Don & Christi's 6 x 10 Cargo Conversion

[d30gaijin]

You’re a Good son Don !!!

GPW,

Bet you thought I was dead. I ain't.

Been busy tending to mom (spent the last 35 days in Tahoe at mom's place) but now I am back in Boise, for the time being. Thankfully, Christine will be retiring at the end of this school year (a month away) and we will be hitting the road with CT in tow back to Tahoe to tend to mom and set up a base camp at her place. From there we will venture out for bird watching, camping, and trips to Napa California to visit Christine's parents and siblings, my daughter, my grandkids, and old friends (those who ain't dead yet). There are worse things in life than spending a summer in beautiful Lake Tahoe, Nevada at no cost, eh. Obviously I won't be getting much work done on our CT, instead we will be using it as is... hey! Gotta make do with what yer dealt with... and so we will.

Be that as it may, we will be sending actual camping reports, places visited, photos of same, and how many more faults we find in our CT conversion design, all of which will, hopefully, be useful information to other CT converters i.e., there will be less this summer about my lack of woodworking skills to finish building the CT and more of what really works for us based on what we have built so far. Think of it as a report from the field as we go through this or that and find this or that problem over an extended period of time. I'm talking a couple of months, at least, in a 6x10 CT on the road to Shambala.

Stay tuned...

Don Out West

[d30gaijin]

After our previous trip to California and Nevada we realized we needed to do something about how we carry a spare tire for the CT. On that trip we carried the spare under the lower bunk bed but that ate up room we would normally use for storage bins that hold supplies. I did some on-line sleuthing and found a Fulton spare tire mount that bolts to the tongue of the trailer on one side from Etrailer.com. It mounts the tire in a vertical position off to one side of the tongue. I was taking a chance because I have a tongue box and wasn't sure there would be enough room and clearance, but it worked out quite well and is a good solid bolt on fit, which was preferred by me to a weld on option.

I edited this post to include cropped shots of the spare tire and mount to show additional detail if anyone is curious.

Don

[Wolfscout]

I have the same problem with a spare tire and so far have been undecided what to do.
I am in the process of building a box to go on the tongue to hold my small generator. I'm hoping when it's in I can slide it in there.
I had to remove my center mount jack last spring and I put a welded on swinging jack on the road side. So I have a bit more room for a larger box.
I've been gnawing on where one of those Fulton mounts could be bolted to the right rear side to hold the spare behind the tire fender. still thinking on it.
Yours looks good.

I don't think I could do without sliding windows one on each side for cross ventilation.

[Gadget Man]

Don,
The spare tire holder looks great. But I'm more interested in your "first bike" the Yamaha RD 350.
My first street bike was a 1979 Yamaha RD 400. It was the red 2-stroke model. I bought it from a dealer in Sioux Falls SD. He said someone traded it in because he wanted something different to ride double with him and his wife. his loss = my gain
I had been riding dirt bikes for years, mostly Honda 4-strokes. When I took the RD-400 out for a test ride, I did a wheelie all the way across the parking lot then came back and told the salesperson that I'd take it. SOLD.
I bought some flat black headers for it right away and added a little cafe fairing and some straight bars. It would do over 110 in the quarter mile we had marked off on some empty tar road outside of town.
I rode that bike for a few years, then put all the stock parts back on and sold to a local school teacher, I don't think he truly realized what he had just bought, that thing was a rocket-ship on wheels. I remember running it up to 11-12 grand on the tach before shifting.
I then bought a Honda 1979 XR 500, then went back to street bikes with a 1981 Suzuki GS 650.

Yes, Kenny Roberts dominated the race scene back then.

Wow small world.

Gadget Man

[d30gaijin]

I have the same problem with a spare tire and so far have been undecided what to do.
I am in the process of building a box to go on the tongue to hold my small generator. I'm hoping when it's in I can slide it in there.
I had to remove my center mount jack last spring and I put a welded on swinging jack on the road side. So I have a bit more room for a larger box.
I've been gnawing on where one of those Fulton mounts could be bolted to the right rear side to hold the spare behind the tire fender. still thinking on it.
Yours looks good.

I don't think I could do without sliding windows one on each side for cross ventilation.

Larry,

Carrying a spare tire behind the fender would be a good spot but I suspect you'd have to go with a weld to the frame installation.

We've given a lot of thought to windows and simply feel we don't need them. We like the stealth look, not to mention some days we like to sleep in and the dark of a windowless trailer can be nice. What we have decided to do is put screens on the rear and side doors for flow through ventilation. I'm looking into those split down the center screens with magnets i.e., an actual screen door isn't required, one just busts through the screen and the magnets close it back up... as seen on TV.

Don

[Wolfscout]

Larry,

Carrying a spare tire behind the fender would be a good spot but I suspect you'd have to go with a weld to the frame installation.

We've given a lot of thought to windows and simply feel we don't need them. We like the stealth look, not to mention some days we like to sleep in and the dark of a windowless trailer can be nice. What we have decided to do is put screens on the rear and side doors for flow through ventilation. I'm looking into those split down the center screens with magnets i.e., an actual screen door isn't required, one just busts through the screen and the magnets close it back up... as seen on TV.

Don,
I got a package of those Magic Screens from Walmart and modified them to fit the height of my camper doorway. They seem to work just fine and are removable by way of velcro. might take two sets to go across the cargo trailer rear door. I'm still considering how bad I'd want to do that or not.
I've liked how they work so far; but I think I'd have to remove them during a major load and unloading session of gear to prevent hanging up in them.
There's images on my thread.http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=44867&start=150 I've since gotten the wife to sew the bottom hem/border back on and all is good now.

[d30gaijin]

I got a package of those Magic Screens from Walmart and modified them to fit the height of my camper doorway. They seem to work just fine and are removable by way of velcro. might take two sets to go across the cargo trailer rear door. I'm still considering how bad I'd want to do that or not.
I've liked how they work so far; but I think I'd have to remove them during a major load and unloading session of gear to prevent hanging up in them.
There's images on my thread.http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=44867&start=150 I've since gotten the wife to sew the bottom hem/border back on and all is good now.

Larry,

Thank you for the link to your build and for the information about getting the screens at Walmart. Those screens are exactly what I had in mind but wasn't sure where to get them (I remembered seeing them on TV sometime back but forgot where they were advertised).

Tomorrow I will attempt to put air shocks on my Jeep Cherokee (bought them a year ago but never got around to installing them but need to before our return trip to Nevada and California with our CT). If I get that chore done I then plan on cutting the Oak plywood to make the overhead galley cabinets for the CT, not something I am looking forward to as my jigsaw skills are seriously lacking, hell my wood working skills are seriously lacking, which is why I so admire the work of builders like Gadget Man. Pics will follow. I have two more weeks to make some serious effort on our CT conversion before we hit the road for a couple of months. We'll hit the road no matter what but there are things I'd really like to get finished, not everything but some things.

Don

[d30gaijin]

Made a bit more progress today, not on the CT but on the tow vehicle.

Since it isn't financially in my realm just now to buy a Ford F250 pickup, and what with the upcoming trip back to Lake Tahoe and California, I figured I'd better do something with the tow vehicle I have, my 2001 Jeep Cherokee. I've suffered several oil leaks so spent 8 hours in my local mechanic's place getting them fixed... to the tune of a new oil pan gasket, rear main seal, and oil filter to engine block seal. Good stuff to get done.

Today I finally installed the air shocks I bought two years ago on the butt end of the Jeep. They should prevent the ridiculous towing conditions I experienced previously even with the fairly light weight CT, meaning butt end of the Cherokee way down when the CT is attached (see previous pics in this build thread). The worst part of the install of the shocks was getting the old shock absorber retention bolts broke loose. I think they are the original shocks that came with the Jeep when it was new in 2001 and were just short of being rusted in place. But I finally did get them broke loose and from there the new air shock installation was fairly straight forward, but I did lube the threads of all bolts/nuts with anti-sieze compound so I, or the next person (who owns this Jeep) won't have to suffer what I did trying to get the bolts/nuts broke loose. Routing the air lines to the shocks was fairly straight forward but there is a need to avoid the exhaust system air line routing on the passenger side shock in getting it routed to the butt end of the Jeep to mate with the air line T and fill nozzle (by the way, replacing the rear shocks on a Jeep Cherokee is ten fold easier than replacing the rear shocks on a 96 Jaguar XJ6 wherein one must disassemble nearly half of the Jag's rear independent suspension to get the old shocks out and new shocks installed. We love our Jag but I pray I never have to do the rear shocks again).

I likely won't be hooking the CT to the Jeep Cherokee for another couple of weeks but when I do I will take and post photos here for comparison of before and after air shock installation with the CT hooked to the Jeep in terms of ride height at the butt end of the Jeep.

Next on my list of "To Do" things before departure is cutting the oak ply for the over the galley cupboard enclosure. Yeah, I know. I said I was going to do that at least three to ten posts back but all things happen in their own good time. Our CT is campable so getting the tow vehicle in good shape has taken precedence. After all, if I can't get the CT to where we want to go what good is it?

Don

[Wolfscout]

Next on my list of "To Do" things before departure is cutting the oak ply for the over the galley cupboard enclosure. Yeah, I know. I said I was going to do that at least three to ten posts back but all things happen in their own good time. Our CT is campable so getting the tow vehicle in good shape has taken precedence. After all, if I can't get the CT to where we want to go what good is it?

Don

*thinks*

They make good a doghouse for when you need to get away from the wife if you have one that is nagging and mad at you.

[Engineer Guy]

A friendly reminder... The small volume of [my] Air Shocks means they ramp up in pressure very quickly. You'll get it down to 'x' seconds, and that can act as a guide to not overfill Shocks.

[d30gaijin]

A friendly reminder... The small volume of [my] Air Shocks means they ramp up in pressure very quickly. You'll get it down to 'x' seconds, and that can act as a guide to not overfill Shocks.

EG,

Excellent point and something that is a concern of mine, the small volume of air in the shocks. Thankfully they are rated 20psi to 150psi and my compressor won't put out more than 125psi, which is fine if I am at home when I fill the shocks. What I am worried about is filling them on the road where I don't know what the max psi output or flow volume of the unit might be. Situations I will be facing are starting out from home, CT attached to the Jeep and readying it for towing i.e., I fill the shocks via my compressor. Then I get to a destination and disconnect the CT from the Jeep and park the CT for several weeks while we day trip in the Jeep. I will need to bleed shock air back to 20psi for non-towing (per the manufacturer's recommended minimum 20psi at all times in the shocks). Then weeks pass and I'm hooking the CT back up and going to a service center of some sort to use their HP air to pressurize the shocks to a higher psi to even out the Jeep & CT loading.

I carry an excellent quality dial type pressure gauge in my Jeep so will watch filling very closely. As you note, we're talking a mere few seconds of air pressure application at the inlet valve.

Again, an excellent point and one I thank you for sharing. I have a little experience with air shocks but that was years and years ago, so I've probably forgotten more than I thought I knew about them.

Don

[8ball_99]

I've got a set of airbags on my tundra. Not air shocks but I imagine filling them is about the same. You will get use to it. They don't take much air at all. Something you might want to consider. I have on board air on my Duramax, but on the tundra I just went with a smal 12v air compressor and I wired it to a 7way plug. Both my valves are in the bumper at the license plate. So its very easy to plug the compressor into the 7way and air up the bags that way. 12v compressor can handle a lot of psi but it pumps air pretty slow. Which works great for the airbags.. Mine also has a gauge on it so flip it off and I can see the psi.. Sure the gauge is not dead on, But all you do is put the same psi in both from the same gauge. If the built in gauge reads a little high or low doesn't matter as long as it reads consistently. Mine is just the small green slime brand.

[d30gaijin]

I've got a set of airbags on my tundra. Not air shocks but I imagine filling them is about the same. You will get use to it. They don't take much air at all. Something you might want to consider. I have on board air on my Duramax, but on the tundra I just went with a smal 12v air compressor and I wired it to a 7way plug. Both my valves are in the bumper at the license plate. So its very easy to plug the compressor into the 7way and air up the bags that way. 12v compressor can handle a lot of psi but it pumps air pretty slow. Which works great for the airbags.. Mine also has a gauge on it so flip it off and I can see the psi.. Sure the gauge is not dead on, But all you do is put the same psi in both from the same gauge. If the built in gauge reads a little high or low doesn't matter as long as it reads consistently. Mine is just the small green slime brand.

8Ball_99,

Hey thanks for a great idea! I had not thought about a 12v DC compressor. That would work perfect because I have a 12v DC plug-in cigar lighter receptacle mounted on the external front of my CT. I put it there for use with our Big Kahuna 12v DC shower but it will work great for a 12v DC plug in compressor (or anything) and the best part is when the CT is hooked to my Jeep the 12v DC receptacle is like two feet away from my air shock fill valve, meaning the compressor should be within easy reach of the 12v receptacle and the fill valve.

Again, thank you for a great idea.

Don

[Goatdog]

I can vouch for the Green Slime 12V compressor (believe there are two, the bigger $50+ one is what I got). I off-road my 4Runner on the beach and use it to reinflate my tires afterwards. It has seen a lot of use and is very fast. I do two tires, let it cool for 3 -5 minutes, and air up the other two.

Of course, with airbags they'll inflate in seconds and cooling won't be necessary.

Got mine at Walmart

[Engineer Guy]

Yep, I use a +12 VDC Compressor for Air Shocks/Tire Inflation [in the Boonies]. Due to the Amps they draw, and minimal Wire size run internally by many Vehicle OEMs, you do have to be a tad conscious of Voltage Drop. Although I have a Cargo Compartment +12 VDC Receptacle, I usually plug in up at the Center Console. Just my thing...

Another plus is that the slower ramp up in pressure from a portable Compressor means you don't have to worry much about Air Shock overpressurization.