mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Nov 20, 2016 19:57:16 GMT -8
I was not going to "LIKE" this post, then got past the tire business and it all turned out good.
I`d think that camper would be a joy to pull around.
I think there`d be a LOT of rubber neckers when they see it a coming and when passing it.
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Nov 20, 2016 20:02:56 GMT -8
Re: propane, that's what I thought. Thanks for verification.
It pulls great in a straight line. So much scrub around corners though. I think were I to do a lot of work on it, I'd replace the straight axle with a car dolly so it would pivot a little in the corners.
I've had a handful of rubberneckers pass.
One woman at a gas station took a photo, then asked if I made it out of a horse trailer.
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Nov 20, 2016 20:04:57 GMT -8
No you can't travel with the propane going at all. It should be shut off at the tank in fact for safety. If something hit the line hard enough while going down the freeway it could cause an explosion. My friend who is an expert used in court for propane has told me a few horror stories over the years of people travelling with the propane going in their trailers, not good. YUP, always turn the valve on top of the tank so that it is shut. Then, before moving the camper, check it again. Not necessary to turn off the pilot light, it will self extinguish when the tanks valve is closed. Unless someone has monkeyed with the safety features, it should not emit any propane until the gas valve is turned to the pilot position and the button depressed. Propane is a wonderful thing in its environment, dangerous when not. Very dangerous. As stated, almost every body that uses propane knows of a horror story or two.
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Nov 20, 2016 21:26:52 GMT -8
Re: propane, that's what I thought. Thanks for verification. It pulls great in a straight line. So much scrub around corners though. I think were I to do a lot of work on it, I'd replace the straight axle with a car dolly so it would pivot a little in the corners. I've had a handful of rubberneckers pass. One woman at a gas station took a photo, then asked if I made it out of a horse trailer. LOL, Now that is funny. About the horse trailer. You see a lot of tire scrub on semi trailers made to haul heavy equipment. Four five six and on up axles gets quite severe. I think Your idea with the car dolly would help to eliminate a lot of that scrub. Good idea right there. It could also be set up with heavier duty hubs and a little bigger tires in a 10 ply to help with the longevity of the tires and help in hauling more of the load.
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Nov 21, 2016 4:27:38 GMT -8
LOL, Now that is funny. About the horse trailer. You see a lot of tire scrub on semi trailers made to haul heavy equipment. Four five six and on up axles gets quite severe. I think Your idea with the car dolly would help to eliminate a lot of that scrub. Good idea right there. It could also be set up with heavier duty hubs and a little bigger tires in a 10 ply to help with the longevity of the tires and help in hauling more of the load.
Trick then is tire size. 185/80-13. I've been buying 8pr radials but only have one left with a HD tube in it. The TSCo spares I'm buying are 175/80-13 6pr bias and tubeless. I'm thinking I should have skipped the tubes. I just don't know and this trial and error is expensive. I can probably get a 14" wheel under, but really need to hit a scale on level ground so I can get axle weights. I might be putting too much load on the tag axle. I've been keeping around 65mph. Got up to 70 a couple of times, but we hit construction and were doing like 40 when I felt it go flat, it may have been road debris. The tag axle has a narrower track than the truck. Also. Diesel at home 2.19 where I filled, Illinois 2.49, Kentucky 2.59, Tennessee 2.29 where I fueled. Off the interstate near the kampground is 2.17 so I'm going to top off again before hitting Georgia The top 4 gallons of the ford's tank is hard to fill making reliable MPG calculations a game of averages. At the home fill-up before leaving it was 15.8mpg, but the pump wouldn't go slow, the valve didn't allow for hand modulation so it kept foaming and kicking off. At the TN fill up I got 13.4 but was able to brim the tank. The last in bed camper was half this size. I got about 16 mpg@60-65mph, and 12 @80-85mph and it was a pop-up. |
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msgoehring
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Post by msgoehring on Nov 21, 2016 4:43:45 GMT -8
Ya know, I've been looking at these type of trailers, and all I can find are ones that were built and installed at the factory specifically on a Chevy pickup. It makes me wonder if yours didn't start out that way and someone took it off the original truck maybe because the engine blew, or they wanted to use the truck alone. And then they never got put back together. Born Free seems to have been mainly motorhomes.
I don't know, just a little curiosity I been thinking about, especially since you are having trouble with the tires. Which I agree with your comment about just getting rid of the tubes. They always were a pain.
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Nov 21, 2016 5:04:00 GMT -8
 It does show it on a 73 ford in the manual  Ford tail lights there too One of the paragraphs about adjusting the axle height said it was preset for ford, gmc, Chevy, and international, but may need to be adjusted for dodge. The dodge beds in the 60's were deeper and it was recommended to put a 3/4" sheet of plywood down as a spacer to keep from rubbing the bed rails. Check this out! hooniverse.com/2014/06/21/weekend-edition-quick-hit-a-1973-ford-f-350-with-an-interesting-camper-included/ 75 ford  73 ford  89 Chevy  9? Dodge  70 ford, notice the window difference in the late 60's camper Also, late 70's interior  The round couch thing in cool looking but I'll keep my two closets |
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msgoehring
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Post by msgoehring on Nov 21, 2016 5:26:26 GMT -8
I can see those two being sold as a package originally. I'm glad you share with us, your trailer is really interesting.
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mrmarty51
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Post by mrmarty51 on Nov 21, 2016 6:37:01 GMT -8
LOL, Now that is funny. About the horse trailer. You see a lot of tire scrub on semi trailers made to haul heavy equipment. Four five six and on up axles gets quite severe. I think Your idea with the car dolly would help to eliminate a lot of that scrub. Good idea right there. It could also be set up with heavier duty hubs and a little bigger tires in a 10 ply to help with the longevity of the tires and help in hauling more of the load.
Trick then is tire size. 185/80-13. I've been buying 8pr radials but only have one left with a HD tube in it. The TSCo spares I'm buying are 175/80-13 6pr bias and tubeless. I'm thinking I should have skipped the tubes. I just don't know and this trial and error is expensive. I can probably get a 14" wheel under, but really need to hit a scale on level ground so I can get axle weights. I might be putting too much load on the tag axle. I've been keeping around 65mph. Got up to 70 a couple of times, but we hit construction and were doing like 40 when I felt it go flat, it may have been road debris. The tag axle has a narrower track than the truck. Also. Diesel at home 2.19 where I filled, Illinois 2.49, Kentucky 2.59, Tennessee 2.29 where I fueled. Off the interstate near the kampground is 2.17 so I'm going to top off again before hitting Georgia The top 4 gallons of the ford's tank is hard to fill making reliable MPG calculations a game of averages. At the home fill-up before leaving it was 15.8mpg, but the pump wouldn't go slow, the valve didn't allow for hand modulation so it kept foaming and kicking off. At the TN fill up I got 13.4 but was able to brim the tank. The last in bed camper was half this size. I got about 16 mpg@60-65mph, and 12 @80-85mph and it was a pop-up. If the hubs are 5 lug, a larger wheel could be installed, a 15" instead of the 13". greater Ply ratings of the 15s can be purchased but with a lower profile. If the hubs are 4 lug then if the spindle size is known, different hubs can be installed to get it to a 5 or even a 6 lug hub.
Great on the fuel mileage. O don't pay much attention to the prices of fuel, Just fill it up when needed. My 2000 Chevy is diesel and it too gurgles and bubbles when full. I usually run the pump until it shuts off the nozzle once then call it good. Not far from My house is a bulk fuel dealer/delivery service. I most always fuel up there and their prices are about 10 cents a gallon cheaper than the uptown pumps.
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Nov 21, 2016 21:29:20 GMT -8
Hub is 5 on 4.5" so wheel options are open. Just have to watch clearances.
Had 5 people along the way stop to tell me they've not ever seen anything like it before and ask me a bunch of questions. It's been fun.
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Nov 25, 2016 6:24:26 GMT -8
We've survived night 10 in the camper, and 5th night on the inlaws farm.  The 1/2 empty tank of propane lasted three and a half nights, night one was 28°, night two 26°, and night three 36°. it started warming the camper for night 4 but was out by the time I got back from the shower. Started o the full tank 3 nights ago. I'll probably exchange the empty before we head home just in case. |
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Nov 26, 2016 21:12:49 GMT -8
Last tank of fuel got me from the edge of Tennessee, across Monteagle, through Atlanta at an average of 30mph for 3 hours, two hours past Macon to the inlaws farm, and back to Macon for a 14.8mpg average.
We checked back in at the Manchester TN KOA and are anchored next to a pretty 20~25' airstream.
Wife is sleeping in the truck cab while I'm warming up the camper.
This time I drug the 30a cord out and plugged into the KOA box, and used my 15a cord for my block heater.
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Nov 27, 2016 15:08:35 GMT -8
Home at last! I swear. Toward the end I kept checking the gps every half an hour, and only 10 minutes had passed. So our 45 year old camper completed a 1800 mile round trip and the only difficulty was a flat tire. The only damage occurred between the last two fuel stops. We lost a pane out of a window 29x7 aluminum frame.  Although I did get a pretty cool reflection pic  |
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Feb 19, 2017 16:07:19 GMT -8
A new year and a little update. I was fortunate enough to find some barn space at a friends for the winter, but it's time to come out of hibernation. My 45yo beauty has been leak free, but the fiberglass gel coat is dull and has lots of small splits and cracks, some of which the PO smeared some silicone on. We had a nice day here a week ago and I was able to drag it out and powerwash the top.  This weekend I picked up two gallons of roll-on bedliner from TSC and started painting the top    I'm going to get another coat on to build up some thickness, then Autozone sells aerosol bedliner in white which I'll use to top it off. The next phase will be covering the rest of the red with green. Red exterior and green interior may have been ok in 1972. But I want a little more coordination |
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hairba11
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Post by hairba11 on Mar 4, 2017 18:22:35 GMT -8
This weekend was warm again so I got the camper masked off and sprayed the tan bedliner on the roof. Four cans covered about half.  |
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