Well it's official. ZooZooBee build. 4/27/11: Done !

[tcolar]

Thanks for the kind comments.

I had done a few short trips before (maybe within a 100 miles or so), but last week i did the first big one.

We left from Kent, Wa to San Jose, CA on december 16 (slept overnight near medford) with the wife and the 2 kids.

Left the kids with the grandparents in San Jose and went on a small trip in southern CA for ~4 days along highway 1 (Monterey, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, Moro bay etc..), with sunny days in the 60's !!

That was fun as there was no planning and we just pulled in random State parks along highway 1, most where pretty empty. Most didn't have hookup, but that was ok with us as the trailer is well insulated and we had many blankets, plus we have electricity/battery.

Came back from San Jose to Kent, WA on the 27th (drove all the way in 1 looooong day).

Total of ~2400 miles.

No problems to report besides a blown car fuse (not railer related), and the fact my swing away jack tends to scrap too much when going down driveways/curbs (sparker), especially since it seem to get lower and lower the longer the trailer is attached to the car (shocks getting compressed).
I'll try to see if i can get a slightly raised hitch or maybe re-arrange/trim my jack a bit.

One other small thing is that it is insulated so well, that condensation can build u under the mattresses, so it's good to take them of the floor to let them vent/dry.

Didn't really have any issues going up hills even with my 2.5 4 cylinder ... on the steepest hills i might have had to slow down to 45 in the worst case, but that was in zones market 45 anyhow. I mostly drove at 65mph, 70 max.

Anyway it went great and I was lucky that there was no snow whatsoever even at Siskiyou pass which is unusual for this time of year.

Here are a few pics:

Carmel beach:
<img src="http://www.colar.net/trailer_ca/IMG_20111219_150721.jpg" width="800"/>

Big sur state park:
<img src="http://www.colar.net/trailer_ca/IMG_20111220_094341.jpg" width="800"/>

Highway 1:
<img src="http://www.colar.net/trailer_ca/IMG_20111220_154943.jpg" width="800"/>

San simeon state park:
<img src="http://www.colar.net/trailer_ca/IMG_20111221_110025.jpg" width="800"/>

Moro Bay state park:
<img src="http://www.colar.net/trailer_ca/IMG_20111222_094624.jpg" width="800"/>

[S. Heisley]

Congratulations! It looks like you did a good job on your trailer and had a beautiful trip. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Don't forget to post some pics in the Completed in 2011 thread:

http://tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=47886

[parnold]

Very nice looking! I'm glad to hear that you felt it towed well with your 2.5. I'm building my 2nd that I'll be towing with my Impreza. I'm curious how you found looking in your side mirrors. I'm thinking of a little wider than what you built. 6.6' outside dimension. How do you think an extra 6" on each side will affect visibility?

Enjoy your trailer in the coming year!

[tcolar]

I made it specifically the same size as the car (~5.6 wide), so looking in the mirror is great, i see the the walls but it does not obstruct any of the road at all ... in hindsight i think you can probably go up to 6'2 at least before it even starts being in the way. The cool thing with going over 6' wide is you can sleep across, which is a huge space saver.

[parnold]

Thanks for the quick reply. That's exactly what I was thinking about maximizing space.

[campmaster-k]

Congrats on your finish. Thanks for posting

[rand_98201]

nice work

[Woodstramp]

Outstanding. Good work. Wish I would have known to build one of these back when my kids were the same age as yours. Good timing.

Also, our constuction techniques were simular......I like the way you did the "fenders". Gonna totally rip that idea off.

[tcolar]

First long trip with the trailer : 2 full weeks and about 4000+ miles, didn't get any issues at all.

My trip was

http://mapq.st/QpRv9S

- Seattle to Bozeman MT
- Bozeman, MT to Yellowstone NP and Gd Teton NP
- From there to Logan, UT
- Logan, UT to Capitol Reef NP, UT.
- Capitol Reef NP to Moab, UT (Cannyonland NP and Arches NP)
- From there to 4 corners National Monument (UT/CO/NM/AZ)
- Then Monument Valley, AZ
- From there to page, AZ (Antelope canyon)
- Then to Bryce Canyon NP, UT
- Then Great Basin NP in Nevada (very very lonely road : UT-21)
- Then back to Seattle, saw Shoshone falls in twin falls, Idaho on the way.

Plenty of high elevation on the way, many 8k+ passes over the great divide in MT/WY and also in UT
Highest I went is 10.000 feet at the Great Basin Lehman peak campground (highest road and campground in NV)

Didn't really have any issues pulling the trailer, but I usually would try to keep it under 3k RPM, 4K max on steep uphills ... sometimes than meant going 45 on the few very steep grades over 7 %

What felt the steepest was probably the long steep grade out of garden city, UT up beaver mountain (highway 89) ... not sure what the grade is but it's steep, long and steady.
Other slight annoyances are when there are hgh speed(75/80 mph) limits on highly freeways like I70 in Utah, hard to keep up with the trucks there !

Few pics of the trailer:

Vantage, WA:


Bozeman, MT


Yellowstone, WY - contnental divide


Afton, WY


Near Capitol Reef, UT


Very very lonely Utah 21 ... nothing and nobody for 80 miles


Camping at 10.000 feet - great basin NP, NV
g2_itemId=33731

[KCStudly]

Great trip and great pics! Thanks for sharing.

[aggie79]

Great trip and great pics! Thanks for sharing.

I agree whole-heartedly! Wonderful. That sounds like a trip of a lifetime.

Maybe some day....

[parnold]

Bravo!

[tcolar]

I was never too happy with the original paint job I did.
While it was water tight it didn't look great as it was too brown and had a lot of bad paint streak.

So after a good sanding I decided t repaint (Rustoleum enamel) and while it's still not perfect, I'm really not very good at painting, it is better and more modern(or retro modern ?) looking.

[Ron Dickey]

I like it, it stands out and will be seen on the road. looks like you had a good trip and learned a lot along the way. I am in the middle of a build right now and look forward to that same fun filling.

Ron

[tcolar]

After a few Years using the trailer wanted to post a few lessons "hard learned" for others not to repeat

I really haven't had many issues at all here are a couple tips:

1) Caulk everything that could get lose.
I did almost lose the door handle once, it dropped as I parked !
But basically anything that is screwed/bolted in place might get loose over time because of vibration, a little caulk secures it in place.

2) Have a spare key (or 2).
I once locked all my car keys and the trailer key in the trailer, while in the middle of nowhere.
I have a spare key for the trailer, but it was in the car which was locked !

The keys happened to be behind the window that was very sightly cracked open and I managed to get to it although had to tear the screen, bend the window frame, and slash my hand pretty bad to get to it, still I was lucky.
So in any case make sure you have spare keys or alternate ways to get in at all times.

3) Proper hitch
I had a hitch with a 3/8 rise for the longest time and while it worked just fine the trailer was tilted forward some and also easily scraped when going down driveways and such.
I recently replaced it with a 2 1/2' rise drawbar and t makes a huge difference for only 25$.
It levels the trailer and makes it much less likely to scrape and also lowers the tong weight a bit. Should have done this years ago.

4) "Toilet"
I had one of those coleman camping "flush toilet". First, we very rarely used it and only ever for #1, but the thing kept leaking, I believe only from the fresh water tank, but still it would soak the foam mattresses, eeek !
I recently replaced it with a "hassock toilet" which is really mostly of a glorified bucket. But that with bags & kitty litter is just much simpler, no leaks to deal with and so much simpler to clean up (throw the bag).
The "flush" just isn't worth it it never really worked anyway.