Our Echo 5

[Titanpat57]

I've just started looking into airbags and such for the 4Runner. I was originally hoping to find a new spring/shock combo that would handle the tongue weight but still ride well unloaded but I think that's a bit of a pipe dream. I'm debating between the Timbren bump stop replacements and the Airlift or Firestone airbags at the moment and leaning more towards the bags. How do you like yours? Any issues with them?

I have the Airlift...with out a doubt the best $100 I ever spent on the truck. You just have to be careful routing the airlines so not to pinch the airlines. I recently moved my fill valves to the inside of the hatch corners...I can get you a picture if need be. I squeezed them in between the springs, and knowing what I know now, I would jack it up and pull the springs and insert the bags.

Great pictures..thanks for sharing!

 

[96r50]

I have the Airlift...with out a doubt the best $100 I ever spent on the truck. You just have to be careful routing the airlines so not to pinch the airlines. I recently moved my fill valves to the inside of the hatch corners...I can get you a picture if need be. I squeezed them in between the springs, and knowing what I know now, I would jack it up and pull the springs and insert the bags.

Great pictures..thanks for sharing!

Pictures would be great (either here or in your T4R.org build thread). I believe the instructions say to remove the springs from the truck to install the bags but I've seen a few folks saying that they can be installed without removing things. What do you know now that changed your mind?

Edit: Airlift bags ordered!

 

[96r50]

It's been a busy couple months so the trailer fell to the back burner for a while. With the coming of spring I finally decided it was time to get back at it and get things ready for camping season.

The battery charger in the trailer has a few different modes based on certain factors, including the load on the battery while it is charging. Given that the fridge runs off the 12V from the battery and that it can run while the battery is charging the trailer comes set up so that the charger only goes into float charge (13.5V) and doesn't enter the boost phase (14.4V). This prevents the battery from overcharging. While I liked that this setup prevented overcharging, I did want the batteries to get a full charge when plugged in to shore power without having to fiddle with the charger each time. After reading the manual for the fridge I realized that it would be a pretty simple problem to solve.

The fridge manual says that the fridge will run on either 120V or 12V but that 120V will take priority when both sources are present. The only 120V in the trailer is the short run from the shore plug to the battery charger though. To remedy that I bought a 10' exterior extension cord, chopped off the male end, and wired it up to the shore plug alongside the battery charger. I then ran it forwards to the fridge compartment and secured the female end next to the 12V socket in the fridge compartment. Now I can plug in both cords to the fridge and leave the charger on the "complete" charge setting. With the trailer on shore power the fridge will run off 120V and not put a load on the battery so it can be fully charged safely. With the trailer unplugged the fridge will run off the battery. Best of all it's completely automatic.

The other electrical project I wanted to take care of was the 7 pin connector from the trailer to the truck. Since Toyota hides the factory 7 pin connector about 12" left of centre and 8" back under the bumper the trailer harness didn't reach the truck when we bought it. Denise and Michael had lent us their 7 pin extension harness when we bought the trailer but with that returned I wanted a more permanent and streamlined solution so I decided to extend the original harness. I bought a piece of 7 pin trailer wiring, chopped off the short piece inside the front of the trailer frame and spliced in the new longer piece. I also used the reverse light wire to power a pair of LED reverse lights I swapped in for one of the rear light sets. There were a few times on our maiden voyage where I was backing up at night guided only by hand signals so having the extra light to see behind the trailer will be a nice improvement this year.

IMG_3129 by 96r50, on Flickr

That's all I've accomplished lately but I do have plans for more. I'm looking at different hot water setups and trying to figure out how to get on board hot water in the trailer. I also need to pull the trailer outside so I can set up the tent and install LED light strips inside for nighttime illumination. I also need to adjust the brakes (I think the cables have stretched a bit) and figure out a way to get a kitchen-only awning with no ground poles for those short overnight pitstops where you don't want to set up a lot of pegs and guylines.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

I like it.

 

[96r50]

We went out to Cranbrook last week and spent a few hours at the NASC warehouse with Michael and Denise. They had all the trailers (Echo 3, 4, and 5) on display, as well as some accessories and spare parts. We picked up a spare parts kit as well as a few replacement parts for our trailer. They also told us that the trailers are now approved to sell in the USA :victory: and that they will be at the NW Overland Rally in Washington at the end of June.

As far as the trailer goes I managed to get a few things done as well. I spent some time measuring and figuring and realized that the stove storage bracket should fit on the opposite wall of the trailer. Relocating it would mean that the entire left wall of the interior compartment would be smooth which would make packing and unpacking that much easier.

Before:
Untitled by 96r50, on Flickr

After:
IMG_3184 by 96r50, on Flickr

IMG_3185 by 96r50, on Flickr

I still need to come up with a simple way to hold the stove in the bracket but I much prefer having it over here out of the way.

I also did a quick brake adjustment (pretty simple once I understood the instructions) and tightened one of the hub nuts a quarter turn as there was a bit of play in the hub. I've also ordered a water pump and some fittings so hopefully we'll have onboard water before NWOR.

 

[bodynmotion]

I like this... might use some of the ideas on my trailer build!

 

[Yulli]

Coming to the NWOR? Nice!

I'll be great to see a wide variety of trailers this year.

 

[96r50]

The trailer is now for sale: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...Expedition-Trailer-for-sale-in-Ottawa-Ontario

 

[Srpat]

Echo5 RTT

Does anybody know what kind of rtt this is? I like this setup much better than the standard rtt with annex room. This has an integrated annex room, but I can't find it for sale as a stand alone.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Does anybody know what kind of rtt this is? I like this setup much better than the standard rtt with annex room. This has an integrated annex room, but I can't find it for sale as a stand alone.

It is their own design to suit their trailers. There are a number of manufacturers than make similarly designed tents. Oztrail makes a fantastic lineup of tents, even ones designed for the M416/CDN M101 for not a lot more than the price of a large RTT.

http://www.kakaducamping.com/collections/camper-trailer-tents

I believe that CVT and others are also selling similar tents.

I was checking these trailers and tents out at NWOR in Plain WA last June, they are VERY nice units. Well made, well designed and I agree, the whole tent design is far nicer than an RTT if you have the space or the right trailer.

 

[Katika Africa]

Out of curiosity did you add water pump and heater to the unit? This has always been the biggest oversight of the Echo trailers compared with others in the same class in Africa.

 

[96r50]

We decided we won't be selling the trailer after all. After a lot of searching and head scratching we haven't found anything else that suits our needs as well as this trailer does. So in order to get ready for the summer we went out to the local wilderness area for a shakedown day trip. Great day to be outside although we all got more sun than we realized!

IMG_3560 by 96r50, on Flickr

IMG_3572 by 96r50, on Flickr

IMG_3523 by 96r50, on Flickr

IMG_3594 by 96r50, on Flickr

 

[Titanpat57]

That's great news!

I'm sure it can be arduous setting up everything....but iin bad weather I would think it would be a real help with the little ones to have all that covered area....good deal!
,!