My toy hauler thread

[landuse]

You must be really sad to see it go, but you will get something better

 

[supermanotorious]

landuse you must be a sage.

 

[supermanotorious]

say hello to our new rig, 2008 Skyline Freestyle, it has all the upgrades we could've asked for including power up and down queen loft bedS- that's right- 2 of them! on-board Onan generator, front bedroom with queen bed, fuel station for the toys

I was able to secure it for under book value, we're getting it cleaned up and may take it for an overnighter this Memorial Day weekend!

 

[landuse]

Dang that was fast, and nice!

 

[supermanotorious]

A couple of issues I could use your help with. The awning does not retract tightly. As it nears the top there is slack in the canvas which I know will tear at highway speeds. How do I adjust the ratcheting bar? Also, a small length of the exterior diamond plate bottom runner has separated from the aluminum siding and fiberglass insulation is exposed. How do I reattach the diamond plate so we have a water tight seal?

 

[chancer]

Awnings are a pain in the butt.
Butt They roll up using a tension Spring, there should be an adjuster at the end. Butt do some research cause there is butt load of tension on that spring, when the awning is open.

I would just caulk and screw or rivit the Aluminum tighter than a frogs Butt!

tto many T's?

 

[supermanotorious]

lol, found this video, I think I can get away with unbolting the top mounts, let it come forward that foot, remove the forward frame arm, rotate the tensioner an additional rotation, put it back together and it will be good. i get the feeling the previous owner did it DIY and his skills are immature, he likely didn't count the unwinding rotations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfpM-op0dkU

stay tuned, I'm about to post another DIY fail of his that I have to fix

 

[supermanotorious]

AWWW dang it! someone had too many silver bullets before they put the awning away last night... failed to lower the arm extension all the way. Broke one of the awning handles. Once figured out I noticed the awning rolls up as it should. Luckily the handle is only $9 on Amazon.

Now let's focus on the real amateur DIY fix. Upon first sight I noticed something was "off" with the stairs. My old lady complained about them too. I finally noticed burnt paint on the inside of the step, the way welding burns paint on the opposite side of the work. So then I inspected the welds, not great by any means. Then I looked at the entire way the stairs were welded on. WAY off. 2" too low, and not level. SMDH

Now I get to cut all those welds and weld it proper

 

[supermanotorious]

Replaced the awning handle, learned a lesson there. I got the siding to pop back in place, had to start working it from the edges rather than the middle. Got to the stairs, it was every bit as miserable as I thought it would be, including 110 degree temp in Phoenix over the weekend. But the steps are level and flush to the bottom of the rig. I'm hoping tires I ordered online show up early this week as we plan to take our first trip this coming weekend in northern AZ.

 

[supermanotorious]

Last night I replaced the 3" sewage valve. It was just as disgusting as it sounds. I flushed the tank in to several buckets that I had to bring inside the house and pour down the toilet. The old valve had been compromised so the gate was smashing one of the O rings creating a slow leak. Any leak of poopy mix is too much IMO. It was surprisingly difficult to get the new valve in, the plumbing was so tight it kept smashing the new O rings as I slid the valve in place. Perseverance pays off. When done, I put some fresh water in the black holding tank and added a tank neutralizer packet. Waking up to a dry and clear inspection adapter is a great feeling.

I finally installed anti-sway mounts on the trailer tongue. I decided to drill them instead of weld them this time mainly because I want the option of keeping them if I sell this rig and this frame is C-channel rather than tube.

And since this trailer is a bit heavier and creates a lot of sag in my rear end, I added full-time 1500 lb helper springs which lifted the bed by about 1 3/4". I'm anxious to get hitched up and see the ride height.

We found out the hard way the fueling station is not operational. When I say the hard way, we were coming home from Payson this past weekend and I forgot to top off with gas before leaving the town. In BFE I realized this but didn't panic because we had plenty of gas in the hauler. I found a turn out, pulled over, un-hitched, and drove up the fuel station. NOTHING. Maybe the gears in the pump are seized. Who knows for now. We came up with an extremely unrefined way to get gas in a rubbermaid container and get it in to the truck, we probably used 7 gallons getting 3 in the actual truck.

 

[supermanotorious]

I would like to do the same inverter project on this rig as I did on the old one. Given this one is heavier, I do not want to add any additional tongue weight. So I'd like to mount the batteries closer to the axles than the tongue. That presents a few challenges. For starters, there is no open air compartment to stow lead acid batteries at "floor" level so I'd have to put them under the trailer. This will take some fabricating and will be a PITA when trying to inspect and top off fluid levels. Also makes me wonder where the inverter would go to mitigate battery cable length. And then there is tying in the relays to the system, extremely limited space for those components in this rig.

 

[supermanotorious]

Oh yeah, one of the 2012 tires threw it's tread a few miles from my house on my way home from the bro-fest

 

[chancer]

Almost sounds like a boat. "Break Out Another Thousand"!
Tires, inverters, batteries, sway bars,helper springs, Poopie pipes!
All worth it though I am sure.

 

[supermanotorious]

its a labor of love, you don't think about any of it when you're out in the woods with the kids, at the end of the day you crawl in to a pillow top queen bed and sleep like you're at home

here is where I would likely mount the inverter, on a vertical mount secured to the cabinet supports, I could make a battery rack in-between the frame rails immediately underneath that or put them in-between the frame rails between the black and gray water holding tanks

 

[supermanotorious]

Still trying to decide on the battery location. Have some new direction though from a slightly unrelated matter. The first time we towed this trailer up north I cooked the GMC's transmission. I had it replaced and shelled out $2,000 to GMC for it, they covered the additional $2,700. I've towed the trailer up north again and had to pull over several times as I watched the transmission temperature. Since then, my transmission is not shifting smoothly. Ok- WTF??? The manual says my truck tows 9,100 lbs. Trailer says dry weight is 6,375 lbs (or so). I contacted GMC customer service via chat and gave them my VIN and asked them to confirm tow capacity. They said 9,100 lbs but could have a specialty dept double check and email me the results. They came back in an email and said 9,600 lbs. So I took the rig, loaded with equipment and water to a FlyingJ to weigh it- 7,900 lbs. So GMC is going to take a look at the transmission again. It was supposed to be today but the service advisor called and said he wouldn't have the transmission team until Monday. I think that's B.S. but I said OK. My hope is they will offer to put a heavier duty transmission in for me and without saying it- would like to have it on next month's balance sheet.

NOW, after all that, ready for the real excitement? As I brought the trailer home from the scale last night I noticed the new, across the street "neighbor" was having a large gathering of people. I was trying to back the trailer on the driveway and noticed coroners, wheeling a body from the house to a sprint van on the street, and yes, my headlights illuminating the whole thing. Only problem is, I didn't notice. It was 9:30 pm and 106 degrees. My hair was soaked in sweat from changing those 2 2012 tires, hitching up the trailer and hauling it to FlyingJ, unhitching it to weigh, hitching it up again, and towing it home to back in the driveway AND sweat was pouring in my eyes. I was physically and mentally exhausted to say the least. My brain simply could not focus on anything other than backing the trailer. The deceased's mother-in-law came over and asked me to turn off my headlights. I shut down the truck but of course those damm headlights stay on for 30 seconds or so. I went inside to tell my gal and then got mad as I thought about how rude it was of them to put me in that situation. Those people JUST moved in to that rental and I'll be dammed- I think they did that so the guy wouldn't expire at "home". I know it sounds selfish to say that was inconvenient but I stand my ground.

Back on topic. Tongue weight is the "steer axle" and is surprisingly heavy to me. However the water tank is 2/3 full and lays between the axles and tongue and we never tow it with any water in it. There was no winch or mini bikes in the rear, behind the axles to off-set tongue weight. I'm anxious to see what GMC says about that doggone transmission.

And oh yeah- I need some of those plastic trim corners....

 

[landuse]

Hopefully you get that heavy duty transmission. Was that tyre a retread?

 

[chancer]

Goofy neighbors! But hey you know those headlights that stay on, You can hit the switch and kill them immediately if you want. I always do cause stupid GM the darn reverse lights automatically pop on when you out it in park! Dumbest thing ever. People at 7/11 think you are about to back up, while actually you just parked to get out. Turns a tight busy parking lot into a nightmare.
Rant over.

 

[supermanotorious]

just thought I'd share this diagram I prepared for a RV'er, shows how to connect the DPDT relay in my setup

I'm getting ready to do another inverter install, went with a slightly larger one this time, it does not have a hard wire connection, so I'm considering disconnecting the output wires from the receptacles and hard wiring that way

 

[supermanotorious]

we found out the hard way this summer the fuel station wasn't working when I depended on fuel from the toy hauler to put in the truck on a desert highway, I finally opened the pump and confirmed it's working and it's likely the gears have swollen from ethanol fuels as described in THIS thread although this is a different pump manufacturer.

I'm comfortable attempting to sand the gears down to the proper profile before spending $43 on a kit, need to get the specs from Graco

From the replacement gear kit site:

"All pumps will now come standard with PPS (Polyphenylene Sulfide) gears for improved performance in ethanol blended fuels. The previous gears were made of Valox and will be discontinued. These gas pumps were often used on Weekend Warrior FS2600 Toy Hauler fuel stations."

 

[Bbqjoe]

I've had really good luck with these. I used them for years pumping gas and diesel. The rubber impellers are inexpensive to replace, but last a real long time. 12V, very dependable and rugged.

https://www.grainger.com/category/p...z/Ntt-transfer+pump?sst=subset&ts_optout=true

The link isn't working. These come from Grainger. Search small transfer pump.