Doozy4212's 2017 TRD OR Build and Trip Reports

You have to wait a year! I feel like that’s the only thing stopping me anyways

 

I know. I have a guy here in Denver that will build me a custom trailer frame so I think I’m going to go the teardrop route. It will cost about the same to build the trailer as it will to buy a GFC, and it will be much easier to customize for my specific needs. I have the skills, it will be time consuming but it should be a fun project

 

Trailers are nice but they can definitely be a pain in the ass off the the beaten path. I'd also never feel comfortable leaving one behind to go explore.

 

I definitely have thought about that side of it too. I don’t do any rock crawling so pulling it 400 miles to Moab, the. 30 miles on a dirt road is enough. I could then just leave it there to go play on fins and things or anything else of that caliber. With something like a lock and roll hitch and the proper precautions. I wouldn’t worry about it being there when I got back. I leave my tent at sites all the time and have never had an issue. Sure that’s different from a trailer but I would obviously leave as little behind as possible to entice a thief.

My GF has always liked the trailer idea as well as it can be insured. For her it also provides a good ‘home base’ and while she doesn’t hate the GFC look, she also doesn’t think it would be awesome to have on the truck at all times since I already have a nice Leer cap and drawers in the back to make camping as easy as possible for the time being

Lastly, my thoughts, leveling a trailer will be a hell of a lot easier with two hydraulic jacks on the back corners in combo with the jack on the tongue. Versus parking on perfect level ground or close to level ground and then some rocks or ramps. And it really comes down to having the pride in building it myself

 

I agree with you on the teardrop.

We have had ours for about 4 years and towed it 35,000 miles already - on and off road. Sure, there have been a couple of times where backing up was a pain, but it is a problem that is solvable - it just a few more minutes than without the trailer.

As for leveling, I find you don't need jacks in the rear corners. I use blocks under the wheels. They are plastic and very lightweight, interlock, and are about 1 1/2" thick each.

 

Sweet! got pics of your setup? This is still somewhat of a pipe dream as I want to buy a house first but maybe by next winter I can begin to think more seriously about this project.

 

Have you ran a RTT on your shell? I'm wondering how it is. CVT is having a great sale right now.

 

I have not, and kinda refuse to. They are big and heavy and would add a lot of extra height/raise my CG and I don't want. I would love the comfort and on paper its great. For me a RTT is only good on a truck when in use and I don't have a good place to store it when not in use. I'll stick with my ground tent and cots for now. My camp setup is not bad, I just always strive for more. Plus it would be really fun to spend 6 months building and perfecting a teardrop

 

I was just curious. IF I do it, they make pully systems to pluck it up to the top of your garage starting around $50. I'd only run it when I used it. Prob once a month or so.

 

Yeah I saw CVTs sale and looked through, but I am getting ready to pay uncle sam, my trucks registration and buy a bunch of parts for my next drawer build. I would definitely need a pulley system to keep it up and away when not in use, and those fancy FrontRunner quick connect/disconnect locking brackets.

On a side note, let's get out and camp sometime when the weather warms up.

 

Check out my build thread on AmericanAdventurist (link in signature).

I also have some trip reports in the off road section (look for the "DE" series).

 

I approve of this trailer build.

 

That’s great, you want to sponsor it too?

 

Actually sure, just sponsor mine and you got a deal.

 

Really enjoyed reading through this build, quality work!

 

Drew, thanks for showing me your windoor lights last summer at the toytec open house. Still wanting to duplicate those.

I have been following your thread and was wondering if you have regeared? I am debating if 5.29 would be too high. My rough math says....

33 + 5.29 @80 2522 rpm
34 + 5.29 @80 2440 rpm

33 + 4.88 @80 2327 rpm
34 + 4.88 @80 2251 rpm

Stock @80 1992rpm

Didn’t you just do a long flat trip to Nebraska? Thoughts?

 

Thank you sir, still more to come! BAMF Hangers and shackles should be here tomorrow and I'll get those on in the next week or two in addition to my extended brake lines.

 

Have not regeared yet. I know there is a lot of math that goes into regearing and @JoeCOVA has the most comprehensive write up on this forum...The 5.29 mega thread. I think a lot of people understand that the RPMs will be a little on the high side but the the transmission holds gears much better at this ratio. During my drive to Omaha, I was on my new 34s and obviously stock gears. The truck did just fine, in fact I feel it drives more predictably with the 34s as opposed to 33s and even stock. Yes its slow but it's also a truck. For its size and weight...it moves imho. I am still debating which gearing I want to go to but I still think that my decision will be 5.29 at the end of the day. @MaxxTRD has a video on his YouTube channel and even the guy at Nitro said as soon as he drove a truck with 4.88s he said it needed 5.29s.

 

UPDATE 2/7/2019:

Quick little update. As of now I have my @ProForce onboard water system, I just ordered my 10 gallon water tank (link in 1st post) and my beastly 54" accuride slides arrived yesterday. Still need to search for and source some parts but V3 of my drawer system is about to be as badass as you could possibly think of!

 

Gonna make a new drawer thread or what.. lets see some pics! Or I'll just come by one day haha