New guy that doesn't have a van

[royboyprods]

Hi folks,

My name is Travis and I recently got a vintage canned ham camper to pull behind my 1963 Ford Galaxie. I didn't have a hitch on the car when I got the camper so I had to fake a photo by parking next to the truck. The watermark is automatically put on by my website and I was too lazy to turn it off for this gallery. 

So anyways, I've been looking around here for awhile picking up some knowledge from the folks here. I'm looking forward to working on this old box and getting it ready for next year.

95% of my travels with these two will be a weekend long, anywhere up to 1600 miles round trip. The one exception will be a two month trip next year where I'll be taking this set up. 

Time to figure out how to set up the camper and get it done!

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums Travis! There's no way you're going to get away with just posting one picture! :-D How about some of the inside too?

To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips & Tricks" post lists some helpful information to get you started. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[eDJ_]

Welcome to the CRVL forum  

You could probably find a hitch for your car on a wrecking yard or on some of the old Ford message boards.
Someone could tell you of someone who would have a hitch you could get reasonably that would pull the trailer safely.   I know U-Haul installs a lot of hitches and you may check with them to see what they would recommend.

Another thing to consider would be some air lift shocks on the rear, or bolt on helper coil springs.

I've purchased springs from JC Whitney's catalog like this before.  They come in 1000 lb,  1500 lb and even higher.  They are simple to install and may raise the rear end of your car to a suitable height for the trailer.

This would jack up the rear enough to install a receiver hitch of some kind.   Then get your wiring set up
so you will have turn signals, brake lights, and running lights on your trailer. 

With your car being a "63" and the trailer being so vintage,  you could probably take in some antique Car Shows on your travels.

 

[WriterMs]

I've never seen a vote here on the cool factor of a rig, but you'd have to be in the running. LOL

As you've seen already I'm sure, absolutely any type of rig gets our interest and there is sure to be help if needed on most anything. Welcome.

 

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Travis!
1600 miles in a weekend?

 

[royboyprods]

Welcome to the CRVL forums Travis!  There's no way you're going to get away with just posting one picture! :-D  How about some of the inside too?

I'll post more as I rework it! most of the interior paneling is salvageable, the exterior plywood walls are not so lucky. I've joined a couple of forums dedicated to these campers to pick up some tips and tricks for dealing with all of that.

With your car being a "63" and the trailer being so vintage,  you could probably take in some antique Car Shows on your travels.

I just finishes having a hidden hitch installed behind the license plate. I Ryno Built Hot Rods box the rear crossmember and add a receiver hitch and the wiring. It took him a few hours to do something that I'd work all week on! I will be installing new Heavy Duty leafs in the back and adding an air shock to help level the car, but those come later this winter.

I am an automotive photographer, journalist, blogger, podcaster and I'm lucky enough to hit a shot just about every weekend somewhere from LA to Detroit  

Welcome aboard Travis!
1600 miles in a weekend?

Yeah this weekend the Galaxie and I will head out Thursday evening and put about 4 hours down after I get off of work, the remaining 8 hours to get to the Bayou Round Up in Lafayette, LA will be on Friday. I'll shoot the event for my blog and for a magazine and then Sunday will make the 12 hour drive back to central KS. 

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

 

[highdesertranger]

very cool, love the inside of that old trailer. tip, use air bags not air shocks. my very first car was a 66 Galaxy. highdesertranger

 

[Queen]

That camper is cool as hell!! And my first car was a '63 Galaxie, color me jealous.

 

[royboyprods]

I hooked up and pulled the camper out of the garage tonight. 

I can't wait to get on the road!

 

[jimindenver]

Wow!

One of my first cars was a 65 Galaxy and a canned ham was our first trailer. I see a lot of fun in your future.

 

[rvpopeye]

Allow an hour at every stop to answer questions about that rig right there !

 

[eDJ_]

Just out of curiosity,  what would be the level of difficulty of changing a flat tire on that "Canned Ham" if you had a flat ?  Do you carry a spare for it ?  Run "slime" (tm) in your tires as a preventative measure ?  or have a road service insurance to take care of such situations for you ?

And...does the Ford run a Y block or a later 352 ?  Dad had had a 64 Galaxy in high school with a 352....I remember him telling me his gas back then cost about .18 cent a gallon. ( but his after school job paid around
$1.35 an hour)

 

[Cheli]

Sweet set up there, love it. Nice to meet you and look forward to seeing your travels.

 

[Cheli]

Allow an hour at every stop to answer questions about that rig right there !

At least.  lol

 

[royboyprods]

Allow an hour at every stop to answer questions about that rig right there !

I meet new friends at every gas station and stoplight

Just out of curiosity,  what would be the level of difficulty of changing a flat tire on that "Canned Ham" if you had a flat ?  Do you carry a spare for it ?  Run "slime" (tm) in your tires as a preventative measure ?  or have a road service insurance to take care of such situations for you ?

And...does the Ford run a Y block or a later 352 ?  Dad had had a 64 Galaxy in high school with a 352....I remember him telling me his gas back then cost about .18 cent a gallon. ( but his after school job paid around
$1.35 an hour)

I carry a floor jack in the Galaxie and in my 51 Ford, it should work for both the car and the camper. I will have to drop one bolt from the leaf spring on the camper to get the wheel and tire out, same as on the lowered car. It's part of the price you pay to look and handle better I guess. The camper did not come with a spare but I will be building a storage box for it in the center of the floor. I'm hiding as much as I can with my upgrades on the camper, the solar panels on top are the biggest visual difference that people will see, but I'm hoping to make their rack look like a safari style roof rack.

The Galaxie came with a 352 2barrel and a 3 speed auto, the engine has been rebuilt as a 390 (they shared the same block), added a 4 barrel and adapted to a mid 80's AOD (3 speed auto with overdrive). With the new 2.75 gears I was at 21 mpg on my last trip. I'll test that again this weekend. I went to the 2.75 gears because I knew that I couldn't use the OD while towing and I wanted to try to squeeze all the mpg I could out of the setup.

Edit: I do also have roadside assistance as part of my collector car insurance and my Dad buys everyone in the family AAA every year as a Christmas gift as well, although I'd prefer to fix any issues myself. It's usually quicker

 

[ArtW]

very cool rig!

 

[eDJ_]

Interesting setup on the leaf spring bolt. 

A few ounces of prevention maybe ???  =)

 

[waldenbound]

I love it! What a beauty, (the car and the canned ham.) I love the beautiful, natural looking wood interior too.