Brutal-Force
New member
I just got done with mine, yours looks so much smaller 
Harbor Freight 40x48, Spectacular Mediocrity
- Thread starter charlesshoults
- Start date
charlesshoults
New member
The trip so far.
I started out from Sidney on Saturday morning. After getting laundry done, everything loaded and changing the oil as a precaution, I didn't get out of town until 10am. I stopped every hundred miles or so, letting the dog out, walking back to the nearest mile marker and back to the Jeep. I had a few people wave at me, and a chick on a motorcycle honked at me. I got settled at Indian Cave state park that night and realized that some of the bolts that I used to put the walls together had come apart. I tightened everything down the best I could. I woke to the sound of thunder the next morning and jumped up to break camp before it started raining on me. By the time I was walking the dog and getting ready to drive out, it was pouring on me. The butyl-treated tarp was very nice. The thing turns out to be totally waterproof and everything under it stays dry. If nothing is in the trailer and the tarp spread across it, it will hold water.
I saw some odd mounds across Nebraska, and am not sure what they are. Any idea? The side facing the road looks like a dirt mound, covered with grass and trees at their base, but you can see vents and turbines on top and from the side, you can see they are bunkers of some kind. The things go on for miles and are several rows deep.
Otherwise, Nebraska is mostly flat and empty.
I got to Kirksville, MO to meet my parents, the Japanese truck and to attend a family reunion, I got a chance to inspect the trailer again. Several more nuts lost. I went to Home Depot in Kirksville, bought some lock nuts, annoyingly at 50 cents each, and a tube of loctite. I unloaded the trailer, secured every nut and put everything back in. I didn't bring many tools with me, but one of the employees was kind enough to go out to his truck and get his set of tools and let me use them. Awesome.
The thing is a 1993 Mazda Scrum, 660cc engine. Locking axles and rear differential, 5 speed manual.
After Kirksville, we went across to Quincy, IL, and stopped for the night at Jerseyville, IL. Monday night, we camped at Whittington Woods, near Benton, IL and woke up to a severe thunderstorm, some of the lightning strikes right on top of us. The tent leaked and soaked everything. We were up on cots but still got dripped on. I broke camp in the rain and just folded the tent and placed it on top of everything else in the trailer, tarp over it all. Last night, we camped at O'Bannon Woods, in southern Indiana. Great place. Much larger than Whittington Woods, quieter and cheaper, full electric for $17 for the night. We got raided by raccoons twice. I'm really surprised what the little buggers manage to get into. They popped the handles on my Rubbermaid Action Packer to get at dried goods, but they made off with just a bag of marshmallows. My moms ice chest wasn't so lucky. She has a plastic soap box, probably about a 2 gallon capacity, with a snap lock lid. They managed to make off with the whole thing. We found it down the hill with the lid off and the contents scattered. The dog was on a chain behind the tent and she tried to keep them away, but they were out of range. I first heard snapping twigs in the middle of the night, so I thought it was a person gathering firewood and told Kaylee to be quiet. I then heard an ice chest being dragged across concrete and it sounded like it was a distance, so again, I thought it was a person. Turns out, both were probably raccoons. That morning, we again woke to a thunderstorm, but this time was less severe and didn't irritate me as much. We didn't leak as much and it wasn't a downpour, so loading the trailer wasn't bad.
Tonight, we're south of St. Louis and staying in a hotel. I'm going to inspect and repack the trailer bearings in the morning and have at best a 12 hour drive if we drive 70 and if we avoid freeways, more or less staying to 55, about 19 hours by the GPS. We crossed into Missouri through Chester, IL and got to see a lot of Popeye stuff. At one intersection, we saw two guys actually hand painting one of the signs.
I started out from Sidney on Saturday morning. After getting laundry done, everything loaded and changing the oil as a precaution, I didn't get out of town until 10am. I stopped every hundred miles or so, letting the dog out, walking back to the nearest mile marker and back to the Jeep. I had a few people wave at me, and a chick on a motorcycle honked at me. I got settled at Indian Cave state park that night and realized that some of the bolts that I used to put the walls together had come apart. I tightened everything down the best I could. I woke to the sound of thunder the next morning and jumped up to break camp before it started raining on me. By the time I was walking the dog and getting ready to drive out, it was pouring on me. The butyl-treated tarp was very nice. The thing turns out to be totally waterproof and everything under it stays dry. If nothing is in the trailer and the tarp spread across it, it will hold water.
I saw some odd mounds across Nebraska, and am not sure what they are. Any idea? The side facing the road looks like a dirt mound, covered with grass and trees at their base, but you can see vents and turbines on top and from the side, you can see they are bunkers of some kind. The things go on for miles and are several rows deep.
Otherwise, Nebraska is mostly flat and empty.
I got to Kirksville, MO to meet my parents, the Japanese truck and to attend a family reunion, I got a chance to inspect the trailer again. Several more nuts lost. I went to Home Depot in Kirksville, bought some lock nuts, annoyingly at 50 cents each, and a tube of loctite. I unloaded the trailer, secured every nut and put everything back in. I didn't bring many tools with me, but one of the employees was kind enough to go out to his truck and get his set of tools and let me use them. Awesome.
The thing is a 1993 Mazda Scrum, 660cc engine. Locking axles and rear differential, 5 speed manual.
After Kirksville, we went across to Quincy, IL, and stopped for the night at Jerseyville, IL. Monday night, we camped at Whittington Woods, near Benton, IL and woke up to a severe thunderstorm, some of the lightning strikes right on top of us. The tent leaked and soaked everything. We were up on cots but still got dripped on. I broke camp in the rain and just folded the tent and placed it on top of everything else in the trailer, tarp over it all. Last night, we camped at O'Bannon Woods, in southern Indiana. Great place. Much larger than Whittington Woods, quieter and cheaper, full electric for $17 for the night. We got raided by raccoons twice. I'm really surprised what the little buggers manage to get into. They popped the handles on my Rubbermaid Action Packer to get at dried goods, but they made off with just a bag of marshmallows. My moms ice chest wasn't so lucky. She has a plastic soap box, probably about a 2 gallon capacity, with a snap lock lid. They managed to make off with the whole thing. We found it down the hill with the lid off and the contents scattered. The dog was on a chain behind the tent and she tried to keep them away, but they were out of range. I first heard snapping twigs in the middle of the night, so I thought it was a person gathering firewood and told Kaylee to be quiet. I then heard an ice chest being dragged across concrete and it sounded like it was a distance, so again, I thought it was a person. Turns out, both were probably raccoons. That morning, we again woke to a thunderstorm, but this time was less severe and didn't irritate me as much. We didn't leak as much and it wasn't a downpour, so loading the trailer wasn't bad.
Tonight, we're south of St. Louis and staying in a hotel. I'm going to inspect and repack the trailer bearings in the morning and have at best a 12 hour drive if we drive 70 and if we avoid freeways, more or less staying to 55, about 19 hours by the GPS. We crossed into Missouri through Chester, IL and got to see a lot of Popeye stuff. At one intersection, we saw two guys actually hand painting one of the signs.
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
I know that drive all to well, my wife and I drove to Maine and back last August and stayed at the KOA campgrounds along the way. It was my second time driving it and will likely never do it again. And those thunderstorms are no joke, we had lightning strike less than a mile away from us in Indiana when we were in our tent, but luckily we were dry because I take care of my tents and had it staked out to keep the sides from drooping and channeling water. I'm surprised you didn't use locking nuts with nylon inserts when you assembled it, I use them on everything. And no tools on a road trip, live and learn I guess.
charlesshoults
New member
Tools
I had some tools with me, but not quite enough. I had an adjustable wrench, two pairs of normal pliers, one needle nose, a set of ratcheting screwdriver bits and handle, a 1/4 and 3/8" ratchet and a 1/2" breaker bar, but the important pieces I was missing was the sockets. Repacking the axle bearings was pretty much a non-event. To get the caps off, I used a hatchet and a rubber mallet, pulled the cotter pins with needle nose, tapped the castellated nut with a screwdriver and removed it by hand. The drivers-side had milky goo in it, like it took on water, but the other one looked pretty good. In any case, I cleaned it all out, applied new grease to the bearings themselves, reassembled the axle and put in 12 shots of red grease from the gun. Made it home fine.
When I was getting ready for the trip, I planned on bringing tools to account for every size nut and bolt for the trailer, but I dumbly listened to my roommate who said I was over-planning. I should have listened to the little voice inside me that said that the first time you think you won't need a given tool is surely the one time that you will.
I was driving from Lincoln, Nebraska back to Sidney last night, and just west of Lincoln, someone in an older silver/burgundy Subaru passed me and waved. I've no idea who it was.
I had some tools with me, but not quite enough. I had an adjustable wrench, two pairs of normal pliers, one needle nose, a set of ratcheting screwdriver bits and handle, a 1/4 and 3/8" ratchet and a 1/2" breaker bar, but the important pieces I was missing was the sockets. Repacking the axle bearings was pretty much a non-event. To get the caps off, I used a hatchet and a rubber mallet, pulled the cotter pins with needle nose, tapped the castellated nut with a screwdriver and removed it by hand. The drivers-side had milky goo in it, like it took on water, but the other one looked pretty good. In any case, I cleaned it all out, applied new grease to the bearings themselves, reassembled the axle and put in 12 shots of red grease from the gun. Made it home fine.
When I was getting ready for the trip, I planned on bringing tools to account for every size nut and bolt for the trailer, but I dumbly listened to my roommate who said I was over-planning. I should have listened to the little voice inside me that said that the first time you think you won't need a given tool is surely the one time that you will.
I was driving from Lincoln, Nebraska back to Sidney last night, and just west of Lincoln, someone in an older silver/burgundy Subaru passed me and waved. I've no idea who it was.
Last edited:
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
I bring my complete tool bag with me everywhere. And bearing buddies make trailering much easier.
Kilroy
Adventurer
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the trailer. Really like the idea of using spacers under the ammo boxes. Should make them and fender last a lot longer.
On a trip always travel with a complete socket set. Got a craftsman one on sale and keep it just for vehicle, mostly. With carrying case can easily see what isn't put back.
On a trip always travel with a complete socket set. Got a craftsman one on sale and keep it just for vehicle, mostly. With carrying case can easily see what isn't put back.