Otto Man begins an enclosed trailer journey

B

bradvanhorn

Member
depredador1198s;249133 wrote: Really looking forward to seeing the completed masterpiece. ;)

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but, what are you using to pull this?
Click to expand...
He's pulling with a Tahoe. I keep forgetting to mention it might be worthwhile (or necessary even) to use a weight distributing hitch for a trailer this size.
 
Z

z064life

New Member
Otto Man;248542 wrote: Man...I hope I already hit the vortex! I've already gotten rid of my STi to get a Tahoe...this set up will have to do for a few years...I hope. :haha:

I can see their build pattern, and notice the nails are on the studs on the walls, so finding the studs is stupid easy. I will most definitely wind up routing the wiring along the corner of the ceiling, that's the easiest route by far.



You're dedicated. I just took off one section of the wall, and I'm now seriously debating on pulling the rest of the wall. This shit is seriously secured very well. I was set on the lowes blue foam board idea, but I'm not so sure now. Going to research this spray foam option. The big section of walls isn't going to be as cut and dry as most, as the e-trac was built with the trailer - it's all welded in. Therefore, I have to pull double the amount of staples and nails (Top and bottom of the e-trac). Pulling off a trim board piece, and just filling it up with some kind of spray foam is looking like a REALLY good idea about now. Putting blue foam on the ceiling is going to be cake.

Did you insulate the ramp (Or rear doors) while you were at it?
Click to expand...
run your wiring in the ceiling and in the space between the top of the wall and the ceiling. you only need to get into the wall if you want the outlets down low...id suggest keeping them up high anyway because of bikes/equipment being lower.

IMG-20120317-00291.jpg
 
Otto Man

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
Got the floor done...looks pretty good if I may say so myself. Will get pics this weekend. Now, I'm trying to figure out where I want to put my Pitbull restraints in for my two bikes. I was planning on putting them so the majority of the bike weight is over the axles, one on left, one on the right, but a friend asked if I had thought about putting both of them on the same side in front of each other. Never really gave that idea much thought.

Thoughts?
 
Z

z064life

New Member
You do not want all the weight on 1 side of the trailer. Put the weight in front of the axle...only reason to put it over the top is if your tow vehicle/hitch can't handle the tongue weight. Sounds like you have room for 4, so I'd set it up for 4 and just use the 2 in front when you only need 2 bikes.
 
matt2212

matt2212

Member
Center the weight over the axles slightly forward of center.

10% of total weight trailer weight should be on the tongue. It has nothing to do with what you are towing it with
 
B

bradvanhorn

Member
Otto Man;249369 wrote: Got the floor done...looks pretty good if I may say so myself. Will get pics this weekend. Now, I'm trying to figure out where I want to put my Pitbull restraints in for my two bikes. I was planning on putting them so the majority of the bike weight is over the axles, one on left, one on the right, but a friend asked if I had thought about putting both of them on the same side in front of each other. Never really gave that idea much thought.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Without turning this into too large a science project, I suggest side by side and roughly over the axles. That's how I have my two STS stands mounted and the arrangement works exceptionally well.
 
Otto Man

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
Floor is done, walls are painted semi-gloss white. Don't know what's up with my camera, it usually takes much better pictures, but you get the idea. The PitBull plate is NOT installed...it's just laying there. I was going to try and knock out bike layout today, but it started raining pretty good.

IMG_3664.jpg


IMG_3658.jpg
 
Z

z064life

New Member
matt2212;249408 wrote: Center the weight over the axles slightly forward of center.

10% of total weight trailer weight should be on the tongue. It has nothing to do with what you are towing it with
Click to expand...
There are tongue weight ratings on the trailer and tow vehicle. If he is going to setup 4 bikes they will be loaded front to back so if he only pulls 2 at some point they would be in front. Are you suggesting he have 6 different positions for the bike depending on the number of bikes?

The reason for putting the weight over the axles is to maximize the weight the trailer/tow vehicle can handle. Given the proper tow vehicle, you can load front to back. The same can't be true back loading the trailer.

So while maybe ideal would be over the axles, if the trailer can handle bikes 1 in front of the other then I would suggest the possibility of setting it up for 4 bikes but that does assume the having just 2 bikes in front works with whatever he is towing.
 
Otto Man

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
Got the Tekonsha P-3 brake controller installed. Leave it to Chevy that there is no plug and play harness under the dash...but the wires are already there, and the two power wires under the hood are also there, ready to bolt on and go...but they are taped over with the rest of the wire loom? :notsure: Only took about an hour to install, but still scratching my head over that. No wonder they needed a bail out. Anyways...

IMG_3680.jpg


It works awesome. It came juiced to the max when I plugged it in...I wondered why the trailer brakes immediately locked up at the slightest touch of hitting the brakes. Guess it helps to RTFM...and turn down the voltage. :rtfm:

Bikes in position.

IMG_3672.jpg


100 amp breaker box ready to get wired, and power cord that will be powering it.

IMG_3670.jpg


These are $12 a pop 4' lights from Lowes. They come with the ends to just plug into an outlet, but I'm going to be snipping those off and hard wiring them. It didn't make sense to buy the hard wire ones...they were more expensive? :notsure:

IMG_3668.jpg
 
Otto Man

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
Alright...about 12 hours before I leave for VIR, and I think the trailer is mostly ready.... :)

A lot of it is unfinished, but at this point, it's just getting ready for the weekend. Will be a good test run, to see what needs re-arranged and fixed, tweaked, etc.

It's starting to fill up:

100_0130.jpg


My dog usually makes appearances at the track, figured it'd be fitting:

100_0132.jpg


Cheap $8 hanger from Lowe's, drilled into the stud of the trailer:

100_0134.jpg


Wiring is most definitely not to official code, but it's wired safe and it's protected. The right side is purposely left open. I'm going to be hooking up a receptacle on outside of the trailer, it's going to be ran off that end of the conduit. Just ran out of time, and really wasn't needed for this trip. I was just wanting to finish the bare minimums for this trip.

100_0135.jpg


Didn't hard wire the lights - makes them easy to replace in the future if need be, and if I need them, I can unplug one or two sets of the lights and have extra receptacles. With 4 sets of lights...it gets BRIGHT in there. I like it! :)

100_0140.jpg
 
Otto Man

Otto Man

John
Control Rider
Track day basics...yes, I am a bungee cord freak. No, this isn't meant to be a permanent setup. Again, just needed it held down for the weekend. I can fine-tune it later.

100_0146.jpg


Tire rack in, and the baskets are part of the Rubbermaid Fast track system. It was one of the cheaper options out there, we'll see how it works out.

100_0147.jpg


I have a Harbor Freight tire changer. What you see is the four bolt holes used to hold it down, but since you can't exactly rely on the wood deck for solid anchoring...

100_0151.jpg


I got this 1/8" plate on the bottom. The tire changer bolt holes have the nuts tack welded on them. The plate itself is held in by 3 counter sunk bolts. Bolt in the tire changer when you need it, and when you don't, it's not in your way.

100_0163.jpg


The trailer came with the 6 D-ring mounts. Since my layout didn't need the drivers front D-ring, I removed it. Turns out, my A/C exhaust hose fits perfectly in it. The water drain hole fits into one of the bolt holes that was used to bolt down the D-ring. Zero floor molestation...win!

100_0153.jpg


Wife got this patch sewn on my suit (And various busted stitches from my wrecks fixed) as one of my little b-day presents.

100_0159.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top