The Goony Bird

[rusty_tlc]

If you still haven’t decided on replacement mattresses, take a look at futon mattresses. They are about 3” thick, come in a wide variety of sizes, and a good quality one is very comfortable.

We actually like air mattresses.

 

[James86004]

Hey, that looks a lot like ours! It is not the best, they were never intended for dirt roads. On the other hand, we have taken ours out on more than 50 trips now, so we have gotten our money's worth. It sure beats the heck out of a tent, especially when it rains all day.

The biggest problem with it is the suspension is too firm, so it bounces all over the place on rough roads, which it turn shakes the interior a lot. I have had to reinforce some of the cabinetry inside over the years. Ours has the Torflex axle instead of the leaf spring axle. It is a little harder to lift, but it is doable.

The foam mattress was really comfortable for the first 30 or so trips. Recently it is getting a little firm - we are going to replace it.

 

[rusty_tlc]

Hey, that looks a lot like ours! It is not the best, they were never intended for dirt roads. On the other hand, we have taken ours out on more than 50 trips now, so we have gotten our money's worth. It sure beats the heck out of a tent, especially when it rains all day.

The biggest problem with it is the suspension is too firm, so it bounces all over the place on rough roads, which it turn shakes the interior a lot. I have had to reinforce some of the cabinetry inside over the years. Ours has the Torflex axle instead of the leaf spring axle. It is a little harder to lift, but it is doable.

The foam mattress was really comfortable for the first 30 or so trips. Recently it is getting a little firm - we are going to replace it.

I may play around with the spring packs and try to soften the ride a little. I figure I'll try it out as is first.

I already started beefing up the cabinets, I've beaten up trailers on dirt roads before.

 

[James86004]

Here is a picture of ours:

 

[pint]

Very nice! I may have to start looking for one soon so I can be ready to use it next spring! I reallllllly want 32's though?

 

[rusty_tlc]

Very nice! I may have to start looking for one soon so I can be ready to use it next spring! I reallllllly want 32's though?

I stopped short of 33's with wheels that match the 100 for two reasons.
First, I didn't want to invest the money to upgrade the axle since I hope to eventualy get a real clam shell off road trailer. <cough>AT</cough>

Second, I would need to do some mods to the fender wells. I just want to get out for some late/early season camping, not get involved in a major trailer modification program. My total investment in time so far is around 15 hours, which includes an in depth cleaning and some repairs/improvments to the cabinets and wiring.

 

[James86004]

I had all these plans to jack it up and put wheels on to match the Rover's so I could share spares tires. I have owned it 5 years now and have not gotten around to it. I have gone through 3 tires and one wheel bearing though.

 

[rusty_tlc]

I had all these plans to jack it up and put wheels on to match the Rover's so I could share spares tires. I have owned it 5 years now and have not gotten around to it. I have gone through 3 tires and one wheel bearing though.

I hope the taller tires will help with the wear issues. I couldn't see us driving to Death Valley on the little tiny tires the rig came with.

 

[pint]

I had all these plans to jack it up and put wheels on to match the Rover's so I could share spares tires. I have owned it 5 years now and have not gotten around to it. I have gone through 3 tires and one wheel bearing though.

Have you "drug" it to some remote areas? I don't want to do any hardcore rock crawling, but I want to pull it to some fairly primitive back country areas in CO.

 

[miller_au]

cool project mate, ill be interested to see the progress
cheers miller

 

[rusty_tlc]

cool project mate, ill be interested to see the progress
cheers miller

Thanks.

If I could get the type of trailer tents you guys have I wouldn't be screwing around with this project.

 

[James86004]

Have you "drug" it to some remote areas? I don't want to do any hardcore rock crawling, but I want to pull it to some fairly primitive back country areas in CO.

Yes. We have literally drug it. It really hampered the off pavement abilities of the Range Rover. Since we started using the Chevy Silverado 4x4, we notice less of a difference, but that is more because the Chevy is so much less capable to begin with.

It has forded creeks to levels up to the trailer frame multiple times. Seen rocks, snow and mud. We are always surprised where it will go, and where it won't.

 

[pint]

Very cool! That's what I was looking for.

 

[rusty_tlc]

A good shakedown trip this weekend. We went to a little County campground for a couple of days to figure out what we had left behind. It's only about 15 minutes from the house so NBD if we forgot a critical item. The trailer tows great, and the V8 in the Hundy didn't even know it was back there.

The stabilizer situation sucks, we will need to work out something better before long. I also need to get a hitch with no drop on it.

I melted down the OEM stove cooking a big pot of smashed taters. Seems the plastic body didn't like the combination of high heat and a heavy pot cooking for long enough to get taters mashable at 5K elevation.

I cooked up some stir fry on the Old School Coleman gasoline stove tonight and I'm thinking it will replace the propane stove. You just cant get that kind of BTU's out of the propane cook tops they sell for camping.

Next week we'll "kick it up a notch" in the field testing department. :sombrero:

 

[Hilldweller]

Very nice! I may have to start looking for one soon so I can be ready to use it next spring! I reallllllly want 32's though?

I've got 30's on mine and have 32's on the wish list. Then I'll bring the Jeep back down to 32's from 33's and carry just one spare.
Just a little lighter load and a little more clearance...