Tox's dream trailer

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toximus

toximus

I live in my Jeep
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Umm .. dumb question, but how do you park and get out of the jeep?

All good questions and things I had to figure out too. I had created a scale drawings of the trailer and Jeeps before building. Putting the Jeep in now is really just for verifying my drawings were correct. Thankfully they are! I also made sure other things like an ATV, UTV, rock buggy, or even a car or small pickup truck would also fit just in case I'm ever hauling a friend's or life goes that way.

I accidentally pulled in slightly off center in that picture, but between the body and walls there's maybe 2ft on each side. Not enough to fully open the door, yet plenty to get out comfortably. Even being off center like that I still had enough to get out of the driver door.
 
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toximus

toximus

I live in my Jeep
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There is also a winch compartment so I could pull it in without even being in the Jeep. Although, I don't think I have a need to use it.

1673800017664.jpg
 

RINC

I Loves Me Some Arizona.
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A Sunny Place For Shady People. Laveen, AZ
There is also a winch compartment so I could pull it in without even being in the Jeep. Although, I don't think I have a need to use it.

View attachment 392207

Could pull a door off before putting it into the trailer. Just thinking for me if I ever load mine in an enclosed trailer.
 

NashvilleTJ

I miss the snow...
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There is also a winch compartment so I could pull it in without even being in the Jeep. Although, I don't think I have a need to use it.

View attachment 392207

Dude, if you never have to drag your busted junk onto the trailer, you’re not wheelin’ hard enough!

🙂

(and remember - we are all just jealous…)
 
OP
toximus

toximus

I live in my Jeep
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Joined
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7,459
Location
Northern WI
did you install a side door, or are you just squeezing in and out when parked inside?

Squeezing. It's really not bad with the TJ width body. The trailer is 98" wall to wall, and the TJ tub is 59" at the doors. So that leaves over 1.5ft on each side.
 
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RINC

I Loves Me Some Arizona.
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A Sunny Place For Shady People. Laveen, AZ
Squeezing. It's really not bad with the TJ width body. The trailer is 98" wall to wall, and the TJ tub is 59" at the doors. So that leaves over 1.5ft on each side.

Insert fat guy joke here.

In my OTR portion of my career, only once did I hang iron. My inexperience showed in that trip across a pass in Oregon.
 
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toximus

toximus

I live in my Jeep
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Ugh! I don't have power at the trailer for a battery maintainer so the batteries got drained to 7-8v and had some icey slush forming on top. I'll have to figure out what's causing the drain in warmer weather and I'll probably add a battery disconnect switch so it doesn't happen again. I put them each through a reconditioning cycle and topped up the water. Until then, the batteries are coming into the workshop between trips.

20230129_161137.jpg
 

reddvltj

TJ Guru
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Challis, ID
Ugh! I don't have power at the trailer for a battery maintainer so the batteries got drained to 7-8v and had some icey slush forming on top. I'll have to figure out what's causing the drain in warmer weather and I'll probably add a battery disconnect switch so it doesn't happen again. I put them each through a reconditioning cycle and topped up the water. Until then, the batteries are coming into the workshop between trips.

View attachment 395978

I'm guessing your solar panels are covered with snow? Without some kind of charge, just the cold itself can discharge a battery over time. With everything in the trailer turned off, a radio keep alive memory, and the Carbon Monoxide detector would be the only draws I can think of (If you have any inverters wired in to run 110V that aren't manually turned off thay will also have a significant parasitic draw.

Carbon monoxide sensor @ 0.0005 amps/hr
Radio memory @ 0.007 amps/hr
Inverter (on but not in use) @ 1.0 amps/hr
Refrigerator (on and running on propane) @1.5 - 2 amps/hr
You'd need about 25 to 30 Watts to keep batteries charged with these draws. If the inverter and refrigerator are off a 1.5w woud keep your batteries topped up and from freezing.

I use something like this to keep the dual batteries in an 86 Wagoneer that sits in the back country part of my mail route.
a 1.5w panel woud keep your batteries topped up and from freezing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WP95W51/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
OP
toximus

toximus

I live in my Jeep
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2018
Messages
7,459
Location
Northern WI
I'm guessing your solar panels are covered with snow? Without some kind of charge, just the cold itself can discharge a battery over time. With everything in the trailer turned off, a radio keep alive memory, and the Carbon Monoxide detector would be the only draws I can think of (If you have any inverters wired in to run 110V that aren't manually turned off thay will also have a significant parasitic draw.

Carbon monoxide sensor @ 0.0005 amps/hr
Radio memory @ 0.007 amps/hr
Inverter (on but not in use) @ 1.0 amps/hr
Refrigerator (on and running on propane) @1.5 - 2 amps/hr
You'd need about 25 to 30 Watts to keep batteries charged with these draws. If the inverter and refrigerator are off a 1.5w woud keep your batteries topped up and from freezing.

I use something like this to keep the dual batteries in an 86 Wagoneer that sits in the back country part of my mail route.
a 1.5w panel woud keep your batteries topped up and from freezing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WP95W51/?tag=wranglerorg-20

There's a roof over the panels. I only noticed once that a little juice was trickling in from them.

The solar panel controller has an LCD screen and bluetooth, and the generator has bluetooth. There's also the emergency brake controller that charges off the main battery and has a blinking LED. The generator does have an autostart function when the batteries get low, but that feels wasteful to enable when nobody is around it for weeks at a time.

The batteries were fine (not awesome, but fine) for a couple of weeks and then suddenly died within 24 hours. I must have left a light on when I was organizing.
 
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reddvltj

TJ Guru
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Challis, ID
There's a roof over the panels. I only noticed once that a little juice was trickling in from them.

The solar panel controller has an LCD screen and bluetooth, and the generator has bluetooth. There's also the emergency brake controller that charges off the main battery and has a blinking LED. The generator does have an autostart function when the batteries get low, but that feels wasteful to enable when nobody is around it for weeks at a time.

The batteries were fine (not awesome, but fine) for a couple of weeks and then suddenly died within 24 hours. I must have left a light on when I was organizing.

Ok so a remote/portable panel wouldn't be a bad idea.

Before a micro burst flipped over a 3 bay lean-to shed that housed a '57 chevy, '48 Willys, and 2 snowmobiles, we had a 25 watt panel mounted on the south side and ran charge leads to the snowmobile batteries and never once had to worry about a battery dying from months of no use. SInce then we have a small 1.5 watt on each sled... I think of it as cheap insurance considering those little power sports batteries are damn near just as expensive as a large RV deep cycle...
 
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