Chalet Arrow into off road Arrow

[toyotatruckjunkie]

I dig it. VERY similar to what I had in mind before I got side tracked with the chep camper van I bought with visions of converting to 4x4. I've sold that project and now back to thinking about converting a cheap pop up. I really like yours. Congrats. Weight isn't all that bad. Very cool.

 

[Runt]

Thanks toyotatruckjunkie
I f I lived in texas I would go with a converted tent trailer idea. I needed some thing that would work for winter. These Chalets have R5 insulation, insulated floors and all tanks fridge etc are inside. This one is equiped with the 20,000 btu furnace so winter camping should be doable. The next goal is a solar system to run the furnace fan in the winter. When I'm off exploring I plan on lowering the top and setting the thermostat. Just need the sloar panels to keep the fan from killing the battery. I wish I lived some where warmer so I could just go with a simple tent trailer.

 

[Rexsname]

"....lowering the top and setting the thermostat...." I think that might be a very bad idea. RV heaters put out a very localized high heat and there is a high risk of fire. It would suck to come back from exploring to find a charred framework.


REX

 

[Runt]

lol.......maybe your right. But at -40 C it sure feels like nothing would burn......I got to move south.

 

[Lulo]

Looks nice... :elkgrin:

 

[Funrover]

That is sweet and I have often thought of doint the same to my ole campers. How does it tow in wind and on road?

 

[ckkone]

How many can that sleep, any pics of the inside...Very nicely done!

 

[Runt]

Hello
I will take some interior pix from this weekend's trip to “Frank Lake” ..........it pulls great with a FJ Cruiser . Keep in mind I have 4.56 gears, some minor engine mods, lockers (for off road) and 33's so the gearing is quite torque compared to stock. With the wife's aluminum boat, 15 hp four stroke (182 lbs) and gear it suffers in fuel economy (arounf 16 mpg)...however with my canoe and Kayak's it gets the same economy as with no trailer.....18 to 20 mpg. 20 if I drive very....very conservatively (no greater than 100 km/h ....my norm.). I have added some new pix to give you a idea of how it usually rolls.....lots & lots of gear loaded inside & of course the girls bikes the wifes and my little dirt jumping bike on the reciver (no North Shore Rack Yet ). I always forget to ask the wife to snap pix of rough roads (usually she closes her eyes).......I took it through the mud bogs at Quesnel after the event was over to see what it could do (had buddys ford on 40's to pull me out) and I actually made it (yes I competed and was about low end in the street class). He timed me and it was over 1 min & 40 sec. ....lol....but I made it. This was mud up to the top of the tires for about 150 meters. The trailer seems to be holding up well so far......a few screws rattling out to worry about as mentioned by another member. I used some silicone and and tightened them up and they have been tight. I really need a solar panel set up though, and help with figureing it all out. I actually killed all three batteries this last weekend....thank goodness for the Canadian Tire Eliminator battery pack we use for the boat fish finder.

 

[alan_f]

I'm considering a Chalet Xplorer, which is basically the same as the Arrow, only stripped down (no fridge, water, etc.) I was wondering how yours is holding up and if you're still happy with it.

Thanks,
Alan

 

[atavuss]

how do those trailers work for taller people? I am 6'3", am I going to be able to stand only in the middle of the inside of the trailer? I would prefer one of these over a tent trailer.

 

[alan_f]

how do those trailers work for taller people? I am 6'3", am I going to be able to stand only in the middle of the inside of the trailer? I would prefer one of these over a tent trailer.

My wife and I spent some time in one we were looking at -- the floorplan is designed so that there isn't really much reason to be standing near the ends of the trailer as the dinettes are usually there. The only problem I had was if I wanted to sit all the way on the inside of the dinette my head would hit the roof. Still, I think seating 4 at the large table wouldn't be a problem.

 

[highlandercj-7]

These trailers are sweet. Look into a A-Liner also. Either way there is no canvas's or lift mechanisms to wear out and have to replace. They are alot more user friendly than a traditional popup, require less maintenance and last longer.

 

[Runt]

Update.....the trailer is great. I did manage to put a hole in the back of it when unloading the canoe. Slipped on the grass and landed shoulder head first on the canoe which pushed the point of the canoe into the back of the trailer right above the passenger side tail light. It was easily repaired. It did point out to me that the practice of pushing the trailer into brush etc on tight trails could cause a stick to poke through the fibre glass. Aluminum armouring is in its future for front and rear. Recently added a solar panel set up and now have three matching FJ Cruiser OEM 5 spoke alum rims. Far as height in side... if you are 6’3” tall you will be fine. The cooking area is in the center and there is plenty of head room. The sides are the table/bed and couch/bed so you really are in a seated position on both sides when occupying those areas.

 

[JimQPublic]

Nice offroad upgrade to a Chalet.

We have a 2002 Chalet Arrowhead. Our first trip was to Laguna San Ignacio in Baja, or as my wife likes to say "The Road From Hell". Bad washboard ended up breaking the trailer body loose from the frame. We also broke both leaf springs.

We found that the body was held to the frame with only 10 #10 self tapping sheet metal screws. We added through-bolts at each frame outrigger and added a bunch more self-tappers. After putting new springs on we added shock absorbers.

I'm thinking of another trip to Baja and want to do a mild upgrade to the rough road capabilities. I was thinking of putting longer leaf springs from a light pickup, plus bump stops and better shocks. I would replace the 13" wheels and 25" diameter tires with something a bit bigger.

I tow with a Subaru so I don't want to raise the ride height too much. My goal would be to provide a more compliant ride with a slight increase in ground clearance.

Any suggestions?

 

[Runt]

The shocks & larger tires will take away a lot of the violent shaking your trailer received. Go with a simple spring over lift (if you have not done it already). Very good shocks and low pressure in the largest tire you can go with is my main recommendation. Currently I'm running the exact same tires as my FJ with OEM rims & Wild Country RVT 33X12.5X17's but with 19 lbs pressure and it rides smooooooth over the wash boards. I would suggest the same size tire as your Subaru. I would also recommend a Roll & Lock or Max Trailer coupler (Maybe AT will comment on the values). My friend has a roll & lock which we tried on my trailer one weekend. I did notice it reduced the violent actions to the trailer quite a bit and especially on the deactivated logging roads. Basically it just allows your suspension a bit more travel (the action goes through the coupler in some circumstances first) to slow things down. The major advantage (at least that I could see) I noticed was the stress the suspension received on the off camber situations where I previously maxed the ball hitch articulation therefore loading the suspension was less i.e. the springs did not compress as much (also could have been the situation). I have not bought 360 degree rotating coupler yet….set it up for the receiver style hitch but could not make up my mind on which brand. I'm sure the last thing you wanted to hear was “slow down” …….lol, but really unless you go to the uber cool AT trailers you will have issues with any trailer.

In this outing (almost a month ago) we brought down two 17' canoes (to introduce my Sister & Brother in law into canoing)on the trailer (mored on the beach behind the camp chairs) and one kayak. Yes that is fresh snow on the peaks in the Robson Valley....the tempature that night was -8 degrees celcius and the little girls were toasty warm