Jeep Livin Lite Extreme Trailer EXPO upgrades

[TomP]

I thought that I would throw this in to let you know how the low trailer tongue issue was solved. Also I was concerned with the spare tire situation. Both were addressed by work on the Jeep. I installed a 2 1/2" OME lift with a 1" body lift. I found five new 17" JK takeoff wheels, which combined with wheel adapters allowed the Jeep spare to now be used on the trailer. I added 33" Cooper tires and everything sits level.

 

[TomP]

Now it is time to move to improving the inside. The following pictures are of the starting point for me. The couch was removed and I took some before pictures.



The black box in the center was the electric cab heater. In the lower picture the heat outlets can be seen. This was a problematic location for this or any heater because my dog sleeps with his back to these vents blocking the airflow. This heater is a DC Thermal SD12-4000 which puts out a very healthy 8016 BTU's but also draws 40 amps while doing it. I could run it all night long on 30 degree nights when plugged into shore power on the 30 amp converter installed in the trailer. However the battery was dead long before morning with out the shore power.



Their RuCar elements are vacuum sealed inside Ruby quartz tubes. Great heat just to much amps! With the controller it is about a $374.00 heater.

Another problem is the battery location. The converter had a label which stated "Do not install battery in the same compartment". I checked with a friend, who is a service manager at a RV garage, who told me even with a sealed battery don't do it. So that needs to be relocated. If you look closely you can see a orange extension cord which is plugged into the inverter. This is fed through a hole in the floor travels under the floor between the floor and the skid-plates and comes up through another hole in the floor in the front cabinet. This didn't look very safe!

The way everything was wired was also in need of a overhaul. It had a battery shutoff that really shut nothing off. All the items were fused separately off the positive terminal of the battery. The converter had three separate fuse circuits with nothing hooked to them and a battery charge line not hooked to the battery.



So out with the old in with the new!

 

[TomP]

To install the Propex heater required removal of the two full under body skid-plates. These are heavy and make up the majority of the weight difference between the Extreme and the Trail models of the Jeep Livin Lite trailers. Both the front and rear skid-plates showed contact marks from rocks, scratches and a small dent. I painted them just to prevent rust where the paint had been removed.



Here is the heater propane tank mounted just ahead of the driver's side fender. Supply tubing awaits a two stage regulator.



The heater requires two holes to be cut in the floor. These are for the stainless steel intake and exhaust pipes. Air for combustion is drawn in one, burnt with the propane and exhausted out the other.



The heater in position.

 

[TomP]

As part of the heater installation and wiring clean up the trailer battery was relocated from under the couch and away from the electrical converter. The tongue of the trailer was full holding the cooler. Making the decision to locate the battery into a small cabinet located next to the bed on the front wall of the living compartment an easy one. The original battery wires under the floor were used to power a second bunk light plug which was mounted to the top of the cabinet. This would allow the bunk light to be placed at the "head" of the bed as I use it, making it a reading light. 8 gauge wires, positive and negative, for the main battery feed were run and fused with a 30 amp fuse. The positive wire was attached to the non switched terminal of the battery shutoff switch and the negative to a grounding lug on the converter. The only other wire connected to this non switched terminal is the vehicle charge line from the Jeep. This allows power to be shutoff to all of the accessories, heater, lights and inverter for example while underway, but allows the battery to be charged by the Jeep's alternator while driving.



In addition to the two power and ground wires shown above, the thermostat wires for the heater were also run under the floor of the trailer between it and the skid plates.



A "sealed" style battery box was used so remaining storage area in the cabinet could still used with out fear of shorting the battery or having items stored in the area around the battery be damage by battery gases.



Here is the battery box with the installation complete. Connectors were attached to the bunk light plug and the thermostat so the the cabinet can easily be removed to check the battery. Footman loops were placed on both sides of the battery through the bottom half of the battery box and a ratchet strap was use to tie down the battery to prevent movement. The battery vent exits into the interior of the trailer.

 

[TomP]

Here is the cabinet reinstalled. The position of the bunk light plug, thermostat and battery case vent can be seen.



The heater is attached and wired with the propane pipe run and connected. The second picture shows the inverter mounted and wired. The RV converter had two 110 volt wires running to a plug under the couch and one on the front wall. The inverter can be seen in some of the first pictures with an orange extension cord plugged into it. This cord ran under the floor and reappeared in the front cabinet. In the second picture you can see the new configuration. One 110 voltage wire runs from the top left of the RV converter and is wired to the couch plug. This plug is hot when the trailer is plugged into shore-power. The second 110 wire has been fitted with a plug and is plugged to the inverter. These wires run to the front wall plug and supply 110 volts AC when the inverter is supplied with battery power.



Rearranging the components freed up a lot of storage space. The brown 3" hose is the heat output which will travel up a space behind the couch and then is directed into the bed area.

 

[TomP]

The top latches next to the gas springs had to be relocated. Heater propane tank mounted with regulator just ahead of the left fender.



Ready to go camping and try everything out!

 

[TomP]

It was getting warm in Las Vegas and I wanted to check out the heater so we headed to Mt Charleston and a camp ground at the 8,000 foot level. It was forcasted to be in the low 40's that night, which should be enough to give the heater a little test.



We had a nice little camp site. The campground was empty because of the middle of the week and the fact that the water was not turned on yet. It was nice to tell the host "I have my water with me." In the second picture Nemo is taking his guard dog duties very seriously!

So we had a great time but I was disappointed in the heater! Not because it didn't work well, but because it worked too well! The lowest setting on the thermostat was 50 degrees. Way too hot! So it was off most of the night and we enjoyed the 40's inside and out.

When I got home I checked online to see if others were having this same issue. Sure enough they were! I found the following Thread that addressed how to lower the setting range of the thermostat.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=553389&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I modified the thermostat by replacing the 12k resister with a 15k. I didn't have time to test it because it was time to head to the Overlanding Expo in Flagstaff!

 

[daveh]

Tom, are you running the heater off the battery power or do you need shore power? If battery do you know how many hours you can expect?

 

[TomP]

Tom, are you running the heater off the battery power or do you need shore power? If battery do you know how many hours you can expect?

Dave,
I am using the battery only, well of course the propane provides the heat. The battery runs the Propex fan only. It uses very little amperage from the battery and, as I have found out, very little propane for the heat it provides. When running I was expecting the exhaust to be very hot, like a typical RV propane furnace. The Propex is so efficient that the exhaust is maybe little more than warm. Most of the heat is extracted and used inside the trailer. Of course, if supplied with shore power the converter carries the electrical load and recharges the battery. So far the battery looks like it could go a week or so of just using the battery. If you moved the Jeep would recharge the trailer battery in short order.

 

[daveh]

Awesome. Thanks!

 

[TomP]

So off we went to Mormon Lake! We had a little extra time and Nemo had always wanted to go to Dogtown Lake so we left on Tuesday. Made camp in Dogtown and looked around and relaxed for two days.



Nemo was disappointed to find that no "Dogs" lived at Dogtown. It being named for a prairie dog town which was covered by the lake after the dam was built. The weather was great with overnight lows in the 40's and the heater didn't come on at it's lowest setting during the night. Yes!

Time for a "cat" I mean dog nap!

Gassing up in downtown Williams AZ.

All setup on the "dry" Mormon Lake bed! Let the fun begin!

 

[TomP]

The clouds were arriving by the afternoon. I was thinking maybe a little rain and we will be good. But the next morning showed that we were going to be in for a long weekend.



The rain continued, the ground became soggy and the temperature was heading down as were our spirits!



The Little Red Campfire got a real workout!



Saturday was looking worse!

I will be the first to admit that there is no "perfect" camping system. But I was very happy with the performance of the Jeep Extreme trailer over this weekend which turned out to be a real test of its usefulness.

First, the heater! The Propex heater is a fantastic piece of equipment! At night I set the thermostat at its lowest position. When I heard it turn on I checked the temperature readout and it was in the low 30's. Running it up a bit I spent the night sleeping at about 40 to 45 degrees. The fan is very quiet from the inside and we had almost no condensation in the morning.

Second, a living area out of the weather. In the mornings before getting up a turn of the heater dial had the inside temperature up to 65 in no time. I had a warm dry place to stand up and get dressed before heading out for the day. But best of all it provided a great place to sit and get out of the cold during the day. The tent has three layers of windows in the living area. The first is the screen which is fixed the second is a tinted vinyl window and the third is a canvas cover for privacy. With the canvas zipped back it was possible to sit on the couch and watch the activities outside, while staying warm and dry inside. All around me people with RTTs were sitting in their vehicles running the engines trying to get or stay warm and out of the weather.

Third, a place for my dog out of the weather. This was an important point for me when I first started. It worked great this weekend. Newfoundlands have a heavy coat to protect them from this kind of weather. But anticipating warm temperatures Nemo had a hair cut before the trip so he was as happy to have a warm resting place as I was.

Fourth, water storage. I had plenty of water for the six day five night trip. It was conveniently located and easily accessible.

Fifth, propane storage. The carryout propane bottle was put to good use providing for cooking, lighting, but most of all for the portable fire pit which became our gathering point under the awning during the rain and snow. Propane consumption for the Propex heater was very low given the workout it received over the weekend. I did refill the carryout bottle because of the fire pit use but it was worth every cent.

Sixth, other modifications. The roof rack made transporting an awning, kitchen, chair and the firewood I use the first to nights at Dogtown possible. The gas springs make opening and closing the top a joy and not a worry. The cooler had plenty of room. It kept things cold the first two days and from freezing the next two.

 

[TomP]

One more addition to the roof rack. I had observed a post here about using turkey flooring on a roof rack so I added it.

 

[TomP]

A few shots of the trailer loaded out for the road. I am very happy with the way the modifications turned out.

 

[TomP]

This is just a quick update. Nemo and I just completed the eastern section of the Mojave Road.
This is a picture of our campsite at Balancing Rock.
A mandatory shot of the school bus.
Getting ready to leave the campsite at Rock Springs.

It was a great time and I plan on going back to finish the remaining section of the road later. The temperature was in the teens to low twenties at night. The Propex heater turned on at about thirty-two degrees and off at forty degrees, which allowed for a great night's sleep! The trailer tires were aired down to 10lbs and it followed the Jeep over some very ruff sections without issue or broken eggs.