"Sasquatch" The Driveway Built Camping Trailer

Jmanscotch

is wandering
We got out this weekend and broke it in!

Towed great on the highway all the way up I-25 at 80 MPH, great through the stop and go traffic in Denver and still really good through the steep mountain passes on I-70 West to Breckenridge. Going from nothing to a trailer and then hitting the mountain passes, I will say I noticed the additional carriage, but like anything I think the initial change makes you focus on it, because it faded away on our trip home. We took the back country path back home (HWY 9 south out of Breck, then US 24 through Woodland Park back to the Springs) and even on those 10,000-11,000 ft summits and curves, the newly added trailer in tow just kinda disappeared and the V6 Tacoma handled it without much notice (a couple steep climbs I opted to manual shift down to 3rd and 4th because the Tacoma automatic was hunting between them anytime I let off the gas and I didn't want to pull uphill in overdrive).

We messed around in Frisco on the Miners Creek road. Nice slow rocky going to test out the trailer, got surprisingly steep and a bit tricky closer to the top. Then we backtracked and headed to camp near Quandary Peak, right off the side of Blue Lake...gorgeous area.






That's really going to be about it folks. A few things to tidy up on her and she's officially for sale :/

I don't want to do it, but this September is our 4 year mark for dating and she's getting restless (and frankly, I shouldn't be delaying so much). We're in our 30's and it's time to jump in and start a family already if we're going to. We're both more traditional people, so before family and life starts for real, marriage and a house need to be in motion. The trailer is nice and I'm going to be sad if it sells right away, but I dumped way more money into it than I intended, I still have a project car to finish (and then sale) and I just need the money back...she's got really nice taste in rings (and it's not even because they're gaudy ones!) and houses...sigh.

So, I created a for sale thread, but if you're here you know what it is, you just need price. I'm asking $5,200 hundred for the trailer, add $800 if you'd like the Yakima Skyrise 3 person tent as well. Both are OBO, I'd be willing to travel to meet if you're serious enough. If you're a jeweler or have some random diamond connection, we can talk and see if we could work out the details of a trade, full or partial.

Thanks,
Jake
 
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Jmanscotch

is wandering
Holy schnikes! That is absolutely perfect!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Appreciate it sir! I can deliver it to Longview in November for free...just saying lol

What's the lock for?

It's a little "hitch safe" that came with a locking hitch pin I bought. I didn't want it dangling from the receiver, so I put in below the spare tire and put the spare trailer keys in it. That way, if I forget to bring a set of keys with us, there'll always be a backup set in the little safe. I'm known to be a little forgetful like that so I though it was a good use of the piece.
 

Ob1ofwis

New member
It turned out great! It was actually this build that finally got me off my butt and start building mine. I'm waiting on the axle to be delivered.
Question, in your pic of the suspension, it looks like you are missing a nut on one of the U-bolts? Is that just bad angle?
 

Jmanscotch

is wandering
It turned out great! It was actually this build that finally got me off my butt and start building mine. I'm waiting on the axle to be delivered.
Question, in your pic of the suspension, it looks like you are missing a nut on one of the U-bolts? Is that just bad angle?

Thank you sir, I'll look forward to checking yours out once you get moving good.

I was wondering if someone was going to question that missing nut!

Around here, we have LOTS of washboard roads in the mountains and that's going to do numbers to rattle a trailer. Even though all the bolts used on my leafs and axle have some form of locking style nut on them, I didn't want to trust the trailer being mobile to one locking nut that could eventually back off, which it undoubtedly would with my luck. So I added locking washer and second locking nut everywhere there was enough thread to fit them (leaf u-bolts, leaf hangers, etc).

The problem with the picture was I had just swapped out the leaf springs, put on the secondary locking nuts and in the process realized somehow I grabbed one incorrectly sized nut when at ACE, must have been mixed in the wrong spot and I didn't notice. So just that one end of the u-bolt wasn't 'doubled up' at the time.

I'll add that we've now taken the trailer out three times and it's been a blast. Trailer hauls flawlessly with the tongue weight, height, tires aired to around 20 PSI and the Lock N Roll coupler.

Having the trailer makes 'glamping' so much more enjoyable, as I had hoped. The ability to have the trailer sitting there, already packed with the camping supplies, just pack food and clothes then hook up and go. Getting to a site, dropping it off and heading out in the truck, having a place to secure things while gone, etc. If this one sells, I might have to try it again and just do an ugly but functional, budget built replacement...we've definitely taken a liking to the trailer life.
 
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