new house is here
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PlethoraOfGuns
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Hey, people pay extra for "noisey neighbors, screaming kids, barking dogs, hornets, and other campground delights."
My rig has plenty of desert pin stripping. I purchased a standard cab truck for forest road access. I pay for that on most highways.
It's a 97 F350 4wd with a 7.3 and manual transmission. I found it 5 years ago in northern New Mexico (zero rust) for a grand with 134,000 miles on it. It needed some work obviously, but I could drive it home to NE Wisconsin. Over the years I went through everything. It's been reliable and I trust it enough to have pulled the trailer to Yellow Knife.
I'm going to need more space as I get older, I'm 63. Frills like an actual bathroom for example. So I'm looking for a base camp trailer and use the 6x12 as a "run-about".
It's a 97 F350 4wd with a 7.3 and manual transmission. I found it 5 years ago in northern New Mexico (zero rust) for a grand with 134,000 miles on it. It needed some work obviously, but I could drive it home to NE Wisconsin. Over the years I went through everything. It's been reliable and I trust it enough to have pulled the trailer to Yellow Knife.
I'm going to need more space as I get older, I'm 63. Frills like an actual bathroom for example. So I'm looking for a base camp trailer and use the 6x12 as a "run-about".
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PlethoraOfGuns
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That looks like a sweet looking bed/cap on the back of the Ford! Is the whole thing steel sheet?
Looks like an armored truck in 'desert stealth' livery. Very cool.
highdesertranger
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Salsadog very nice. where did you get the straps for the propane tanks? or did you make them? the standard RV ones are not very durable for driving off road. highdesertranger
PlethoraOfGuns: It's my wood shed. The original owner ordered my truck as a chassis cab and had a steel flatbed mounted on it. I removed and sold the flatbed for $800 and used $300 of it to purchase the ground contact treated ply wood for the shed. I store my camping junk, tools, spare parts and what ever else I think I might need in there. Plus, what humans don't see, they don't covet. I intentional don't care if the truck looks rather "Clampett-ish"; less chance of it getting stolen. I also built a 66 gallon fuel tank that's mounted in the shed behind the cab. That's about a 1000 mile range and the 1 ton rides a little better.
tx2sturgis: Thanks
highdesertranger: The straps are 1/8" x 2" aluminum and yes I build/repair almost everything. The primary reason I purchased a 1997 truck is that it's easy to work on. No cab off repair and no unnecessary crap. It's an XL, I.e. a plain Jane with cruise and air.
tx2sturgis: Thanks
highdesertranger: The straps are 1/8" x 2" aluminum and yes I build/repair almost everything. The primary reason I purchased a 1997 truck is that it's easy to work on. No cab off repair and no unnecessary crap. It's an XL, I.e. a plain Jane with cruise and air.
Looks like a great set up. Finding a base camp trailer can get difficult depending on where you are and how reliable you need the appliances/accessories/utilities to work. We basically have two “base camps” that we use. One is a almost 40 year old Barth motor home in Utah that has been great but I spent yesterday fixing some plumbing I added on 6 years ago by laying with my head and both arms through a 14” by 24” hole. At almost 70 years old I thought I was gonna have to have my wife saw the cabinet to get me out. The other base camp is a new 25’ camper in Arizona. I’ve spend more time working on it in 6 months than the motor home in 15 years! I absolutely hate the idea of owning a house and property, having to deal with zoning and local governments not to mention maintenance, taxes and insurance. Figuring out old age and physical limits that come with it is a pain for sure. Good luck! By the way really nice rig.
highdesertranger
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what's up wolf buddy? good to hear from you. highdesertranger
crofter
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OMG that's a long time between potty breaks! Great looking rig, very nice. The white pup is the cutest one.SalsaDog said:
-crofter
The big tank is very handy. I only need to fill once a day, I can fill where the semis do and I can always fill where fuel is the most reasonable. Even if it's in the next state? As for nature calls, we like doing it in nature.
As for the white dog, a Morkie, Hyacinth. Four years ago we were camped in the Saw tooths and had our Yorkie tied outside our trailer. We went for a 30 minute mushroom forage and some low life stole our dog and all her stuff. Of course my wife put an ad in the paper with a reward, but nothing. So she rescued Hyacinth from the west side of Salt lake city. She is a good $30 dog.
Mike, is there any chance you have time to crack a beer and do a trailer update? It would be much appreciated.
As for the white dog, a Morkie, Hyacinth. Four years ago we were camped in the Saw tooths and had our Yorkie tied outside our trailer. We went for a 30 minute mushroom forage and some low life stole our dog and all her stuff. Of course my wife put an ad in the paper with a reward, but nothing. So she rescued Hyacinth from the west side of Salt lake city. She is a good $30 dog.
Mike, is there any chance you have time to crack a beer and do a trailer update? It would be much appreciated.
highdesertranger
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So I am very bad about documenting stuff. My build is a good example, I start working on it and I don't stop to take pictures. anyhow I got a few pictures when I insulated the floor.
First off I did not insulate the floor because 90% of the people said it was a waste of time, money, space and various other reasons. Let me tell you at least in my case I never should have listened to them. MY FLOOR WAS FREEZING, well it was always cold unless the ambient temp was hot. Even in mild temps my floor felt cold and when it was cold my floor was freezing. The trailer had a 3/4inch plywood floor, that was it.
So before I put the floor covering in I insulated it. What a huge difference it made. I mean night and day. Now my floor doesn't feel freezing all the time and the trailer heats up much faster and it seems the heat is distributed much better. The temperature inversion layer seems much less.
So this is what I did,
highdesertranger
First off I did not insulate the floor because 90% of the people said it was a waste of time, money, space and various other reasons. Let me tell you at least in my case I never should have listened to them. MY FLOOR WAS FREEZING, well it was always cold unless the ambient temp was hot. Even in mild temps my floor felt cold and when it was cold my floor was freezing. The trailer had a 3/4inch plywood floor, that was it.
So before I put the floor covering in I insulated it. What a huge difference it made. I mean night and day. Now my floor doesn't feel freezing all the time and the trailer heats up much faster and it seems the heat is distributed much better. The temperature inversion layer seems much less.
So this is what I did,
highdesertranger
highdesertranger
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Oops so here is what I did,
First off I had to clear the floor of everything because I wanted the final flooring to be one piece, no seems.
What a pain in the butt. in this pic you are looking where my bed was. I had to tear it all out because of the supports that went to the floor. Like I said the floor had to be clear.
So I labeled the floor pieces in this pic. The original 3/4 inch plywood floor, 1 inch polyiso, and 1/8 plywood sub floor. I also want to point out how the 1/8" plywood and the polyiso do not match up. I ripped 1 foot off the first sheet of plywood so that the seams do not match up.
In this pic you can see the flooring match up to the entrance door. It could not have been more perfect.
Vacuuming it up getting ready for the final flooring. I would like to point out that the floor is floating nothing is attached. The various cabinets and accessories will hold it down. It's very easy to screw things down right through the insulation and the 1/8 plywood into the 3/4 plywood.
More to come,
Highdesertranger
First off I had to clear the floor of everything because I wanted the final flooring to be one piece, no seems.
What a pain in the butt. in this pic you are looking where my bed was. I had to tear it all out because of the supports that went to the floor. Like I said the floor had to be clear.
So I labeled the floor pieces in this pic. The original 3/4 inch plywood floor, 1 inch polyiso, and 1/8 plywood sub floor. I also want to point out how the 1/8" plywood and the polyiso do not match up. I ripped 1 foot off the first sheet of plywood so that the seams do not match up.
In this pic you can see the flooring match up to the entrance door. It could not have been more perfect.
Vacuuming it up getting ready for the final flooring. I would like to point out that the floor is floating nothing is attached. The various cabinets and accessories will hold it down. It's very easy to screw things down right through the insulation and the 1/8 plywood into the 3/4 plywood.
More to come,
Highdesertranger
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highdesertranger
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Dang forum went down right in the middle of this post. $#@!@#$&*
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]So here is the final floor,[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]It's rubber diamond plate like the put on the floor of some of the upper end toy-haulers. It's tough stuff, It was very hard to cut I had to use sheet metal shears to cut it. It is a very hard rubber not soft at all. it's one piece, so no seams. I don't have to worry about spills.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Looking back the other way towards the back of the trailer. Notice the bottle jack holding the shelf up. this was only temporary so I could remove the support and I didn't have to take the shelf down.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I included this picture because you can see the water heater and the shore power electrical being installed. more on these later.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]highdesertranger [/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]So here is the final floor,[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]It's rubber diamond plate like the put on the floor of some of the upper end toy-haulers. It's tough stuff, It was very hard to cut I had to use sheet metal shears to cut it. It is a very hard rubber not soft at all. it's one piece, so no seams. I don't have to worry about spills.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Looking back the other way towards the back of the trailer. Notice the bottle jack holding the shelf up. this was only temporary so I could remove the support and I didn't have to take the shelf down.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]
[/font][font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I included this picture because you can see the water heater and the shore power electrical being installed. more on these later.[/font]
[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]highdesertranger [/font]
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highdesertranger
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The flooring is about 1/8 thick. It is hard rubber with a material backing(very tough). Here's a link to the flooring,
https://www.recpro.com/8-6-diamond-pattern-rv-flooring-in-black/
Do you mean just the polyiso and the rubber flooring, without the plywood? I am not sure.
The polyiso by itself is fine to walk on but is easily damaged without the plywood. I don't know how it would be with just the rubber flooring. I put the plywood over the polyiso to distribute the weight. I could walk on the poly fine without damage but when I would get down on my knees my toes would break the polyiso. It's that concentrated weight on a small area that hurts it, the plywood spreads the weight out.
highdesertranger
https://www.recpro.com/8-6-diamond-pattern-rv-flooring-in-black/
Do you mean just the polyiso and the rubber flooring, without the plywood? I am not sure.
The polyiso by itself is fine to walk on but is easily damaged without the plywood. I don't know how it would be with just the rubber flooring. I put the plywood over the polyiso to distribute the weight. I could walk on the poly fine without damage but when I would get down on my knees my toes would break the polyiso. It's that concentrated weight on a small area that hurts it, the plywood spreads the weight out.
highdesertranger
nature lover
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“ Dang forum went down in the middle of this post“
HDR - when that happens to me I usually blame it on the moderators.
HDR - when that happens to me I usually blame it on the moderators.
PlethoraOfGuns
Well-known member
Haha yes, these silly moderators and their rules about 15 min edit time. One of these days that rule is gonna backfire on one of them and make a mess of their thread.
