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RE: Goat Canyon Trestle 3/12 - 3/14
fishpoet,
Thanks for the ride. We've been fans of the SDA&E for a long time (the San Diego Arizona and Eastern). A couple trips we camped down near Dos Cabesas, but walked the trackage all the way up to the Goat. It's the largest still-standing wooden railroad trestle in the U.S. There are a lot of tunnels on the way. The line was washed out in 1976 when a hurricane blew through.
Thanks for the memories.
Our camp at Dos Cabesas. This was January during a rain storm.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jefe4x4/2ed7fc80.jpg
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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03/14/10 09:00pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: sleepy asked!
I can't believe I've wasted 20 minutes of what I have left reading this thread!
Let's move on. Haven't we got better fish to fry? (Oh, no.....I didn't say that, did I?)
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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03/07/10 09:24pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Tires: 235 E's or 285 D's in the sand
In my experience with lots of tires, the larger the cu. capacity of air in a tire, and the wider the section width, the lower is the max. inflation for the tire. It's the load capacity of wider tires that varies greatly.
My current rears are 33-15.50R16 (375-55R16) with a load range E, and a capacity of 3750 lb. at 65 lbs. The Nittos that these replaced were 33-14.50's with a load range D, and a capacity of 3415 lb. at 65 lbs. The 12" wide rims that both used are Mickey Thompson Aluminum, with a 3600 lb. rating. Close enough.
What we don't know is how much your 115RD weighs. How close to the capy of the truck are you? We know it's a one ton, but is it the highest capy one ton?
The real question is how much weight is on the rear axle. Since you have a gasser, the front end shouldn't be taxed like it would with an oil burner.
My thought is that the D's should work fine if you don't drive fast, or run 'em hot, and keep the road pressure at the max. printed inflation. As far as sand, 20 to 25 lbs. is a good target. Then, you need to get your reinflation house in order. A good, high volume 12v compressor?
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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03/07/10 06:29pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Dalton Highway and Arctic Tour
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jefe4x4/DSCN0481.jpg
This a couple miles south of Coldfoot on the Dalton. It's a gravel pit on the E. side of the highway. No sign, no gate, just drive right in for the view. That's the Brooks range behind the camper. It's a good place for pets. We stayed at a lot of gravel pits along the way.
Coldfoot was as far north as we got on the trip, as we knew we could not drive to the Arctic Ocean.
The pic was taken, I think, about 11pm (yes, pm) on June 19th, 2003. This is about as dark as it got at night. Notice the windows around the cabover are covered so you can get some sleep.
Tiny has it right. The only difference would be I didn't think it was that hard on the rig. Yes, we did have a dinged and cracked windshield, but that's to be expected. The only shortfall we had was not taking a second spare tire. We had a major tread separation on one of the BFG-AT's, which changed the course of our trip. We took fewer gravel roads after that until I could find another tire, finally in White Horse. Then, right back on gravel.
I recommend to take a 2nd spare tire without the rim. You can get it mounted just about any place there's habitation. Finding an odd ball tire size in the bush is another.
Interesting to note that tiny and I have the same truck and camper lashup.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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03/07/10 04:09pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Real in Bed Spare tire carier
I remember when these came out. The whole truck was well thought out by Ford engineers. I didn't even know that little door on the pass side of the bed was more than just a storage bin. With TC's being such a small market now, we probably won't see these specialty offerings again. Oh, we're just an asterisk on the ash heap of history now. We'll be discovered later as a thin RV layer of the 'Burgess Shale'.
The 70's were a booming time for 'experimental' RV's. Take the Chevy Blazer Chalet. There were some quasi-fifth-wheel arrangements with the trailer connecting to a rack on top of the car. I just a vid of one attached to the top of a 1974 VW Beetle. Just hilarious. Toting a 5'r with 50 HP? The hitch was a 360 deg. circle allowing you to turn and push the 5'r into a narrow defile.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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03/05/10 02:40pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Suspension: Spring Upgrade vs. Air Bags / Timbrens with TC
I'm in the 'leaf spring school' when it comes to camper carriers. Why? Leaves have a lot more friction and don't have the annoying friction-free recoil like coils or air bags. Just old school, dumb, leaf springs. If you do any off-road TC-ing, leaf springs are the ticket.
I did a lot of leaf spring research for my jeeps over 40 years, trying different combinations in number of leaves and differing spring rates and found it really is NOT rocket science. I studied what aftermarket mfgrs. did to make their lift springs or replacement springs work. I tried thinner, but more springs in the pack. I tried mixing individual leaves from YJ 5 leaf packs with YJ 7 leaf packs, at times coming up with 9 or 10 leaves, and some with only 6-7 leaves. I tried thicker leaves, like the ones Rancho uses. Mistake. I've done a dozen SOA's (springs-over-axle) on various rigs using stock springs, 2" lift and 4" lift springs. I worked with aluminum spacers, vs. plastic spacers (or anti-friction wafers, if you will) each having their own character. Tried 'Military Wrap' springs to mitigate the bad effects of a broken main spring on the trail. I've also had a Land Cruiser spring set re-arched by the spring shop for a 3" lift. The lift slowly lowered it's head until after a year they were back down near stock level. I always carry an extra main spring in my CJ8. A couple years ago went through four of them on four subsequent Jeep runs. Yes, replaced a mainspring on the trail 4 times in a row. Three fronts, and one rear. To have the most suspension travel, I nixed the bump stops and paid the price, four times. Here's the result on the Little Sluice on the Rubicon.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jefe4x4/Jefe2.jpg
The bottom line for me on my Dodge was to replace the 'Camper special' single secondary spring with one-ton secondaries (two spring pack) and add Stable Loads. Rides fine empty, although there is not much travel before the secondaries engage via the Stable Loads, and is up to the task of carrying my 1800 lb. dry Lance (That becomes 2800 lbs. wet)
I had 4900 lbs. of crushed rock in the bed and apart from being slower on steep hills rode great, braked great, and didn't seem overloaded. I took a look under there with that load, and saw the secondaries bent down and taking a lot of weight, but the true over load spring (the thick bent down one at the bottom of the pack) was still a ways away from being bottomed out.
My advice is to have the spring shop rebuild your pack with 2 or 3 more leaves. Failing that, plan B would be to add a leaf or two to your secondaries and add Stable Loads. I still have my thicker single secondary from the swap and was thinking of adding it back in to the one ton pair. But, I'm not carrying nearly the load you are projecting, and like the set up as is.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/25/10 11:53pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Head on collision, vehicle on fire with trapped occupant
http://firstaid.about.com/od/medicallegal/a/07_no_good_sam.htm
California used to have a good samaritan law, but the courts limited its application to 'medical attention' only. Even this is in doubt thanks to our appellate and supreme court here in Kalifornia. At least lawyers can get some good gigs out of this.
For all you good Samaritans out there, don't try any of that in Kalifornia.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/25/10 10:30pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Head on collision, vehicle on fire with trapped occupant
Collin,
Wow! Great quick thinking on your feet. The vids were just riveting.
We carry a 5 lb. in the truck and another in the camper itself. You've got me thinking I need to replace them soon. On my truck list are "two fire extinguishers".
As a side story, about 6 years ago when we still lived in greater L.A.(is that an oxymoron?) I was coming home from work in the late evening in the truck on the 210 fwy, and came upon another pickup (a new looking gasser) with the hood up and with flames fully engulfing the engine compartment. I leaped out of the cab a yanked my big extinguisher out, running toward the flaming scene. The driver stopped me and said, "Let it burn". Incredulously I said, "What?, Don't you want the flames out?" He replied, "I've had a lot of bad luck with it already, just let it go."
It was surreal. We just stood there watching it burn to the ground. The fire Dept. never showed up while I was there. I finally left in disgust. You can't make up a story like that.
On a philosophical note, with the tort situation here in the U.S., I know a lot of people fear getting involved in even a life saving situation like you were in for fear of the law suit. I've been on the scene of wrecks where it would have been prudent to hook my winch up to a car off the edge to retrieve the car, but tow people are the bonded ones for this. It's just sad. We've come to this.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/25/10 05:44pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Used RV class c
SB,
Run away! Run away!
Oh, and also take advantage of the class 'C' page in the forum.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/25/10 10:39am |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Replace wimpy truck with manly Truck - check
Rod,
Good choice. As mentioned, the highest (or nearly if oil burner) payload model.
I have a caution for you. Slightly under amp the size of camper that your truck will haul within the GVW. It is soooo easy to get the largest camper you can haul, only to find out after loading it up with that 1000 lbs. of stuff you are suddenly overloaded.
You've done the 'BIG TRUCK' thing well. Now it's time to do the 'smaller camper' thing.
There are some great, older campers around. Expand your 'looking area'. You'll find the price tends to stay up there compared to many trailers of the same vintage. All things come to he who waits.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/25/10 10:13am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Newbie Truck Camper w/ Cummins Dually Questions
Bob,
Stick with your trailer and save your money.
My '01 Dodge with super singles gets 19 mpg empty and drops to 15 mpg with my little Lance on. When towing my jeep on trailer it drops another one or two mpg. That's a GCVW of just under 17K lbs.
I'm sorry, you just come across as a lunatic with that claimed mpg. If it is so, God bless you.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/22/10 06:28pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Portable Air Compressor suggestions?
Like Wayne, I use a China Freight 12V, High Volume air compressor. It's pros are: $49.95; looks very similar to the Quick Aire and others, but doesn't cost $300; small package; will pump up whatever I need (I never need more than 65 lbs.); nice curly hose with accurate in-line gage so you don't have to keep disconnecting to check the pressure.
The Cons are: not 100% duty cycle; must use a soaked wet cloth laid over the cylinder to keep it cool enough not to trip the auto breaker; it's pretty slow; must open the hood and connect clips directly to the battery; draws a lot of current; must keep engine on to keep feeding the battery.
My other 'jeeping hangover' is a 20 pound CO2 Power Tank with valves, regulators and 'cold-proof' hose. It will pump up about (40) 37x13.50-16 jeep tires from 8 lbs. to 30 lbs. and run air tools directly. This set up has saved me over and over again. But, it's heavy and costs about $35 per refill at AirGas.It originally came with a 10 lb. tank, but I found it too small when Jeeping at Moab and pumping up tires every day for a week. It is strapped to the center bulkhead behind the center console on my CJ8, but it also lives in the back seat of the truck when we're TC-ing.
In the end, I always take BOTH setups when Jeeping or TC-ing. Something about 'belt and suspenders'.
Many of my jeeping buddies have a York compressor and hardware built into the engine compartment for airing up tires. It is a time-tested setup and airs up those big meats very quickly. KilbyEnterprises.com makes a kit. I know Brad from the good old days, and he puts together a very good product for not much cash.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/19/10 10:41am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Green with envy TC'er needs help from Jeep crowd.
fishpoet,
I was actually about 300 ft. to the left at the jct. of Jackhammer and Sledgehammer. My bro John (JR, #427) passed by in 1st place at this point about 8 minutes before this pic was taken. He subsequently rolled about 150 yards up the course and had to self-extricate using his winch and a highlift jack, only to roll again a few feet up the dune. Cost him 45 mins, and the leader trophy. He came in 6th.
I was actually in one of the vids on U-tube, in the background (we were pit crew at the BFG pit) with the hood up and my welding stuff at-the-ready for John in a vid starring Casey Currie. Race Mile 15, 25, and 81.
Go to U-tube and type in: King of the Hammers, 2010 to see the action. It was exciting.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/17/10 06:15pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Mono Lake, California
Hikerdmb,
Good stuff. I've been in the same area, same time of year but didn't take pics. Good thing. They wouldn't have been as good as yours are.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/17/10 05:58pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Green with envy TC'er needs help from Jeep crowd.
Rick,
You are on the right track looking at an Unlimited. I will boldly predict they will be the successor to the overlooked and then found Scrambler/CJ8. I'm even in the market for one. They were only produced for two or three years, so scarcity will also be a value keeper. The 6 speed is a close ratio trannie, without much of a low gear, so you must use low range more than you think. The automatic is the ticket if you can find one. In fact, the Rubicon Unlimited of that vintage is the ultimate ticket.
I bought a 7K lb. load limit trailer to fit my CJ8. (2x 3500 lb. axles with brakes) The bed of the trailer is 14' long, the same length as the Scrambler. It was a low-boy, so I did an SOA (springs-over-axle) just like I did on the jeep to get more clearance for dragging it over bad roads.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jefe4x4/542cd3dd.jpg
The 37x13.50-16 tires on 8" or 10" wide rims have about 1-2" of clearance on each side of the bed. It feels like "trailer shrink wrap". It's not ultra wide (detrimental on narrow roads) and only weighs 1100 lbs. without the ramps. I leave the ramps at home. I welded on a pair of 4K lb. swing-down trailer jacks to ea. rear corner to support the trailer end when entering and exiting with the jeep. You must have the ARB's on with 4WD/LO to pull that 18" up to the bed. The ramps were very heavy @ 80 lbs. ea., but bullet proof.
Previously, for years I flat towed my CJ8 (5000 lbs.: There's a whole lot of armor plate on there) with terrible results. Every time it was white knuckle. With those tires/wheels weighing 110 lbs ea. the tail tended to wag the dog. Plus with the Dana 300 T. case I had to disconnect the driveshaft every time flat towing.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jefe4x4/DSCN0827.jpg
Twice I was this close (finger and thumb almost touching) to catastrophe. I did not have brakes on the jeep while towing. With small tires you should be O.K. flat towing.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z240/jefe4x4/eda97230.jpg
Then again, unlike the posters above I have a short bed p.u. and I had to use a 20" stinger for towing. Not towing friendly.
I really like my little 14-er. There is hardly any there there. Just right. Truck and trailer are 39' long. We drove 1100 miles this week to the Hammers with it with no issues, and more importantly, no white knuckles.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/16/10 09:14pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: 4WD use Southern California/Arizona etc
I can't imagine my rig without 4WD. Being an old jeeper, I've adapted the attitude for off-road TC-ing and paid the price by adding all the traction aids and self-extraction goodies that I've used on my jeeps (easy there-small j). Power Loc rr diff. Works great. Very stiff, feels like a spool. Just today I finally put on new rr tires I've had in the garage for 6 mo.
Get this: 375-55-R16's, or 33X15.50's on 12" wide rims. Redneck duallies to you.
My 15K lb. Warn winch is the 'last resort' for self-extraction. In sand, you can bury the spare tire with wire rope attached to pull you out...as a last resort. Yes, I've done it. Funny story I had 3 businessmen from Japan out for a desert run and we got stuck crossing the Whitewater river. Slogged across the stream with the spare and a shovel and dug a 3' deep hole just bigger than the spare (which was also hard to get to). I told the 3 guest that it was the "DEADMAN" technique. And for hours i heard them speaking in Japanese with an occasional "Deadman" thrown in there.
Mostly for traction problems or the need for high floatation, I just play with the tire pressure. In blow sand I can drive my 10K lb. TC up and down with 20 lbs. of air in the tires. Works great. Very low, spread out ground pressure. Those rear tires spread out to the sidewalls to about 17" of floatable tread, with a much longer fore-to-aft footprint.
I use 4WD a lot. Of course I live on the West Slope of the Northern Sierra Nevada and we get some good snow wallops.
Especially on an unloaded pickup, having a rr limited slip or actual locker gets you something, but not much. All the weight is over the front, unpowered axle. A 2WD pickup with a camper and limited slip gets you A LOT more, since you have all that weight now over the drive wheels. I've seen 2WD campers get into some interesting places, mostly due to driver ability, but "once you've done it with 4WD, there's no going back".
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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02/16/10 12:02am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Need utility trailer advice
I've had 4 or 5 trailers over the years. I made one. It was too light duty to take off-road and the tongue came off the frame! The best over all for what you need to carry might be the tried-and-true, bulletproof military jeep trailer. The WW II type were called the M-100 with round fenders. The Vietnam era jeep trailers were the M-416 with squared off fenders. Both had a parking brake, a swiveling loop hitch called a pintel, and would float. You cannot overload them. I had both of these and kick myself that I got rid of them. They had 16" wheels and you could drag them anywhere your towrig would go.
The woe I see is that they are getting more scarce and the price is going up.
Oh, and they are so narrow that you would have to fit the fenders with little fibreglass rod extensions, like curb feelers, to see the thing at all while backing.
Failing that, a short, wide enclosed trailer say a 6X8' could be the ticket, if they make such a thing.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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01/28/10 06:53pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Yellowstone
We were there first week of June (2006) and there was no problem anywhere, and we covered the whole park including some dirt roads to obscure campgrounds. Some snow piles and mud holes around, but everything was alive. We did move early, secure a camp and continue touring till late in the day. Mud pots be us. Did not unload the camper from the truck. The other plus is the extended light you get that time of year.
Actually, there were some very good campgrounds, not in the park that we took advantage of, Henry's Lake west of West Yellowstone for one. Angler heaven.
As always, timing-wise, it's good to be swimming downstream when everyone else is swimming upstream.
regards, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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01/28/10 06:26pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Lifted 3/4 ton GMC
Yes to all of the above.
Have you thought of a pop-up camper with fabric sides? This config will lower your CG. Not by much, but enough to compensate for a 6 in. lift. The other thing is go to wider wheels and tires. I run 12" wide, 4.5" off-set rear wheels with 33-15.50 tires and find the wider track helps me at least feel better about not rolling. I do enough of the later in my Jeep!
The wider track does feel more stable. Of course I have Stable loads and one ton secondaries which help with the problem you anticipate. Virtually no lean in corners. If i do roll this Casa Blanca, it will go all at once with no warning.
To guild the lily, I'm still in the market to put wide wheels on the front too. The problem so far is finding 10" wide wheels that have a factory off-set (7") to keep the spindles/king pins from loading out too far.
All that being said, a truck camper at any height is prone to be top heavy, all in all. A margin of safety has more to do with the operator than the machine. I never get in a position where I have a lot of side hill lean. I've been in 80 mph side winds with the TC and still didn't get much lean. Again, if it blew over, it would be over quickly.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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01/25/10 02:02pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Time for an Intro to TC forum
Delta-B,
Welcome to the Truck Camper Underground. There is a wide body of knowledge on here, of which you will partake, I'm sure. Many of us have taken the sinuous route to a four wheel drive truck camper dragging a Jeep on a trailer. Once you finally get there, the choice seems so obvious.
It is the classic, form-follows-function.
Just now, I'm preparing to haul my junk down to the "King of the Hammers", desert/rock crawling race in So. Cal. where I will pit for my brother John (aka: JR). Three of us pitting will have driven our TC/trailered jeeps onto Means Dry Lake to dry camp for the duration, each with a welder and other recovery equipment stationed at pits along the course. The BLM is expecting, get this, 100K people along the course. No services. No connection with the outside world, except one cellphone spot called 'Phone Bush'. But, the auto club will not go there to rescue you. This has become a huge event in just 3 short years.
Big rocks, deep sand, 500 HP motors, 100 mph flat out across the desert sections in a rig with quad steer. Sounds like a rush to me.
Bro John won the first year they had this event.
The last two years he finished but broke different frame members to put him out of the running. His motto was, "Win or break".
I'll do a pictoral and spiel on the event on here after the fact.
regards, as always, jefe
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jefe 4x4
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01/20/10 01:30pm |
Truck Campers
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