Midnightsun
Adventurer
Great trailer build and your traveling pictures are awesome!!!
Really Big Adventure – M101A2 Build
- Thread starter ToRo13
- Start date
ToRo13
Active member
While I love snowboarding and other winter recreational activities –– I also love camping. I was able to wrangle a buddy into going out for a couple of nights. [My wife is cold when it's 80º, so she's a no-go] We had a great site, the weather managed to stay in the positive single digits. With a big fire, plenty of beer and a heater buddy –– things were good!
We packed up camp and decided to take the scenic route home through the backcountry. [Bad move – No. 1]
We packed up camp and decided to take the scenic route home through the backcountry. [Bad move – No. 1]
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ToRo13
Active member
OPTION 1 - Cross the thinly frozen river that slopes into a swamp in a +7,000lb fully loaded truck pulling a ~2,250 lb trailer...#breakthrough
OPTION 2 - Turn around and try to climb back up the very steep icy hill in a fully loaded truck and pulling the same trailer. #jackknife
Between not having chains in the truck, and not having a winch. We decided to disconnect the trailer and flip it around to head back up the big hill we just came down.
After deciding to turnaround and take on the steep 1/4 mile hill. I put the truck in 4low, hit the gas and approached the slick terrain with some speed to keep up my momentum — we crushed the first 75%...Then we hit a big patch of ice and the auto limited slip differential or (ALSD) kicked in — automatically disabling the accelerator (wouldn’t want the wheels to slip). This feature really pissed me off, after getting home I read up on this feature. Forward momentum stoped and quickly became backwards. Picking up speed sliding down the hill backwards about 80’. The jackknife finally brought us to a nice crunchy stop!! Definitely a bad situation to be in, but no one was hurt...
It took us another couple hours of digging to make it back up the hill. We'd dig a 10' section through the snow and ice down to the gravel –– accelerate it out, get traction and the truck would disengage the accelerator, we'd loose momentum and the truck would stop. 300' feet of that and we made it back to level ground.
Driving home was another challenge. It was Star Wars warp speed driving through a blizzard. Nothing like jacking up your truck and trailer in winter conditions and then having to drive home is near zero visibility at night, in the middle of nowhere –– in a blizzard hahaha!
Lessons learned: The trailer has very little benefit for winter camping. All the water features would have frozen instantly, we didn't need 90% of the gear it was carrying. It also was very hard to manipulate in the deep snow. Next time I will just put the tent on the truck, and or buy a winter tent with a wood fireplace. I'm also putting a winch on the truck and buying chains, even if I never need to use them. Better to have and not need, then need and not have.
The truck goes into the shop in a few weeks, and I still have some time to repair the trailer before spring.
OPTION 2 - Turn around and try to climb back up the very steep icy hill in a fully loaded truck and pulling the same trailer. #jackknife
Between not having chains in the truck, and not having a winch. We decided to disconnect the trailer and flip it around to head back up the big hill we just came down.
After deciding to turnaround and take on the steep 1/4 mile hill. I put the truck in 4low, hit the gas and approached the slick terrain with some speed to keep up my momentum — we crushed the first 75%...Then we hit a big patch of ice and the auto limited slip differential or (ALSD) kicked in — automatically disabling the accelerator (wouldn’t want the wheels to slip). This feature really pissed me off, after getting home I read up on this feature. Forward momentum stoped and quickly became backwards. Picking up speed sliding down the hill backwards about 80’. The jackknife finally brought us to a nice crunchy stop!! Definitely a bad situation to be in, but no one was hurt...
It took us another couple hours of digging to make it back up the hill. We'd dig a 10' section through the snow and ice down to the gravel –– accelerate it out, get traction and the truck would disengage the accelerator, we'd loose momentum and the truck would stop. 300' feet of that and we made it back to level ground.
Driving home was another challenge. It was Star Wars warp speed driving through a blizzard. Nothing like jacking up your truck and trailer in winter conditions and then having to drive home is near zero visibility at night, in the middle of nowhere –– in a blizzard hahaha!
Lessons learned: The trailer has very little benefit for winter camping. All the water features would have frozen instantly, we didn't need 90% of the gear it was carrying. It also was very hard to manipulate in the deep snow. Next time I will just put the tent on the truck, and or buy a winter tent with a wood fireplace. I'm also putting a winch on the truck and buying chains, even if I never need to use them. Better to have and not need, then need and not have.
The truck goes into the shop in a few weeks, and I still have some time to repair the trailer before spring.
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Nice pics and good aar. You can turn off the electronic traction control. Any time I leave pavement I turn mine off. The best money I have spent on Tundra mod was the Auburn LSD. Still need to dissable the elctronic trac control to allow the mechanical side to work. Next Tundra will get Auburn in rear and ARB air locker in front right off the bat.
The wide open diffs and formerly small fuel tank are the only complaints I have with Tundra.
Trailers are a liability in tight/poor traction conditions and is the main reason I never went for a trailer RTT or any major built in features. All major gear can be removed from trailer/placed in truck. Can leave trailer at home or park it before the road gets rough.
I have moved to a Canvas ground tent with stove option.
Post what you end up getting for chains. I need a pair as well.
The wide open diffs and formerly small fuel tank are the only complaints I have with Tundra.
Trailers are a liability in tight/poor traction conditions and is the main reason I never went for a trailer RTT or any major built in features. All major gear can be removed from trailer/placed in truck. Can leave trailer at home or park it before the road gets rough.
I have moved to a Canvas ground tent with stove option.
Post what you end up getting for chains. I need a pair as well.
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SoDakSooner
Adventurer
Ughh. I know on my Jeep there is a way to disable all the nannies with a switch. It is simply and interrupt in the traction control system. Don't know if there is some way to do that on a tundra. 4 low on the wranglers automatically disables the nannies, but in 4 high they are still turned on.
At least no one was hurt. Bet the pulse quickened a bit though.
At least no one was hurt. Bet the pulse quickened a bit though.
ToRo13
Active member
Well – a lot has happened since this tribulation of a trip. We had our second child which temporarily put a kibosh to camping. But we've have had her out for several hikes and will get her out camping soon enough. It also gave me the opportunity to make some modifications to the truck and upgrade/repairs to the trailer.
After the snow/ice/river debacle I replaced the front bumper on my Tundra with the ARB Summit and added a 12k Warn Zeon Platinum Synthetic winch. I was thankful I was out with a helpful buddy on that trip and not my family. The winch provides a little peace of mind and will also be helpful for helping others out –– just as I was helped. Good karma is a good thing.
As for the trailer I had to replace the tongue carrier and redo all of the electrical work. I was pretty apprehensive to do it, thinking it would take me forever. It ended up taking me about 6 hours to redo it. I switched out from an aluminum box to an ABS plastic. The aluminum was constantly bombarded by rocks, so I didn't want to go with the powder coated aluminum and I wasn't a big fan of the metallic diamond plate. The ABS boxes are less expensive, but are no where as rigid as their counterparts. So I took the opportunity to restructure the interior and reinforce it with Richlite and aluminum tubing and angle.
It was impossible to find a replacement surge brake assembly, I spent 6 months looking for one. With two little ones I didn't have a lot of free-time to convert the hydraulic system over to electric –– so I reached out to a local trailer company. They quoted me about $2,000+ to do it for me with parts and labor [I would also lose the functionality of the handbrake –– a feature I absolutely love] the soonest availability they had was 4 month out. So I started looking for other solutions. I wound up going with a HydraStar Electric over Hydraulic system and absolutely LOVE it! It took me a couple hours to install and hook up myself. I also needed to bleed they system from DOT 5 to a DOT 3 fluid. But WOW is this a massive upgrade!
After the snow/ice/river debacle I replaced the front bumper on my Tundra with the ARB Summit and added a 12k Warn Zeon Platinum Synthetic winch. I was thankful I was out with a helpful buddy on that trip and not my family. The winch provides a little peace of mind and will also be helpful for helping others out –– just as I was helped. Good karma is a good thing.
As for the trailer I had to replace the tongue carrier and redo all of the electrical work. I was pretty apprehensive to do it, thinking it would take me forever. It ended up taking me about 6 hours to redo it. I switched out from an aluminum box to an ABS plastic. The aluminum was constantly bombarded by rocks, so I didn't want to go with the powder coated aluminum and I wasn't a big fan of the metallic diamond plate. The ABS boxes are less expensive, but are no where as rigid as their counterparts. So I took the opportunity to restructure the interior and reinforce it with Richlite and aluminum tubing and angle.
It was impossible to find a replacement surge brake assembly, I spent 6 months looking for one. With two little ones I didn't have a lot of free-time to convert the hydraulic system over to electric –– so I reached out to a local trailer company. They quoted me about $2,000+ to do it for me with parts and labor [I would also lose the functionality of the handbrake –– a feature I absolutely love] the soonest availability they had was 4 month out. So I started looking for other solutions. I wound up going with a HydraStar Electric over Hydraulic system and absolutely LOVE it! It took me a couple hours to install and hook up myself. I also needed to bleed they system from DOT 5 to a DOT 3 fluid. But WOW is this a massive upgrade!
ToRo13
Active member
Have fun with the build! I had an amazing time building mine and have been able to enjoy it for the past 3+ years. We have been out hundreds of nights in it and have been incredibly impressed with the quality of the trailer. Thanks for the post and shoutout! Nice vid too!
84-4runner
Active member
Nice set up, I like your electrical. I am in the process of redoing mine. Make make is the chest holster?
ToRo13
Active member
Yeah! Thanks for sharing — looks great! I will offer some feedback as well. I’m a Creative Director by trade so it comes naturally ?.
1 - When I had my RTT on my truck one of the things I hated was having to climb all over everything trying to set up the tent. I’m 6’ 1” and certain aspects just sucked, despit being tall. So I designed the tent to ride below my cab at a height (the tent base is at 5’ 6”) I can set everything up at eye level — then once it’s set up I raise it up to 7’ 6”. Even at 7’ 6” I have had to buy multiple inserts for the annex. It’s stable at that height in 50-60 mile per hour wind gusts. But the annex does not do well.
I have seen guys with high racks and RTTs out on trails, the high center of gravity makes the trailers really wild and you will definitely be hitting a lot more trees if that’s indigenous to where you’ll be going.
2 -The reason for the beveled corners on the rack is because no tents are that wide. So that allowed me to center the tent on the trailer and it also wouldn’t put harsh 90° angles into the annex when we set that up.
3 - maybe the rack is not complete — but you are going to want to close up those open ends in the square tube. If you’re in the desert or other dry areas those will fill with debris, mud etc.
Every solution and use has different design needs. You will find out what you want to be changed very quickly. I took it out a few times before calling it “done” and tweaked the design frequently. I absolutely love where my trailer is at — but do not care for tent anymore. We’ll be changing that out this spring.
Design, build, test, refine and test again!
Thanks for sharing, and please keep me posted on your progress!!
1 - When I had my RTT on my truck one of the things I hated was having to climb all over everything trying to set up the tent. I’m 6’ 1” and certain aspects just sucked, despit being tall. So I designed the tent to ride below my cab at a height (the tent base is at 5’ 6”) I can set everything up at eye level — then once it’s set up I raise it up to 7’ 6”. Even at 7’ 6” I have had to buy multiple inserts for the annex. It’s stable at that height in 50-60 mile per hour wind gusts. But the annex does not do well.
I have seen guys with high racks and RTTs out on trails, the high center of gravity makes the trailers really wild and you will definitely be hitting a lot more trees if that’s indigenous to where you’ll be going.
2 -The reason for the beveled corners on the rack is because no tents are that wide. So that allowed me to center the tent on the trailer and it also wouldn’t put harsh 90° angles into the annex when we set that up.
3 - maybe the rack is not complete — but you are going to want to close up those open ends in the square tube. If you’re in the desert or other dry areas those will fill with debris, mud etc.
Every solution and use has different design needs. You will find out what you want to be changed very quickly. I took it out a few times before calling it “done” and tweaked the design frequently. I absolutely love where my trailer is at — but do not care for tent anymore. We’ll be changing that out this spring.
Design, build, test, refine and test again!
Thanks for sharing, and please keep me posted on your progress!!
Ryannnz
Member
Yeah! Thanks for sharing — looks great! I will offer some feedback as well. I’m a Creative Director by trade so it comes naturally.
1 - When I had my RTT on my truck one of the things I hated was having to climb all over everything trying to set up the tent. I’m 6’ 1” and certain aspects just sucked, despit being tall. So I designed the tent to ride below my cab at a height (the tent base is at 5’ 6”) I can set everything up at eye level — then once it’s set up I raise it up to 7’ 6”. Even at 7’ 6” I have had to buy multiple inserts for the annex. It’s stable at that height in 50-60 mile per hour wind gusts. But the annex does not do well.
I have seen guys with high racks and RTTs out on trails, the high center of gravity makes the trailers really wild and you will definitely be hitting a lot more trees if that’s indigenous to where you’ll be going.
2 -The reason for the beveled corners on the rack is because no tents are that wide. So that allowed me to center the tent on the trailer and it also wouldn’t put harsh 90° angles into the annex when we set that up.
3 - maybe the rack is not complete — but you are going to want to close up those open ends in the square tube. If you’re in the desert or other dry areas those will fill with debris, mud etc.
Every solution and use has different design needs. You will find out what you want to be changed very quickly. I took it out a few times before calling it “done” and tweaked the design frequently. I absolutely love where my trailer is at — but do not care for tent anymore. We’ll be changing that out this spring.
Design, build, test, refine and test again!
Thanks for sharing, and please keep me posted on your progress!!
.It’s like you’ve crawled directly into my brain on some of these design items. Down to the end caps that we are going to 3D print.
Now I’m not a tall guy (5’6-7”) whatsoever,... but I like the idea of standing in the bed of the trailer without bumping my head, so it’s freakishly big. I am concerned with the height for center of gravity - but like you said, this will be tested and refined. It goes up to over 8” and the primary use case for that was to create max headspace under the batwing awning. Also from a materials perspective it’s nice knowing we are just a few cuts away to get into the benefits you mention with a smaller rack.
Our newest vid on this should be coming out soon! Like in a day or so...
One open Design Q, did you wire to your actuators by following the same path as the headlights under the trailer and through the bed at the rear? The toggle mounts, lights etc are in design fabrication mode now
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