Off-Road ready Upgrades and mods

Joabmc

Just finished reading through all of this. Thanks for documenting and sharing!

WilliamA

@nbrandt said:
There is another limitation to the propane and it is altitude. They assume you are running it at 4000 feet or lower. We did have it at 6000 ft and it ran. That was August. I would think that thin air and cold temps could be a real detriment.
I did borrow a friends old generator before I bought this. You would not have wanted that critter in your car unless you actually liked the smell of gasoline. It was a metal cap with a gasket. No doubt a new gas cap and or gasket might have helped, but you are right - the newer plastic caps seal up tight.
At 47 lbs though, I would like to get away from lifting and having to move this generator more than I have to do so - even with its handy carrying handle. So I would like to get it mounted on the tongue, but with you I sense that means moving that spare tire behind the axel.
Are you going to post some more details of your rack? Another thought to ponder - I find that our our refrigerator gets rather heavy when loaded up - especially with a few bottles of beer added to the mix. And I like traveling with the water tank empty to reduce overall weight. So now I am wondering if this won't be overloading one side? I could offset some of that by putting heavier items on the left side of the T@G as we travel.
NathanB
2017 T@G

Nathan,
DOOHH!!. Sorry I missed your last post! My bad. My brain is small and my minutiae are many... Anyway, as to the rack details...I plan to take the spare rack off this week to paint it, weather or not. I'll post some pics with dimensions when I can get better photos. I'll let you know...
WilliamA

nbrandt

William,
No hurry. I see this as a winter project. Our weather (Oregon) has been too nice for that kind of project, nor does the calendar say winter yet.
I've had another thought that may be worth bouncing off of you before I go off and do dumb things. I was thinking of removing the two stabilizer jacks at the back and running a 2" piece of square tubing under the frame the entire width of the trailer frame (welded on). That would give me a sturdy frame to which a spare tire could be plugged into on the right side - much like a receiver hitch - of course that also means fabricating some piece of channel iron rising perpendicular from that point to which the spare could be attached.
Then I could also bolt the stabilizer jacks back on (only 2" lower) and they could be used without carrying around wooden blocks that are now needed to reach the ground since I put a lift kit and 14 inch wheels and tires on the trailer. There is that domino effect - you make one change and you come to find out that other things don't quite work the way they were intended. This would let me double up some fixes.
Regardless, I would like to ponder my idea a little more after I see your pictures and dimensions. Thank you for getting back to me.
NathanB

WilliamA

Nathan,
I also took off my landing jacks and haven't looked back. Always thought they were more pain than gain. I haven't missed them. As to the full width, that's how LuckyJ has his ans I was going to pirate his idea but at the end of the day, I wanted to use up the material I had which necessitated a design change. Just keep in mind that there is a lot of offset, hence flex with the high mount so any design needs to be be stout. I'll post some pics of mine and maybe Luc has some pics of the way his is mounted for you to compare. As long as it works, there's no wrong way...
As to the domino effect, I've never changed only one thing so.....What's your point? Lol...
WilliamA

WilliamA

I got a warm day so I peeled off the spare tire carrier and painted it up. Here are a couple of different views:

Here's the Rotopax mount painted up.

It's all back on and tight. Let it snow....Ughhhhh...Like I could stop it...

I also got my Lunette and gussets all painted, but forgot to grab a photo or two. I'll get one or two tomorrow. You can just see the lunette in the background of one of the photos...

WilliamA

WilliamA

A quick photo of the finished hitch:

WilliamA

WilliamA

First post-upgrade trip with the new weight distribution. To be honest, I didn't notice any significant changes in how it pulled or handles. That's probably a good thing, as it was well-mannered before all the work. I appreciate that I can see the spare and gas can in the passenger-side rearview mirror. Makes it easy to miss the trees etc while snaking through the woods. All the lights make for good, safe backing in when it's dark. Can't have too much of that.

The only post-trip mention of any mention is the usual condensation on the ceiling. I ran the heater a little bit each morning and evening but even so, the high humidity and rain took their toll. When we got back home today, I backed in and plugged in, then turned the furnace on for the afternoon at 70 degrees on the thermostat. I cracked open the roof vent an inch or so. I went out there a bit ago to check and it's nice and dry. I turned the stat down to 60 and will leave it for a couple days or so to make sure it's dry and tight.

WilliamA

Jeeptag

@CampHub I am looking at your tongue jack mod and am curious where you bought that one. I’m about 1000 miles into my journey around the US and need to be able to open the tailgate of my Jeep to let my dogs in. Making them go in the back from the front is everything but comical. Any brand info is much appreciate.

kevineso1

Jeeptag. I too have a Tag Max that I pull with a 2door wrangler. Be happy with your purchase!! I love mine!!!

CampHub

@Jeeptag The tailgate still hits even though I can remove the jack tube. I purchased it from e-trailer
LOL on the dogs getting into a 2 door wrangler! Have fun out there and enjoy

Michael

Just a bit of info. That trailer jack, The Ultimate Trailer Jack, is a stocked item at most Tractor Supply stores. That's where I got mine.

I normally don't remove mine as it drops down enough so my pickup truck tailgate does not hit it. I realize that may be different with a Jeep.

LuckyJ

This is my solution to the same problem that you have.made that mod the second day the T@G was home from the dealer. As it is, I can open my tire carrier all the way and also my tailgate form my wrangler.

I did mod it some more since. But to me, it is a no turning back solution.

Jeeptag

@kevineso1 I’m not complaining about my awesome trailer just trying to figure out if I can do something different with my jack. I have the back seat out of my Jeep and that’s my cargo area for my travel partners. My Aussie can’t grasp getting in the back without making a scene.

@CampHub where does it hit? Right now I can only swing mine open about 12 inches and I have to pick up 60 lbs and squeeze them in. Mine is hitting on the spare.

@LuckyJ did you cut and weld that into the trailer tongue? I have considered buying an extension bar but I like keeping the fewest points to fail as possible.

@Michael thanks for that info I’ll look into that jack

Jeeptag

@WilliamA did you make that spare tire holder and how do you attach it to the t@g?

LuckyJ

@Jeeptag , if this fail, the complet trailer will fall apart.

Full back bone, from front to back.enough to reinforce the frame and act as a towing /recovery point, directly attached to the TV hitch and welded every time it was passing trough a frame cross member. Bolted at the rear bumper.

Spare tire is not at that location any more.

.

kevineso1

@CampHub are you saying with the "Ultimate Trailer Jack" you can still only open you jeep rear door 12"?? I'm going to take a few measurements and try and figure something out... but, be nice for any info from someone who has one. Thanks

Jeeptag

So I ended up driving to 3 different tractor supply stores to find the ultimate trailer jack. Installed it in about 3 minutes. When I stop at a gas station or dog park I can drop my jack to the ground and it gives me enough clearance to open my tailgate a few feet. How long will the jack last? Only time will tell but so far I am happy with the results

Sharon_is_SAM

@LuckyJ and @Jeeptag,

Having trouble loading your photos. Please resize. Although your photo may appear smaller, you still need to adjust pixels.

https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/65/please-re-size-all-photos-uploaded-to-the-forum#latest

Thanks!

Sharon

CampHub

@Jeeptag it was a busy week just getting caught up. I see you have it installed so you know where it hits and how wide you can open the rear door. We have a removable wheel on the jack, and took the guide off opposite the spring catch allowing us to remove the entire jack. Glad you like it so far.

LuckyJ

@Sharon_is_SAM said:
@LuckyJ and @Jeeptag,

Having trouble loading your photos. Please resize. Although your photo may appear smaller, you still need to adjust pixels.

https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/65/please-re-size-all-photos-uploaded-to-the-forum#latest

Thanks!

Sharon

Hello Sharon, I am surprised about this, since I am using the email methode to resize my pics and I now save them in a seperate folder.

But I have to say that I have issues seeing many photos here as well from amny other post

What is also confusing for me is that I am able to see the pics that I post, with the same I pad that I am not able to see pics from others. Are you sure the problem is at my end of the line??

Sharon_is_SAM

@LuckyJ, thanks for looking at this. Yes, the photos are greater than 3000 x 2400 pixels. You aren’t alone. I think for the most part the TaG forum members are much better with resizing than the TaB forum members, so I am trying to keep everyone on the right track.

What size did you select when you emailed the photo to yourself?

Jeeptag

@Sharon_is_SAM will do

LuckyJ

@Sharon_is_SAM said:
@LuckyJ, thanks for looking at this. Yes, the photos are greater than 3000 x 2400 pixels. You aren’t alone. I think for the most part the TaG forum members are much better with resizing than the TaB forum members, so I am trying to keep everyone on the right track.

What size did you select when you emailed the photo to yourself?

I use medium, cause anything else turn out as thumb nails.

I now try to delete any pics that are on the larger size when I create the smaller ones. But old ones could be remaining.

The mistake could be coming from my side too, dealer with pics size with an Ipad is not easy, since you are not able to know what is the size of the pics you have stored inside it. Unless some one knows how to do it.

Luc