My adventure "tent trailer" build

[DAA]

They'll never want to camp again after tenting it in an RV park though. I'd rather sleep under the overpass than stay in a tent in an RV park. It's like camping in a Walmart parking lot with dirt and rocks and people looking out their RV windows at you every time to take a piss (they expect you to use their disgusting facilities and not just pee wherever you are standing when the need arises, savages...).

- DAA

 

[pELYgroso]

They'll never want to camp again after tenting it in an RV park though. I'd rather sleep under the overpass than stay in a tent in an RV park. It's like camping in a Walmart parking lot with dirt and rocks and people looking out their RV windows at you every time to take a piss (they expect you to use their disgusting facilities and not just pee wherever you are standing when the need arises, savages...).

- DAA

I hear you, but these are folks who will appreciate the bathrooms, showers, the pool for the kids, the fences for the kids, and the lack of wild animals to worry about. I've got to take baby steps with some of my neighbors. They're not "uppity" but they've never really camped and haven't had much desire to until now with me telling them about some of the amenities of the RV park. My style personally is more in-line with your trips, although I haven't done much of that since we had kids and got a camper. RV park will be first, and then maybe a spot like Granite Flats camp ground up in AF canyon, or similar.

If you have any suggestions of other nice designated campgrounds with at least bathrooms (showers would be a bonus) within about 3 hours, I'd love to hear them! Maybe I'll start a separate thread about that...

 

[Kevin B.]

We talking flush toilets? That kinda limits your options. But if you all can make do with a picnic table and firepit and FS-style flush toilet, there's tons. The Wedge and Simpson Springs come to mind as more primitivish designated campsites.

 

[pELYgroso]

We talking flush toilets? That kinda limits your options. But if you all can make do with a picnic table and firepit and FS-style flush toilet, there's tons. The Wedge and Simpson Springs come to mind as more primitivish designated campsites.

Awesome, thanks for the suggestions! I started a new thread about campsites to get more info on this topic....

 

[Bart]

Your camping trip sounds fun and exhausting at the same time. I would caution you about taking newbs in rented Jeeps up Moab Rim. F&T is a great start though.

 

[pELYgroso]

I got around to installing the LED strips into the trailer today. They turned out pretty nice and the dimmer is great. I installed them on the inside rails of the roof frame. I think they'll be most "out of the way" here, and the adhesive tape stuck well. The "halo" around the roof looks cool too. They get super bright or just enough to put the kids to bed with the dim lights still on. I still need to do a final cleanup on some of the wiring but I'm 95% there. I installed connection points on the front and back so I can eventually decide where to run the wires up from. For now, our goal zero battery pack works great. Eventually I might do a marine battery in a box in the tongue and hard wire an inverter and more plug outlet options. It's hard to tell the real difference in brightness in these photos but full dim to full bright is a huge difference.

 

[pELYgroso]

I also fired up my wave 3 catalytic heater. It is a nice unit that I'm definitely excited to have! I put it in the tent in high for about 30 minutes and it definitely took the edge off the 35 degree temps. I imagine it would only warm up more running longer. I'll probably mount this to the front wall at floor level so I won't have to move it to collapse the tent. Ill run the line through the front wall to a tank on the tongue. Where is the best place to get a 1 gallon tank?

This photo is with lights turned all the way up. Plenty of light!

 

[pELYgroso]

You got a great deal! I also have mig Apex XCT and you inspired me to make the build similar to yours

Awesome! From what I gather, they only made a handful of them and then had ownership issues but are now starting to product them again. I couldn't find much at all in terms of reviews or in-use photos from other owners when I was researching. Have you used yours much?

 

[Anchor_Mtn]

I also fired up my wave 3 catalytic heater. It is a nice unit that I'm definitely excited to have! I put it in the tent in high for about 30 minutes and it definitely took the edge off the 35 degree temps. I imagine it would only warm up more running longer. I'll probably mount this to the front wall at floor level so I won't have to move it to collapse the tent. Ill run the line through the front wall to a tank on the tongue. Where is the best place to get a 1 gallon tank?
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This photo is with lights turned all the way up. Plenty of light!

I assume you mean 11lb propane tank... the best place is Homedepot.com($55-60 usually). The best mount Ive found is from Powertank at about $115.