Not so Expo 2005 Rockwood Pop Up

[jscusmcvet]

After much debate and discussion regarding building an off road trailer, perhaps with a RTT, we have decided that the best route for us is to continue to use the Rockwood 1640 pop up. Ours is a relatively simple tent trailer, without ac, stove or fridge. We like it that way.

With this decision in mind, I gained permission from Ann to "tinker a bit" with the camper.

I looked hard at the various spring over possibilities, so we could add clearance and better tires. In the end, if I look past my ego and into how we actually use the camper, those steps are not needed. However, I stumbled across this thread the other week and I am following Clay's lead: http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...ft-Starlite-17

I have ordered the wheels and tires. They are the same diameter as our current tires, but double the width. This should help in the cases where we pull on sand or wet areas. Even just in and out of the dirt road.

I also ordered 7 pin wiring for the camper, Jeep and Ann's Toyota Tacoma. This way we'll be better able to camp comfortably outside regular plug in parks.

Here are the two projects completed this weekend:
-Outside camp table. This will allow cooking, etc... under the awning

-Repurposed a Barnes 4wd rear bumper that I had modified to add a 2" receiver. It is now our camper bumper. The 2"receiver can carry bike rack or rear cargo rack... or as Joe put it, "Our camper can now pull another camper!" :Wow1:I put the smiley there so that you guys who take stuff so seriously know I am not going to do that.

This route will be far less expensive and while less "cool" that an off road trailer with a RTT... this will suit our real use better.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Good call.

I think too many people (probably myself included) build and or buy for what we think we need and not what we actually need. Better tires and sturdy wheels will be a good move. I like these simple little pop up trailers a lot. We just sold ours last spring, and went to a 23' travel trailer, and I sort of miss the simplicity of the tent trailer.

Oh well, I still have my CDN M101 to keep it simple.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Thanks Greg. I think at a different time in life I might go ahead and build the TC3 Bantam I have. Until then though it will be pop up and I have to say, I am at least happy to have the decision behind me. I think this serves our needs and is an excellent base camp set up for our adventures... jeeping, MTB, hiking, etc... IU am jus glad Ann OK'd me tinkering with it a bit. Makes it more fun, as we all know.

John

 

[jscusmcvet]

I have some rewiring to do. The camper came with the inverter all hooked up, but the 7 way cut off and the battery gone. I have two wires available at the tongue. A white one and a black one. Once my 7 pin gets here I may need some help connecting it all.

Can anyone recommend a good battery for the camper? Hopefully we will be charging from the vehicle and may also work on the solar aspect - not sure yet.

We want to also maintain the ability to run shore power.

Thanks for your help.

John

 

[njtacoma]

I had a viking pop up for a few years with visions of lifting it and towing it across mountain passes, but in reality I didn't and wouldn't use it that way.

I did however upgrade the 12" rims (4.5 X 12 tires I think) to 13" rims with 175/80-13" tires and it changed the way the trailer towed dramatically. It became a dream to tow and really opened up the west to us.

It also helped get across the sandy beaches at Lake Macounaghy (sp?) in Nebraska, and many other dry, sandy, dusty, soft tracks when we were camping.

I want to get another one someday.

 

[jscusmcvet]

Yep, that's it Neil. Reality is that it will get pulled on fire roads and across the random field at different events, and at the beach from time to time... so this serves well, keeps Ann happy and gives us a superior comfy basecamp. Roughest thing it is likely to see is our own road to the pavement. Looks like the tires and wiring should be in later this week. I will update then.

 

[jscusmcvet]

New tires and wiring package arrived today. Love the UPS and Fed Ex guys... they refuse to come down my road... can't blame them... but somehow the guy managed to leave the box in the weeds on top of a fireant hill... On purpose?... hmmmm....

Anyhow, tires and wheels fit like a dream. Tires are same height (maybe a smidge shorter) but twice as wide. You can see in some of the pics below the width. I was happy I did not need spacers or anything else. Got the wheel change wrapped up and took a closer look at the wiring. I will dig into that likely this weekend. Goal is to be ready to take this to Mid Atlantic overland festival. Lastly, took on a "Joe's Jeep" project, adding a light for his night ops.


John

 

[jscusmcvet]

Today I completed the rewiring of the electrical. Sounds like more than it is. The trailer previously had a battery that was charged through the tow vehicle. The wiring on the trailer side was still there. The PO had converted it to a 4 pin harness, so first step was to get a 7 pin plug/harness and wire it. www.etrailer.com came in very handy with: trailer side plug and harness, 7 pin junction box, vehicle 7 and 4 pin combo plug, and most importantly....
Videos! to help me figure it out.

So after a few hours of wrasslin, and a second trip to the auto store... and watching the video again... taking notes this time.... We got it. All hooked up and ready. Then worked on the jeep side. Wired to the battery so it will charge up the trailer battery and we are good to go. I would like to find a switch to drop into the battery line, and will work on that either later today or tomorrow.

One more step done

 

[jscusmcvet]

Added a heavy duty switch to the 12v wire that attaches to the battery of my tow vehicle. This allows me to turn off power to the trailer plug when we are not using it. The plug has an indicator light on it and I do not want to drain the battery down by having it on all the time. The switch was easy to install. Just had to make a simple L bracket to mount it to the firewall inside the engine compartment.

 

[Maxcustody]

Sounds like you are making good progress John....looking forward to seeing it at Mid-Atlantic

Sent from my Roof Top Tent

 

[jscusmcvet]

Sounds like you are making good progress John....looking forward to seeing it at Mid-Atlantic

Sent from my Roof Top Tent

Thanks Scott. Latest word from the boss is that she and Joe are coming to the Mid Atlantic. We are going to try and stretch it out over the next week and do some camping as we work our way south.

John

 

[Maxcustody]

Thanks Scott. Latest word from teh boss is that she and Joe are coming to the Mid Atlantic. We are going to try and stretch it out over the next week and do some camping as we work our way south.

John

Sounds great looking forward to it....

Sent from my Roof Top Tent

 

[ccarley]

Nice work on the trailer! Wish I had seen your posts sooner; I have done trailer wiring in a past life. Good call on the cutoff switch; I have yet to install one on my rig. It hasn't been a problem yet but I do want to disconnect the batteries when the engine isn't running.

Looking forward to more pics!

Clay

 

[jscusmcvet]

Nice work on the trailer! Wish I had seen your posts sooner; I have done trailer wiring in a past life. Good call on the cutoff switch; I have yet to install one on my rig. It hasn't been a problem yet but I do want to disconnect the batteries when the engine isn't running.

Looking forward to more pics!

Clay

Thanks Clay! I will definitely be hitting you up for wiring advice as I move forward. I am operating totally off You Tube... haha... makes me an expert.

John

 

[jscusmcvet]

Spent time yesterday finishing up the electrical system. Utilized an Atwood battery box from Walmart. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Attwood-F2...r-Box/11071158
I was going to build one and saw they have one already put together with a meter, 2 12v outlets, and external connections for the camper. With this I will have a "portable dual battery" system, like a cheap *** version of an Arkpak, that I can charge from the jeep while towing the trailer and that we can top off with solar while at camp. Can also be hauled up tot he starter battery on the jeep if I need to jump it.

With this work done I pulled her out of the barn and set up camp. Lights? check. Water pump? check.

Getting the battery set up working let Ann see that the sink and onboard water storage is a good thing. So now we will have water on tap inside the camper. Have to reroute the drain, but a couple pieces of PVC and it'll be good to go.

Looking for LED bulbs to replace current ones.

Also relocated the spare higher up. Still have work to do on that a bit.

Fridge should ship today. http://www.equipt1.com/item/travel-b...fridge-freezer

Need to find a source to repair the spring detents on the awning poles. Great design on this particular awning but the spring detent balls are not holding up well. I may look to just replace the poles entirely.... or replace the awning entirely.

And so, camper all set up, humidity down and a relatively cool evening/night... so at little Joe's suggestion, we camped out last night.