The little/light Camper Trailer Thread...

[ducnek]

Originally Posted by longtallsally

Well, as it turns out, I don't need to do any modifications to get the little bike on the pop up.

Man that's one super sweet set up you got there.

Looks like you could squeeze another smallish dual sport on there facing the opposite direction. Any idea what the tongue weight is? Looks like the camper is biased slightly toward the front, and adding the WR at around 250#, does it sag, or do you have heavy duty rear springs?

[hppyfngy]

Originally Posted by GerryL

What's the tow rating on the Sprinter? We've got a 17' Casita and have been loving it, but I need an easy way to take a bike along too. I could surely fit one in a Sprinter.

IIRC, the single axle 2500 is rated at 5000# towing and the dually 3500 at 7500#. You shouldn't have any issues towing your 2500# Casita. I have a friend with the same setup and he says he gets 27 mpg not towing and 20-23 towing.

I just got mine and don't have my hitch installed yet.

Oh, mine is pre-'07 with the 5cyl diesel. The newer ones have a 6cyl but I don't think the towing cap has changed.

[CodeMonkee]

Originally Posted by RustySpokes

I just got an email AND a phone call from a real live human that these are now in limited production.

http://www.tealinternational.com/Tea...m_medium=email

I think they were mentioned early in this thread. Interesting concept, don't know that I would buy one though...

Neat - a little spendy for a kit though.

I will keep it in mind, but I might do better for my purposes just getting an S-280 shelter and adding insulation.

[longtallsally]

Originally Posted by ducnek

Man that's one super sweet set up you got there.

Looks like you could squeeze another smallish dual sport on there facing the opposite direction. Any idea what the tongue weight is? Looks like the camper is biased slightly toward the front, and adding the WR at around 250#, does it sag, or do you have heavy duty rear springs?

Thanks! I might be able to get a trials bike up there, but as everyone talks about, the tongue weight comes in to play and I think would be too much.

So to answer Huey, I've not measured it, but I'm sure it's in the 3 bills area and I've just got a Class 2 hitch, so it has to stay there.

I have a very mild spring lift on the Jeep that I only put on to compensate for the winch up front and even kept the stock tires (I'm a fuel economy nut as well). I've not driven around with the setup yet, but it really is the same as when I put the bike on the hitch carrier.

This is with the stock suspension:



In terms of better securing the bike on the tray, I also debated a channel and/or a wheel chock up front. After getting the bike up there and secured, I don't see a need. The WR weighs basically the same as a 500EXC (yes I want one as my next bike) so the results should be the same. What I mentioned I might do is put a plate on the underside of each of the tie down points. The tie down points I'm using have at least one bolt in the steel frame, so they are secure, but the second bolt is in the plaster board. So I'm going to add in a plate on the underside as a means of tying both into the steel frame and just as a precaution. There are plenty of thread left in the tie down bolts on the underside to do this, so it should be a simple process.

In terms of getting a second bike on the trailer (when the wife starts to ride again as the baby grows up a little) I'm thinking I'll add a receiver hitch to the rear of the camper. I'm still in the brainstorming phase of design, but have some mild to mildly wild ideas on how to do it. The real benefit of putting the second bike on the rear of the camper is the obvious weight distribution. The Jeep is rated to 3500 lbs and the camper is ~2300 lbs dry, so I should have enough for a full water load with both bikes and a couple other nick knacks. The family and dogs will go in the Jeep in total comfort, so I'm excited for future family trips.

[Hannda]

Originally Posted by longtallsally

Thanks! I might be able to get a trials bike up there, but as everyone talks about, the tongue weight comes in to play and I think would be too much.

Can you extend the frame of the trailer out the back and weld on a "tray" to hold a second bike off the back of the trailer, in effect counter balancing the tongue weight?

[Hueychief]

Can you extend the frame of the trailer out the back and weld on a "tray" to hold a second bike off the back of the trailer, in effect counter balancing the tongue weight?

The frame of the E1 is boxed rectangular tubing which makes it easy to extend and very strong.

I'm thinking I'll add a receiver hitch to the rear of the camper. I'm still in the brainstorming phase of design, but have some mild to mildly wild ideas on how to do it.

I built this tray to house misc stuff in between the rear frame rails and put a 2" receiver on it also for my plug in bicycle rack. With a minor modification it would also be able to hold another motorcycle with no problem.

and

So to answer Huey, I've not measured it, but I'm sure it's in the 3 bills area and I've just got a Class 2 hitch, so it has to stay there.

I kinda thought that's where mine was also, but haven't had the chance to measure it yet.

[longtallsally]

Yeah I think Huey has a more complex design than what I'm going to do.

So yes, the goal is to get the second bike on the rear to distribute weight. The 2 design methodologies I'm looking at are:

1- Get a receiver that was designed to be drilled into or bolted to an existing unibody or frame



2- Pull off the factory "bumper" and fabricate a fully boxed bumper with a receiver hitch welded into it.



Option 2 is a bit more work, but would be more stable and both are probably similar in cost.

[GerryL]

Thanks for that info. It sounds like it would work well then. i am going to have to research these a little more.

Originally Posted by hppyfngy

IIRC, the single axle 2500 is rated at 5000# towing and the dually 3500 at 7500#. You shouldn't have any issues towing your 2500# Casita. I have a friend with the same setup and he says he gets 27 mpg not towing and 20-23 towing.

I just got mine and don't have my hitch installed yet.

Oh, mine is pre-'07 with the 5cyl diesel. The newer ones have a 6cyl but I don't think the towing cap has changed.

[hppyfngy]

Originally Posted by GerryL

Thanks for that info. It sounds like it would work well then. i am going to have to research these a little more.

PM me if you have any questions. I'm no expert but I researched them for a year before finding mine.

Also hppyfngy over at http://sprinter-source.com/forum/

[PA Slammer]

But don't you still need to consider the max weight combined for the Sprinter and trailer?

For example my 3500 is a Roadtrek RV and has a lot of weight added to it with all the cabinets and such. If I understand it correctly, my GCWR (gross combined weight rating) is 15250, so Sprinter and trailer has to stay under that number, right?

If so, and my tow capacity is 7000, then my sprinter loaded has to stay under 8250 if I'm pulling a trailer at the max weight of 7000.

I haven't weighed the Sprinter all loaded up yet, but I bet it's gotta be close to 11,000. If so, I have to keep trailer weight under 4250. That can be tough. A bike and equipment can weigh in around 1000 or more depending on spares and tools, fuel, etc... So you have 3250 left for the weight of the trailer itself. And then you're maxed out. Who wants to max things out?

And what about the weight of the beer and firewood? :cool:

Am I understanding this correctly?

PA Slammer

[cablebandit]

Originally Posted by PA Slammer

Am I understanding this correctly?

PA Slammer

yup. A fact many ignore.

[hppyfngy]

Originally Posted by PA Slammer

But don't you still need to consider the max weight combined for the Sprinter and trailer?

For example my 3500 is a Roadtrek RV and has a lot of weight added to it with all the cabinets and such. If I understand it correctly, my GCWR (gross combined weight rating) is 15250, so Sprinter and trailer has to stay under that number, right?

If so, and my tow capacity is 7000, then my sprinter loaded has to stay under 8250 if I'm pulling a trailer at the max weight of 7000.

I haven't weighed the Sprinter all loaded up yet, but I bet it's gotta be close to 11,000. If so, I have to keep trailer weight under 4250. That can be tough. A bike and equipment can weigh in around 1000 or more depending on spares and tools, fuel, etc... So you have 3250 left for the weight of the trailer itself. And then you're maxed out. Who wants to max things out?

And what about the weight of the beer and firewood? :cool:

Am I understanding this correctly?

PA Slammer

Yes! Definitely yes. I can't confirm your numbers but you got it. In my case though, I'm pulling a small camper with a nearly empty Sprinter. Many people make redneck RV's out of Sprinter Cargo's, with minimum amount of weight and equipment and they'll weigh in far less than your Roadtrek. That's sort of what I'm doing.

Don't tow close to capacity though. Many do, but it's very risky, IMHO.

[dwayne]

Originally Posted by longtallsally

...

In terms of getting a second bike on the trailer (when the wife starts to ride again as the baby grows up a little) I'm thinking I'll add a receiver hitch to the rear of the camper. I'm still in the brainstorming phase of design, but have some mild to mildly wild ideas on how to do it. The real benefit of putting the second bike on the rear of the camper is the obvious weight distribution. The Jeep is rated to 3500 lbs and the camper is ~2300 lbs dry, so I should have enough for a full water load with both bikes and a couple other nick knacks. The family and doalotgs will go in the Jeep in total comfort, so I'm excited for future family trips.

You want to be real careful weighting the back of a trailer. A bike might not seem like of allot weight, but the lightest 2 stroke plus the carrier will be at least 250 lbs at the end of a pretty significant lever.

Have you ever pulled a trailer with too little tongue weight? It can be anything from sketchy to a pile up.

The rule of thumb is at least 10% of your laden trailer weight should be on the tongue. Realistcally 300 lbs on the back of a trailer is that size/weight is not a great idea. Your trailer when loaded normally should be at least 350 lbs on the hitch, so lets call it 500 lbs, Just by eyeballing it, it seems the distance from the hitch to the trailer axle and where a bike would hang off the back would be about equal, which brings your tongue weight to 200 lbs or so.


I have had some pretty bad experiences with about that weight on the back of a 20' tandem camper trailer when pulled with a full size pickup, so please use my mistake to your advantage. If your gonna do it anyways, at least take it real easy until you understand the dynamics. Just for the sake of comparison the trailer weighed in at about 6000 lbs, and the tongue weight was probably at about 500 lbs when the nastiness happened.

[hppyfngy]

^^ Dwayne has it right alright. Putting a bike on the rear of the trailer is a bad idea.

Figure out a way to get two on the tongue and get a weight distributing hitch. Your TV is looking tongue heavy to begin with. Too little tongue weight is potentially hazardous to your health.

[Hodag]

anyone ever add a front mount hitch to their TV?

I want one for a bike rack, or to push the camper into tight spots