M1101 - Feespirit Recreation Tent/Awning - Motorcycle Hauler

KSUperDuty

New member
Starting in on a build with my M1101. Uniquely, I want to be able to haul the KTM in the trailer as well as the gear which makes things interesting as far as getting everything to fit.

I sort of inherited the tent and the awning, so it’s what I had to work with. I’d like to get the annex, but the Freespirit Recreation website is pretty terrible as far as info and specs go. From the tip of the awning, to the bottom of the ladder is almost 20’, so this rig has quite the wingspan. I plan on adding a single battery electrical system to run some lights, and maybe a cooler. Fun stuff so far.....

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KSUperDuty

New member
I’m not going to be enclosing much on this trailer, but I want the electrical system to be weatherproof. It probably isn’t an original idea, but I thought I would put all of the components in ammo cans to keep the water out. Switches are in a .30 caliber can, fuses in a .50 cal can, and the battery and charger are in an old WW2 rocket box. I plan on rigging up a solar panel for battery maintenance, but charging will come off the 7 pin trailer harness or a 1000W Yamaha generator if it’s absolutely necessary.

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KSUperDuty

New member
I wired everything together tonight. The battery box is mounted, grounded, and wired up to the battery disconnect and the battery charger. The power distribution box is mounted behind the wheel well, wired to the battery box up front and the control box on top of the rail at the back of the trailer. Everything should be watertight when the covers are on.

I’m going to have to redo the switch panel in the little ammo can. Apparently I couldn’t see quite straight when I drilled the holes for the switches. That’s going to drive me nuts, but chances are I’ll want to change something in there anyway. I’m not happy with the LED lights I bought, and I’ll sort that out tomorrow.

I need to start thinking about water storage, pumps, propane, fridge, etc. ideas are welcome.....

When I bought it, this trailer was pristine. The intended purpose was to tow it behind the M1079, but its too small and unnerving when I can’t see it back there behind the truck. I ended up using it to haul stuff behind the Dodge and after looking at some of these photos, it looks like I beat the tar out of it. Nothing some paint won’t fix......

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tlbeach

Observer
That rocket box looks like it fits perfectly behind that wheel well. I was thinking of building something similar but will check my local surplus store for any.
 

TwinStick

Explorer
Cool stuff. Nothing better than a Power Wagon pulling an M1101/02. I hope to get an 1102 behind our Power Wagon someday.
 

KSUperDuty

New member
Canyonlands White Rim Trail Shakedown Cruise

If you are going to go on a shakedown trip, you might as well make it memorable.

I decided I'd like to go give all this stuff a try camping in the wild, and Moab was the warmest place to camp within 500 miles, so why not? My Dad was up for an adventure, so I picked him up at the Denver airport on Friday morning and we headed West.

Friday night we stayed in Granstaff campground just outside Moab. We didn't really have a plan, but I did secure a day use permit for the White Rim Trail on Saturday. We headed to Canyonlands early to see if there were any available overnight campsites. Long story short, we lucked in to an open spot for the night at Candlestick.

We started the trip at Shafer Trail, and aired down to 25 psi. Seems reasonable, but I've read that a lot of other Power Wagon owners go much lower. Every view in Canyonlands is epic, but the descent down to the White Rim is definitely memorable.

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Now a word about the rig. As most people know, the M1101 isn't exactly a small trailer. The box is roughly 7'x7', it rolls on 37”ish tires, and it weighs in at 1460 lbs empty. With the KTM, the tent, awning, water, fuel, and misc gear, I'm sure it is probably topping the scale at over 2K pounds, AND it's about 3” wider than my pickup on each side. Add in the Power Wagon, cooler, ramps, chairs, firewood (open fires are not allowed in the campsites on the trail) fuel, and more misc gear, etc, and the whole setup is probably getting close to 9500 to 10,000 lbs heading down the trail. The whole deal is one big long pig.

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The ranger's were pretty good trail guides. We knew it was going to be about 8 hrs to Candlestick, and we knew that there was really only one semi-technical obstical between us and camp: Murphy's Hogback. Between Shafer Trail and Murphy's Hogback, it was smooth sailing. Easy peasy. No issues, no problems, the powdery sand that I was worried about was a non issue. Lots of beautiful scenery along the way. Dad really enjoyed it.

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And then we get to Murphy's Hogback. It doesn't look like much from the bottom, and it really isn't anything serious, but I'm not sure anyone ever thought it would be a great idea to tow a 7' wide 2000 lb trailer up a steep powdery grade like this one.

South side of Murphy's Hogback view from the bottom:
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View from the top:
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It ended up being a non issue. I wasn't sure about it going up, but the Power Wagon never even spun a tire. I figured if worse came to worst, I could lock the diffs and crawl up, but I didn't need to do that. Coming down the other side, however, was worse for our setup.

The ranger mentioned that the North side of Murphy's Hogback would have the first tight switchback. Switchbacks were/are my biggest concern with this big long pig of a rig. For 6 hrs, I'd been worried about making these first tight switchbacks. On the initial descent, this felt steep! Admittedly, I don't have a ton of experience off road, but it sure felt like we were looking straight down. It was steep enough, that the weight of the trailer pushing on the hitch was enough to lock up the trailer surge brakes. We made all the switchbacks on the first attempt without ever backing up, but some of them were VERY tight. The big long pig picked its way down with no issues. I was too worried about making all the switchbacks, and I neglected to take any pictures on the way down. Now I know what an “intermediate” obstacle is.

On a side note, the low range descent control is pretty cool. I'd never used it before, and I was surprised at how well it handled the extra weight of the trailer. Press the button, set the speed, and expect no drama. Cool stuff.

Continued......
 
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KSUperDuty

New member
It was two more mild easy peasy hours to Candlestick and we arrived right at dark. Not much to the campsite other than a vault toilet, but we did wake up to an unreal sunrise.

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In all fairness, I'm an OK welder. I can get the job done, but it isn't always pretty. The riser that the tent is mounted on was a big concern for me on this shakedown trip. When you mount a 150lb tent 6'3” off the ground it becomes quite the moment arm swinging all that weight around and bouncing down the trail. I wasn't sure how good of an idea that was to build the riser that tall. Ultimately, I built it that tall for two reasons: I'd like to get the annex for the tent, and I didn't want to limit my cargo hauling options. I spent quite a bit of time examining my welds that night and I didn't find any issues. I think I braced everything well enough and the riser stayed strong for the whole trip. Nothing was bent, nothing twisted, and Everything held up well. It's something else to watch that tent swing side to side in the rear view mirror. There are some large forces at work here....

After we got up, I knew it was 2ish more hours to the next “intermediate” obstacle Hardscrabble Hill, and oh so many more tight switchbacks. The trip there was uneventful, with more beautiful scenery along the way, especially as we got down closer to the river.

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I don't think Hardscrabble Hill would even qualify as an intermediate obstacle in an SUV or a Jeep, but for the big long pig, it was a challenge. We made all of the switchbacks without backing up except one, and lucky for me, there was enough room for me to maneuver my way around. The climb out was awesome, and it was really cool, aside from constantly worrying worrying about the next tight switchback. Driving along the shelf was a lot of fun, and I wasn't very good about taking pictures.

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There was one place, right up next to the river on the way out, that proved to be an issue for the height of the tent on top of the riser. I had to get uncomfortably close to tires off the road on the river side to get around one piece of rock jutting out from the side of the cliff. I could tell that quite few people had scraped something on that same rock, and judging by the amount of broken glass on the ground under the rock, it didn't end well for the last guy. There was quite a bit of deep sand on the way out. It didn't prove to be an issue at all.

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So what did I learn?

1. (Obviously) the M1101 probably isn't the ideal adventure trailer if switchbacks and narrow shelf roads are on the agenda, but you gotta dance with the one that brought ya. If you don't have a full-size pickup or full-size SUV, this thing is way too big for your rig.

2. The M1101 is ************. It's big, it's heavy duty, it has big tires that roll over obstacles with ease, and it's payload capacity is awesome. The rear departure angle is a huge plus. In a pinch you can back this thing up and over some pretty big/steep stuff to aid in maneuvering out of tight spots.

3. The riser is sufficiently braced to handle off road conditions, and it held up fantastically.

4. The KTM needs a better tie down system in the rear. On day one it bounced around way too much. By day two the issue was resolved with more tie downs, but I think I can do better.

5. My tote system for the gear sucks. More to come.

6. I brought way too much crap I didn't use. Aside from tools and emergency/recovery gear, I need to pair down.

7. The water system is going to take some thought. I abhor adding more weight to the trailer, but a water system is a necessity and I got sick of water jugs and bottles bouncing around everywhere.

8. The inexpensive implement LED flood lights I wired up work really well. There's a fine line between lighting up the darkness and flooding the world with blinding light around camp.

9. Electrical system as a whole performed well.

10. 12V electric blankets are awesome!!! The reviews sucked, but I bought it anyway. I'm sure if you use it as a cover up, it probably does suck, it if you put it underneath your sleeping bag and block the heat in, it's amazing! Power consumption was not an issue.

11. The tent on top of the riser might as well be a sail. Coming home across northern Colorado, I was bucking 40 mph gusty headwinds. It wasn't a problem per se, but I sure could tell it was back there.

12. I have to get the annex. Not having a place to stand up and change clothes is a PITA.

13. The pintle is not loud. After reading so much about how noisy they are, I thought it was going to be obnoxious off-road. I had it loaded down enough that it was pretty quiet.

14. The M1101 tows well in the Rockies, and it tows well in the snow over the Rockies!

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15. The Freespirit High Country tent is awesome. On the last night camping outside of Moab we were dealing with 40 mph wind gusts. The tent handled the wind very well and it didn't get real flappy even in that kind of wind.

Anyone have any insight as to tire pressure for the M1101 off road? The TP is already absurdly low at 17psi fully loaded, but it liked to bounce over rocks a little more than i'd Like it to. Lowering the TP with run flats installed made me hesitate. What's the conventional wisdom?

Fun trip!!
 
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KSUperDuty

New member
Finally took the awning and the tent off to paint the superstrut brackets black. Built another bracket for a light to illuminate the tail gate/cooking area.

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KSUperDuty

New member
I wasn't happy with how the totes worked for transporting gear on the White Rim trip. I need weatherproof and dust proof storage that can be secured to the trailer to keep everything from bouncing around. Enter: More ammo cans and a mortar box. For $25 a piece, it's as cheap, weatherproof and durable as you can get. I might end up painting the cans on the outside, but I'm happy that the insides of these cans are clean and rust free. The mortar box perfectly fits my camp stove and griddle.

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The tailgate is pretty high, and climbing up and down to deploy the tent gets old. This tailgate ladder will work out well. It isn't perfect, but it's pretty easy to hook and unhook for easy entry.

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shifty98

Observer
I wasn't happy with how the totes worked for transporting gear on the White Rim trip. I need weatherproof and dust proof storage that can be secured to the trailer to keep everything from bouncing around. Enter: More ammo cans and a mortar box. For $25 a piece, it's as cheap, weatherproof and durable as you can get. I might end up painting the cans on the outside, but I'm happy that the insides of these cans are clean and rust free. The mortar box perfectly fits my camp stove and griddle.

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Those ammo cans look right at home in the M1101. I also love the mortar box idea. What camp stove do you have?
 

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