My TOYHAULER build...

Hopkins Wiring - H20046


Trailer Connector RV Style 7-Way Blade with 8' lead.

• Pre-wired 7-Way Trailer Connector
• Measures 8 feet long including connector
• Wire gauges:
  • 14 gauge - red, brown, green, and yellow
  • 12 gauge - Blue
  • 10 gauge - White and Black

The charge from the tow vehicle depends on mfg.



My trailblazer and ram 2500 both shut off the power to the trailer socket when engine inst running to prevent dead starting battery.


I run separate wires back direct from the battery and use Anderson connectors.





http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/powerpole-sets/sb175-sb-series-175-amp.html


I have plug on trailer too and a cord to go between them.
I put a set on my jumper cables too

I'm pretty sure my RV battery bank is way up front and the Sprinter is 22' So that'll be a long run.

I eventually will have a few solar panels on top of the Toyhauler. I'm hoping to set things up so this will charge the RV battery bank as well.

And when there is no sun, I would like the RV's generator to charge the Toyhauler's battery bank.

So this would be a two way street depending on whether the Toyhauler's solar panels were charging or the RV's generator was charging.

So would running heavy gauge wire from battery to battery with a disconnect at the hitch be all I need? Sounds too simple.

WOW! looks great, very cool setup!

Thanks guys, had to sell some other toys to make it happen, but it'll be worth it. Getting my boys out camping and dirt biking more this year will be fun.

PA Slammer

That is a very nice setup.

To simplify it even further you could just use the correct battery charger for the trailer battery (lead acid / AGM) and plug it into a gen 110v outlet. Another thing to keep in mind, it's not good do discharge a deep cycle RV type battery lower than 50% of it's capacity. If you plan the trailer battery bank correctly it's possible to have 4 to 5 days of judicious use without needing any charge.

Taking the kids out riding and camping.....a father with his priority's straight.

I wouldn't use anything bigger then 12 or 14 gauge wire for the trailer battery charging system and then fuse it at no more then 10-20 amps. You need to be careful so you don't overcharge the batteries as 40 amps or greater will boil them dry and then you're toast. The only way you need welding cable is if you operate a high amp load like a winch, but even then the load is short lived so a 175 amp service is a bit overkill.
My GMC truck has the trailer 12V hot wire attached to a 40 amp pin with fuse and I have to watch things when hooked up for a long trip. Also my GMC boasts the voltage to that pin when the truck is in "tow/haul" mode for the transmission selector. This voltage boast does a quick charge but can also cook the batteries. My work around for the overcharging potential was to use 4, 6volt golf cart batteries hooked series/parallel to give me 12VDC at 460 amp hours. I then added a bettery tender made for tending two banks of 12V batteries and this keeps them charged when at home and ready for use. As also mentioned some people use a battery isolator. I don't as I always unplug my trailer when I get to the campsite. I like to use the truck for hauling firewood or whatever plus getting the trailer level with the truck hooked up can be tough sometimes.
I have a pic my of battery bank if anybody wants to see it.

I know it's not that big a deal, but...

I scored big today! Went looking for some type of rug for the floor of the Toyhauler. The walls and ceiling are insulated, but the other night when it was 19 degrees out and my 9 yr old and 6 yr old and I slept out "just because Mom", stepping onto the UNINSULATED floor was crazy cold! Like sticking your tongue to a flagpole cold.

So off to Lowes I went. Hmmmmm, what do they have. After looking at everything and wondering what to do, low and behold I find a rolled up, returned, remnant of grey outdoor carpet; 9 x 10! PERFECT! Got it all cut it and it looks (and feels) GREAT! I cut it in two sections, so it would be easy to pull out the garage part when loading bikes. Here's a couple pics. I know, just carpet, BUT...





My guess with three young boys, the bathroom carpet will get hosed down more than the garage part!

Looks great!

How is that heater? Any fumes? Did you run it all night?

That is a nice rig and hauler. Perfect for camping / riding with the boys!

We ran the little electric heater the night we stayed out with the temps in the teens. It didn't keep things that warm, but absolutely no smells.

As for the Mr. Buddy... I got the bigger one because I wanted to make sure it would warm the area. Shit, it does the job! Usually I keep it on high for 15 minutes and the place is HOT! I then turn it on low which keeps it still very toasty even with the pop out bed open. Crazy warm heater. I'm pretty sure the smaller one would work fine, but I always hate when you push the limits of something and it doesn't do quite what you want... like the small electric one did.

So, to answer your question... YES, you can definitely smell it. The smoke detector and the CO2 detector did NOT go off even when fully buttoned up. I tested it by running the heater for a few hours. So what how would I sleep while running the heater? Well, I think I would have the pop out open (which should be enough in and of itself), I would have both upper and lower side vents open (bottom should dissipate any CO2 fumes) and I would have a roof vent cracked open. Efficient? Probably not.

I don't know, the trailer would be well ventilated for sure. I still feel "weird" having an unvented propane heater on in a small 6x7x10 aluminum box... you know. Thinking about it... keeping the heater right next to the bottom side vent would probably dissipate some of the smell. Which isn't that bad...but noticeable.

Even better yet, I'll always keep the heater on high and the vents open wide...

If I can get the trailer inspected tomorrow and a trailer brake installed (overkill probably), we'll take it with us on a little 4 day weekend to Richmond VA tomorrow. The boys are excited!

I have a little business Fri and Sat. Mom will be taking them around a bit. Any ideas of what to do there for them? We figured maybe the air museum (I'll be at the airport), maybe the zoo, anything else???

Go to the courthouse in Richmond. You can stand on the spot where Robert E. Lee stood when he accepted command of the Confederate army.

Nice Rig PA. I am just getting back into dirt bike riding with my 2 kids (8 and 11) and looking for places locally to ride. I am real close to 84, pm me know if you want to get together and ride sometime.....

Sounds AWESOME! We have a small MX track on our property. We should get the boys together.

Still working on getting a bike for myself.

PA Slammer

It's kind of funny...it's starting to look quite likely that I'm going to buy a VRV to tow behind my Sprinter based Class C (2011 Itasca Navion 24J). I want something I can haul two motorcycles and some bicycles in and then sleep four kids when parked. I don't want the tip-outs, but thinking Camocots are going to be just fine for the sleeping part.

I've also got a 2012 Sprinter passenger van that I'll tow the VRV with from time to time, too, as me and my kids are getting into gokart racing and there are a couple tracks within three hours. So with the RV I'd be able to take my two kids and two of their friends to Disney and me and Mom can have our RV all to ourselves and put the kids all in the VRV. Should work fine for that, plus they'd have their own bathroom. Whee.


--Donnie

We're camping right now. My two oldest are playing games and goofing off in the VRV. My wife and I (and the 2 yr old) are in the Sprinter. It's a sweet set up.

Think we got around 15mpg on the trip down, but first time out with it. I'm on business here and family is touring. Enjoying all of it.

As for the pop out, it really makes the feel of the interior soooo much bigger. And the boys love it. Think twice about it.

PA Slammer

My thing with the pop-out is we're only a couple years away from that being a "one boy" solution (mine are 8 and 11 now). I'd really rather have a solution with two bunks available on each side somehow. I know that kills the space, but the pop-out just doesn't help as much as I'd like. At least I don't think. *shrug*

I have been thinking more and more about it...but wanting to sleep FOUR kids seems to make it not as useful.



--Donnie

Double queen pop outs? One on each side. They make them.

PA Slammer

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