What have you done to your Trailer today?

I installed a Parsec Husky Pro 7, 7-in-1 antenna and ground plane on the XOC yesterday. Drilling a 1.5 in hole in the storage cabinet was the most uncomfortable thing I have done in recent memory and it turned out well. I'm transitioning to nomad living out of the trailer and mobile internet is critical for my remote gig which is why I installed the antenna.

The antenna has foam adhesive securing it to the ground plane and a threaded collar that secures it to the XOC cabinet. I have four rings of automotive RTV around the 16 in ground plane so no water will get into the cabinet. I'm pleased with the install although I would have liked to have black RTV but I grabbed the last tube and it was clear.

I only store light items like my water filter and hose and a few Helinox chairs in the top shelf so I'm not worried about gear slamming into the wire loom / cables.

 

Light day for today. I replaced the 4 pin connector and 3 out of 5 light fixtures today. Both rear taillights and a front side marker light. I even wrapped alot of the wiring in loom from the parts store.

 

Testing reflectix inserts for the bunk windows. So far we've had four nights dip into freezing with one night in the low teens, plus 70 degree days.

They help... marginally. Mostly they make a constant bubble wrap noise in the wind.

They seem to do better when I also put a couple of sheets on the bunk ceiling.

 

This was a minor 15 minute project but it's one that's been eating at me for a while:

Whenever I hook the trailer and energize the battery, the camper radio resets and starts nonstop pinging my phone for a BT pair request. Drives me up the wall. Previously I've had to pull over at the first parking lot (because I always forget and the BT requests always seem to start 10 miles into the trip), get into the camper, and shut the head unit back down.

So I finally put a physical switch on the +12V trigger wire. No more radio reset with every battery disconnect. But also more importantly, it satisfies monkey brain's grog need more clicky clacky switches.






PS, adding a switch means that I now have my old aluminum 3-gang panel laying around. If anyone needs, it's available.

 

Hashtag just pop-up things.

The lift winch finally wore out. Buy a new one for $500, or rebuild the old one for $90. I went option B.

The offending pawl. No wonder the roof didn't want to stay up. Not only was the pawl worn, but when the clutch siezed it stripped the locknut threads somehow. Only way to fix is full disassembly.




So many gears. What am I, Klaus the clocksmith now?



Had to walk to the store to buy snapring pliers. Damn these things.




And back in business. Not shown, me accidentally spooling the winch cable the wrong way. That was a fun half hour of troubleshooting.
But hey, the roof stays where I want it to.

 

Not only this, but, the Curt typically has issues when there is a certain amount of moisture in the air. How much moisture, you ask? Who knows!

Sometimes, a heavy fog will cause issues, sometimes it takes a typhoon.

Good luck figuring it out!


HAHAHAHA.


Also, Red Arc makes a really cool unit that mounts behind the dash, and all that's visible is a small dial to change the input of the the controller.

So, nobody can simply walk up and unplug the brake controller and walk off with it.

 

Redarc was a challenge to install but got it done.

The mount needs to be rigid so the accelerometer sensors function correctly. Using some thin cardboard (they come from my Costco dog bone boxes,
used to separate layers of bones) to make a template. Took a while to figure out how to mount it and clear everything when back together.

With any trailer, you need to be able to tap the trailer brakes if sway occurs (long downhill, passed by 18 wheeler) it slows down the trailer and tucks it in behind you. When that has occurred it's been pucker factor time and you need to tap the brakes within a second. I'm not messing with a cell phone or Bluetooth app, but muscle memory to reach over and tap.

 

I was not too fond of the trailer jack that came with the trailer. The hard to roll on gravel, arm workout to raise and lower.

ARK has steel wheels, sealed bearings, and rubber treads. Dual wheels help with soft stuff. The trailer is tiny at 2200#, but 340 pounds on the tongue. Batwing awing, so often it's drop and position for sun/view, so the nose wheel gets used.

The old RAM jack was 13.3 pounds, and the new ARK is 21.8 pounds. I'll recover some of that weight by removing the heavy chains (meant for a 10,000-pound trailer) and using cables rated for 3500 trailers.


Off with the old:


On with the new:
ARK 350 - Australian Made




Installed:

 

@Rock Lobster

Poking around threads this morning and happen to come across your post!

It's great you adjust to any situation and "MacGyver" things on your trailer (and other things).

What got my attention (besides your 4-legged pup) was the "Depeche" on the radio channel.

As I have mentioned, in a couple of week's time, my wife and I will get to see DM and make a nice travel time.

Anyway, not to take away from this thread...I had a PTI (Pardon The Interruption) moment.

I bought a trail brake unit but ave yet to install it. I'd rent a trailer first before I'd buy one...but I will be ready when the time comes.

 

Starting the Spring shakedown and maintenance, and damnit, it's a lap sealant year.

But since I have the hatch off anyway, maybe I'll procrastinate by organizing a little.


The junk in the trunk:



Idea. Imma going to install some removable shelving.




And organized, somewhat:




Maybe I'll take it out next week, see how it rides.

 

There's nothing like torquing down the last lug nut and cleaning up, and there, half buried under a towel, is the washer that should have gone between a bearing and a castle nut.

 

Tracked down a glycol leak in the webasto today and replaced the crushed jockey wheel mount (I crushed it jackknifing the trailer to turn around on a shelf road in Death Valley that was washed out).

Took me longer to empty the shelf and clean the glycol out of the mats than it did to fix the leak...definitely glad it wasn't worse.








The 2 clamps in the front were snug but the other 4 clamps took at least 2 full turns to tighten with the leaker taking over 3 turns.



I also swapped the jockey wheel travel mount with the mount on the drawbar so I could unhitch the trailer after I crushed it. Ended up buying a couple used off someone that swapped their jockey wheel for an ARK setup. Got 2 mounts for the price of 1 so now I have a spare incase we find ourselves in a similar predicament where we have to jackknife it to turn around.

 

Swapped out the ladder on or trailer with the new design that has more adjustability...hopefully less hole digging to get the feet of the ladder low enough for the tent to fully open. The new ladder has more adjustment at the feet and it has 3 different angle stops vs the single stop on the original ladder. Unfortunately my rivet gun broke setting the first of eight rivets so I had to buy another to wrap up the job this evening.

 

This is one application where I prefer spring clamps. Spring clamps apply constant pressure so as brass and rubber expand/contract, it keeps the pressure and you don't run into loose clamping force (if you overtighten, rubber creeps over time; the solution is just snug enough with a hose clamp and not to crank down on it).

$20 OCR 260 PCS 6-25mm Fuel Line Hose Spring Clip Clamps Fasteners Silicone Vacuum Hose Pipe Clamp Steel Wire Air Tube Water Pipe Clip 12 Sizes

https://www.amazon.com/OCR-6-25mm-Spring-Fasteners-Silicone/dp/B09LLZPZRR?crid=MCEM8E0TPZ1S

Get a pair of decent hose clamp pliers

$25 GEARWRENCH Heavy-Duty Large Hose Clamp Pliers - 3978D

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PIAJF2

Caveat spring clamps do lose tension after 20 years. Hoses get old, yadda. I had some 20-year-old vehicles with dripping fuel, an old hose, and a spring that lost tension.

I have a manual and an air rivet gun. Arthritis in my hands, so an air rivet gun helps if I have more than 12 of those.

 

If the hose clamps come loose again I'll swap the worm drive clamps that came with the trailer with some of these

 

Got the bikes sorted. Ended up being about $150. I already had 2 of the fork mounts but needed new hardware for them. The rear wheels are secured with a Velcro strap.

 

You may want to reconsider this. Rear tire cradles are inexpensive.

Edit: Meh... on second thought you are doing the same thing these mounts are doing just without the piece of billet cradling the tire. Leaving my post up just for consideration.

 

@mic_sierra, I used a tie downs that I have for an awning to secure the rear tires of the kids bikes because they slid around on the crossbars.

The bikes on the outside didn't need these because I was able to feed the Velcro straps through a slot on the rack.

 

@stickyTaco ya, after I looked at rear tire cradles and saw how you were securing the bikes I decided to edit my post. I think you have securing the rear tires covered in your current design. I dig the setup.

 

Things are happening for the upcoming Spring maintenance. I hope. That's a shitload of outdoor fabric to simply toss onto the "never will actually get done" pile.