Tentrax!

[LSWEENEY]

Pictures of revised tail lights

These are pictures of the new LED tailights and LED back up lights installed on the Tentrax. I used a 4" hole saw and cut new holes in just below the tail lights. I wired the back up lights to a swith that I have on my Jeep's dash. That way I can turn them on and actually get out of the vehicle to see what's behind me on a dark trail. I converted the Jeep's 4 pin trailer plug to a six pin plug to allow the back up lights to be switched. They are not super bright, but very effrctive. The LED tailights are awesome. Very bright and makes the trailer look a lot more modern than the old, faded bulb lights.

I am currently designing the water tank. I am trying to get between 11 ans 18 gallons of storage. Enough to allow a quick shower in the field over a long weekend trip. My Tentrax has 6" spacers between the tub and the axel so I have a good amount of room to work with. There are a lot of tanks out there, but it is difficult to find thin ones. I am thinking to actually go to two 7 gallon tanks that will fit up into the frame rails and still give me over 1.5" of clearance between the bottom of the tank and the axle. I can add fittings to link the two tanks. 14 gallons will add 116 pounds to the trailer. I usually carry only six gallons. But since the tanks will be lower and not on the toungue of the trailer, this should actually better balance the trailer anyway.

Hoping to order tanks this week and buld the frame once they get in. Looking to do a galley set up as well. Got some ideas on that to work on.

 

[LSWEENEY]

Reversaing the lid on a Tentrax

Hey, by the way. There is a guy in Huntington Beach that has a Tentrax trailer (Red) that he has reversed the lid on to allow it to open up off the rear of the trailer instead of opening over the storage area in front of the trailer. He has some pictures posted on the Tentrax forum. Does anybody know him? I would like to do that as well as it is a pain to remove everything off the storage shelf to open up the tent. It seems pretty easy to do, but I would like to speak to somebody who's already done it!

 

[outsidecurtisp]

Tentrax Make-Over

Seeing how I am not one to leave well enough alone, I decided to give my newly purchased trailer a make-over. Two weeks ago I purchased it from a guy who must have had it stored outside. The frame and trailer both had weathering and rust. I could never live with this!
I tore everything down last week and took it to the powdercoaters. During the dis-assemble I was amazed me how basic these trailers are. Well, after being sandblasted and having a fresh coat of semigloss black applied; she looks better than new. So far I have just the frame done. I am not sure if I am going to repaint the tub and lid or go the bed-liner route. Also, it needs a new tent as the old one was shot. I have a couple calls out to get estimates on a new one. It's harder than I thought it was going to be to find a tent manufacturer. Most deal in either canvas or party tents.
My wife walked out today and said "that she thought it looked good." Thats a good sign for me. If she sees progress then it's ok to keep spending money. Tomorrow I will put the tub on and rewire everything. Eventually I hope to add electrical and water.

 

[LSWEENEY]

That looks great! I had not seen one of these trailers with the tub removed. It sure is simple. I have considered repainting my tub to match my Jeep, but the removal of all the stuff on the lid and tub seems like more of a chore than its worth. I rewired my trailer and added a better electrical box than the flimsy factory box. It cleaned up the wiring and kept them dust and waterproof.

I am sure that Tentrax would sell you a replacement tent, although their prices are pretty high on all of their products. I needed to switch from Toyota hubs to Jeep JK hubs on my trailer and they quoted me over $500 to do it (hubs and spacers). I mentioned that it was pretty steep and the guys said if you can do it cheaper somewhere else, go for it. I found a set of high quality off road conversion spacers for less than $200. I already had spacers on the Toyota hubs, so simply replaced the existing spacers and got it done for less than half the cost.

One thing to remember when you do get your new tent is to be sure that the fabric is not sitting in between the steel tend supports when folded. These supports are very close and rub against each other when folded, they can wear holes in the tent in a really short time. I have added small strips of foam to my supports and zip tie them together when I travel to keep them from rubbing. I take mine down some pretty rough roads and started seeing wear on the supports quickly, so this has eliminated the problem.

 

[outsidecurtisp]

This morning I put the tub back on the frame. Man it was heavy. In my garage I have a block and tackle system to lift my RTT off the Jeep. I figured I would give it a try. Well, it worked but I am sure I put the stress test on everything that was involved. It's back on now though.

As far as tent go; I had considered getting a new tent directly from Tentrax but for $800!??? I guess he has that end of the market covered. Whatever I get I will be sure to watch the sharp edges for sure. Thanks for the heads up.

That looks great! I had not seen one of these trailers with the tub removed. It sure is simple. I have considered repainting my tub to match my Jeep, but the removal of all the stuff on the lid and tub seems like more of a chore than its worth. I rewired my trailer and added a better electrical box than the flimsy factory box. It cleaned up the wiring and kept them dust and waterproof.

I am sure that Tentrax would sell you a replacement tent, although their prices are pretty high on all of their products. I needed to switch from Toyota hubs to Jeep JK hubs on my trailer and they quoted me over $500 to do it (hubs and spacers). I mentioned that it was pretty steep and the guys said if you can do it cheaper somewhere else, go for it. I found a set of high quality off road conversion spacers for less than $200. I already had spacers on the Toyota hubs, so simply replaced the existing spacers and got it done for less than half the cost.

One thing to remember when you do get your new tent is to be sure that the fabric is not sitting in between the steel tend supports when folded. These supports are very close and rub against each other when folded, they can wear holes in the tent in a really short time. I have added small strips of foam to my supports and zip tie them together when I travel to keep them from rubbing. I take mine down some pretty rough roads and started seeing wear on the supports quickly, so this has eliminated the problem.

 

[Tom and Elaine]

It's great to see the mods being done on the Tentraxs, I haven't done much on ours other than beef up the electrical. Keep feeding us your progress on both trailers. I agree about not allowing the tent to get between the bows. Haven't had any problems with ours but the potential is there if you don't pay attention. T&E

 

[Chris Boyd]

I am all happy seeing all the mods. Also planning the LineX mod...

I've been working on a few on mine as well. Currently in the assembly phase of an upgraded electrical system and a fridge slide mod for the front rack. I'm planning on mounting a fridge slide the comes out the drivers side, so that the fridge slides out beyond the top when it opens. This way the fridge is clear. It also happens to be on the side that is under the awning so no mounting, un- mounting, etc.

I also built a custom frame for two solar folding solar panels that are made of black PVC. The frames double as a solar water heater for about 5 gals of water. Maybe enough for a shower if you're miserly, but more so for kitchen/cleaning needs. The frames are the same size as the top rack on the Tentrax and nest in.

 

[Slambo]

Sounds cool Chris! Let's see some pics!

Slambo

 

[Power Wagon Family]

Im loving the LineX just FYI, nothing new with my Tentrax. It is still sitting in the garage dirty from my last trip as it has been too cold to wash it! I like hearing about all the other mods people are doing to theirs. I am also thinking solar and I bought a blue sea fuse/switch pannel that will be mounted onto an ammo can on the front rack. There will also be a main kill switch on the side of the ammo can that will cut all power while in storage. The wires will run into the ammo can from a hole in the bottom and then distributed to the fuse/switch pannel harness inside the ammo can which is water and dust resistant. I have also thought about the solar on the roof rack untill I get to camp and would also love to see pictures.

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: 60 watt solar panel/7 amp controller wired in with my 700 watt inverter and keeps all batteries at full charge-

Solar panels require --FULL SUN EXPOSURE--, thats why mine is not mounted on the trailer--too many trees/angles and mine is easy to manuever !

I've doneit this way for over 5 years and seems to be adequate !
I have setit on the trailer, several times when I knew the exposure would be good for X hours, but thats not common in the Sierras !

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[Chris Boyd]

Regarding the LineX install:

is there an estimate of how much weight this added to the trailer? I think they charge by the square foot, but I'm sure they know how much product they sprayed...

 

[Power Wagon Family]

LineX said it added 35lbs. From what I understand every distributer of LineX is different but I paid 500$ to get my tub sprayed. They did the wheel wells and under the bottom about 6 inches all the way around.

 

[outsidecurtisp]

Todays the Day

Today I dropped my tub off at the local Line-X. The guy had a few trucks in front of me but assured me sometime tomorrow it would be done. I am getting the whole exterior lined. Also, at the same time I am upgrading both the Jeep and the trailer to 7 pin. For the trailer color I went with standard issue black coating. The Jeep is black so it should work well together. As for my top to the trailer, I am going to be doing something a littel different from Rock Eater.
(I looked all over for a Dozer color Jeep, but couldn't find one. So it was either Black or Red. I chose black.) I will suprise you with the final outcome. Anyone care to chime in on tongue box choices? I am looking at a few right now; but am always open to suggestions.

 

[Power Wagon Family]

Looking forward to see how it comes out! As for a tongue box I went with an ECS case. I looked at the Pelican, Alum Box and a few others and decided on ECS. Mine is tall enough to hold all my camping smalls but I need to pull the box before I open the lid because of the boxes hight. I was willing to deal with that and the box doubles as a back up seat for someone. If you decide on ECS call them direct and ask for Kevin if I remember right, he can give you a shipping quote the online shipping calculator on the web site is way off lol. I had to get an orange box keeping with my theme but they come in lots of colors. Here is a pic or two of mine.

 

[outsidecurtisp]

That looks really good. I like the color coordination too.You have a great looking set-up. I will look at ECS. Thanks