that the fleet is getting pretty big and all the covered storage is spoken for. Anything left outside for extended periods just begins to rot and eventually becomes part of the landscape. The only way is to sell off the CTC and tow vehicle. But those are multi use vehicles and the bus is pretty specialized. I would consider selling all of it, I mean ALL OF IT, and do the full time RV lifestyle until I am no longer able. Then I'd just have the wife drop me off at a nice farm in the country, and she can go on to build a new life. She is young and strong. Uhhhggggg.......
That went downhill in a hurry. Keepin' the CTC for a while.

McDave

[flboy]

That sounds like MI endorsements too.i just have chauffeur and cycle.

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Ditto on the motorcyle endorsement. That is the best one. ;-)

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[flboy]

Bingo!
I can't get anything done by the time I move the bikes and cars most of the day is gone. You gotta take em' for a ride if you are gonna move em'. My work bench looks like a junkyard exploded. I'm starting to run out of tools and supplies cause it's all tangled up in that mess.
I have been thinking for a long time about building/converting a larger vehicle to RV/toy hauler and not pulling a trailer. I'm not necessarily sold on the bus but that is the most obvious choice. My problem is much like yours in that the fleet is getting pretty big and all the covered storage is spoken for. Anything left outside for extended periods just begins to rot and eventually becomes part of the landscape. The only way is to sell off the CTC and tow vehicle. But those are multi use vehicles and the bus is pretty specialized. I would consider selling all of it, I mean ALL OF IT, and do the full time RV lifestyle until I am no longer able. Then I'd just have the wife drop me off at a nice farm in the country, and she can go on to build a new life. She is young and strong. Uhhhggggg.......
That went downhill in a hurry. Keepin' the CTC for a while.

McDave

Lol! Sounds like we have a similar dilema. I guess we should just let it go. Not that I am unhappy with my setup now... just like building stuff.

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[flboy]

I Installed the rollers and made curtains for the loft bed area while I have the CTC around front of my neighbor's house loading up for a camping trip next weekend. I made them a little longer to accommodate the bed to move down further on the tracks, but I may cut them to be just above the wood fascia in the front. I have not decided how I want that yet.


I think I am going to go to ONF and ride the forest roads on my KTM-690R and swim in the springs. I need to install the knobbies this week before I go. If I don't get to it, I will throw in the 450EXC.








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[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;


To funny, really, I scrolled a few pixels to see the whole photo and it remined me of the "Rack Curtains"
we had on the ships when I was a Naval critter. As some slept or napped while the lights were on they
needed a way to block out the light so sliders with thick curtains to block the annoying light. Yours look
like a thinner material but I was at an instant chuckle factor of 8 on a 10 scale. Ours came to the bottom
of the rack (bed), perhaps an inch from the bottom at the least and were 2 piece.



hank

[flboy]

HI Hank... That is the reason for them. Taking a nap in a rest stop or etc.. They will dim the ambient light. Also, I have a lot of little indicator lights and etc. in the trailer.. Once my eyes adjust to darkness, all those little LED's and etc. seem to be bright. This will help dark it out. ... plus, I don't have to make the bed.. now I can just block it out.

[flboy]

Decided to trim the loft privacy curtains shorter. It will be rare that I drop the bed much lower and they will still cover up to about half the height of the mattress if I do drop it down to the next slot.



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[flboy]

I finally trimmed the ramp. I had the aluminum for a while. I think it looks better.

















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[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

,
Don, ya just keep on makin' it better. How much more can ya do ?


hank

[Iconfabul8]

Ramp looks great! Mine is still bare wood, maybe that will be the next on my 2Bdun list.
Tell us about that thing against the spare tire. It appears to be a directional antenna of some sort (tv, wifi, cell, or ham?)
I am currently in the market for a wifi extender for the CT. Been looking at starting with these and maybe go to an outside
antenna if the stick on the window method doesn't work. They do however seem to get some pretty good reviews.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/110483822799
https://www.ebay.com/itm/380511450305
https://www.ebay.com/itm/110952351863

[flboy]

Hi Iconfabul8. That is my High Gain Directional I use with my SureCall Fusion 4G Cell Phone Booster. Typically, if I can get a weak 3G signal outside with my phone, I can use that and have a full strength 4G LTE signal inside the camper. You have to have something to amplify. This antenna has 12db of gain in forward direction (each 3db doubles signal strength) . I just point it ( I have an App) in the direction of the nearest tower and let it do its thing. It works with all North American Carriers. I can stream Netflix with full bars in my camper with only a weak signal outside. Typically, you need something to help unless you are real close to a tower given the aluminum shields all the signals from your cell phone when you are inside anyhow. This setup allows me to operate in the fringes as well. Here is a pic of it deployed when camping in ONF. There have been times where my phone could not detect a signal, and I still was able to pull it in with the directional. It has gain in both directions (transmit and receive) and the inside unit repeats and amplifies way beyond what a cell phone has the capability to do.

In an urban setting, I have an omnidirectional which I do not need to point. It has lower gain, so in the really fringe areas, I need the extra gain and use the directional.


For a WiFi range extender, definitely get something with an outside antenna. The aluminum skin on a trailer kills/shields the rf signal. If you get anything, it is coming through a window or top vent cover which may not be the ideal angle or etc. for line of sight. I have a WiFi range extender, however, so far, I have never been in a spot that had WiFi available where I could not get my 4G LTE signal which always turns out faster.