Smittybilt Scout Trailer Reviews?

[Tkhawk]

We got out and did some beach camping this past weekend! We camped on the Red River with about 60 acres of sandy beach all to our selves. Check out https://www.hipcamp.com/oklahoma/red-river-sandbox/river-view-camp

I found out that I need some larger feet for the jacks when on the sand, and I need to add lighting under my awning. Everything worked great. The refrigerator just sipped power from the battery for close to 40 hours and then the Jeep charged it back to 100% on the 2 hour drive home.

 

[mspenc45]

Simple battery system completed. Four switches, one for internal box strip lighting, one for relocatable magnet mounted LED units, not yet finished, one for perhaps powering the one day 12V fridge, and one for?

 

[Silverback07]

Nice and simple.

 

[titantom]

Raptor Liner makes a great improvement! Sanding the existing powder coat exposes all the poor adhesion areas, which then must be acid etch primed before Raptor coating. $104 for 4 quart kit on Amazon with spray gun. See my earlier posts.

oops hit the wrong button.
the tent currently opens over the kitchen which has a fire just a couple feet below the base board. the annex was not built for the XL tent and says it in fine print that it wont fit therefore it did not fit.

 

[Tkhawk]

oops hit the wrong button.
the tent currently opens over the kitchen which has a fire just a couple feet below the base board. the annex was not built for the XL tent and says it in fine print that it wont fit therefore it did not fit.

The tent is heavy but, two people should be able to rotate it around to open on the other side.

 

[mspenc45]

Nice and simple.

Working on my Solar charging system now. It'll complicate the set up a little.

 

[mspenc45]

Found this on AMAZON for $219 https://www.renogy.com/renogy-100-w...lline-foldable-solar-suitcase-w-o-controller/ Really torn between this and a much much lighter flexible, but the flexibles are really $$$ and don't seem to last as long based on reviews. Went with this charge controller for the Blue Tooth remote functionality: https://www.victronenergy.com/solar...olar-mppt-75-10-75-15-100-15-100-20#downloads

 

[mspenc45]

26.2lb propane tank mounted in box using old shock bushing and carriage bolt through box wall below lid:

 

[john61ct]

If you end up with multiple portable units, put them in series to that (excellent) controller, higher voltages gives MPPT headroom to extract more power.

They shojld be matched panels

Do not allow partial shading.

75/15 will go up to 300W, but going past 240W or so you sacrifice some peak output.

 

[mspenc45]

If you end up with multiple portable units, put them in series to that (excellent) controller, higher voltages gives MPPT headroom to extract more power.

They shojld be matched panels

Do not allow partial shading.

75/15 will go up to 300W, but going past 240W or so you sacrifice some peak output.

Isn't partial shading OK as long as there's diodes in the panel? Or is it another issue?

Headed to Overland Expo in Flagstaff AZ this Saturday!

 

[rnArmy]

We got out and did some beach camping this past weekend! We camped on the Red River with about 60 acres of sandy beach all to our selves. Check out https://www.hipcamp.com/oklahoma/red-river-sandbox/river-view-camp

I found out that I need some larger feet for the jacks when on the sand, and I need to add lighting under my awning. Everything worked great. The refrigerator just sipped power from the battery for close to 40 hours and then the Jeep charged it back to 100% on the 2 hour drive home.

These are made by High Lift for their High-Lift jacks (I think they're called an off-road base). Would also work for your trailer jacks.

 

[Tkhawk]

These are made by High Lift for their High-Lift jacks (I think they're called an off-road base). Would also work for your trailer jacks.

I thought about those, but I also have ended up lifting a tire in the air when leveling the trailer with the jacks, so I ordered some of the stackable blocks for RVs. That way they can be dual purpose, hopefully.

 

[john61ct]

Isn't partial shading OK as long as there's diodes in the panel?

If you allow partial shading, better to wire in parallel.

Few cheap panels have diodes.

Test yourself before permanently wiring, post results here.

 

[TommaHawk]

Your ramp is right on!! I need that for me after few adult beverages

Must say, that one made me laugh out loud.

 

[YYCRod]

Finally got my trailer out for its inaugural shake-down camping long weekend. Everything worked as planned.

Went to the frontier/homesteader ghost town of Rowley Alberta, about 110 miles north-east of where I live. Weather was 27 C. (80 F.) and sunny. We were the only ones camping in the town.

Much of the inspiration for my trailer comes from members of this forum.

I welded and covered the front rock guard. Copied what Drifta does in Australia. Works great. Not a single rock impact on the trailer after 40 Km of gravel roads. The electrical system is 2x 100 W panels that I hinged-joined and made adjuable legs for adjusting to the suns position. I welded a lockable storage bracket under the RTT that utilizes RTT mounting keys to fasten it to the tent. They feed power 2x 6 V. GC batteries in the generator compartment giving me 230 Amps of power. In that compartment is a 60 amp MPPT charge controller, a Nocco 10 Amp AC charger and 3000 watt pure sinewave inverter.

Behind the tongue box, under the PVC cover is 25 Gal of water in jerry cans and 2x 10 lb LP bottles.

The trailer tracks perfectly on the highway and didn’t even notice it behind me at 120 km/h.






The rock guard really saves the paint on the trailer as well as protecting from the inevitable rocks ricocheting back from the trailer that blowout rear windows when traveling on gravel at speed. I welded 2 positioning brackets onto an 18” solid core extension to ensure the rock guard wouldn’t move. The 18” extension was needed to get the clearance to the spare tire and greatly enhances the ease of backing up of the trailer as well. I essentially copied the Drifta DOT design from Australia, so credit goes to Luke the Drifta from Oz.