Mini Truck Camper
- Thread starter -Dan
- Start date
Mark Harley
Expedition Leader
Smart idea for the ammo can lock!
thanks man! Daniel might not tell you but it was all my idea:ylsmoke: haha, well he deserves more than that because let's face it, i had a lot of ideas before i met him and no way to implement or fabricate them. . . go team!
view from the top of the storage under the bed platform.
I took my shoe off so you can see where we'll kick 'em off each night.
at goodwill i found those diamond dividers, i stacked them for organization of my socks and etc unmentionables. his and hers slide out storage!
the open space at the rear in the drivers side will likely hold water, once we find a container we like.
dirty clothes will get shoved wherever they fit, lol, there is a little space behind the clothing bins and we will use pillow cases for laundry bags.
kitchen and food
onto the pantry and kitchen. . .
inside the big black box.
a scrap booking box holds kitchen utensils and will hold our plates, napkins, and cutlery.
Primus stove, some propane canisters, and my 2 pot kitchen: my first and last cast iron skillet, and a tall boiling pot.
driver side ammo box inside view
the plastic shoe box hold My spices and a random assortment of condiment packets
someday I'll start a whole thread on cooking and the kitchen, I'm really looking forward to making some delicious meals in the fresh air.
we leave in 5 days!!!
onto the pantry and kitchen. . .
inside the big black box.
a scrap booking box holds kitchen utensils and will hold our plates, napkins, and cutlery.
Primus stove, some propane canisters, and my 2 pot kitchen: my first and last cast iron skillet, and a tall boiling pot.
driver side ammo box inside view
the plastic shoe box hold My spices and a random assortment of condiment packets
someday I'll start a whole thread on cooking and the kitchen, I'm really looking forward to making some delicious meals in the fresh air.
we leave in 5 days!!!
-Dan
Observer
Mark Harley
Expedition Leader
Looks great! Are larger tires on the list?
-Dan
Observer
Yes, in the future I would like to either get 8 lug wheel adapters or a new axle with 8 lug hubs to run matching rims and tires as the Jeep. The Jeep is set up with 1 ton axles and 40" tires. In the future I will be running smaller 37" tires because the rig pulls a lot better with that size than a 40"
-Dan
Observer
Well we spent our first night in the trailer last nite and it was awesome. We stayed in Angeles national forest. There was a slight overheating issue that caused us to make one of the passes by stopping 3 times! I think the 99°f temperature combined with the stock cj radiator had everything to do with that issue ,seeing as how we made it over the grapevine just fine in the nite time.
Hopefully we will be sleeping in AZ tonite.
Hopefully we will be sleeping in AZ tonite.
Attachments
-Dan
Observer
Update
Unfortunately the maiden voyage did not go so well. After we crossed into AZ I noticed some gear oil leaking from the transmission so I patched it up with some RTV silicone and tightened a few bolts that i thought might be the cause. This worked for a few hundred miles. Once we got to the Tucson area (about 60 miles east of the town limits) I smelled the unmistakable smell of motor oil leaking on exhaust. I had been checking the drive train frequently and had not really noticed anything in the motor bay out of the ordinary. The hose for the pcv had come lose causing some motor oil to spray parts of the engine in oil. no problem, easy fix.
When i looked under the Jeep at this stop i noticed aLOT of gear oil had leaked out in or short time stopped to fix the engine leak.
This time when i looked under the transmission and transfer case were both leaking but the transmission was Real bad now. I shined my light on the transmission oil that had been leaking and saw something that would end our trip; gear oil that looked like glitter.
Aside from the obvious metal inside the oil color was black with a scary amount of metal inside.
So after a little over 800 miles we had to throw in the towel.
Aside from all this we can only travel at night because the Jeep started over heating after a couple of steep passes. It stung more than a little when we crossed back into CA, knowing that we had spent all our savings, as well as sold a lot of our possessions to fund this trip, only to have this happen. To top it of I know have to replace my transmission.
We have been in limp mode for about 3 nights now traveling slowly trying to not dynamite the drivetrain before we get back. We are only about 250 miles outside of where we started and can hopefully make it back tonite/tomorrow morning sometime.
When I get back I am going to replace the engine/transmission/transfer case for something that has more power.
Atleast we are not injured or stranded hundreds of miles away from anyone we know. We are staying positive.
-Dan
Unfortunately the maiden voyage did not go so well. After we crossed into AZ I noticed some gear oil leaking from the transmission so I patched it up with some RTV silicone and tightened a few bolts that i thought might be the cause. This worked for a few hundred miles. Once we got to the Tucson area (about 60 miles east of the town limits) I smelled the unmistakable smell of motor oil leaking on exhaust. I had been checking the drive train frequently and had not really noticed anything in the motor bay out of the ordinary. The hose for the pcv had come lose causing some motor oil to spray parts of the engine in oil. no problem, easy fix.
When i looked under the Jeep at this stop i noticed aLOT of gear oil had leaked out in or short time stopped to fix the engine leak.
This time when i looked under the transmission and transfer case were both leaking but the transmission was Real bad now. I shined my light on the transmission oil that had been leaking and saw something that would end our trip; gear oil that looked like glitter.
Aside from the obvious metal inside the oil color was black with a scary amount of metal inside.
So after a little over 800 miles we had to throw in the towel.
Aside from all this we can only travel at night because the Jeep started over heating after a couple of steep passes. It stung more than a little when we crossed back into CA, knowing that we had spent all our savings, as well as sold a lot of our possessions to fund this trip, only to have this happen. To top it of I know have to replace my transmission.
We have been in limp mode for about 3 nights now traveling slowly trying to not dynamite the drivetrain before we get back. We are only about 250 miles outside of where we started and can hopefully make it back tonite/tomorrow morning sometime.
When I get back I am going to replace the engine/transmission/transfer case for something that has more power.
Atleast we are not injured or stranded hundreds of miles away from anyone we know. We are staying positive.
-Dan