Itsavanman
Adventurer
so after my poor jeep scattered internal engine parts (260k), and my daily driver overheated, while stuck in the snow on the same day last winter(220k).. I decided to get a new vehicle that was a combination of the two. plunked down a serious chunk of change and got something with good mpg, a decent amount of ground clearance, and full time 4wd.. or as these new hipsters are calling it AWD. Joined the bland masses and bought a crossover SUV. but not just any suv, a hippie approved Subaru forester.
now before you ban me.. have a listen.. 25mpg, 2400 towing capacity, and room for lots of camping gear, ooh and a U-Shift-it transmission.. sounds good right? well the proof is in the pudding, while I'm not going to go rock crawling, this little buggy does pretty good towing all my crap and me and my girlfriend to the trails to go riding. It Did well on crappy unimproved roads, so yeah I think she'll do..
Now 2400 isn't that great, but after looking at the better capacity Australian forester of 1500kg (3300) and to note the diesel is rated at 1800kg (almost 4000lbs!!! please import that subie!) anyways, after some digging I found that the only difference is stiffer springs, which after talking with Subaru usa, looks like its a marketing thing, as most Americans don't want a truck like ride in the crossover. So after some searching, I found a set of uprated King springs, which should net a 30% increase in towing capacity. so now the number to stay under is 3120..
Shouldn't be too hard.. If Microlite can make a 14' enclosed toy hauler weigh 1000lbs surely I can build something this soft-roader can tow. now I don't have the coin to build a pretty much all aluminum toy hauler like Microlite did, but, If I plan this carefully, It should work.. I started looking at 18' and under hard sided campers, but most in my price range were way too heavy, most were around 2k lbs.. option b was a pop up toy hauler. so after some searching on Craigslist, I found a 4 person shasta pop up.. pretty crusty and in need of some fixes, but all in all, a good little camper, on the way home I weighed her.. 800lbs.
The plan is to remove non essential things, like the axle and tongue, and plop it in the middle of the stripped camper frame. Reason for putting it in the middle, is I want to be able to tow this thing with or without the toys, so with a small deck front and rear, the weight distribution will stay correct. A quick weigh of the bare frame - 460lbs. So were now at 1260.. I know I will be under that, as the axle isn't staying on the camper, but I want to overestimate. after measuring, it seems of course that this camper frame is about 4' too short, so down to the welder I will go and the plan is to add the much needed 4 feet. I'm still looking for lighter decking, but for now I have decided on good old fashioned wood. calculated that out, the deck should weigh in at about 208lbs. That puts the total in at 1468. were going to be towing a yamaha blaster and honda 250r so they should add on 600lbs for a new total of 2068. Still under the US squishy spring rate of 2400.. The plan is to have this thing have a dry weight of 2400-2500 so theres room for gear, fuel, and us. first step is to get the bare frame ready for its new inhabitants, the brakes need attention, and its ugly, so next installment will be frame resto.. stay tuned..
now before you ban me.. have a listen.. 25mpg, 2400 towing capacity, and room for lots of camping gear, ooh and a U-Shift-it transmission.. sounds good right? well the proof is in the pudding, while I'm not going to go rock crawling, this little buggy does pretty good towing all my crap and me and my girlfriend to the trails to go riding. It Did well on crappy unimproved roads, so yeah I think she'll do..
Now 2400 isn't that great, but after looking at the better capacity Australian forester of 1500kg (3300) and to note the diesel is rated at 1800kg (almost 4000lbs!!! please import that subie!) anyways, after some digging I found that the only difference is stiffer springs, which after talking with Subaru usa, looks like its a marketing thing, as most Americans don't want a truck like ride in the crossover. So after some searching, I found a set of uprated King springs, which should net a 30% increase in towing capacity. so now the number to stay under is 3120..
Shouldn't be too hard.. If Microlite can make a 14' enclosed toy hauler weigh 1000lbs surely I can build something this soft-roader can tow. now I don't have the coin to build a pretty much all aluminum toy hauler like Microlite did, but, If I plan this carefully, It should work.. I started looking at 18' and under hard sided campers, but most in my price range were way too heavy, most were around 2k lbs.. option b was a pop up toy hauler. so after some searching on Craigslist, I found a 4 person shasta pop up.. pretty crusty and in need of some fixes, but all in all, a good little camper, on the way home I weighed her.. 800lbs.
The plan is to remove non essential things, like the axle and tongue, and plop it in the middle of the stripped camper frame. Reason for putting it in the middle, is I want to be able to tow this thing with or without the toys, so with a small deck front and rear, the weight distribution will stay correct. A quick weigh of the bare frame - 460lbs. So were now at 1260.. I know I will be under that, as the axle isn't staying on the camper, but I want to overestimate. after measuring, it seems of course that this camper frame is about 4' too short, so down to the welder I will go and the plan is to add the much needed 4 feet. I'm still looking for lighter decking, but for now I have decided on good old fashioned wood. calculated that out, the deck should weigh in at about 208lbs. That puts the total in at 1468. were going to be towing a yamaha blaster and honda 250r so they should add on 600lbs for a new total of 2068. Still under the US squishy spring rate of 2400.. The plan is to have this thing have a dry weight of 2400-2500 so theres room for gear, fuel, and us. first step is to get the bare frame ready for its new inhabitants, the brakes need attention, and its ugly, so next installment will be frame resto.. stay tuned..
