1998 Aliner Off-Road edition

[Colorado_Outback]

Good idea on the LED's, I think ill do the same to mine.

I have the same worry about my setup. The propane, fridge, battery, and stove are all on the same side. The water tank is centered in the front just below the cab over. Heater is on the opposite side but it weighs almost nothing in comparison to the other stuff.
That said, I don't notice anything weird on or off road. I am planning on moving the propane and battery down to the deck at some point.

 

[Colorado_Outback]

As for the battery tie downs you could fabricate an angle frame and use countersunk screws to secure it to the floor. 1" or 1.250 angle would keep the batteries from side shifting and at an inch or more tall your trailer would probably have to be airborne for them to come out of there.

 

[skersfan]

Your drop cord, also charges the batteries when plugged in at home, or should. I would keep it, or rewire to a male 110 outdoor plug and use a regular 10 gauge drop cord. The batteries should not be much of a problem other than tongue weight when moving the trailer around. Not going to affect any off roading.

Most Aliner/Chalets have the stove, sink, furnace on the driver side. The battery up in the passenger side front corner. as to venting, I would suggest a small one out the side of the trailer at the level of the seat bottom, IE if it is on the passenger side. If the batteries are not AGM there will be fumes. A sheet of black plastic, heavy mill under the seat and a rubber seal on the bottom of the cushion should keep it out.

You should be able to bolt a battery box frame directly through the floor, of course you will want to monitor that and seal it. I would not use just screws in to the floor. Another way would be tie down hooks and a ratcheting strap over them. Normally not enough room for them to slide around in that area. Again if on the passenger side.

 

[Petrolburner]

My batteries are on the driver side, sane as every thing else. There is a vent that was plumbed to the old battery box, just need to setup a hood for it to contain the fumes I guess.

As far as the cord goes, I'd not remove the functionality completely, just be able to bypass the converter to go directly to a smarter battery charger, with lighter wire and a normal style plug.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

 

[Petrolburner]

I wired up a foot pedal switch for the faucet. Now I can wash my hands without having to hold the handle in the up position. Should help to save on water as well as keep the germs off the faucet handle. Secured some wires with a piece of hose and a zip ties as a stand-off to alleviate potential chafing too. The wiring back there could use a distribution block and some labels.

 

[Petrolburner]

I'm no electrician, but the wiring I find on used equipment I purchase is always disappointing. Take for example the fuse holder, a good idea with silly execution. Previous owner used a wire tap, which in and of itself I'm not fond of for its original purpose, but to use it instead of a butt splice? Why?

5 minutes, a butt splice and a piece of shrink tubing later and now I have a reliable connection.

 

[skersfan]

I have never really looked inside the older Aliners. It appears totally different than the Chalets I am used to. The sink is more centrally located on the older Chalets. Guess they had to make them different for patent problems. I just assumed they would be very similar inside, as they are almost identical on the outside. Does it have a shower on the passenger side. Have not read the entire post, duh!!!

 

[Petrolburner]

You've got some reading to do then! Ours is tiny, the only water is the sink, room temperature.

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[skersfan]

Yea for sure, mine had windows on both sides of the door, bed/couch on the back and bed/table along the front. I have seen the smaller ones, but never really paid any attention to them. I did look at a Chalet in Beaumont a few months back. I did not recall it looking like that. Either way it will make a great little trailer. I am anxious to see your upgrades and personalization.

We had kinda planned on doing one, but the wife had come up with a new idea for keeping sleeping bags dry. She says it is simple, put a Marriot around it. I think our serious camping days are over. Wants to sell the fifth wheel and by a small motor home.

Maybe looking for a 55 Ford Crown Victoria again. Okay with me I guess.

I am selling my personal Tear Drop, and pulling the plug on building any more. Regular work is taking too much time and I no longer want to work all the hours to build them.

Anyway, you have the best trailer for the sport. Just spend some time making the frame stable, maybe a better locking system. I had mine come loose a couple of times on twisting areas. Still would pick one over any other thing out there. Hope you enjoy it half as much as I have enjoyed mine.

 

[Petrolburner]

Wants to sell the fifth wheel and buy a small motor home.

Like this? Small motorhomes can be pretty cool.

 

[java]

Like this? Small motorhomes can be pretty cool.

This with the A-Liner roof cut into the top. Now we are talking

 

[skersfan]

No, I think she has something a little more traditional in mind. Danged woman.

Actually she is talking about going back to our old roots, 1955-56 Crown Victoria's. We showed them on the National Level in the early 90's. Restored quite a few. She is tired of the off roading/camping scene it seems. I am selling my Tear Drop at the FJ Summit in July, then will try to pick up a Glass Top Crown. Getting tough to find though.

I will continue to monitor your progress though. I truly believe you can make this size and type of trailer very capable. So much better than the box and tear drop designs for comfort, and enjoyment.

 

[Dvsjw_Betterhalf]

:wings: :victory: Gee.... I wonder who is buying Skersfan's trailer ? :wings: :jump:

 

[Petrolburner]

Spent another 2 nights in the trailer this past weekend, 8 total since we bought it. Batteries worked great and I love my LED lights and footswitch for the water pump. Ran the furnace every night and left a light on in the camper once it got dark until I went to bed just because I can :costumed-smiley-007 Measured the voltage to be 12.71 at the end of the day Sunday

So with that information, I don't think I have a need for a solar panel. I don't have enough days off in a row to wear down the batteries! When we go to Baja the truck will recharge the batteries as we drive so it seems unlikely that we'll need to spend the money to setup solar or buy a generator. I can run a lot of gasoline through my Tundra at idle before I'll have eclipsed the cost of a small Honda generator. I did wish I had a chainsaw for firewood gathering however.

Plenty of toys to play with this weekend. Got some good Hobie Cat sailing in, paddling, mountain biking, and drinking around the campfire! :friday:

 

[Petrolburner]

I added a trailer hitch to my 2005 C6 Z51 so I could pull the Aliner to the racetrack and camp on site. I did just that last weekend at Portland International Raceway.

It worked really well, the Corvette has more torque, manual trans and bigger brakes so I expected that it would. Instead of getting 27 mpg though, I got 18. In the Tundra I would have gotten 15-16 though so still an improvement. I drained the water out of the tank for the drive back home to lose the weight. That was a mistake, ditching the weight from the rear made the tongue heavier and I could feel a lot more feedback as a result. I have a portable car lift, the QuickJack by Ranger, and I plan to make a removable rack for the rear bumper of the trailer out of wood to carry it. That will help with the tongue weight and allow my to change brake pads and suspension settings easily at the track.